Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1892-02-28
ON THE RIO BRAVO.
A Glance at the Picturesque
Texas Border.
WHILE INTENSELY RELIGIOUS
The People Are Filled With Superstition and
Are DenseIy Ignorant.
The Cross of Life, of Death. of JOY aud
Woe, Crosses Everywhere for
Everything-How They Eat and
What They Eat-An Oasis,
WHILE INTENSELY RELIGIOUS
Romantic Rio Bravo.

| Romantic Rio Bravo.
Special to the Gazette.
AUSTIN, TEX, Feb. 27.-To take a LOOK
along the picturesque Texas border of the
romantic Rio Bravo is like getting glimpse
| of one vast changing panorama, teeming
with sights to inspire the behol-
der with the keenest interest, and
| 10 attempt in a couple of short
letters, 10 tel of the peculiarities of place
| and people is almost like an effort 10 con-
| dense the contents of a well-illed book
| within the brief pages of its preface
In my last letter to The GAZETTE put
into print some of the pictures of that pc
| culiar country over which Texas claims do
| minion, yet which in its every character
istic is foreign, which hardly knows there
is such thlrg as the commonwealth of
| Texas, which in its ignorance and its care
less independence could hardly be made to
| realize the existence of national govern
ment of the United States of America.
| Those pictures once put before the public,
scores CT others just as interesting, present
themselves before my mind and 1 can see
| one vast gallery of scenes and situations
| which need but the framework of great
| newspapers forms to command the atten-
ton and the interest of the public. The
more they see am sure the more they will
| hungerfor.
Speaking of hunger brings to the surface
| a subject that touched on in my last letter
| to The GAZETTE: What these people eat,
how they prepare it and how they eat II.
As l have before said the principal diet
| of these simple citizens is corn. It is more
often than not paid to them as wages for
| work done. Sometimes it is raised by
| themselves, but in whatever way they get
| it, they seem to know bnt one way to pre-
| pare it for food. Mills they nave none,
| and doubt if they would patronize them if
| they were accessible, any more than many
| pf fbpn NTOU16 Tic n a
| forked stick for a plow and take to that
| Yankee invention of steel, with which their
| more progressive neighbors break up the
| ground when'they cultivate the soil. The
corn is ground as they need it for each
| meal, and the process consists simply in
| rubbing it vigorously between two rocks,
| the primitive machine being known as
''Inatat." The lower stone is fiat, with
| shallow concave in the upper surface and
| the grinding is done with a long stone
which is grasped by one end and used as a
! pestle.
1t is a rare treat to participate in dinner
prepared in one of these lowly bOrderland
| houses. One cannot fail to enjoy it, and
| am sure the experience will be as novel and
| interesting to the readers of The GAZETTE
| as it was TO me.
Not liking the prospect of being smoked
| alive, l select as my dining parlor one Of
the houses which has chimney. 1t is a
The chimney is work of art, for these
| people, when they have a chimney at all,
seem TO take as much pride In it as they Go
| in their hats, when they exert themselves
in that direction The chimney is modelled
| like a telescope. A big cube, covering a
square at least SXo feet, rests on the ground,
and smaller cubes Surmount 1t until the
apex IS crowned by graceful circular cap,
which rests on short and slender round sup
ports, through which the smoke escapes.
The fireplace, capacious and inviting, Is
carved into the face of the big base cube,
and the wide opening which extends up
through the others to the apex makes
famous draft.
The miserable little shanty which is built
against this chimney, scarcely large enough
to incloSe the fireplace is called q ''Jacal,"
pronounced "hahkell'). The lord CT the
mansion stands laZily in the sun outside,
dividing his attention between covert
inventory of your outfit and an almost futile
effort TO keep a couple of gaunt dogs from
flying at your throat, while MS wife, qui-
etly and apparently well content with her
lot, moves about in her preparation OF din
ner. The children of the happy pair are
abundant, from the dirty faced baby In It's
rough board cradle, swung by stout cords
from the roof, in the further corner, to the
round-cheeked, glossy-haired girl OF twelve
who is helping about the fireplace. The
corn is ground, mixed to a paste, with
water, and being patted out into fiat daubs
between the hands, is put on the fire IN
skillet to come off in few moments, smok-
ing hot and smelling very inviting indeed
to hungry man. These corn cakes are the
far-famed Mexican 'tortillas'' pronounced
''torteeyo'9, and they with pot OF
''frijoles" pronounced ''free-hoIes"D
which are nothing but brown beans cooked
up into a musky mess, constitute the hrSt,
last and only course to be served at TINS
dinner, though the frijoles may be banked
with chunk of meat If the family Iarder
is in good condition, in which event the dish
comes under the head of ''frijole-con-
or if the meat happens TO be good, '1T1Jole-
cCn-chivo.n Red pepper of course figures
conspicuously in all the dishes, and TO the
uneducated palate, literally spells them all.
Usually no table is used, but as there IS
guest in the house, one is brought forth on
this occasion. Itconsists of
THREE SHORT BOARDS
nailed together and set on blocks, raising 1t
about four inches from the floor. Benches
are drawn up around and down you sit,
with your knees projecting over the table.
Both the benches and the table are unusual,
for on ordinary occasions your entertainers
SQUAT around on their heels and eat from
the floor.
Dishes2 Eat from the pots and frying
pans the dinner is cooked in. Knives and
forks2 There are none. Spoons9 Unheard-
of luXurleS. II you would learn now 10 eat
lust watch your host. He siezes tortilla,
folds its two edges together, and forms
ladle with which he deity scoops into the
pot and transfers a load of friioles to his
mouth A mouthful of friioles and bite
from the side of the tortillo ladle, and so he
progresses, replacing his scroop with new
one when it is too far eaten to be OF further
service. The meal progresses, and you ind
yourself scooping into the triioles with the
rest of them, while you tear an occasional
bite from CHUNK of dripping, steamlng
meat clutched in your left fist
The average Mexican is not a heavy
eater and the meal is soon over. Your host
would get fat on three or four tortillas,
handful of friioles, and q cigarette.
The daily fare of the average inhabltant
of this country would fall far below such
as have just described, as the dinners OF
some OF the lordly ranch owners would de-
part from it TO the other extreme.
I have in my mind one ranch IN TINS sec
ton which embraces over 4 million acres,
extending more than fifty miles from border
fence to fence. The home of the owner Is
a modern palace, its surrounding Enclosures
a blooming garden, veritable oasis IN the
desert. Constant watering keeps the grass
green, and spendthrift flowers fling their
lavish perfume OF the lazy breezes which
Iinger among the budding branches OF the
trees. Dusty, travel-stalned, sun-ourned
and weary, the wayfarer comes upon this
bit of earthly paradise like one who wakes
from dream OF despair to find himself
transported to elysium.