The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1899-11-14
COURTING IN MEXICO.
Conditions Which Make the Telephone
Most Useful Auxiliary.
LF7rom the Mexican HERALD

[From the Mexican Herald
To begin with, it is clear the condi-
lions of society are quite distinct with
these people. The custom of carrying
on u cOurtship, under the window of
your mistress, as often as not, too,
without the knowledge of her parents,
is entirely the correct thing. In any
other country this would be Irritation
carried to an extreme, but not so in
Mexico. Where custom sanctions, there
IS nothing more to be said; and after
all it seems to be in the very air
Young women in Mexico are not per-
mitted anything like the freedom their
more fortunate sisters in England and
America enjoy. Here again there is a
good reason for this. In former days
the country, as every one knows, was
in a most terribly unsettled state. Go
only a short distance out of Mexico and
you will still see the most evident
proofs of this in the heavily built sur
rounding walls of many of the hacien-
daS. These walls are in some cases
loophoIed for musketry Some of these
picturesque old piles are ritable
fortreSseS and are perfectly Self-cOn-
tanned, with their mirader, or watch
tower, perched upon an angle of the
wall, and the quaint little dome of the
capilla showing through the trees
Those were feudal days, and the great
landowners had their retainers about
them on their estates. This was neces-
sary, for the people were ever on the
alert against armed invasion. The
roads were unsafe and brigands swarm
Is it surprising then that under these
circumstances the Mexicans should
have learnt to guard their women safe
ly within the walls of their haciendaS?
Besides, apart from the danger of ban
dts and robbers, which have always
existed, the history of this country has
been one long succession of merciless
revolutions, and so forth. War and rev.
olutiOn do not certainly bring with
them much security for women. More
over, it must be remembered that these
people are Spanish, and, therefore to
a great extent Moorish. It is undOubt-
edIy a fact that several of the Oldest
families in Mexico today have a strong
Moorish strain, handed down in all
probability by Andalusian ancestry.
Andalusia, as most people are aware,
retains in a most marked manner many
of the old Moorish customs and tradi-
tions. The MOOrs have left their de-
scendants in that part of the country,
and many a dark, Acknowledged Anda-
lusian senorita, languidly watching the
crowd below. in some old street Of
Granada, through the heavily barred
Moorish window, is as thoroughly an
oriental type as any YOU will see in the
east. One Moorish custom which re-
mains in this country is that Of clap
ping the hands to call a servant. This
is certainly not Spanish or Mexican
but entirely eastern.
The manner in which love affair
commences is quite interesting, and in
this, as in every other matter in Mex
leo, there is a right and a wrong way
of setting about it. In the first instance
the meeting between the man and the
girl is quite accidental. Possibly he
is passing in the street and sees her
at the window Mutual interest is
aroused. and then there you have the
commencement of as pretty a courtship
as you could wish for. and one that is
thoroughly Mexican.
Now, the usual way for the young
man, one would think, would be to get
an introduction" We English almost
look upon an introduction as sacred.
This, however, is not at all necessary
and in most cases it is possible the man
knows something about the girl before
hand Having decided that he would
like to carry on an affair with her, his
first move is in some manner or other
to send her his card. accompanied by
a declaration Of his admiration. If he
has been very much fascinated a poem