Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1894-03-16
HABITS OF MEXICANS.
The Greasers Are Very Unhygienic and
Hence Not Healthy.

+. X. Guernsey in Boston Herald
Were the city of Mexico situated, with
all it's present insanitary conditions,
down toward the coast, it would be
practically uninhabitable All that
keeps it fit for residence is it's great
height and its wonderful situation in
the midst Of huge valley 1900 feet
at the lowest point above the sea level.
Evaporation is rapid, and the products
the atmosphere.
L have consulted many doctors on the
general question of the healthfulness
OF the city as a place of residence for
foreigners, with the following result:
The greater part of the diseases
prevalent here arise from, Or are ag-
gravated by, the unhygienic habits
among the great mass Of people. There
is a great dread of the air, quite as
much as prevailed 80 or 40 years ago
in New England. People are afraid of
allowing the air to come into their
dwelling freely from outside, and as
for the night air, they still cherish the
belief that to sleep n a stuffy bedroom
without ventilation is preferable to risk
ing the entrance Of the street air. The
thinness of the air at this great Gle
vatiOn makes catching cold very easy,
for, evaporation being rapid, one can
not safely sit down, even in draught-
less room, to cool off after a brisk
walk. For this reason people here do
n of fho cid
for walking, being afraid of the great
change in temperature ON going from
the sun into the cold houses.
Out of these conditions there has
grown up body of tradition regard
ing the perils which lurk in the air. You
will notice that in the street cars ventf-
lators are rarely opened, and that on
cool evenings people are averse to the
opening of single window. There are
many exceptions to this prejudice re-
garding the air, and one often sees men
sit at open street car windows with
barred heads. There are physicians here
who go in for plenty of ventilatio
night and day; indeed, they insist ON
it in their homes.
habit of eating fiery condiments with
their food gets the digestive apparatus
out of order, brings on chronic diseases
Of the digestive organs, and accounts,
in the opinion of scientific doctors, for
the great mortality from diseases of
the stomach and bowels. One doctor
tells me that the only adequate ex-
PLANTATION for the prevalence of bad
digestion Is, aside from eating too
much chile, or the native pepper, the
lack of sufficient oxygena ton of the
blood. At this altitude the quantity
of oxygen in the air is very perceptibly
less than on the coast And the only
way to really oxygenate the blood is to
take much exercise.
And here comes the rub. The people
will not take exercise. Doctors remon-
strait, urge long, smart walks, horse
back riding and all sorts of brisk ex-
ercses, but their wen-to-do patients,
after a languid attempt to follow this
wise advice, give it up, and fall back
nto the INDECENT habits, into the seden-
tary life which the soft climate invites.
One doctor, who takes his own medi-
cine, walking ten miles a day, and in
yariably, on taking the street cars,
standing out on the platform, tells me
that the race I'm the larger cities is
degenerating from insufficient exercise
and too much tobacco and alcohol
This brings us to another cause of
i'll health. stCantfnas," or barrooms,
have enormously multiplied here since
the railways came in, and the youth of
the city find the modern mixed drinks
too tempting. They smoke eternal1y,
and take perpetual "copitas," or drinks,