The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1900-07-14
LOVELY LIFE IN OLD MEXICO.
HOW THE VERY room LIVE IN THE
CAPITAL or THAT REPUBLIC.
Mexican Tenement Houses and Life
Within Them-Causcs of Extreme
POverty-The Curse of Alcoholism In

Poverty-Ihe Curse of Alcoholism In
tho siums.
City of Mexico, May 26.-The tene-
ment houses of the City of Mexico are
mostly in the older part of the town
and widely scattered. Often they con-
est of immense one-story buildings,
& which have one, two or more patios, or
court-yards, on which open the doors OF
tiny rooms, or a cluster of rooms. Al
the early Christians had all things in
common, so have the poor, and it is
Sordidly, vulgarly common and decent
privacy is hard to secure or keep.
There are some swarming tenements of
two stories where similar crowded con-
ditions prevail, and there is one famous
casa de vecindal an old monastery,
where the police say there live two
thousand people.
Ever since the Spanish conquest
there has been a mass of exceedingly
poor and degraded people here; the
early imperialists who conquered Mex
leo gave no heed to the miserably poor
And SO the evil began and was perpet-
uated by centuries of neglect till, at the
beginning of this century, there We're
computed to be thirty thousand leperoS
(not lepers, but lazzaronD in this city.
Surely there are no fewer to-day. And
they are not by any means dull peo-
pie, although some are sodden With
drink and low moral tone prevails. IL
you happen to be born of a line promis-
cuously mating ancestors who have
lived in squalid tenements, have had
little acquaintance with water for bath
ing while generations of landlords
have been so busy saving their useless
souls as to forget everything but rent
day you will. in all probability, be
quite what the leperos of this capital
are-one of the most hopeless, low-class
populations anywhere to be found.
Awhile ago was prowling around
up Peralvillo way, looking for chalan.
or horse dealer, of local repute, and
strayed into courtyard which had
once served as a stable for mules don
keys and horses brought to town for
sale Cervantee might have sketched
this swarning place of gipsy-like peo-
pie it was so old-world Spanish
Parchment faced hays, shutting and
dirty old men, thieves of both sexes,
wretched girls wearing twenty-five
cents worth Of cheap clothing, no shoes
and tousled hair; some poor, but pre-
sumably fairly honest, poor people who
had come to the city attracted by the
hope of better employment, and feeling
Ill at ease among this rabble rout! In
word tha under side of a big tropical
town. the reverse of the picture of opu-
1onca ana 1,,xurv which tho broad new
streets and CAV residential ouarters
nresent Those are the show places for
+our;ets 70 oaza On This was the 9th.
a. sida ~ the tanestrv
Rainp thare in tbis m,,ddIement Of
rood ana had Looked around and
aslad questions of the man who saemed
+o ac+ a. aIcaIde of Tho mace ar sc we
u j +bo hoss IIe sboued ne ch;ldran
.iaa,,n.. ~ tbal ,oangers o,,i+a &c Ala
+ba sacred bahe If Ratblehan, and at
,,;ght so,,,a ~ +be CROWN ,,aon,a made
Their hed IN these nesebres or man
pers navine three cents for the accom-
,,,,dotio,,
"A was not q wholly uniavia, crowd
III u hord 20 10 ut+erlv o1oo,ny ,ndey
s+ba hrieb+ s,,, of Nfexioo pan,,le hove
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a., COWS 40 cn.n;sb nroya,h
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