The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-06-10
LOVELY LIFE IN OLD MEXICO.
HOW THE VERY POOR LIVE IN I'M
CAPITAL or THAT
MEXICAN Tenement Houses and LILO WIN"
Them-Causss Of Extreme foSe'o
Curse Of Alcoholism In the s'nns'

From he Boston Herald
CITY OF MEXICO. May S-lne tenement
houses of the City Of Mexico are mostly 10 'hs
older part of the town and widely sca'.ereo'
Often they consist Of immense one-story puiio-
ings, which have one. two or more patios' OF
court yards, on which open the doors OF my
rooms, or a cluster Of rooms. As the early
Christians had all things in common 80 nave
the poor, and IL Is sordidly. vulRarly common
and decent privacy IL hard TO secure or keep.
There are some swarming tenements OF two
stories. where similar crowded conditions pre-
vail, and there Is one famous casa de recinddd,
an old monastery, where the police say there
live 1000 people.
Ever since the Spanish conquest there has
been a mass Of exceedingly poor and degraded
people here, the early imperialists who con-
ouered Mexico gave no heed TO the miserably
poor. And so the evil began and was perpetn-
ated BY centuries of neglect till. at the begin
ming Of this century, there were computed to
be $4,000 leperos mot lepers. but lazzaroni) IN
this city. Surely there are no fewer to-day. And
they are not By any means a dull people, al
though some are sodden With drink and a low
moral tone prevails. II you happen to be
born Of q line Of promiscuously mating ances-
tors who have lived in soualid tencments, have
had little acquaintance with water for bath
ing. while generations Of landlords have been
10 busy saving their useless souls a. to forget
ever, thing but rent day. you will. In all proba-
billy, be quite what the leperos Of this capt.
tai are-one OF the most hope less. low-class
populations any where TO be found.
Awhile ago ! was ~prowling around up Peral-
villo way, looking for a chalan, or horse dealer.
Of local repute, and strayed into a courtyard
which had once served as a stable for mules,
donkeys and horses brought to town for sale.
C~ervantes might have sketched this swarminR
place Of ~gypsy-like people, II was so old-world
Spanish. Parchment-faced hays, shutting and
dirty old men. thieves Of both sexes, wretched
girls wearing rs cents worth Of cheap clothing.
no shoes and touzled hair; some poor, but
presumably fairly honest, poor people who had
ZONE TO the city attracted by the hope Of better
employment, and feeling III at ease among this
rabble routl In a word. the under side Of a
big tropical town. the reverse Of the picturelof
opulence and luxury which the broad, new
Those are the show places for tourists to gaze
on. This was the other side of the tapestry,
Being there in this m~uddlement Of good and
bad, ! looked around and asked questions OF
the man who seemed TO act as alcalde OF the
place, or. as we say. the boss. He showed
me children sleeping in the managers, quite as
did the sacred babe OF Bethlehem, and at night
some Of the grown people made their bed in
these p%esebres, or managers paying three cents
for the accommodation!
hard to be utterly gloomy under the bright
sun Of Mexico. People here are philosophic:
they accept, their fate, rags dirt and all and
another fep dsy os snys n The s Spanish tU proyerb' "" DC
The stable lodging seemed TO do a thriving
business, and the people evidently stood in
sTf al q few s%e e Dess; Sn sp saSeRe %or laasip' En- w Tow q
most energetic black parsonage, wise in
horse lore, and AZ deceitful q dealer as a gitano
It was Mexican low life at the lowest. I
don't suppose there was 81. so in the whole
crowd, nor any certainty OF to-morrow's break
f otsers t YsilJ psSBle others Ssls; h sG% ! RfSs rcwn xh and
arrived from the interior, They we're all birds
Of pa=ss .n,h re to, tSoo,dS n.y., gone %ns. tS'-mS Mms,v
that they must Be ~fafalists to be happy.
ro ghsn ! Of f t%a s aSSas.G IN tho 70 s 60 10 az a ls Sr SSsc 9ld
or. literally. the Street Of the Flies. II has two
courts and it is filed with rooms all opening
on the courts; which are hung with mems san, shirt =
the occasional breeze and giving a wash-day
air to the place. II liz always washing day
in the house In the street Of the Flies have
There are families there who have seen better
days. as the phrase goes: widows with children,
men who have lost their places through sick
ness. laziness or viciousness. and all OF them
managing. in one way or another, to get to-
Rether a few pesetas every week to pay the
rent, TO- buy poor bread and imitation coffee.
OF povertyO and a bit Of doubtful meat for a
stew. as well as brown beans and %tortillas.
Inc c ihha da an Mo OF the so casa nnt ,o ds wei, 2 9sa in
once had two friends there-poor. middle
aged women. daughters OF a ruined merchant
M., ye5s c x1m N helpless a} ,S.i in G RlSyert 70, like S2o mSst
Up practicaly They had. IN another and
blsser and better tenom INT house. essayed
ing sort. and the two women. who prayed
enough to have m owed a congregation, OF saints,
made a fasco OF their educational venture
and took to boarding poor students attending
the great Government schools.
In Mexico, as in Spain, the student Is not
an opulsnt Pers nS a, Is apt to be sall0w; hol-
cites His anemic brain finds il difficult to
assimilate knowledge: To board students of
this class is like entertaining hungry street
the remittances from their parents in the
interior are unpunctual and come by the post
Of day after tomorrow; Results. the two
most OF the food and the women were reduced
TO the necessity OF betaking themselves to
the street Of the flies.
l am not sure whether the heavenly lowers
had a spite against them, or were merely put
ting the two women to the test, but anyhow
they had a hard time Of II and lack Of food
was the cause OF their losing strength. II IL
hard to maintain life on a few pieces of poorish
bread and a couple Of mugs of milk, innocent
OF cream. When ] heard of their misery
bethought myself OF the hospitality / had met
with In Vera Cruz, and saw to IL that they did
not go quite so hungry. Meantime, / endeav-
ored to interest, some well.to-do people in
their case. but the well-to-do people merely
remarked: 1T In very sad, but there is so much
poverty, why, 1t Is like the seal
Then, the favorites Of fortune went In TO
their dinner with q better appetite for think
ing or how hungry the poor women might be.
Seeing that people Of the comfortable class
are determined to be comfortable. and not to
worry over others. and also prone TO give as
10 the proper prayers to be said. | concluded
TO make sure that at least two unlucky women,
as Incapable OF practical waQe-earning as two
shorn sheep, should not be dinnerless. They
started In praying for me, and burned a little
oil lamp, before a picture Of the Virgin, and
said the best they could OF me. I doubted the
efficacy OF any prayers in my behalf, as they
seemed to have no luck with their " petit
tons. But the fact remained that the two sisters
seemed to be. happier, and they went on
quite contented for a few months, when the
youngest, who was not well favored Of form
or feature. but was proud withal, gave I'D the
struggle to live and incontinently died.
The surviving sister. who was an angel and
had a heart Of gold. bore UP bravely, and then
fell Ill; a woman in the tenement house offered
70 assist her and cook her meals, and pronted
by the opportunity to steal about everytbin0