The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1902-07-19
IN AN OLD MEXICAN CITY.

I
settlers came 70 this valley in 1872 angels
descended from heaven and surveyed the
streets. and one must surely be grateful
70 them for the excellent piaa. AS rule
the streets are wide. they dip in the mid
( ole, down which runs a kennel taking OF
the water on wet day. Everywhere
! cleanliness. not the simulated cleanliness
CT some cities. but the real quality Ors
! could eat on the floor OF the arcades
| which surround good part OF the large
central plaza
And the people. the commonest people.
lock clean and washed. as they do not IN
| the federal capital. You go 10 the excel
lent markets and still ind people. stalls.
everything clean. This is a revelation and
a delight And you find politeness and
| pleasant faces. not the hopeless. Ges-
perate faces Of the victims OF alcohol. that
curses among the poor OF the City OF
Mexico.
would not say that Puebla is a gay
| city; It has the grave air OF a typical
| Spanish city; il is radiant in the streets
| where tiles have been layishly employed
on the facades OF the houses. The people
| move about qCictiy. the shops are otter
| large and w'iIis fiu ily we'll supplied, and
/ tho attendants ar, coHTtecls Ther4 are
ri.;ny German Ed F-erch erchant, rs
in the City CT Mexico. They give a slight
forcisn flavor to the place
4 ACLAd - metropolis OF q great re-
| gion, and TO distant Aavaca is as if il
| were aRother Chicago or Boston. You
| hear It said. -Puebla is the Boston o.
Mexico" I take this as a compliment 10
| the solidity OF the Poblanis. whose city *
so substantially built. whose commerce is
noted for its soundness and its bankers
and business men for their well tried re
| sponsibiIity
! The Poblanas, the women OF the citye
One notes here many oval faces OF the
! true Casiiian type. stately. proud faces.
and the graceful carriage Of the women
! of CASTLE. often too little. nervous. fas-
| cinating Andalusian-like women. rarely
the strong robust women OF Catalonia or
! the red-cheeked type Of Gaiicia-
| Much Of the dark melancholy OF the In
/ dianfi and. when this autocthonous blood
/ has mingled with a Moorish stream. you
/ Will see glorious eyes. in whose depth It.
| hidden love and passion. aye. and perhaps
| a stiettO, Such women love romanticauy
| passionately. and forgive not treachery.
| Always in a strange city are the women
/ the most interesting of the sights" Look
10 them 10 find the key 10 the city. to its
, history. its traditions. its beliefs The
| roller OF change has passed over them
! more lightly. The primitive human being
/ is nearer the surface in women
Here in Puebla the foreign contact is
not so evident as in the City of Mexico;
| the old types endure, the women are Of
the soil. of the race. and proud. sweet
charming faces tell one of Msxtc0 IN
spoiled. still all itself. The old elemental
emotions have not been overiaid with
study in women's colleges; hter1rH clubs.
discussing all manner OF thia-s, have nat
| engendered the blue-stOckinss. and no.
body reads the newest" books.
Here are mystical faces which have
looked into heaven, stately heads that
I
INTO another world and are fun OF con-
| tent. Then are there the eyes of ro-
nance, of dreaming, Of soft languor. dark
eyes that have the secret Of the night and
its stars. Cold calculation. society am
bition. the fret and worry OF great north
ern population. one sees not among these
women of Puebia.
\ bright New York woman was here
some months ago; she lamented the intel
| lectua1 backwardness Of the women. the
lack OF the organizing. club spirit" but
let us be glad that there are cities where
the small fussiness of intellectually has
not come. where women's faces are as the
old Spanish and Italian painters saw them
hundreds of years ago. Progress that
leads no whittier. that gives Us no clew to
trates not 10 the depths of the soul; these
things are not worth the price we pay
for them.
Spanlards and Moors. the earlier Ital-
ians, all the orientals. have cherished
other ideals OF womanhood than those
that prevail in our northern hives OF uT,-
rest. where the business woman the
cultivated lady" and the 'intailecuI wo
man have come to give the doctors occu-
patton, and justify the saratorums Tor
nervous diseases.
And as you watch these women I'm street
or plaza, or devout at chIrel. you see
that not for them is a creed. convention
made, reasoned out by higher critics
and finally accepted. modified by the more
conservative pastors and elders. These
women OF the soath require a faith that
las no doubts lurking in the clauses OF its
creed they want 10 see the image OF the
virgin, IN the divine woman. to be able
&c plead their cause with beloved saints,
and all this in noble churches adorned
with sculptured images. with paintings.
end with vast and stately affairs Ike stems
ascending To heaven.
Co into the splendid cathedral OF this
city, all white and gold and marble, and
you Will agree with me that II meets thu
wants of the human heart untouched by
cold speculation And in some OF tho
churches here one finds ohapels, as OF FL
Rosario, where the softened light falls
gently down. Illuminating the most deli
cate carvings. is reflected from glide1
woodwork. and forms a holy radiance
atOul int images OF TIE EtlNLSs Nf.f are
homes OF the heart for the woman 81 this
tropio land. The heart dominates. the in
tellect has not yet learned 10 question ard
torment.
And this great Mexican city is well
within the fre-belt OF the volcano region
Go up the Hill Of Guadalupe. fortified
and with its legend Of battle and heroism
and look out over the landscape. Pucbla
occupies the plain almost at yoar feet
Westward, where in the late evening. i0
the brief tropical twilight the snowy tons
Of Pop0catepeti and Ixtaccihuatl turn
rosy red. fade 20 pink. and then 10 BLUSH
gray. the sky is still blue. the enormous
mountain masses divide the valley Oh
Puobla from the valley a. Mexico.
Eastward rises the cone u mighty Orr
zaba. its top 81 purest white hiding it,
formidable crater u is e noble peak AMI
mariners ar sea, in the Guif q Mexico sec
10 rising high in the upper air. sign and
symbol OF Mexico with its haart and fr
z There are lesser hills nearer CT hand.
and only q few miles away the pyrlmad
Of Choiuia. now sIrmounted ny n church,
Beyond Choiula q strange hi. which
sometimes taxes the shape - crouch4ng
lion. sometimes that 81 an elephaut- You
wonder 4 IT, too. Ike the pyramid. is sr-
tiacial
over the great valley q Puebla are
churches aud still more churches: uct
hamlet without its tiled-d0mrd tempt.
There is rot OF church q marvellous
exhibition 81 faith embodied in stene-
they count ~ churches and chareis
Perhaps The Humher IS rot exact. brf they
are Incredibly uanv. DouinatirE the CTS
is the great cathedral. always o. Be seen
from every point 81 the compass
IN the Country.
Ciumsn-Tes. III he sia3 20 rssn cut sn6