The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1898-02-19
THE "TAMALE MAN."
Another Interesting Letter From
Texas-Peculiar Customs
of the People.
Longview, Tex, Feb 8, 1898.
m tho EIitar Of Nup

LonSvlew, lex Fe0. 3, 1913.
To the Editor of THE SENTINEL
| Every evening as it nears sunset
you hear the soft Mexican voice oI
the tamale man, as he goes about
calling ''tamales! tamales! hot
tamalcs!' (this is pronounced with
the a s, like in star, long sound OF
a with accent on the second syl-
lable). Should you desire to pur-
chase you answer him "Tamales. y
and he comes to the gate or porch.
These little Mexican dainties are
prepared by the Mexicans and sold
by them usually on the street, tho
m told they are sold in the saloons
as we'll
The tamale is made of highly
spiced minced meat, favored with
comencs seeds, Chile peppers and
cayenne. A small portion OF this
seasoned meat or chicken is enrolled
in corn meal mush, the whole neatly
encaSed in corn husk, cooked in
boiling fat. They are carried about
in one pail which is enclosed in
another, the inner pail being packed
around TO retain the heat. The
tamalc is eaten Il great deal here.
Should Judge it would ward off the
Ill effects of malaria. This place is
between two rivers and is very
damp. Even the brightest of winter
days one is apt to be chilly except
in the sun. This morning is not
bright, but is some of these hot, muggy
mornings. The outside door is open,
one window is up, and IN writing
IN my room, without fire. Last
night was a very hot night, such as
you sometimes have in the Lake Su-
perior country in April, before the
ice begins to melt.
Another Mexican dish is Chile |
concarnf, kind of soup made from
the red Chile bean, suet, chopped |
meat, red or Chile peppers, cayenne,
and the comenes seed. Without the
latter you lose the distinctivelv !
Mexican aavor. I'll have a Chile .
concarne party when next come to
IL Anse to which yourself and Mrs. |
Jackman are invited to attend. Pco-
pie go to eat these two Mexican
dishes here as we do ice cream in
There are some very nice stores /
here, but it is not of those | shall
write. Some of the old stores are
the strangest | ever saw. No win
tows at all in front, large, heavy
wooden doors stand wide open-very
comfortable when the sun shines,
but exceedingly chilly and dark
when part OF the doors are closed.
One strange building of Cone story
has eight of these double doors, only
those in the dry goods department
having windows. | tried to kodak
It last night, but l could not get it
ali in the range of my pocket kodak.
Men are on the streets continual
y-both black and white-as it is
100 cold to stay in the stores, only
while waiting on customers One
strange feature is the absence, or
nearly that, of white women in the
In the afternoon they 90
'ut calling or visiting. l ascribe
heir absence to the fact that very
'ew white women do their own cook
ny, and the black cook does the
marketing.
Should number of men be sitting
IN the curb or lounging on boxes, it
S quite noticeable that when YOU
each them they are all standing, re-
naming standing until you have
passed and some distance away.
| must not forget to tell you that ;
visited the school here last Friday
The most remarkable thing to me
vas that the lady teachers wore
wraps and gloves while school was
n session; this in the sunny south
and, on very bright clear day.
81. S. S. NJ.