The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1894-03-01
4 TRIP THROUGH MEXICO.
Henry SHELLS Travels Through
the Romantic Land.
AN INTERESTING LETTER.
SOME OF THE FEATURES OF A
MEXICAN HOUSEHOLD.
what 1t Costs to Live in the Big
City-The French intervention in
Mexico-our Lady of GuadaIOpe-
other Points OF Interest.
Jalapa, Mexico.

Jalapa, Mexico.
TO the Editor of The Herald:
Holy virgin, let the sun sinner
Those are the words. spoken in Span
81, which fell upon the writer's ear as
Ie stood in the depot after being dis
edged from the train which brought
him to this showery little Mexican
town, dislodged is the word as he had
fallen asleep during the latter part of
the journey and the other passengers,
Mexicans all, had left the car without
disturbing the stranger in the corner,
that rude task being left for the mozo
who came TO sweep out the car. Five
minutes later the scene is transferred
70 the platform of this wayside station
on the line of the Inter-O Oceanic rail
way operating between the City of
Mexico and Vera Cruz on the sea-
board a dull, gray sky, the air laden
with mist, fog and a drizzling, never
ending rain. A solitary street car with
six mules, thirty passengers and
twenty seats, goes toiling UP the steep
hillside which leads to the plaza or
public square of the quaint old town.
Looking vainly for a second car or
other conveyance, the traveller fun
bles in his pockets for a card of direc-
ton on which is penciled Hotel Dill
gencia' and surrendering his Yalise in
to the griny, aztec hands of a, native
STANDARDIZATION, he rolls up his
trousers ala Regent street, and pro-
ceeds TO follow in the direction taken
by the car and is in turn followed by
the moist and saturated tramp with
the hand-tJaggage aforesaid. Arriving
at the top of the hill, a scant, very
Scant knowledge Of the Castillian ton
que enables him 70 ascertain that the
house recommended had recently eX-
pired in the last throes Of commercial
decay; the next and remaining alterna-
tive proved to be a characteristic
Mexican inn, such as one often met
with in the interior towns of this
Tawny republic and nowhere else, I'M
less in Spain or some Of the South
American cities. A description Of one
is a description of all. They are gen
orally of a single story, though Some
times OF two; the walls are laid with a
rubble Of lava. stone. the whole country
at some remote period, appears to have
been volcanic-the walls are then
covered with a itucco OF lime or per-
hzps cement, as cracks or other evi-
dences of decay are rarely seen,
roughly squared tiInlbers support the
pentiled roofs. and timbers and walls
are colored in distemper, the gaudy
the architecture Of all tropical and
most sub tropical countries, blue, red,
pink, light green and yellow, ordinary
windows are rare. If they exist at all,
the French window or double glass
door IS universal. Another leading
feature Of the better class of Mexican
structures, is the patio or open court
yard surrounded by the building, most
OF the apartments open on this interior
court or garden and all have access to
st. Coiounades with balustrading run
around each story and overlook the
grounds beneath
Passers-by, foreigners returning from
q weary round Of sight seeing and tired
out with the heat and dust of the i'll
paved streets, hug the narrow strip of
shade along the houses and sometimes,
through open Railways, catch
glimpses of these patios where foun-
tains play, The Inpid waters sparkling
like diamonds in the glancing sun
lights where a palm tree or clusters of
orange and lemon trees shade cool,
green grass plats and beds Of brilliant
flowers and ferns, trailing vines and
creepers bound each to the other with
tangled and twisted sprays or delicate
foliage. while Jagged boughs of fran
gipanni break the underground and
scent the ar with sweet white bios
SONS.
Here on rainless days, free from the
supervision or idle curiosity of that
class Of strangers who annoy our lawn
feteS. the Mexican host may receive
and entertain, may lounge in easy
chairs or swing hammccks among COO
shadows where tamarind and mango
pineapple and plantain struggle IN
tropical rivalry.
The pavement Of the interior CALLER.
les, the floors and Railways of the var
ious apartments and the walks In the
secluded patiOS are LAID with red earth.
ea tiles. In rare instances the tiled
floors of the living rooms are carpeteo
among some CT the weather. classes
marble, slate or art tiles replace the
more plebeian red. AS in the West In.
dies, windows opening on the street
are flush with the sidewalk and guard.
ed their full height by iron gratings
hence, when sad-eyed senoritas are
seen, as they frequently are, claspine
the prison-like bars and peering wist
fully out. the resemblance to q captive
bird beating its wings against an iror
cage is not far TO seek
The next feature of a Mexican house
hold approach 1t with terror:
WHAT they batten on, their menu OF
bin of fare. verify the flesh pots d
Egypt Ia no wise resemnled those o
Mexico or the Israelites would have
remained inflexibly firm to the end
116fEr n THESE ldtttuQ6S are raised anC
consumed every kind of meat known Il
us, we may breed better strains, bu
the various species are here, and {
greater variety of fruits and vegeta
l1les is never seen in any land and Wis
5ting their markets is an ever-recur
ring delight to observant travellers. bu
the fault lies in their manne~ of pre-
pairing the food. The bean cepted
no one vegetable is ever cooked anC
served alone-the writer refers, O.
course, to his own experience, which
has been principally in the interior
all are mixed and mingled in the sam,
manner with each other and with var
ious soups, stews and meats. Ons
podrida is a phrase we borrow some
times from the Spanish there is moth
ing IN our cuisine requiring its use
jenkins lexicon lying on my table
says:
Ola podrida (putri6 nlixture). Any
odd mixture, as the Spanish dish of al
meats and vegetables
They possess nine varieties of beans
only one of which. the castor oil bean
is not served at table, it's arrival Their,
is daily expected by resident Ameri
cans The moderate use they have TO
Mexican dishes has created an opulenc,
of appetite that will welcome an,
change. Other Mexican dishes are plen
tifuIly seasoned with whole spices, rec
and green peppers, garlic and onions
tntii the very ghost Of vegetarianisn
itself stands aghast.
In December last the writer was dom
iciled at Cirantla. the sunny little cap
ital Of the state Of Morelos and whfh
stroIiing through the local market n
saw a number Of women selling brown
colored bugs by the quart; they wer
round ana fiat. the bugs, alive an,
crawling. and would probably measur
three-eightas Of an inch in diameter
he learned from The hotel steward u, .