Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1897-11-06
THE CHILLI QUEENS.
THEIR THRONES WERE IN SAN AN
TONIOS HISTORIC ALAMO.

Especially Gracious to the Tourist From
the North and Made 1t Pay.
When the northern tourist used to
strike the town, the first things the pa
triotic citizen who was doing the hon
ors would proudly steer him up against
would be the Alamo plaza chill stand,
with it's attendant divinity, the far
famed chill queen.
'Now, sir, you've seen the historic
Alamo, the old cathedral and the mis-
sions and got Whit of our ozone, the
citizen would remark with righteous
pride, land tonight you must come and
eat a Mexican supper and see the chill
queens The chill queens are one of our
most noted attractions-the beautiful,
dark eyed senoritas, you know"
The tourist generally knew. This
was in the late eighties, the palmy days
of the chilli queens, when their fame
had spread to the larger northern cities.
Some very musical verse about them
had appeared in the magazines, and in
the newspaper sketches they We're ideal
lied as stunning creatures, with the
rich, brown skins of the tropics and the
dangerous grace and bewitching black
eyes of Spanish donnas.
When the citizen and the tourist
stroll up to the gay looking chill stand
with its big red, green and yellow Ian
terms and it's scintillating pyramids Of
cheap but gorgeous glassware, she
promptly shuts up the sporty young
man who is bandying slang with her Or
quits haggling with the chill gorged
bootblack over change
She hastily rearranges the flowers in
her hair and the big bouquet at her bos-
ON and beams on the new arrivals with
sparkling eyes.
The citizen addresses her with an
easy familiarity
"Hello, Chiquita How's tricks?''
Hello, senior. Tricks are bueno.
How is my amigo, the senor?'
They all used the Spanish dialect
when they had special customers, de-
spite the fact that other tongues came
easier to some of them by nature. There
were six reigning queens on the plaza
in 1888, and one of them was of Ger
man descent and another was born in
the island where the sod is highly green
and there are no snakes. The other four,
however, We're senoritas of the genuine
Mexican variety.
Chiquita's eyes sparkle with their
most brilliant luster, and, with quick
succession Of flashing SMILES she uses
her red lips and white teeth to good adj
vantage on the tourist while she en-
cages in badinage with the citizen.
YOU'RE looking prettier than ever
tonight, Chiquita. I'm glad of it, be-
cause we want to make good impress
sion on my friend here. He's from away
up north, you know, and he's heard of
you before -
Then Chiquita uses her tinllling laugh
and slaps the citizen gently on the
cheek.
$50 sorry, but l have not single
nickel to give you, But take this flower
instead -
She transfers big rose from her cor
sage to the citizens buttonhole. The
tourist is beginning to want his share
of the fun.
Eyes, heard of you up there, and
that S one reason l came down hereto
see you, you know"
"Oh, my! You must have flower
too"
Her hands linger lightly on his coat
as she carefully pins a spray of honey
suckle on, and the tourist begins to be-
lieve that he must have come down here
for this He is enjoying himself very
much.
"Well let's begin on our chill pep
pers,' suggests the citizen. "You say
you never ate one before? We had better
take little Of everything, then, so you
can say you did San Antonio right
Bring us the whole bill of fare, Chiqui-
ta."
The queen turns sharply to the Shiny
looking old Mexican who has charge of
the steaming pots and kettles in the
rear and rattles off this with celebrity
which seems to astonish the tourist:
Jesus, andarle! Dos platas de chilli
con carne, Y dos tamales con chill gra-
Wy, de enchilades tortillas, y dos tazas
de cafe. -
The fiercely burning chill con carne
agonizes the tourist and he chokes on
the enchilades, but he manages to strug-
gle through the tamales by drinking a
great deal of water. Meanwhile, the
chilli queen sits opposite him in a Ian
gushing attitude and keeps up her tin
Killing laugh. When it comes time to go,
he insists on paying the bill, despite
the protests of the citizen, and tenders
So bill. Chiquita seems to have trou-
BILE in counting out the change and a
thought strikes the tourist.
Say, Chiquita," he says tentative
ly, "you needn't mind that IT,
"You mean you want to make me a
PRESENT."
AS that is what he means, she tucks
the bill in her bosom, and gives the
tourist a fond look. She takes another
rose from her hair and pins it on his
coat and squeezes his hand in bidding
him goodby,
Then, when her customers are gone,
she goes and sits down in front of one
of the steaming kettles, with lap full
of tortillas which she uses to scoop up
large mouthfuls of chilli.
Chiquita was fair type of all the
chill queens. They were not the idyllic
creatures Of popular conception that
they appeared to be when on dress pa
rade, but most of them were really come
ly and they had the charm at least of
novelty.