Daily camera., 1900-11-28
ALAND OF CONTRASTS
An Inside Glimpse of the Social
Lite of Mexico.
Many Live frOn Hand TO Mouth, Hut
the Majority Pat On No Air~-
siAplicity and oosd
Taste Rules.

This IL proverbially the land Of con-
trasts. There is a class living from
hand to mouth, with recurrent visits to
the pawnshops. which hard-headed-
Asturians or north country Spaniards
manage. and there is a great ma jority
who live on what they earn and make
no fuss in social show. The average
young Mexican marries before he is 25,
and he does not take his bride to q
clearinghouse; she does not wear dia-
monds and a sealskin sack. or affect to
be wealthy by any manifestation of
clothes. She dresses neatly and becom-
ingly, and it is to her own little fur
nished house that her young husband
takes her.
The Mexican, the typical Mexican.
loves his home. He has not just the
word for the place. for he callsi it poet
ically his "hJgar." or fireside, ana he
has no fireplace. But it is usually a
one-story house. surrounding a patio,
or courtyard. wherein grow flowers,
where often there is fountain and
singing birds ENGAGED make music in
the morning hours. The babies come
along with almost astronomical pune
tuality, and they are welcome. When
Allah built this world he had in mind
Just such genuine homes as these. He
never imagined a boarding-hous- as a
home for young married folk.
| know something of intimate Mex
leo. and so have had occasion to note
that courtesy. everyday politeness. is a
universal article. You do not cut a
man, says the correspondent Of the Bos
ton Herald. because he happens 10 live
in a little house. nor abjectlN bow down
10 some wealthy owner of a great man
sion and master of many servants. Es-
sentially. the Latin. and therefore he
Mexican. is democratic in public. Cab
met ministers shake hands with poor
clerks. and bow to their wives If they
happen TO know them. The high
mightiness of the social magnates in a
small New England manufacturing
town reveals an instinct for suohbery
which, Allah be praised. is not included
in our daily reckoning in Mexico.
The president here is a pretty big
man, | assure you. He holds power
four long years, and reelection is Gus
tomary. He isl a ruler o he full extent
Of the word. but he drives about in a
carriage no better than that OF many
a prosperous merchant. His person al
staff is not composed of generals. a. in
Some Central American countries. but
and he is accessible TO anyone WHO has
is reduced TO the absolutely necessary,
a sound reason for taking his time.
| don't want to paint Mexico as So
cial paradise: il is not. But although
there are heartburuings and social riv-
alries in the now cosmopolitan capital
crowded with foreigners of many ma
tions. the Mexican social life. that Of
the b.st people. is really simple End
well sustained. The real old families
put on no airs: their great homes are
ample; their dinners good. their taste
cultivated by travel and observation,
and the poor relation sits down un-
abashed at meal time with his for
tunatc relative.
How do know this? Because have
dined with many fine old Mexican fam
lilies Enter the poor relation. an aunt
we will suppose. who has made mar
riage that did not turn out well finan-
| cially She wears modest black. her
gown is of cheap stuff made at home,
probably. She is greeted with hugs and
kisses. and enters into the tax of he
| family unconstrainedly. giving her
views of matters in general. and shows
pleasure at seeing her nieces hand
somely gowned. Sometimes they take
| her TO he theater with them or to drive
| in the family carriage.
People are not ashamed Of poor rela-
tions; they are part Of the great
| scheme of social life. and the Mexican
| has too much of the Moor not 10 know
| that fate rules our destinies. and that
| to one man is given riches and to an
| other poverty. SO ii has been decreed.
And the Mexican usually has a big.
warm heart inside his anatomy.
Old people (well. this is the paradise
Of grandpas and grandmas, a fine old
| Spanish and oriental way) are always
| reverenced. Their opinions are sought;
they are the "old guard" and respect
ed accordingly. One consults them on
| important family matters. the daugh-
ter'x engagement. the profession for
the boy the naming of the babies. etc.
For them the favorite chair or corner,
the siesta undisturbed, the preferred
| dish at table. and. when they die. you
may be sure they are mourned sin
/ cerely.
Mexcans have no notion of being
ashamed to show publicly q warm af-
fection for their aged fathers and
mothers. The great lawyer meets his
white-haired mother in the street car
and kisses her hand deferentially. and
he does the same with his father. Big,
handsome girls, fashionably clad. meet
their father in the street. and. taking
his hand. kiss it. The family tie is very
strong among the people who have the
right idea Of home and family.
SAVING Sandy.