The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-06-07
SPANIsH-AMERICAy HOME LIFE.
New Mexican Family Customs which the
GrIngo's Coming Has Not Changed.

GrinRo's Coming Has Not Changed.
I'm the house OF Mexican don 1t implies
high degree Of confidence in visitor II he IL
introduced to his hosts wife and daughters"
said man from New Mexico. Spanish
American hospitality Is always Astounding. but
tho grngo-the American from the States
may have close business relations with the
Mexican rico and for years be courteously on
tcrtaned at his house for days or weeks at II
time. yet never once sit at the table
with the ladies' OF the family. Among
Spanish Americans who live in towns
or have travelled in the East this exclusive
ness is less marked. and some distinguished
families are quito American in their manner
of entertainments but in the small places and
on isolated estates the old customs prevail The
house Of the wc-to-do Mexican in its struc-
ture suggests the privacy and scclusion Of the
household life within. AS the Spanish Amcri-
can town is built always about II plaza, so tho
house Of the Mexican grandee Is built about
patio. or courtyard. on which the doors
and windows open. great gate. or
double door. closes the patio from the
street, and behind this barrier the daily
lifo Of tho household goes on FREQ from intru-
sion from the world without. All the old-stye
Mexican houses are Of one story. with thick
adobe walls. and in the days OF revolutions
and Of Indian lighting these structures were
fence against siege or assault by an undisci-
plincd enemy
One finds among the old Spanish-Ame
lean families which owned ana ruled Now
Mexico prior TO the American conquest, in
1S48. names illustrous in Spanish history. 1t
was the flower OF Spanish chvalry. tho adven-
turous and brave. that pushed northward up
the Rio Grande near the end Of the sixteenth
century. to wrest valley lands and mines OF
Il l-s1
and to occupy them under grants from the
King OF Spain. In tho houses OF their descend
ants are preserved many heirlooms. such as
armor. horse trnppngs, swords and arQuebuses
that figured in the conquest OF the New World.
n New Mexico there are three families OF
can trace its ancestry for three centuries in
America and three centuries in Spain. In the
% wh 9 aTe a IF Go tier hs
ana strength and the women for their beauty.
Oh ,nll Spannish descent, they have the fair skin
istics OF the iron conuueror OF Mexico. and they
nbn s nns sre Of the sane strain as not
Valley, In the continual Indian wars that the
New Mexicans had to wage for nearly three,
tribes Of the plains. qualities OF herofsm have
been show by these descendants Of the con-
M9ry H hS a THor2ss
n6mG ME is tine nnTrnS shown by
place as the head Of The house as long n as he
dren are arranged by The parents gT and It e is
thing almost unheard OF for a son or daughter
The danghttors Of Mexican family OF
ceive masculine company or to go upon
the street except when, accompanied by
] and % thsy yed IMPLICIT Sf % oSe4onec
their chaperon. The Intercourse between
american Children Of Anglo. SAXON ' strain. 4
upon no important undertaking without first
consulting his father, nor would he ever IRE
sumo 70 come into his fathers presence smok-
ing cigarette. For him to attempt the last
named performance would be regarded as a
"A friend Of min" was paying calf to an es-
Unable old don at his estancia. west OF the Rio
wnGn tine Lrs Of his hGst
h!bed the ideas of Young America. walked
miry into f., the room Win cigarette in his
caught him by tie sSilar whiried him round Ms
from ,catapult and slammed the door after
him When the young man made his next APP
giving satisfactory evidence Of his disposition
to conform to od-fashioned Mexican customs
Mexicans Of humble class are as Hospital
HE. according to their means. as the great dons
they never turn the stranger from their doors,
and their children are trained in orthodox no.
tons Of tila obedience. People who lived in
Santa Fe ten or twelve years ago W II RENE Der
old Nicanor Tafoya who had then passed the
allotted human span Of seventy years. He lived
in the same house with his son Diego, n stall
wart man past forty with married children and
grandchild rcn. Diego had n weakness for
an opportunity. This his father disapproved
Of and as often ms Diego came home drunk he
would take him ont into the yard and with a
stick which he kept for tho purpose thrash
him soundly in sight of the whole town. The
son would cry and try to beg of from the
or trying to run away from his punishment.