The record-union., 1896-12-20
IN OLD MEXICO.
Habits and Customs Of the People
There.
A Young American Fails to Under
stand the PeCuliaritieS of
the People.

On finding oneself for the first time in an
alien land one can readily sympathize
with the Englishman who, making his
advent on Gallo soil, and perhaps with
the memory of weary hours spent in
communion with Ollendorff fresh in
mind, exclaimed, Good heavens, how
remarkable. Even the children speak
French herei'' OF course, we know what
to expect before we reach the foreign
shore, but somehow, for all that, the
reality comes to US as series of in
teresting surprises.
Looking about on the everyday scenes
of a Mexican village it would not be
hard to believe that here was a spot
where some wizard had worked an en-
chantment, had reversed the wheels of
time and sent them spinning back two
thousand years. The quaint sights
which present themselves on every side
remind me of nothing so much as Of
the illustrations in pictorial Bible.
Much might be said as to the advance
ment that has been made in the last
decade among the more intelligent peo-
pie of Mexico, but certain it is that the
stimulus which results in progress has
not been felt by the lower classes. The
peon clings to the ways of his ances-
tors with tenacity incomprehensible
to a reasoning being and comparable
only to the instinct with which birds
or animals construct their dwellings in
one fashion generation after generation.
why do you always use your white
oxen in the morning and your red ones
In the afternoon" was asked of a Mex
lean plowman. "Quien sabe--it was the
custom of my father" the man replied.
This spirit of conservatism, to give it
polite name, being everywhere prev
alent, it follows that the methods and
appliances of the people are of the
most primitive kind. In many places
water is carried in bags of skins hung
to the backs of burros, and in vessels
which the women balance on their
heads. Grain is threshed by throwing
it on the ground in a corral, turning in
a number of horses or asses and caus-
ing them to trample it out by keeping
them in constant motion. Corn is
ground by pounding it by hand between
two stones. Indeed, it seems character
istic of the race to be content with the
most bungling makeshifts and to do
everything in the most awkward man
ner possible.
In the saddle the Mexican is perfectly
at home, but the art of driving he has
yet to master. To sit in a rickety car
riage with an excited peoh handling the
ribbons is a. thrilling and dangerous
experience. The roads are not of the
smoothest and the driver simply herds
his horses, endeavoring by free use of
the whip, by sundry jerkings of the
lines, by series of whistles clucks
shouts and Kisses to keep the animals
headed in the right direction. DO you
think our lives are of no value?" / ask
in some Indignation as we narrowly es
cape an upset in turning corner.
"Quien sabe. We are all in the har is
of God,' the man complacently an
swers. This eternal quien sabe with
which ones remarks are greeted is irri
tating to say the least
While the adobe huts which form the
homes of nine -tenths of the inhabitants
of the country are almost destitute of
furniture petates (mats made of palm
straw taking the place Of chairs and
beds, and while the food is of the SIM
joles and tortillas, yet economy is un-
known. Carriages for hire abound in
even the smaller towns. and nobody
thinks Of walking the shortest distance
ii he can by any means pay to ride The
sums spent for mescal Can alcoholic
drink distilled from the century planD
and for dulces (sweets) are out of all
proportion to the amount which goes
for the necessarieS of life. Members of
the class of which I am writing never
provide for more than days supply of
food at a time and every morning the
stores are crowded with women and
children, each of whom purchases a
ridiculously small quantity of provis-
ions. A teacupful Of sugar, a pound of
flour, tablespoonful Of lard, is as much
as most of them buy, but no matter
how small the amount expended every
customer demands his pilon, or gift, to
which he considers his purchase enti-
ties him, and which consists Of bit of
candy, sweet cracker or a lump of
panoche, or congealed sugar syrup.
Many of the people wear sandals, but
however Indifferent they may be as to
their fcotgear, in the matter of head
ornamentations the men especially are
exceedingly particular. The pride and
glory of a Mexicans heart is his hat
No matter how ragged his garments be,
If he can display. a broad -brimmed,
silver sombrero he holds up his
head and is man among men.
There is but one occasion when he
with respectful consideration, and that
jc a tty,n h ie
by the excitement of the bull-fight.
When a picador has been thrown, when
a horse has been gored, when some un-
usually brilliant feat has been executed
by the toreador, a wild enthusiasm
often takes possession of the assem-
blage, and it is then that the frenzied
spectator plucks off his treasured head
covering and with an abandon that
recks not of consequences, casts it into
the ring
Besides the burro a creature that
seems essential to the happiness Of the
Mexican, is the dog. Not one dog. but
several dogs to each person, so that in
the aggregate they form a vast horde,
a multitudinous conglomeration of
snarling, bowling, worthless caninity.
Nogales, which is on the boundary
line, has two municipalities, the Ameri-
can and the Mexican. The American
town has a dog pound, but Nogales,
Mexico, sees no use for such an in
stitution. As a matter of course, the
dogs have discovered the condition Of
affairs and when the poundman starts
out on business. from all quarters, mon
grels great and small may be seen flee
ing across the border. 1t is said to be
no uncommon thing to observe a mot
| ley gathering Of degenerate dogs just