Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1898-04-05
llfe IN TROPICAL MEXICO.
FOREIGNERS WHO MARRY MEXICAN
WIVES SETTLE THERE coNTENTEDLY.

Il Il mistake to think that one Is Al
ways uncomfortably hot In tropical coun-
tries. There Is heat and there are In
sects, lust ~ there are mosquitoes and
an oven-like heat In the fortunate city OF
Boston. But the young planter in the
tropics need have no fear for his living.
He can raise poultry and vegetables and
have 4 well Furnished table all the year.
The mere getting something to eat does
not worry the denizcns Of the tropics;
they, In fact, worry very little about
anything. That Is what kept them back
Ia the race Of life, although ] AN disposed
to think that they are better of for lack
ing ambition.
Certainly In many towns In the hot
country one sees more OF contentment
and quiet ease of life than Ia observable
In month OF Sundays In New England.
Remove the dread Of starvation from q
community and you make II cOntented
one. All our New England philosophers,
for example, the wise and prudent Emer-
son and the practical Thoreau, who could
work and calculate As well as dream and
phllosophize, advise curtailing ones
wants, and that IL exactly, and without
bit Of generalization on their part,
what the residents of the warm regions
are doing.
A friend OF mine, an American. who
SAYS that he ''has accumulated $4,000
and n wife and three boys" down In
southernmost Mexico, says he has to
struggle to keep up his ambition. His
wife tells him that he has enough. and
can live without bothering himself; but
he pegs away ut one thing and another,
surveying, prospecting, doing odd jobs,
buying for other people, and so keeps on
adding to his "pile." He believes In
Mexico, loves the country, has cast In his
lot with II, and will end his days down
by his pleasant river, under the shade OF
the tropical trees, surrounded by his
children.
Contentment In foreign country
arises In great measure from becoming
accustomed 10 the idea OF having made a
permanent home. Then man begins to
be interested In the country, to make
valuable friends, and To know something
Of the language more than IL needed for
strictly business purposes. Ny friend Is
OF type OF Americans who come here,
seem to immerse themselves In the
Spanish language and Mexican customs,
wed woman OF the land aud settle down
In good humor for the rest OF their days.
They are anchored, for no Mexican
woman will ever live out OF her own be-
loved country. She cannot be happy
AWAY from the blue skies aud mountains
and soft airs Of her land Of sunshine and
perpetual spring. have known OF
Mexican women wcarying Of Paris and
Berlin. Of Washington and New York,
and preferring to live in village here to
a residence In great city abroad. And
40, IL the young American immigrant
msrries here re must be ready To stay
and become part Of the population OF
what l. bound TO be a most progressive
and wealthy country.
You can't eat your cake and have u,
too. In other words, you cannot be liv-
ing In Mexico. and always hoping to re-
turn to the United States, not II you are
IN make mark here. The successful
Americans stay. Prosperity naturally
makes q country attractive TO any man.
Rich Spaniards who have made fortunes
here become smitten with the idea OF 60
ing back 10 their old homes In Spain 10
live. and are secretly DESTROYS OF dazzling
their stav-st-home friends OF bovhood
dsys. They begin 10 deprecIate Mexico.
There's no country like Spain" etc.
They return home. aud Ia less than six
months are back here, for good Mexico
never seemed so delightful To them "a
when on their return they sighted its
shores from the steamers deck. In Spain
they were forgotten; the life OF their VII
lsge was dat and Improbable: they
missed business acqusintances and the
more progressive life of this country,
and they became afflicted with home
sickness for the land OF their adoption.
A German friend Of mine, after many
wears here, became stirred OF Mexico" IL
vas, he said, always the same thing"
He went back 10 the fatherland TO stay,
20 90 into business there. In four
months he was on the streets OF this city
again, joy In his eye, his face radiant
With pleasure to lind himself once more
10 Mexico, the tiresome.
have asked many returning friends
why they came back from Europe. They
usually say that things have changed
over there, that life Is too psrsimonious-
ly conducted, that the pennies are
clutched with vise-like grip, and that
life Is too sharp struggle, and then the
climate, The climate is bad, II always
rains or il cloudy; every one has rheu-
mstism, and there Il nothing so charm
ing as sunshine. Another German
friend. just back from long trip home,
said that he found he had no longer any
taste for the life OF his native land. He
had become used TO the tropics, and liked
things here better, although he Rrowls
and criticizes everything as before.-F.