The daily chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Ind. Ter. [Okla.]) 1898-1902, 1899-04-13
77- " 777I7771 n
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 exhibitionsin 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
tions 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
they9 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 60
they splash joyously in their ditch
and disport themselves along the
bank in every conceivable state of
dishabille
We reached Aguas Calientes at
sundown on Saturday, and / was go
curious TO see the place that the sun
and appeared on the streets about
the same time. Whole families ap-
peared from the direction of the
town bearing bundles of clothes on
| their heads. The Mexican peon
| owns only one change of garments,
a shirt and trousers of cotton, a
sash, sandals of most primitive de-
sign and straw sombrero, and he
is abundantly clad. For extra wrap
there is the serape, and to see the
young Indians about to bathe manip-
ulate this useful garment is Q lesson
in the art of draping.
They select 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 a 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 al
you between long braids and float
ing strands of dripping hair.
The prettiest girl / saw might
have been Pharaoh's daughter, SC
beautiful and perfectly formed was
she. ! saw her coming to the canal
barefooted, footsore and weary, yet
with all the marks of race in hei
face, and ! doubt not she is lineally
descended from some of the dusky
kings of this fair land.
She crept out of her white chemist
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 OF
the buoyant water, holding her re
boza before her like curtain, ant
laughing over it at me with my i'm
potent camera. This young lady
together with several other girls
performed ablutions behind thil
fringe of mesquite that borders thu
stone wall of the canal. They sport
{ ed like brown Venuses just arisel
: from the waves, quite undisturbet
by the passing and repassing 0
their own countrymen on the Dor
n ders of the canal. 1t was only witt
the Americans that they were coy
and that is our own fault, ! dar