The age-herald., 1900-12-26
CHRISTMAS IN MEXICO.
The Festival Begins December 16.
 Quaint customs-The Posadas.

From the New York Evening Post.
 A Christmas in Mexico is celebrated in a way so entirely different from the same season in the United States that it is dif- ficult to realize that the birth of he same Saviour is being honored.
 As the years roll by the festivities are less strictly observed in a purely religious way and with less pomp and ostentation socially. Laws have been passed which forbid the beautiful church processions go- ing beyond the doors. In former days regi- ments of soldiers, generals, Governors, Presidents and the high church dignitaries took part, and the entire city suspended all business either to join in the solemn march or reverently view it. As its name implies, the Christmas Novena lasts nine days, and consists principally of posadas; the first held on the evening of December 16, the last on La Noche Buena-this Is Christmas Eve, or the Good Night.
 The two streets bounding on the north and west the Alameda, with its trees and flowers, fountains and shaded seats, are chosen for the display of articles for sale Loads of evergreens, bright berries, and rich mosses are brought in from tine coun- try by Indians, and piled along the west ern street, with delicate and feathery grasses. Among the greens and browns, h. dian women and children cook and eat their peppery dishes, while the sales go on. On the north side are the barracas, or stalls,
 
 ors and designs for all who have the money to buy These goodies are to be used in the pinatas which play a more prominent part each year in the posadas as the outward religious manifestations decline.
 The word posada means inn, and the nine posadas held on the nine evenings before La Navidad the Nativity, are in memory of the weary search of Joseph and Mary for a place of rest after their journey to Bethlehem, or Belen. According to these traditions, 1t was not until the ninth even ing that a kindly innkeeper, or posadero, took pity on the expectant mother. Among the tiny figures offered for sale, the good posa- dero is we'll represented, though Joseph and Mary are prominent. While Mary on her way to Bethlehem is always on muleback, Joseph sometimes Is seen to walk and lead the animal, an angel following; or the angel leads while Joseph follows with tiny cudgel in his hands. Little groups show the Three Wise Men on their way with gifts to the newborn Lord. In a few of these, servants bear the presents, but as usual thing venerable men perform themselves the task Little stables with decorated stalls and a manager, Nino Santos of wax, or porcelain, or clay, are ready near by to be bought and carried in the posada process sion and laid in the Cunas.
 It would be hard to mention anything appropriate or suggestive of the travels or life of the Holy Family not to be found in the stalls devoted to their sale. Farm animals and fouls, milkmaids and stable boys shepherds and their focks, stars and angels, are in pretty confusion, ana the careful buyers know how to arrange them at home so that when guests arrive the Biblical scene has been cleverly interpret ed and all is ready for the coming of the central figure-the Nino Santo-to be laid in the manager.
 One room in the house to which guests have been invited to take part in posada is set apart the inn and decorated ac- cording to the means and taste Of the host and hostess At given signal those pres ent form a procession and wander through the room and corridors, around the patio, in and out the old Spanish arches, singing the litanies and hymns. The procession is always headed by one who carries the babe frequently a little girl Sometimes little children dressed as angels fit about, but this part of the posada is gradually van ishing At last the inn door is reached.
 To the petitions of the travellers for ad- mittance a denial Is chanted from within, until after repeated appeals 1t is told who it Is pleading for a refuge-then the door is flung open, joyous welcome is given, all burst into a joyous hymn of gladness. The babe is taken and laid in its cuna, or cradle In olden times this was always done by priest. Now the evening gaietles begin.
 The curious pinatas which have been displayed for sale in the stalls represent figures of human beings and animals flow CTS and musical instruments, beautiful and grotesque, but all bearing in their interior though deftly hidden by coverings of tissue paper, pineta or jar of pottery to be filled with goodies and toys. During the evening one of several are suspended and turns taken by the young folk and children, blind folded, in trying to break the pinata with a long stick. When one succeeds scramble for the falling contents follows.
 Thousands of dollars have been spent on one posada in the homes of the wealthy, the souvenirs being of silver and gold. Such lavishness is becoming thing of the past
 How About Men?