The evening tribune. (Pawtucket, R.I.) 189?-190?, 1897-06-08

Iuo IopIocSson Oh InosF meuooFs NessneS
Dress Nor Money VIII secure Admission
Into Good Famiiiss-Ths Msxicsn's Love
Of Art.
Christian Reid (Mrs. J. M. Ticrnan)
n an interesting conversationalist as
writer, and Mexico is deeply In her
debt for services rendered without any
notion Of claim therefor.
That country has brought number
of books from her. and each Of them
sheds the peculiar light which does not
always radiats from historians. She "
an enthusiast admirer Of tho country,
and, poetlike. has possibly painted moro
of the future Of the country than the
matter Of fact man may be able to ses
to date.
She talks ON tho subject with the
same interest However we'll informed
her miner and capitalist husband may
be on business matters relating to Mex
loo, when IL comes to presenting vivid
picture of the country to the stranger,
his, like that Of the best travellers, falls
short of her descriptions. For. after
all, it 10 humanity that makes coun.
try, and she seems to have come to nm
derstand the people of Mexico.
The great trouble with the people who
visit that country and come back with
the statement that there Is no society
there, and that the place Is good one
to be buried alive In from the rest Of
the world-the great trouble with these
historians Is that they have not come tc
know any one, and that 10, according
to her, very easy thing to do, II he
goes there imagining that the social Gus.
toms are anything like they are in tht
United States. There il no spot on the
face Of the earth where the companions
ship Of the home Is 30 circumspect and
exclusive
A person is not taken into the bosom
Of the refined Mexican family because
he dresses well and is fair spoken. Un-
less he has taken the trouble to get let
tiers of introduction to some homes, and
these letters from the intimate friendt
Of these homes, the visitor is more than
likely to 60 away in the same ignorance
Of Mexican social or home life that he
came there with. If he gains admission,
he will come into the acquaintance Of
homes which might make him ask,
"Are these people really behind our
much boasted civilization" The Ques.
tion comes home with tremendous force
10 the observant. The casual traveller
may get some inkling of 1t by recalling
q familiar sight. He has doubtless seen
Of an evening the men and women OF
an entire Mexican city gathering in the
central park. promenadiDg to the music
Of q magnificent band There b sees
all the women waking together in one
direction around the square and all the
men walking In the opposite direction.
He will not, in the course Of an entirA
evening, hear loud voice or see an in.
decorous act. The most perfect mannerl
arc everywhere observed. The impress
sion made il of race Of gentlemen and
ladies. Suppose for an instant that this
same scene was enacted In an American
city, can the most pa)riotic Amerioa<
for moment imagine that he will se.
such manners, such true refinement,
such delioacy and true chivalry2 This
public scene is an index to the manner
of the home where it Is nurtured.
The great picturesqueness of the ma
tion consists, however, according to thia
author, in the art temperament of the
people. In this respect the race is per-
fectly wonderful. Art seems to be SO
very natural to them that 1t is utterly
unconscious of its own existence. II re-
Gently saw, for instance, in one of the
churches some superb work in sculpture,
part completed and part in process Of
execution. Asking who did it, was
pointed out couple Of poems at work
on the marble which was already in
place as part Of the edifice. To my
utter amazement ! saw these poems,
without any recourse to clay models or
any models at all, chiseling out these
figures in the marble. 1t is first marked
of on the marble and then chiseled, and
1t was being done by the unlettered and
uncultivated peon. This is as remark
able to my mind as their music. There
are numbers of such workers who earn
only 81 per day and do not appear to
appreciate that they are the possessors
of rare gifts.
Mexico is certainly land of music.
The people, in fact, do not appear to
have an interpretive appreciation Of
how they love music. It is as natural
to them as the air they breathe, and
they enjoy IL as the bird his song, with
never thought Of the fact.
IA friend Of mine who was travelling
in the country repeated an incident
which made great impression ON me.
He was travelling in q rugged, noun.
famous district. remote, as he thought,
from habitation, and coming upon
creek running through the rocks he
saw party Of men who had their
white trousers rolled up, and they had
just crossed the stream and were seated
in the shads on the opposite bank re-
posing. Suddenly he heard clash Of
bright music, as bright as the sunshine
that bathed the country, az clear cut,
spontaneous and joyous as the note Of
the song bird. It was body of men