St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1894-05-31

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poor naked men
Passing on over the rough, desert
ed road, we came to a wretched
hovel, and entering this found
the patient lying on a mattress
spread on the earthen floor in one
corner of the single room. His face
was drawn and pinched with pain.
but no complaint was heard.
cannot describe the condition of his
back, but it looked as though sharp
knives had been drawn across it in
all directions and the flesh torn out
with pincers A haxseed jacket
could not be prescribed under these
conditions, so the doctor applied an
enormous fy-blister on the poor fell
lows chest, and gave some medicine
for the high fever. After leaving fur
Their directions with the family, we
| returned to our adobe hotel for the
night.
The following day was Good Fri
day, the greatest day of all, and in
the afternoon we repeated the drive
of the previous day. Up to and in
Guiding Holy Week Of 1891 the scene
of Calvarys crucifixion had been
faithfully rehearsed, and no difficulty
was ever experienced in the matter
Of finding willing subjects. SO per-
sistent, however, has been the OPP
position of both church and state TO
all the exercises of the Penitentes,
and so many men had actually died
while nailed to the cross, that new
plan was adopted, and instead of
nails wet rawhlde was used to fasten
the victim. This practice is still con-
tinued, but in the ceremony which
we witnessed a jointed figure OF
Christ was used in place of the living
man. On this day we had in our
party man who had been in New
Mexico since 1853, and a resident OF
Taos since 1859. For many years
he served as captain of spies and
scouts under Kit Carson (who, by
the way, lived in Taos and IS buried
there, and many tales of adventure
and war enlivened our drive.
Arriving again at the theatre OF
yesterdays awful scenes, and finding
the ceremony of the crucihx1on
about to begin, we drove up to
point directly behind the crowd, and
within about twenty-five feet of the
principal actors. In the center
stood the crucifix, and beside it,
gazing steadily at the figure sus-
pended thereon, was man repre-
senting the soldier who pierced the
side OF Christ. To convey the idea
of his calling, this man wore around
his head white cloth, stuck III the
side of which was an American flag,
and holding a spear in his hand,
while his face was made most hOr-
rible with streaks of red and white
paint. From an old and most dilap-
idated book another man read in
low tones the service OF the day;
and deem1ng this an unusually ia
vOrable opportunity to take a pic
ture, | reached for my camera, which
was hidden among the blankets in
the bottom of the wagon. Seeing
my object, our old scout protested
vigorously, saying that if we were
caught we would have war on our
hands at once, and that if persisted
in the attempt he would leave the
wagon. l did persist, and he left a;
but while perhaps l was guilty of an
inhospita BILE act, the idea of going so
far without a try at this picture
was too much for me, and trust my
venera ble friend will accept herewith
my apology. Placing the camera
under my arm and shielding the lens
with my travelling cap [ watched
for a favorable moment, and then
dropping the cap for an instant, the
civil engineer pressed the button,
and the cap once more Instantly
arose to its office. The click OF the
spring, however, had been heard by
those in the crowd nearest US, and
curious glances were turned upon us
that were far from assuring. Our
faces, however, betrayed nothing,
and a few minutes later, when the
procession carrying the effigy had
started, several more snaps were Sc
cured in like manner. This process
sion was indeed most peculiar one
First came the cross bearer, followed
by ten little girls, representing the
wise virgin, carrying all sorts and
conditions OF lanterns, ranging from
an orthodox burglars to discarded
and abandoned track-walker's Next
were three girls, slightly older,
dressed in sombre black, typical of
the three Marys; then men carry
ing figures of the Blessed Virgin
dressed as Mexican woman of
fashion; and last of all, but preceded
by the inevitable chanters, four
women bearing on their shoulders
bier on which reposed the figure of
Christ. This procession marched
down to the town and back again,
chanting all the way. The restora-
ton of the figure of Christ to the
morada completed the outdoor SER
vice. On Good Friday night the
meetings of the Penitentes in their
noradas are marked with the most
frightful selfinficted punishments,
but these services are of course ut
terlv inaccessible to outsiders.
We may pity the ignorance of the