The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1896-06-09
fHE LAND OF THE MONDAY
SUN.-MEXICO IN MID WINTER.
BY JUSTICE WALTER CLARK, LII, D.
(From Arena for May.)

opinion prevailing among the great ma
jority of Mexicans was that the people
inhabiting the United States were a
rude, semi civilized race, presuming on
their numbers and brute force. Nor
was this opinion unnatural, since they
based their conclusions upon tn Sc
specimens of our people at that time
most generally to be found there, rough
frontieremen, needy adventures, and
that class of gentry who went to Mex
leo becau:e it was no longer entirely
safe for them to live north of the Rio
Grande. The advent of railroads has
changed all this. Lage numbers of
our people have gone to Mexico, and
among them the great majority are
thriving, energetic, honorable business
men, who are developing the country
while they are also making fortunes
for themselves. The result has been to
elevate this country i~mmeasurabIy In
Mexican estimation, and they too have
risen in our scale when better known
and Judged more correctly. But many
of the tourists who go to the country,
unlike the intelligent men who go there
to invest, so conduct themselves al to
earn the dislike of the people. The
following extract from a letter just re-
ceived from an intelligent American
now residing in Mexico sums up many
similar complaints I heard while there:
'In the last two months we have
had several excursions trains pass
through here loaded with Americans.
These trains are specials and stop at
all places of Importance. Generally
the people on them seem seem to think
they are down here among a lot of
savages, or rather unciviliz-d people,
and that everything is open FOR their
inspection and criticism. Some of them
make perfect guys of themselves by
combining Mexican dress with that of
their own country, and some of them
will even put Mexican sandals over
their shoes and parade the streets in
that state. Where these people come
from I don't know. l have never met
they in the States and l take very
good care to keep shy of them here.
I should certainly tell them what fools
they are making Of themselves. No
wonder M9xicans have a dislike for
Americans I could not understand
it at first, hut l do now"
I heard many almost incredible in
stances of rudeness and lack Of re
refinement on the part of members of
these large travelling parties (chough |
of course the great majority of them
are ladies and gentlemen there, as they
are at home which serves to bring
odium upon the American name. 1t is
the more shocking since p~oliteness is a
striking characteristic of the Mexican
people, and a lack of good manners is, |
in their eyes, the deadliest sin in any
claiming to be a gentleman. 1t is
very certain that if members of an
excursion party of Mexicans were to
behave in one of our large cities as
some of these tourist think they are
privileged to behave in Mexico, the
next carload would be hooted out of
the town by the boys.
The time must come, and that at an
early day whent the great central plateau
of Mexico will be to the teeming mil !
lions of the United States and Canada
what the south of France and Rivera
are to the people of England and
Northern Europe. The scenery and
the climate of Mexico for a winter re
shores of the Mediterranean. All that
is lacking, besides a better knowledge
of the country, is a few of the magni
icent hotels which have been erected
in Florida. The hotels in Mexico gen
orally are said to be far better than
they were formerly and are still i'm
proving, but much is yet to be desired.
The only hotel in the whole country
which has an elevator is the "Iturbide"
in the City of mexico, and the short
hours of service of that have caused it
to be said that ut is like a ballet dan
GERS costume-begins too late and
leaves off too soon"
The most striking building in the
City of Mexico is the famous cathe
dral, with its twin towers and graceful
dome, On the north side Of the Plaza
Mayor. Begun in 1873, it took ninety
odd years to build it and the cost was
many millions, the walls alone costing
two millions. It is built on the spot
where the great Aztec temple or
teocaW stood, on whose summit, upon
the nraat sanr:GAial sEnno Lno- II H.