The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1891-12-24
LAND OF THE "oREASER."
Customs, Costumes and Bullfghts on the
Mexican Border.
Especial Correspondence

Ell PAso, Texas, Dec. 6, 1891.
Here on thu border land Of New Mexico,
Texas and Old Mexico, an Eastern man
! finds him self in al country full Of quaint
and novel features. II he has approached
, El Paso from the North over the .'Sante
Fe" route, he has already become accu s.
toned to the sight of Mexican names and
, faces. The 'greaser" type is familiar,
and the broad-brimmed, high-peaked bat,
with Its silver braid and trimmings has
been seen at many stations. but now
glimpse can be bad of Old Mexico proper
and of better type of its inhabitants, for
only bridge across the Rio Grande sepa-
rates El Paso on the Texas side from Paso
/ del Norte (now known as Juavez) in Next
co, and visit to the latter place is one Of
the first excursions made by the American
traveller. Boarding o street car, on the
American side, drawn by single mule,
one soon finds himself on the principal
street of JuayeZ, which extends from the
Plaza, with its large old church Of Mexi-
can Mission type in the center, through
the business part of the town and then
through the quiet residential portion to the
country beyond. If it chance to be Sunday
the street is filed with moving throDg in
holiday attire, whose varying types prove
of novel interest. The Mexican dude in
lsombrero, embroidered jacket, brilliant
sash and jinglng spnrs-displays his horse
manship on a highly mettled steed which
disputes the way with primitive OK carts
and less brilliant cavaliers from the sur
rQnpdino ufru Fnhn M u{d
are filled with pedestrians Of every age,
sex and condition, the social standing Of
the female portion being indicated largely
by the quality of the head-dress or mantle.
Juavez boasts some aristocratic blood, and
a jaunty phEet0n drawn by two niInble
ponies and driven skilfully through the
throng is pointed out t0'us as occupied by
two ladies of that class. The women's
faces. with few exceptions. are not re-
markable for beauty. 1t is mostly of the
peon type, and hard work and fare have
given the dark eyes worn expression and
furr0wed early deep lines on the sallow
faces. In the afternoon everybody is NOV
ing towards the Plaza, near to which is the
enclosed board amphitheatre in which
some exhibition always takes place. Per-
haps balloon ascension with parachute
attachment by means of which
young woman. high in air, In appropriate
costume, descends to earth, or 1t is the more
favorite pastime of a bull fight. A more
tame and disgusting exhibition than the
one we saw can hardly be imagined. The
bulls were neither fierce nor vigorous, the
| horses miserable specimens of their race,
and the riders remarkable neither for
horsemanshlp nor courage. Costume and
posing were the principal features of the
exhibition. This was done by the Mata-
dores to perfection. The awkward
butchering of the last bull exasperated even
| Mexican audience, who Kissed and hurled
| imprecations at the awkward swordsman
VINO failed four times to find the vital spot
Long before 1t ended, we had seen enough
of Mexican bull-fghts. Among the Curl
GUS signs we saw in Juarez was "Jesus of
Nazareth. lawyer" Temporal mutanturi
when words like these are associated. At
ter the bull-fght the crowd poui ed out into
| the Plaza and the tents that line one side
| OF 1t were soon filled by crowds who
| thronged about the wheels of fortune or
| fitted from table to table Ia the open air,
where rouge ct noir and other games of
chance were publicly carried on within
view Of Holy Mother Church. Everybody
| seemed to gamble, men, women and child
rem, but copper coins predOminated. They |
| represented the scanty earnings of the |
players. In studying the scene, the moral
| LIST could find much food for reflection.
From El Paso we took the Texas Pacific |
| railroad to Pecos City. as we wanted to |
| seess0mething of the famous PecOs valley, |
which is being made to blossom like the |
rose by means of an extensive system of |
irrigatiDg works, which furnish water to |
its rich soil. at Eddy we are shown some |
of the agricultural and horticultural prod |
ucts of the region. We are within the lin |
Its OF the arid belt, but one could hardly |
believe it who saw the cotton, wheat, |
alfalfa, oats and millet, and large variety |
and apples; which those lands ' prodnce.. |
After our experience with Pecos |
City hotel, the more than comfortable |
appointments of the hotel at Eddy were |
most agreeable change We should be |
thoroughly ungrateful if we ever forget |
the attentions, Of It's accomplished land
lord who so skillfully ministered to the |
wants of his Eastern guests. But our path |
lies further up the Pec0s, over the great |
plains which border Seven Rivers and the |
PenascO. and stretch from the Pecas fifty |
miles back to the foothills of the distant
mountain range. Wagons and stages are
our only conveyance and we are soon TO
have taste of regularity of the climate
of New Mexico. We leave Eddy in ''dust
Storm This does not mean q violent
gale which tears things to pieces, but q mod
crate breeze which gathers up the fine
soil of the plains and sweeps 1t forward in
increasing masses and density till it OBJ
scures the horizon and envelopes every-
thing in its dull alkaline haze. 1t fills
the eyes, works into the nostrils and
mouth, and filters into every crevice and |
opening of the clothing. After riding
twenty miles in such an atmosphere one
comes out of it of uniform dun color, and |
the busting off is work which exhausts |
the patience. Such was our introduction
to the cattle plains of New Mexico, and |
notwithstanding we were assured that
such storms were unusual at that season of |
the year, we did not fail to meet with sew
eral more of them on our daily drives over
the range during the week that we spent
on the Pecos. There were offsets,
however, to this annoyance.
The days were mild and clear
quail and duck abounded, and we never
failed to come home at night with game |
enough taken at chance shots to add to
the well filled larder of the home ranch, |
the cordial hospitality of whose inmates |
Is one Of the bright spots of our long !
Journey. And then the sun sets in New |
MoXfc0 were a thing of ha2utv lnnp IN ha