Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1891-10-15
COST OF LIVING IN MEXICO.
1t is Very High, but Money is Mad
Easily.

asked young American dentist u
San Luis Potosi, a city of 100000 pss-
pie in the north central part ef MeIico-
rich farming corntry-wsat it costs to
I'VE in Mexico.
The youns dentist aves very nicely
Like all IS his kind in Mexico, he is max
ing m>sey and he Il saving enough to
moe him rich within the next ten or tif-
ieen years. Said he:
Il keep a close account of my ex-
penses and as l figure it it costs me just
about $117 month. My living costs
ne for table expenses 81 day, or $50 u
month. pay $25 month for my house
and | have three servants, who average
81 a month apiece. Here every respect
able fellow has to have a cook, man and
a chambermaid. In addition to the wages
of the servants / have to give them so
much a day for food. Each of them ex-
poets six cents every morning for tortillas
or corn-cakes, which constitute the bread
of the common people. Then every
week have to give six cents extra to
them for soap. This is the custom and
they want the money and not the soap. |
once bought twenty five pounds of soap
and tried to doe it out to them, but they
wouldn't take it. Washing and ironing
are never done in the house in Mexico.
There are public washerwomen, who
pound and rub the clothes to pieces after
wetting them with cold water, which they
get from pnbic tanks or bitches. They
wear out the clothes in one-third the time
that they would be destroyed by China
men and pay them So month for do
ing it. My butter costs ne seventy-fve
cents a pound, my milk seventeen cents
day, and pay about six cents day on
the average for charcoal.
can ordinary hand-me-down suit costs
from $40 to $50. Underclothing is very
expensive. Calico costs 1S cents yard.
A very odinary silk necktie sells for 81
Linen cuffs are 80 cents pair and col
lars three for 81. My wife's dresses
count up, can tell you, and man has
got to make good lot of money in
Mexico in order to live as well as he does
at home"
81 suppose you make it, said he.
ayes, do" was the reply, land any
American dentist who will come here and
stay can do likewise. made So, 900 the
first year, and have done considerably
better right along since that time. | can
charge bigger prices. | get from 800
to $50 for full set of teeth on rubber.
Whenever | administer gas charge $40
for pulling tooth, and when a number
are pulled charge $40 for the first tooth
and 50 for all succeeding ones. For
jerking out tooth without gas | charge
81. Filings range from So upward, and
gold filings cost from $l5 up into the
hundreds, according to the size of the
cavity and the size of the bank account
of the man who has his teeth filled. |
always get $500 for making set of teeth
on gold, and all other business is done in
proportionate rates"
There are about 700 Americans living
in Mexico City. Some of them are very
wealthy. A few own houses, and quite
a number have rented establishments.
Thomas Brauniff, who was born on Staten
Island, is said to have an income of over
500, 200 q year. He is President of the
Mexican railway which runs to Vera Cruz,
and he has a big plantation, cotton fac
tories, and is one of the leading owners
of the Bank of London and Mexico,
which is the biggest bank in the country.
He is building house which will cost
100000 on the Paseo a fashionable
drive of Mexico City. He is the richest
American in Mexico. Gen. John b.
Frisbie is another rich American. He
owns some gold mines near Toluca, and
he has one of the most comfortable homes
in the capital. He tells me that living
is high in Mexico and that his expenses
there are about as big as they would be
in Washington New York World.