The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1896-04-17

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the ground, and dried in the sun. To
build house, they are simply piled up
to the proper height, leaving hole for
the door. and the whole thing is then
plastered over with more mud and
whitened or colored, as the the taste of
the owner dictates.
The weather at certain hours OF the
day seems quite cool, especially in the
more elevated portion OF the republic,
but the native philosophically looks at
that as from the Gods direct, and put
ting on all the clothes he has and wrap
ping his zerape closer about him, lets 1t
go at that as matter of no special inn
portance to him, apparently believing
that when cold comes all he has to do is
to stand it and not to attempt to defeat
the will of the Gods by using artificial
means to keep himself comfortable.
They cook over little fire of twigs OF
wood that grows sparsely in the barren
grounds, and are said to be experts in
the economical use of fuel. The party
was favored with rain as we left
and made the travel, over usually
very 'dusty portion OF the road, very
comfortable How highly I'VE were
you learn that it was the first rain they
had had in that locality for over one
year.
We found ourselves on the morning of
the odd, at Aguas Calentles, a place notori-
GUS for being the headquarters for the Won
derful linen drawn work the MeXicans eX-
hibit such marvellous patience in manufac-
turing. The hour was early and the train
vas a special, so the vendors did not put in
an appearance, much to the disappointment
of the lady members of the party. During
the morning, it being Washington's birth
day, the party congratulated in one car and
celebrated the day with speeches and patri-
otto songs. just as we reached Silao, and.
opening all of the windows, America"
was sung for the benefit of the assembled
natives. The land below Silica is easily
cultivated; the custom Of irrigation is uni
versal, because absolutely necessary; wells
twelve or fifteen feet deep furnish water al
most anywhere; forked tree at the side of
the well, long well-sweep, weighted at,
one end, with bucket and Mexican at
the other, and the work is complete. 1t is
not very elaborate plant, but it is effective,
and it has the merit of extreme cheapness,
as the wages of the native is about fifteen
centavos day, (about eight cents and he
finds himself. The cheapness of labor
probably accounts for the primitive manner
in which farming is carried on. The plOw-
ing is done with wooden pillow made of
three pieces, tongue with handle stuck
through it at the rear, and on the bottom of
the handle pointed piece taking the place
of pillow point. The ground is tickled
with this instrument, and IL for any reason
a lump of dirt is thrown over, man goes
at it with fail and beats it TO pieces. A
bunch of brush is finally dragged over the
field and the work is completed. Very lit
tie seems to be transported in wagons-we
see an occasional OK cart, but in the main
everything seems to be packed on the
patient Burro, which they load down so
that nothing of him is visible but head, tail
and legs from the knee down. Occasionally
upon the top of such load will be seen his
,s>fTship, calmly smoking his cigarette,
while madame patiently plods along side
with huge basket or bundle on her head.
As we near Queretaro the Ousatche tree
claims our attention. With its great mass
of yellow flowers, it looks like tree of
of golden rod, twenty feet high.
No arrival I'm tho oitv Of Mavioo n,, ha
23d. Sunday, we visited the flower market
the first thing and loaded ourselves down
with violetS. of which we bought huge
bouquets, eight inches in diameter for ten
centavos (six cents.) Then we went to the
cathedral, the largest on this continent, and
the richest. 1t has siXty-fve million dol
lars to its credit; 1t is huge affair, coverssa
space about two hundred by four hundred
feet, and is almost two hundred feet high
(nside) to the top of the dome. 1t is a
wonderful building; there could he erected
inside of it SIX or eight churches, as large as
any in Michigan the decorations are very
gorgeous, much onyx being used about the
affairs. We climed to the top of the tower
and from it could see the entire city and
much Of the surrounding valley; we could
see clear to the mountain ranges with
Popocatepetl showing its snowy head above
them all; we could trace the course of
Cortes from the mountains into the city, and
we could look down into the court that was
set apart by Montezuma for his quarters
The spot upon which we stood was once
occupied by the sacriicial temple, in which
thousands of lives had been offered up In
sacrifice by the Aztec priests to their Gods.
That temple was destroyed by Cortes and
the material thrown into the canals. A
plaza occupies the ground in front of the
cathedral, and while it was being prepared
the sacrifcial stone, used in the temple was
unearthed; it was placed in the museum
and is great curiosity to all visitors; upon
its upper surface are carved many designs
and running between them are shallow
trenches leading to common center, where
quite deep depression exists, and from
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