Tombstone daily prospector., 1891-01-21
MEXICAN PREJUDICEA.
DREAD OF FRESH AIR CARRIED TO
 A LuplcRous EXTENT.

Orleans in the bend of her imperial river. GuansjEE:s and Zacatecas by the side of their rich mines, but there is no sound or sensible reason for the location of ths City of Mexico in low and swamPy tract, when right at hand were building sights of iroomparable view, of perfect sanitary conditions and certain to afford space for the amplest possible expansion oi the town Temporarily nothing is being done. on any comprehensive scale, for the advancement Cf the ,laa for draining the valley of Mexico. and incidentally the city A company of Ohio origin Is dig cing a canal under contract with the city government, and it gets its pay regularly. as the rulers of the city are good paymss ters and honorable in all their dealings But the big plan seems to have been let drop for while for some reason not apparent.
 Meantime the death rate is extraordin ary, and what should be one of the most healthy cities on the globe, standing as it does at more than 7,500 feet above the sea level. is one of the most unhealthy The ravsges of what may be termed dis eases eugendered by dirt and dampness are something frightful-typhus fever inot the milder typhoid), smallpox, which Is always existent somewhere. consumP- ton, dysentery, etc, carry of thousands every year. The let of the p-.Ter classes, and of those between poyertI and com. fortable circumstances is < hard one. Their dwellings are daInr musty, ill smelling pestiferous. IL is Nong these classes tS.. ihe death rate l. very high, but among the well to do people who live on what is here called the primer piso, or first foor. or. in New England, the second story, the mortality is not greater than in Boston The peculiArity of tEe climate Is that it's lack of oxygen renders recovery from sickness very difhcuh- Once let yourself run down, and ii is hard getting up again The languOr of the climate, the lack of life In the air. conspire to keep the invalid weak. and it Is the rule of the doctors to send patients out of the city as soon ss it is possible 10 remove them.
 BEDROOMS SEALED AT NIGHT.
 Out on the hillsides the country people are robust and rarely ill, unless they hap pen to be of that class who try to keep bedrooms dramatically sealed at night. This prejudice against the night air Is very great and widespread 1 suppose 1 that eight-tenths of the inhabitants Of 1 this city shut up their bedrooms as tigb. as drum every night of their lives. TAas l they breathe their own effluvia, and pine away to the profit of the doctors and tb= | drug shops. This fact accounts for the many mottled and sailow complexionz one ] sees People who have travelled. or those l who arc of receptive minds and have ! studied tbe matter. let the night air cir, | culate in their apartments Their good ! blood and clear eomplexions testify tc | their obedience to hygienic laws
 ! The dread Of the fresh air is often car | ried to e ludicrous extent. People sit rsl | three hours in dirty, stuffy theatre and | breathe the air of the sewers underneath ! the floors, inhale all the human exhala l tions which cOntzminate the unagitsteC l air, and then. on going out into the com | paratively pure air of the street, keeI | handkerchiefs to their mouths and noses l This morning noticed a sallow woman 1 riding on the Paseo in her coupe, lap 1 dog on her knee The glass windows O 1 the vehicle were tightly shut, So Jha l none of the glorious air of the morning il
 that favored spot should by chance eEte ] her withering lungs. This was the ol:
 monkish idea; in the eonvents the pion'
 brethren preferred close cells and must, tones. They dreaded water. and sOal i was unknown to them
 A curious prejudice exists among man. l people here against cold water when the, have ''catarro" or cold in the Lead. O
 even 8 touch of chill in the bones. To
 weeks, till the cold has gone. they reso luteiy refrain from touching water An
 other popular prejudice here is tha
 which inpels family to move out of
 house when any member of it has died
 For this reason l. is needful to be eau
 tious in taking a house or apartments til
 you have made certain that no one La
 recently died therein of a tagi0Us dis
 ease. So far does this prejudice go tina
 many people abandon their old homes O
 tie death of member of the family
 CHILDISH FEAR OF DISEASE
 It does not seem to be so much super
 stition as 6 childish fear of disease. An l vet these sarls people who would not co.
 eeut to remain in house thoroughly an l scientifically disinfsctel. with new wa | paper and new paint. will move to hous i with a s;aguant ditch near at hand, an 1 will shut themselves up in their bedroom
 at night ike herring in a box The O!
 houses here show in their eOnstructio | the dread Of air and sunshine. With uttl
 narrow windows, brick floors and tigl
 doors, they wero certain 10 become must
 lI. six months occupancy. The ancieE | EDlNGDLS HAL lllAO-E 5 VI -A+S bAA- ot pFls1
 windows Churches were built so ths
 never by any chance could breath of a
 get in to disturb the worshipers. A
 this the white man did But the indiaI
 living mainly in the open air Of il high sierrss. is a different sort of creatur a man who can make sixty miles or mol , a day He it is who eats with an appeti' his frugal meal. and has the good senr . ] to beat his idols when they do not grsr
 bis requests immediately. These are q ! men and women with broad chests and . color that shows red blood and good eirer latiOu. They have missed the refinement 1. l Of the white race. but have preserved the . . Iivers and their lungs In the heart ! the Indian their lUrks 6 contempt for Il : l siclSly eolored white nan He regards b D i pale faced broib her as a man Of artiiice an | endless :eGncmeIts. who must have ] hand an spOthecary shop and a dOcto . who dares not live out In the free count 2 unless protected by servants. dogs aI
 guns The white man takes q horse f
 a journey of five miles; the Indian will : 4 ... s-