The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1899-01-20
MEXICAN POLITENESS
1T is so PRoFUSE AS TO BE ALMOST
LUDiCROUS.

Even IL Painfully Hurt by Another
Through IL Stupid or DunE1inE Ac-
cfGent Words of Courtesy Bubble
From the Lips of the Victim.
"Oh, how deliciously polite!" is phrase
we hear every day from the lips of foreign
ladies when they enjoy the not unusual
light OF two natives, ragged beyond all de-
scription perhaps, who stop a horse car in
the street and keep it standing while each
insists with elegant bows and flowing
compliments that tho other precede him
in going up the steps.
After you, sir"
mot at ALL am unworthy Of such a
high honor"
II dare not take precedence, SIR"
alt is only what is due your superiority.
Walk up, please"
Not for all the world. You are en-
titled to that preference.
This goes on for some time until the car
begins to move and both fling themselves
Mt once on tho steps, smashing the corns
of another Liam standing on the platform,
an accident that gives rise to more effu-
gions of good breeding.
"Oh, sir, how sorry am to have trod
en- your feetl sincerely entreat you to
excuse my oversight"
Never mind" says tho victim, gritting
his teeth and with tears in his eyes, sit is
Nh honor to be rrod on by you"
Thanks for your kindness"
az am myself in duty bound to thank
you"
In fact, dudes from over the sea or from
across the Rio Grando may boast of their
wealth and their Partisan made trousers,
bellies of other lands of their golden trcsses
and charming personalities, but no other
nation equals the stately dignity of Next
can courtesy.
If it is a great luxury to be taught how
to bow and what to do under all circum-
stances by gentleman who knows these
things because he belongs to the European
nristocracy and has behind him a line of
ancestors who behaved as well as they
could in such matters, it is surprising to
observe in a whole nation, even in tho
humblest of classes, courtesy not produced
by ;"tificial means, but gradually and re-
i.:.culy practiced as special endowment
of nature.
Persons in other countries are rarely
treated to such scenes us those VIC have
attempted to describe, and to many they
might appear exaggerated, but let those
that doubt come and judge for themselves.
will cite q few authentic experiences
in illustration of the subject:
An American young lady was once talk
ing with an old Mexican gentleman, and
she laughingly said something about hay
ing some literary work to do.
1t was good to see tho old fellows i'm
pressive manner and air of perfect SINGER
ity as he exclaimed "Workl Miss, such
lips as yours should never mention work.
You should be queen and wear pearls as
beautiful as those incased in your lovely
mouth"
Another young woman was overheard
to say in English to her mother in tho
theater:
Look at that Mexican girl. Do you
like hor? I think her nose is too long and
her features are too sharp"
Whereupon the Mexican girl said in her
most endearing tone in broken English:
Miss, as God bestowed ON you all the
attributes of perfect beauty, very little
was left for me. Believe me, you are tho
sweetest creature 1 ever laid my eyes on,
and never get tired of looking at your
charming face. "
A young man who happened to be acci-
dentally struck in one OF his eyes by
pretty 16-year-old damsel with her parasol
said appealingly while tho blood flowed
from the wound:
LOVELY one be not cruel, seeing that
cruelty and beauty cannot dwell together"
Nowhere will the stranger find more
genuine civility and kindness than among
tho Mcxicans.
Their houses, their families, their horses,
their flowers, their time, even their lives,
are placed, flguratively at least, lat your
disposition.
"A los pies dc ", sonora" (My lady,
am at your fect) is the prescribed form of
salutation from Il gentleman who meets u
lady; where, if two gentlemen meet, they
address one another as follows: "Beso q
V. Ia mano" q kiss your hand)
The same applies to written correspond
ence. A note from n gentleman TO lady
ends in this wise: "Soy dc ", sonora,
atento servidor, Q. SIS. PIP. B." The in
itials are for "que sus pies besa," and the
whole phrase stands for, Il am, NY lady,
your attentive servant, who kisses your
feet"
If a gentleman Is addressed in writing
only his hands arc kissed, not his feet.
These formulas are followed not only by
the richer but by all classes AS to the
poorest, their courtesy toward one another
is widely different from the gruff, boorish
intercourse of the plebeiuns of other ma
tions.
The poor of Mexico cannot frame SEN
tence withsut employing one or more
terms OF endearment.
Como estas, mi almaP" (iow are you,
my soulO The words they address each
other speak of the gentle consideration for
the feelings of their neighbors, which
characteriZes the race and emanates from
spontaneous courtesy.
a Mexican gentleman will never permit
q lady to descend tho stairs uraccompa-
MED. He takes her softly by the hand or
offers his arm to assist her in going down
the steps, and only takes leave Of her at
the street door, when he does not insist ON
leaving the lady at her own home.
Love Is more the business of life in Mex
leo than in northern climes, perhaps be-
cause other people have more diversion
than we have. The ladylovo Ia ardently
styled ''the very eyes of me-" but that
does not prevent tho Mexican beau, when
stung by jealousy, from deuouncing love
as treacherous.
Since there Is no help, bow before
you, kiss your feet and depart" is the be-
coming way in which the unrequited lover
JANUS lchNc vi eHS BlFl liibu HAS given MIN
the cold shoulder.
All hope Is os Fl love is stretched upon
his bie:', but tho Mexican whcE beauty
dcspiSes, although naturally angered ut
the slight, pretends to feel moro kccnly
than anything else tho annoyance he has
given her with his unremitting attentions
Excuse me, fair lady, for having put you
to the trouble of repeliing the audacious
revelation of the feeling you have Gwak
ened in my bosom" Such 10 tho mild
form in which he gives vent to his rage
and despair. Republics. City CT
Mnvicn.
The use of roller in rOadmaking was
first suggested by Cessnrt i'll 1856. and first
adopted by Po!inccnu and MOrInGicro in
1885. The first steam roller was construct
ed by the French engineer Ballaison