The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1891-08-16

and the other on the sole of the foot when
worn. These sandals cost about 25 cents a
pair, and you could dress an Indian woman
so that she would look respectable here for
$3.50. II would cost considerable more to
fit out the man, and the clothes of the Mex
lean peon are one of the big items of the
family. His blanket, or serape, which he
wraps picturesquely about his shoulders
and which he wears when not working both
night and day, costs all the way from 81 to
as high as you can afford to go. l have seen
some that were worth $50, but these were
hand made and very fine. His hat, broad
brimmed and of straw or felt, may cost less
than dollar or 1t may cost $50, and his pam
falcons or coat like amount. If, however,
he is the ordinary Indian he will contne
himself to cheap serape and his cottons
and he will march around under his big
straw hat with all the airs of the brigand Of
the stage. Neither he nor his wife will
wear underclothing, and they will sleep at
night in the same outfit that they wore dur
ing the day. The cost of their food will
not be proportionately greater than the
cost Of their clothing. Three-fourths of
Mexico lives almost entirely on black beans
and cakes made of Indian corn, and the fri
ioles and the tortillas sauced with red pep
pers make up the diet of the Mexican In
dians. The tortillas form the chief occupa-
ton of the Mexican house wife. Every
, woman is her own miller and cook. A
rough, fiat stone foot wide and eighteen
inches long is her mill and she soaks the
grains of corn in lime water till they are
soft and then rubs them on this stone with
| another round stone ike the milestone you
use in sharpening a scythe until she gets
them into paste. She pats this out like a
griddle cake and cooks it before her open
fire. 1t is by no means bad eating, and with
a sauce of red pepper it flows down the
great Mexican throat by the millions per
diem. AS to the frijoles, or black beans,
they are sweeter and better than the baked
| beans of Boston, and the better classes OF
the Indians have many dishes which are
both cheap and good.
INDIAN VILLAGES.
Many of the Indians of Mexico live in
villages of their own. They hold their lands
in common, cultivate them together, and
divide the proceeds. These villages have
their own customs, and while under the
general government they have certain reg
rlations which govern their own people
All over Mexico the poems, Aztecs, or In
dians-however they may be called-have
traditions, queer customs and superstitions
many of which have come down from the
days OF the Montezumas, and it is won
der that some ethnologist does not make
them study. There are, it is said, a hun
dred different dialects in use among then
to-day, and though the most OF them speal
Spanish, nearly all speak their own Ian
guage as well. They are people of more
than ordinary culture, great lovers o.
music, easily governed and very polite
They exhibit great love towards each other
and in their families, and the question as tt
their future is one of the questions of the
Mexico of to-day. They have produced
many good men. President Jaurez, one o.
the greatest men of Mexico's past was
pure Indian. President Diaz has Indiar
blood in his veins. The Mexican congress:
!, contains number of pure Indians, and the
great Mexico of the future is bound to b,
greatly Influenced by its Aztec blood.
FRANK G.. CARPENTER.