Wood River times. [volume] (Hailey, Idaho) 1882-1915, 1891-08-14

ounch OF red peppers hung from ono
ut the rnfters, and there were ne,ther
chairs. tables, nor any kind Of furni-
ture. The woman, who was sqnatting
on the aoor when I csme in, rose aud
said "Buenos dos" or GOOD dsy,"
and sh was pleased when told her
in broken Spanish that her baby was
PIE ty. She was . pretty woman,
and could see no signs 81 her he ny
III unhappy one. Her clothing con-
sisted Of white waist AID red fsnp-l
skirt, which fell u within about m inch
If = pair Of very brown and shap+ly
ankles. Her feet were hare, ana
doubt not that tho clothing she had
on WAS oil she posse.sed, with the
exception If hlue cotton shawl or
rohs,sa, wtich Was hung on one end
Of the rail'oad ties projecting = little
farther inward than the edge Of the
roof. While l WAS looking at the
babv the father tered. He was
better clothed than his wife, and his
clothing seemed cleaner. 1t consisted
Of pig straw hat with rim ~ big
around ~ the circumference Of para
i. and with . CROWN which went
fem thu br,m to the top like sugar.
! Of. He had on . cotton shirt, and
. pair If wide cotton drawers hapl,e ed
around hi. bar" ankles, while q COR
xe"us red seras.e OF blanket was thrown
over his shoulder. He had no shoes
on his feet. and tn" soles OF these
looked ~ though they might max.
leather 81 the kind used Tor saddle.
asps. Upon inquiry | found that his
entire in"ome amounted to 10 cents q
day when no worked, and that he
owed debt "f $500 to his master.
0" IL" Mexican plateau the most
of The huts Of the poor arc made Of
sun-drisd bricks. and the poorest have
only one room, about six feet square
Such huts have no windows and II .
soor 10 Of the rud.st lumber. The
huts are "ft-n not high enough for .
man I" stand upright in them, and ono
has always to duck hi. head when h+
Goes into the door. They arc jnst
like the huts which you SEQ on the
hanks Of the Nile, and tho poor Of
Mexico arc almost - poor ~ the
Egyptian fellAhio. These huts are
ast-rocfed and are in fact only h,xes
made If mud bricks. In Mexico i,v.
within stones throw Of the finest
houses. l found LUIS, some of which
contained several families, which were
no better than these. and The furnitu .
in both cases was nothing hut q mat
and = few orockery bowls for cooking.
In the mountains about T"luca mx"v
Of the people live i" houses or shan,i-s
mt more than four feet high, an j,
.. M thu railroad ! SEQ places whe,e
h"ar'ls have heen stuck up against q
hill. and the family are living in these
half caves.
Wages are very low in NJ xico, and
prices of all kinds are high. The
average the country over is probably
not moe than 80 cents = dav and
ere are thousands Of men working
o" the big estates in this part Of Mex
i"o for less tina" 20 cents / an, told
that the natives are very law bn. |
see them working everyw here, and
hey seem 10 work very hard. In
some PARTS Of Mexico the average is
10 cents dav, and one Of tho biex-s,
estates in III. cotntrv, which EMPLOYS
. largo number ofhands. paws 81 cents
Down in the hot lsnas along the coast
the people Ct higher wages than they
do n the Mexican PLATEAU. aud in the
coffee regions they receive a. high ~
50 cents day. Fifty cent. . day i.
god wages for m. n who work OH th4
railroad, and you must rene mher that
this so cents il equivalent to less than
40 cents in American money, rs oil
wages here are paid in Me xican silver.
Some Of tho hardest working men in
Mexico are the port-,s. They carry
tue burdens of the country. l have
seen great stack. OF board. moved nv
them. and you se- them goi, z on the
d"g>trot along oil the roads Of Mexico,
earning ever. thing conceivable, from
piano to chicken coop. They will
cary 200 pounds without trouble for
miles You can get all you war, OF
III m for 40 cents = day, aud { ey
boa.d themselves. MAsons get rs
oehts II they arc 6sst-class workm. n,
and it serona-rl.ss they receive iu.t
about hIlf as much Weavcrs get "a
a week. and tn. y work II hours !. day.
Spin n.rs receive t3 per week. a,
Anu~s Csliet"s ordinary labor brings
fro.. IL to rs c-nts = day. Ca,pcn.
t'ss make fr"m rs t. 80 cents Per dsy,
aud . hoss carpenter ct. . dollar .
dav Bo"kk~. pers. if they are gmxl
are paid As high ~ $50 a month, and
clerks receive from tl8 to $40 per