The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1902-04-10
Is a Visitor in Mexico For a
Brief Time.
RITES WITH GREAT EASI
And Tells Many Interesting Episodes
of Trip.
THE MExIcANS UNIFORMLY cOURTEO US.
Railroad Travelling is Not as Comfortable
as il is in the
United States.

Miss Annie Falge, daughter of ] us
tice Falge who is travelling in Mexico
writes an interesting letter to her
father which follows:
This is Thursday morning, | arrived
here Tuesday evening at seven o'clock,
and this is the first time | feel rested
enough TO write letter. | sent off a
few postals yesterday, but that was all.
l started from San Antonio Saturday
morning, Saturday, Sunday and Mon
day, enjoyed every bit of the journey
and 1t did not fire me a bit but the
last days trip TUESDAY from a. N.
till p. M was something frightful
and am willing to stay here II long
time now, so | need not go through
with such day as that again. As far
as the city of Puebla. where / arrived
Monday night at two o'clock, / travelled
in the best of d Pullman Palace car,
but there is where the hardest part be-
gan | stayed in my berth until five
o'clock, then dressed had q miserable
excuse for breakfast in Chinese
restaurant then got a half clad PeOn
(Mexican Indian) to carry my luggage
from that depot the Inter Oceanic to
the Mexican Southern, distance of
about three blocks. He went at dog
trot and | followed as fast as my dig
nifty would allow-had to keep him in
view for | had no idea of the way to
get there. This was before six o'clock,
i'll the dim light of coming day, but
about and they all took good look at
the curiosity | evidently was to them.
Women very commonly travel alone
as far as the city of Mexico and. some
times as far even as Puebla but beyond
that it is very rarely indeed that one Is
seen alone. Although curious. they
are ve2y polite to strangers and to each
other too. My long black raglan was
something comical to them bat they
me and broke into laugh when they
thought | was well out of earshot. AT
the new station | found the train most
ready TO start for Paxaca- most
dilapidated concern-an engine, old box
baggage car, then an awful looking
car lettered "Tercera Clase' meaning
irI ,i,,1, 1p
first car ever made or patterned after it
at least. 1t was crowded to sutfocation
with filthy Poems, the men with the
inevitable large sugar loaf hats, coarse
sandals and shirt and trousers that had
probably been white three years before
date. These clothes are just like an
American mans under pants and night
shirt. The women all wore two gar
ments-a low-necked short sleeved
white Chinese and colored skirt
Never a hat, shoes or anything else.
The hair usually in two heavy braids
The car after that was marked
"Secundo Clase' Second Glass; This
was some better than the first and
packed with Indians and Mexicans of Il
better class or at least by natives who
were cleaner. They had clothes pat
termed the same as the others only of a
little better quality and many Of them
looked as if they might have had a
bath and a hair comb some time within
the last month at least l do not know
how the first car was built inside for
have been strictly ordered to keep
away from everything like that on ac-
count of the smallpox being so very
common among the lowest classes here,
but the second car had row of seats
on each side and row down the mid
die. The last car was lettered "Pri-
merce Clase' First Glass in which
there were only eight passengers-four
high class Spanish men and four of us
Americans. l, of course, was the only
woman This was an old discarded
car sent over from England 1t was
awfully 'tacky' but the finest in that
train. The seats were arranged in two
rows as in any car, but one row was
all of double length seats while the
other row consisted of tiny short length
seats. There were no ventilators or
transoms at all and the windows when
open let in such cloud of dust and
suffocatingly hot air that during the
noon hours it was almost unbearable.
One toilet room for both men and
women and no looking glassIover the
wash stand The absence of the latter