The Opelousas courier., 1891-09-12
MEXICOS GREAT HOLIDAY.
CELEBRATION OF THE DEFEAT
OF MAxIMILIAN'S TROOPS.

Review by Diaz-The Isura
Guards of Mexico.
The Mexican Fourth of July, says
Frank G. Carpenter in the New Yorl
World, is celebrated on the 5th of May,
It was on this day twenty-nine years age
that the French troops of Napoleon III,
who were marching to Mexico City, were
met at Puebla, about two hundred miles
from the capital, by the Mexican army,
under General Zaragosa, and effectually
routed. The French wanted to establish
a monarchy and to keep Macmillan or
the throne of Mexico. Through the vic
tory the Mexicans regained their Re-
public, and they regard the anniversary
of this victory their greatest National
holiday.
For a week before the day comes
every town and hamlet, from the Pacific
Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico and from
the Rio Grande to Guatemala, is prepared
for it.
The greatest Fifth in the country takes
place at the capital. Mexico City is
then out in all its glory. The President,
his Cabinet and all the employees of the
Government participate in it. From
fifteen to twenty thousand of the picked
troops of the army form part of the
great procession, and flags and fireworks,
stump speeches and ~eannonading, added
to the blaze of clad and unclad hunaa-
ity, make Mexico on this day one of
the great sights of the world.
This year, long before the time for the
procession, the roofs and balconies along
! the line of march were filed with the
upper tendon of Mexico City. Dark
| eyed senoritas looked out of black man
tillas down upon the surging masses be-
low; fat old duennas sat by their sides
and watched that the gay Mexican
dudes who were in the same or adjoining
balconies whispered only sweet nothlngs
in their little ears, and grave old seniors
formed a part of the crowd. There
were children by the hundreds, and the
prattle of Spanish was mixed with the
din of the masses below. the firecrackers
and the annon The sight all told was
the gayest you will see in a lifetime, and
the people were as merry and good
natured a crowd from the peon in the
streets to the millionaire in the balconies T
as you VIII find in any city in Christen-
dom.
President Diaz was one of the leading
Generals in the battle of Puebsa, and be-
fore the parade began he, in company
with the most prominent men of the Re-
public, went to the cemetery of Fer
nando and placed a wreath 9pn the tomb
of General Zaragosa. Thu scene was
very oppressive. The great men of
Mexico stood about the tomb with I'M
covered heads, and they bowed as
the flowers were laid on the grave.
The crowd about them was also
silent, and the scene was full of the So
lemnity of sorrow. After it was over
President Diaz returned to the palace,
where he changed his citizens dress for
his uniform, and came out in the full
military costume of a General of the
Army, his breast covered with the silver
medals he has won in his many cam
paigns. As he came out of the National
Palace on the same spot where Cortez
stood with Montezuma more than three
hundred years ago he met his fayorite
troops of the Mexican Army, to the
number of at least fifteen thousand, and,
with these as his escort, marched to the
beautiful park in the centre of the city,
known as. the Alameda. This process
sion wa a grand sight. The Senate and
Representatives, who constitute the
Mexican Congress, preceded the f'resi-
dent, and he walked on foot with his ,
Cabinet at the head of these $4,000
troops. The crowd cheered as he went
by, and there was a waving of handker-
chiefs, a throwing up of hats and a din
of shouts in welcome to Mexico's great.
est man and greatest President.
The review of the troops IN
front of the palace was one OF
the most picturesque military sights
you can see outside of a great
war. The fifteen thousand troops were
massed in a grand column at whose head
wasethe General-in-C Chief and his staff.
This column contained the cavalry and
the infantry to the number of ten thou
sand, and all of the armsment aud ma
chinery of warfare was represented in it.
There were the hospital ambulances, the
cannon and ammunition wagons, the
mules carrying their kegs of water, and
the music to which the whole marched
was by mounted bands. do not know
of such bands anywhere else in the
world. The Mexican is a born musician,
and if he were not a born horseman as
well, he could never handle a big bass
trombone and a half-tamed mustang at
the same time.
The most wonderful part of the pa
rade, however, was the division of the
army known as the Rurales or the Rural
Guards of Mexico. These are the Presi-
dents f~avorite trodps, and they are
among the finest soldiers in the world.
| have seen the best troops of the Sultan
Of Turkey, as they accompanied him I'M
army on his way across Constantine ule to 6
kiss the mantle of Mahomet on their I
Arabian horses, and I have witnessed
some OF the great reviews Of Europe, but
[ have nowhere seen such wonderful
horsemen and such picturesque troops as
bhe Rurales of Mexico. The gay O
tunes of the Turkish soldiers, with their
gold braid and their turbans, do not
with those of these Mexican.
Centaurs. They ride in battalions on
finest of fiery horses, and each battal-
ion has horses of the same color. They
ride SO well that horse and man are as
one, and it is hard to tell where the horse
ends and the man begins. Both horse