San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1896-06-21
MEXICO CITY LETTER.
HOW MEXICAN LOVERS INDULGE IN
PLAYING THE BEAR"
The Amorous Romeo Has to Court His
Fair Juliet Under Far Greater Diff
fculties Than Those Of the
Capulets and Mantagues.
Special Correspondence.

Special Correspondence.
CITY OF MEXICO, June 16.-The
better class of Mexicsns are very
careful of their daughters, and no
Mexican senorita enjoys the liber-
ty of an ordinary American girl.
She cannot sit up half the night
spooning after the family has gone
to bed, nor can she take buggy
or bicycle ride at night into the
country attended solely by a male
escort. If you gain admission TO
your inamorita's home and be-
come her f1ance you cannot see her
alone nor can you take her any
where without being encountered
by one or more members Of the
family. Mexicans seem to think
that opportunity makes the liber-
tine as we'll as the thief and de-
cline to be an accessory by giving
opportunity. When married, the
senorita has more liberty, but she
is still closely watched and held
in the boundary of stern conven-
tionalities. Sometimes, where the
lover Is we'll known or marriage
is arranged by the parents, he
gains earlier admission to the
house and has restricted in
terviews with the lady, but or
dinarily only after year or so of
faithful devotion of the admiring
swain Is he admitted to the house
and then, and then only, IL the
parents approve of the manifest
courtship, in the meantime, he has
to be satisfied with
PLAYING THE BEAR.
This is an old and peculiar GUS
tom. II a Mexican is inclined to
marry, knows a desirable girl he
commences courtship in that way.
II he meets girl that he does not
know then he finds out where she
lives and does the same thing.
Then he parades the street looking
up at the house Of the fair one
aud only going certain distance
like bear that gets to the end OF
his lettering chain. The Mexican
girl is sharp. She soon realizes
what the admirer wants and ap.
pears at the window. Ii she is
favorable, she will come there oft,
stay a few minutes, gaze absently
into the street and after time she
will smile upon him. That is
enough and they commence what
the Mexicans call "haciendo del
Oso (playing the bear) in earnest.
II, however, the lady is engaged
or not DESTROYS of the proposed
attentions she turns her back on
him and always does so when he
is seen on the outside. The young
man, IL he is sensible, takes the
hint, discontinuas the play and
seeks a more congenial party as a
mate for the game. 1t Is called
playing the bear, because the
young man does considerable
walking in q limited extent, IS II
he were In q cage or tethered by
an Invisible cord.
When q silent but tscit under
standing exists between the lady
he comes every night to sigh un-
der her window and gaze as she
appears as bright orb on darkness
for the girl is always in a dark
ened room when the game goes on
and another lady, hidden In the
curtains, is there to see all that
is spoken and see what the lovers
DO. There is no danger for he Is
on the outside and she on the In
side protected by iron bars as IL
she were in jail. For time moth
ing is said. They are contented
to express their meaning in signs,
signs and glances. After a while
they get to talking and that is
"courting under difficulties"
IT Is bad enough when the girl
is seated on the ground floor, but
when, as is often the case, she Is
on the first or second floor the con-
versstion has to be pretty loud
for them to hear each other and
of course outsiders can hear and
understand what they say. AS /
returned home from the Paseo del
Reforma at midnight recently, /
saw a man leaning against the
wall. He had his hand to his
mouth and was shouting appar-
emily to an imaginary parsonage.
My first impression was that the
man was drunk but on coming
down 1 saw In the CLEAN of the
electric light the pale face of q
pretty senorita, who was at a sec
ond story window, and knew that
they were playing the bear. 1t
may have been nice for them, but
to an outsider, like me 1t, looked
supremely ridiculous, and Shaks-
peare's lines, "the lunatic, the
lover and the poet are ofione GLASS;
in fact as Americans would say
"three of a kind" were more fore.
IDLY impressed on my mind.
This mode OF counting is car
ried on not for a day, but for