Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1893-10-23
MEN AS PACK ANIMALS.
THE CARGADoRS OF MEXICO COM
PETE WITH HORSES AND MULES,
Carrying Enormous Loads for Incred-
ible Distances Cheaper
Than the Beasts of Burden,


by carrying upon his back heavy loads,
a cargo being measure of weight oi
300 pounds which such person is sup
posed to be able to carry, hence the
name cargador.
The peculiar individual is not the
product of a single section of the
country; on the contrary, his sphere
is general. In the cities he is one OF
the first persons whom stranger meets
as he alights from the platform of the
cars or the step of the stage coach.
The cargador rushes up to the arrival
and offers to carry his baggage, from
his hand satchel up to his heaviest
trunk, regardless of its weight, or size,
or the distance to be covered. In the
city he also enters into successful com
petition with the pack mules and de-
livery wagons, carrying heavy loads
of merchandise to and from the bust
ness houses, and in such places where
corn and fodder have become un-
commonly dear through prevailing
drought, or where the streets are
stony and uneven, the cargador has al
most entirely superseded both pack
mules and delivery wagon.
While such are his chief occupations
he does not draw the line at anything,
and can be frequently seen carrying
ore out of the mines, water through
the town, and even corpse and coffin
to the grave.
Out of the city the occupation of the
cargador is equally diversified. Above
all things he is pack man, as the
mule, horse, or ass is pack animal,
and he enters into active competition
with them in the matter of carrying
freight into and out of towns where
railroads have not yet made their ad-
vent, or where the topography of the
country precludes the use of the heavy
freight wagons. In places where he
has the least advantage over the ami
mails there he thrives best. This per-
haps accounts for the great numbers
in which he exists in the almost mac
cessible "sierra" districts.
The mountain cargador, who scales
the dizzying precipiees and descends
the deep ravines of the Sierra Madres,
is by far the hardest and most inter
esting type of his class. Five feet six
inches is his usual height, and 40
pounds the average weight. He be-
longs to the dark complexioned and
ignorant portion of the masses, called
by the better class of people en-
dos"
As he stands before one, SO short,
slightly stopped, with thin, long face
and apparent lack of chest, one would
scarcely think him capable of walking
the smoothest level with such stagger-
ing loads as he daily packs through
some mountain pass. To be fully up
preciated he must be seen stripped of
his shirt and with his cotton trousers
rolled up, ready to pick up his load.
Then the powerful development of
this swarthy man of the mountain can
be observed at his best. His neck is
one mass of hard muscles. His shoul-
ders are broad and magnifcently
strong, while the actions of the
large and powerful sinews can
be traced at every motion that
he makes. His feet, protected
only by sandals, or ''guaraches, as is
called the hard leather sole tightly
strapped between the toes, over the
arch of the instep and around the
ankle, have acquired hardness that
makes them impervious to the sharp
and pointed rocks among which he
picks his way.
Such is his physical makeup. In all
other respects he is not unlike the
thousands of Mexicans of the lower
class-filthy and treacherous. Like
people of his kind the world over, he
wastes his life between the making
and the spending of a penny. Food
costs him but few cents and lodging
not farthing. He rises from his out
of-door couch in the early morning
hour and walks many miles before he
stops for breakfast. A cup of coffee
and few hot tortillas, which are
pastry of mashed corn and water, and
serve as substitute for bread, form
his morning meal. For dinner he
feasts on tortillas, plate of beans and
Il cup of black coffee. At supper fol-
low more beans, more tortillas and an
ObHeF cup VI COuee. Ii ne Is SOlneWnaJ
of an epicure and plays in exception
ally good luck he gets piece of dried
beef now and then or gloats over
nice fried egg. His three meals, if
particularly luxurious, cost him about
four cents apiece, though he often
manages to live on six cents day
Manhattan, the interesting seaport
on the Pacific coast of the State of
Sinaloa, has long been the great car
gador center of Mexico, partly on ac-
count OF its Importance as n CONNER
clal city, and partly on account
of its location at the foot Of the Sierra
Madre Mountains and the entrance of
the various passes across them. In
this city the cargador freighter loads
his goods for the interior mountain
towns and the cargador peddler pur-
chases his wares, which are imported
by the large mercantile establish
ments, the branch houses of old-estab
lished European business concerns, OF
goods which are smuggled into the
country by the daring shippers who
freouent this coast.