Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1893-05-12
WHERE secoARs THRIVE.



70 = Casual Observer.
Chief among the many pulling ques-
tons with which my childish mind wililed
away the weary half hour Of a Sunday
morning sermon, was the existence Of
ncggars in Bible days. pictured Pales-
tine to myself as land of temples. torf,bs
and gardens, inhabited by beggars and
Pharisees. Born and reared in the pros
porous west, poverty such as the scriptural
tales dimly suggested was to me q thing
as vague as the He'll of the same records.
fairy tale far more unreal than the sleep
ing palace or the caves of Aladdin. Now.
the puzzle is solved, I have seen poverty.
/ have been to Mexico, understand
Palestine. can almost believe in horn
ed Satan and fire and birthstone.
To casual observer Mexican poverty
is extremely picturesque. It is not an
imitation of respectability such as the
humblest American will attempt, but it
is humanity in rags and nakedness. too
often in sores, almost always in dirt.
There, begging is trade, the occupation
of all the poorer population. Beggars
infest the railroad stations at the interior
towns, and motley array 1t is. They
are of all sexes, conditions and ages, with
and without sores, the lame, the halt, and
the blind. Babies in arms holding out
dirty little hands for "centavo.0 old
women, young women, healthy little
boys, crippled grandfathers all whining
to the same tune in their mongrel Spanish
For the love Of God, Senorifa, give me
cent"
Give them cents! I poured them
out upon them. Never had a copper
seemed of SO much value. luxuriated
in their delight. bought out the porter,
the newsdealer and the conductor to
satisfy the want that never could be salts
| fed; for there is friendly feeling among
these unfortunates, and when they find
one who will give, they spread the glad
| tidings among all their class, and indeed
suspected them of having discovered
some peculiar way of telegraphing the in
| formation to the next station, so besieged
was for charity.
! Some tourists who had been in the
country before endeavored to impress me
! with the fact that was encouraging idle.
ness, but who would not be idle when the
sun was hot and water luxury and even
for labor, money was not forthcoming
They must live. To live they must eat
and it seems to me that in the more DESC
late portion of the country, to eat, they
must beg.
Very picturesque were they seen from
the car window in the soft gloom of the
southern night, their dark eyes cleaning
like stars under their quaint hat or still
more primitive head dress, their white
teeth glittering as the musical Spanish
rippled forth in compliments calculated
to appeal to the generosity of the senorita
who seemed to them a small sized provi.
dence. In the cruel glare of the sun de
fects became evident, and one saw the
coarseness in the squalor and dirt, still
never did they cease to be poetic. They
harmonized so perfectly with the back.
ground of cloudless sky, antique build
ings, and tropical verdure. There was
beauty even in their very ugliness which
was plea for their existence and in re.
membering the pleasantest journey o.
my life | shall always have a very tender
recollection Of the beggars of Mexico
Edith NJ. Day in Levis e. Dyyden'.
Railaoay and Marine Gazette.