Audubon County journal. (Exira, Iowa) 1884-1993, 1898-08-11
MEXICAN GIRLS IN THE BATH

In Aguas Calientes some Moses of
old smote the rock, and there gushed
from it a stream of water SO warm
and altogether delightful that the
town was named after it, and the
natives bless the Father of Waters
every day of their lives. Bathing
is the occupation of the town, and
the result is shining bodies of bronze
and as good many square inches
of skin are on exhibition in Mexico
complexion counts.
Imagine 500 natives of all ages
and both sexes calmly bathing in an
open ditch, with such privacy as the
blue heavens and the republic of
Mexico afford. There are two sec
tons of them, those who have some
thing on and those who have not,
and they splash around in their bath
as unconcerned as baby or ca
nary in a porcelain dish. Their an
cestors bathed in the long ditch
where the water lies blue and little
puffs of steam arise, and why not
they? What though the Mexican
Central did lay its parallel bands of
steel within stones throw of their
hereditary bathi That is the rail
roads fault, not theirs. And SO
they splash joyously in their ditch
and disport themselves along the
bank in every conceivable state of
dishabille.
We reached Aguas Calientes at
shutdown on Saturday, and I was SO
curious to see the place that the sun
and appeared on the streets about
the same time. Whole families APP
peared from the direction of the
town bearing bundles Of clothes on
their heads. The Mexican peon
owns only one change of garments,
shirt and trousers of cotton,
sash, sandals of most primitive de-
sign and a straw sombrero, and he
is abundantly clad. For extra wrap
there is the serape, and to see the
young Indians about to battle manip-
ulate this useful garment is lesson
in the art of draping.
They select q convenient bush,
unmake their toilets and, sheltered
by the friendly blanket, slide into
the water While in the bath the
women wash their chemises and
emerge from the water and put on
skirts and as soon as they are dry
the freshened wardrobe You may
see mater familias bathing her
brood. She selects pool, and, dis
robing herself to the waist, scrubs
her progeny. Every head is care
fully soaped and scraped, and the
white suds run down over the burnt
sienna shoulders. The children
have water fights, and the naked
babies, when cleansed, are laid on
the bank to dry, where they kick
and squirm like bronze Cupids. Ev-
erybody washes from crown to toe,
and the girls glance coquettishly at
! you between long braids and float
ing strands of dripping hair.
The prettiest girl l saw might
have been Pharaoh's daughter, SO
beautiful and perfectly formed was
she. I saw her coming to the canal,
barefooted, footsore and weary, yet
with all the marks of race in her
face, and doubt not she is lineally
descended from some of the dusky
kings of this fair land.
| She crept out of her white chemise
and calico skirt, and, with her re-
boza about her shoulders, slid into
the water. There she unbraided
her long hair and let it float out on
| the buoyant water, holding her re-
boza before her like a curtain, and
laughing over it at me with my i'm
potent camera. This young lady,
together with several other girls,
performed additions behind a thin
fringe of mesquite that borders the
stone wall of the canal. They sport
ed like brown Venuses just arisen
from the waves, quite undistur bed
by the passing and repassing of
their own countrymen on the Dor
ders of the canal. 1t was only with
the Americans that they were coy,
and that is our own fault, dare
say. Still shall always remember
the flashing white teeth, the pink
beads on the warm, brown Threats,
and the perfect turning of wrist and
ankle.
The long canal where these chill
dren of nature wash off the dust OF
their native land and where the
city's wardrobe futters from every
bush is about mile long. At the
upper end the springs gush from
earth S hot heart, and there are bath.
houses of stone and adobe hundreds
of years old. They say that Monte.
zuma's daughter came here to battle
before the envious Spaniards over.
ran the fair land. Certainly his de.
scendants have been in the water
! ever Since-San Francisco Ghroni.