The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1891-10-30
oosT or LIVING IN MEXICO.
Il u Very Steep: b u MONEY Is Mad

Hgaa.E o EASILY 4-~5
/ asked a young American dentist in
San Luis Potosi, a city Of 100. $50 pao-
pie in the north central part Of Mexico
"a rich farming ccaL.r7-waat It
costs to live in Mexico. says CArpen-
ter's special letter to the N. Y. World.
The young dentist lives very nicely.
Like all of hix kind in Mexico. lie Il
making money and he is saving enough
to make him rich within the next ten
or fifteen years. SAID he;
Il keep a close account of my ex-
penses and as / figure it it costs me
just about $117 a month. My living
costs me for table expenses 81. q day,
or $50 a month. I pay $25 a month
for my house and | have three cry
ants, who average 81 per month apiece.
Here every respectable fellow has to
have a cook. a man and a chamber
maid. In addition to the wages OF the
servants | have to give them 80 much
a day for food. Each of them expects
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. 1 once bought twenty
five pounds of soap and tried to dole it
to them, but they wouldn't take it.
Washing and ironing are v done
in the house in Mexico. There are
public washerwomen. who pound and
r,h thu oIofhao IN piooo, oft,r r,ok,.nr
them with cold water. which they get
from public tanks or bitches. They
wear out the clothes in one-third the
time that they would be destroyed by
Cinnamon and 1 pay them S. a month
for doing it. My butter costs me sey-
enty-fve cents a pound, my milk sew
enteen cents a day, and l pay about
six cents a day on the average for
charcoal
'.An ordinary hand me-down suit
costs from $40 to $50. Undertaking
is very expensive. Calico costs 10
cents a yard. A very ordinary silk
necktie sells for 50. Linen cuffs are
so cents a pair and collars three for
81. My wife's dresses count up. l
can tell you. and a man has got to
make a good LOT of money in Mexico
in order to live as well as he does at
home"
Il suppose you make it " said l.
Yes, l do" was the reply, 'and
an American dentist who will come
here and stay can do likewise. made
s., 900 the first year. and l have done
considerably better right along since
that time. I can charge bigger prices.
I get from 800 TO $3.50 for a full set
of teeth on rubber. Whenever l ad-
minister gas I charge $40 for pulling
a tooth. aud when a number are pulled
l charge $40 for the first tooth and s.
for all succeeding ones For jerking
out a tooth without gas I charge So.
Filings range from S. upward. and
gold filings cost from SIS 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 filed. 1
always get $500 for making a set of
teeth on gold, and all other business
is done at proportionate rates"
There are about 700 Americans liv-
ing in Mexico City. Some of these
are very wealthy A few w houses,
and quite a number have rented es-
adjustments. Thomas Braun.f, who
was born on Staten Island. is said to
have an income of 500. 900 a year.
He is President Of the Mexican Rail-
way which runs to Vera Cruz. and he
has a big plantation, cotton factories,
and is n of the leading owners Of the
Bank of London and Mexico. which is
the biggest bank in the country. He
is building a house which will cost
500, 600 on the Paseo, "a fashionable
drive of Mexico City. He is the rich.
est American in Mexico. Gen. John
B. Rsisbie is another rich American.
He owns some gold mines near Toluoa,
and he has n of the most comfort.
able 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.