Wood River times. [volume] (Hailey, Idaho) 1882-1915, 1893-05-05

They are - Pisturesque ~ they are
| NumsrOua.

They are - Picturesque ~ they are
NumsrOua.
Railway and Marine 0asette.I
Chief among the many puzzling
questions with which my childish
mind whiled away the weary half hour
of . Sunday morning sero'on. was the
existence Of beggsrs in Bible days. !
pictured Palestine to myself as land
of temples, tombs and gardens. in
hxbited By beggars and Pharisees.
Born and reared in the prosperous
West, poverty such - the scriptural
tales dimly suggested was to me
thing as vague as the He'll OF the same
records, q fairy tale far more unreal
than the sleeping palace or the caves
Of Aladdin. Now, the puzzlei 10 solved.
l have seen poverty, | have been to
Mexico, l understand Palestine. !
can almost believe in . horned Satan
and FIRE and birthstone.
To . casual observer Mexican
poverty is extremely picturesque. 1t
10 not an imitation OF responsibility
such a. the humblest American will
attempt. but it is humanity in rags
and nakedness, too often in sores,
almost always 10 dirt. There, beg
Ring Is trade, the occupation of all
the poorer population. Brgga's in
fest tho railroad stations at the interior
towns, and a motley array It is. They
are Of all sexes, conditions and ages,
with and without sores, tho lame, the
halt, and the blind. Babies in arms
holding out dirty little hands for q
"centavo, old women, young women,
healthy little boys, crippled grand.
fathers ali whining to the same tune
in their mon0rel Spanish "For the love
of God, Seno rits. give me cent"
Give them cents! l poured them
out upon them. Never had q copper
seemed of such value. luxuriated
in their delight. l bought out the
porter, the newsdea.er and the con-
ductor to satisfy the want that neves
could be satisfied; for there is q
friendly feeling among these uu-
fortunates, and when they find one
who will give, they spread the glad
tidings among all their GLASS, and in.
deed, suspected them OF having dis
covered some peculiar way OF tele.
graphing the information to the mex,
station, SO beseiged was l for charity
Some tourists who had b. en- in the
country before endeavored to impress
me with the fact that was encoursg.
ing idleness; but who would not BE-
idle when the sun was hot and waite,
\ luxury and even for labor, none,
was not Forthcoming. They must
live. To live they must eat, and i,
seems to me that in the moro desolats
portion Of the county, to eat, the,
must beg.
| Very picturesque were they sect
from the car window in the soft gloon
of the southern night, their dark eye'
cleaning like stars under their quain
hat or still moro primitive head dress
their white teeth gli,,ering as III.
musical Spanish rippled forth in com
pliments calculated to appeal to tn.
generosity Of the senorita who seemed
TO them a small sized Providence. Ii
the cruel glare Of the sun defects be
came evident, and one saw the coarse
ness in the squalor ard dirt. still neve
did they cease to be poetic. The,
harmonized SO perfectly with the back
ground of cloudless sky, antiqu.
buildings, and tropical verdurc. Their,
was q beauty even in their very ugli
ness which was . plea for their OK
istence and in remembering tn,
pleasantest journey Of my life I shall
always have q very tender recollec tio,
of tho beggars of Me xico.