Cañon City record., 1899-01-05
MEXICAN oi..ls aE BATH
Some ef Tb~" Are asod ting. and the
Visitor Sec. Nuch of Them

In Aguas Cniienfe~ - ..c uses of
old sInote the rock. and lei Ga, ned
from II Il stream of water 20 warm
and altogether delightful that the
town was named alter if, and the
natives bless the Father of Waters
every day of their lives Brthing
ts the occupation of the town, and
the result Is shining bodies Of bronze
and as good many ysquare inches
OF skin are on exhibition in Mexico
compilation 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
IS unconcerned as baby or Ca
nary in porcelain dish Their an
cestors barhed in the long ditch
where the water lies blue and little
puffs of steam arise, and why not
iheyi What though the Mexican
CENTRAL did lay its parallel bands of
steel within stone S throw of their
seJeditary batbi That IL the rail
Dads fault, not theirs. And so
aey splash joyously in their ditch
nd disport themselves along the
ank in every conceivable state of
ishabille
/, We reached Aguas Calientes al
undown on Saturday. and was So
urious to see the place that the sun
nd l appeared on the streets about
he same time. Whole fgiisIlie= aIt
cared from the direction of the
OWN bearing bundles of clothes ol.
heir heads The Mexican peon
WIS only one change of garments.
: shirt and trousers of cotton.
ash, sandals of most primitive de-
ign and straw sombrero, and he
abundantly clad. For extra wrap
here is the serape, and to see the
young Indians about to bathe manip-
ilate this useful garment is lesson
n the art of draping.
They select convenient bush,
unmake their toilets and, sheltered
5y the friendly blanket, slide into
he 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
eienna 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
cry body washes from crown to toe,
and the girls glance coquettishly at
you between long braics and float
ing strands of dripping hair
The prettiest girl / saw might
have been Pharaoh's daughter, SO
beautiful and perfectly formed was
she saw her coming ta the canal,
barefooted, footsore and weary, yet
with all the marks of race in her
face, and doubt not she is lineally
descended from come 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 II float out on
the buoyant water, holding her re
boza before her like a CT ctain, and
angling over ii at me with my i'm
potent camera. This young lady,
1ogether with several other girls,
performed abluuons behind a thin
ringe of mesquite that borders the
stone wall OF the canal. They sport
I'd like brown Venuses just arisen
rom the waves, quite undistur bed
y the passing and repassing of
heir own countrymen ON the bor-
lers of the canal. IT was only with
he Americans that they were coy.
md that is our own fault, dare
sy. Still shall always remember
be flashing white teeth. the pink
BEADS on the warm. brown threats,
md the perfect turning of wrist and
ankle.
The long canal where these chill
iren of nature wash off the dust of
heir native land and where the
ity's wardrobe fiutters from every
oush is about mile long AT the
upper end the springs gush from
Earth 5 hot heart. and there are bath
houses of stone and adobe hundreds
of years old They say that Munte
yuma slaughter rsme here 10 lathe
before the enviou> SpanIart.s over
ran the fair land Certainly his de-
scendants have been IN the wsi.r
ever since. San Francisco Chroni
Gle.
Domestic Amenities
He-They say one should learn