New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-11-27

1,ors with their system OF peonage. their oulis"'
and cockhghts and their tame me'hou u S''7
ing game called hunting J.,
,Tbere arc practically two classes OF people N
Mexico: those Ia whose veins runs mixture %
Spanish origin. and the Indians ana haliole.I9
The latter class comprise four-hffhs OF '"e ~
lation OF more thar thirteen million ana are NET
with the hoe" Many Of them are poems. Inv! a.
s.ronp ,l,vsicalIy but slow Witted The other hith'
who run the country, are pictured as naiIo"
chcsted and generally lacking in physical Nie".'
II IS said that excluding the government laho the
-67 60 SQUARE miles of Mexcos territory are u" 'e
,,ssass,n, NJ seven thousand persons belonging 10
this upper fifth. The dull-witted four-hlths nav
played the role OF laborer 50 long uhoe' Tue ~
ZION Of the other hfth that their pr'iih1.e i''N'
,J5,,al-v has been crushed out They are now s''
ser6 - have some one else think for them Ihelr
biaf ambition seems to be that OF keeping III INC
good eraces OF their employers Inc perez
abandon with which they lie in order TO staFe on
,,osefble roproof and retain their masters favor IS
amusing sometimes.
An American who lived in Mexico City at one
time told story the other day when iluS'ra'eS
their proficiency in this direction HIS 'mozo' OF
house bog, the liar. ~
,;.n.,tche1 10 my ofige with a note. returned WIN
/; a Few hours later. having failed 10 ma rhe 'u
dress had arrived at homo In the mean nm
Giving the note TO me, he nalVely Salu 'il'' He 60
taken II to the address, bat do not nave an oi0'
there"
At another time this same boy was sent one
5av 10 the owner OF the house in winch inc amer
Gan lived TO get permission to do some cieailils ~
the tank around the artcsan well in the yaFH' IN
his return" said the American he salo 'rat 'lie
on,,ar objected to having it done because uete
were carp in the tank which made II Hlau 'iso's
20 clean II moro than once a year Inc LAIN il1I
no fish in it, 1t was small, IN fact Ii mao
baen cleaned every few days. as the mozo ought
"a have known / sent him out TO the tank TO see
for himself if contained any fish He came oack
and said as one who removes the last trace Oh
doubt that the fsr were down in the pipe because
he could see them nowhere in the tank ITSELF IL
developed later that the landlord had understood
The nozo to refer to the fountain in his own court
yerd which WAS fun of fish The boy had spoken
of the tank without specifying which one. mere
is p naive obtuseness about these servants Whlch
t,f-as il for granted that It IS only necessary to
mention a subject to the upper class man and he
will understand"
The peon class learn a parrot learns. by con-
slant reiteration of the lesson story is told OF
. ,,a,s At one house who would receive callers
card with a smile an obeisance and a murmureo
Thank you" After seemingly interminaDie
wait the master Of the house would appear and
say. Why. hello! You here? diont Kn0" you
had core,'
Then he would explain that the maid was from
an interior village il had been impossible per
manently to impress upon her the meaning OF the
visitors card She thought it some mysterious gift
10 herself and making collection Of the
little pasteboards.
Once learned II seems almost impossible to erad-
cate q method an idea make way for fresh
one IN the fields the peon still uses sharp stick
with upright handle plough. When pro-
wided with handle steel plough by the owner
Of ths hacienda. he persists in guiding this with
hand II IL were the old wooden contrivance.
and sometimes will of the other handle
get Il out Of the way. He enjoys using harvesters
and seede.s and other modern agricultural mach
:nery, because it agrees with his temperament to
sit ard drive while the machine does the work
for him. II e bolt breaks however. stone
~ es,s+ hut Srf,
hts harvester straight ahead running the machine
VIII the utmost con1placency. 1t may be that the
boppsY on the seeder becomes emptied IN the mid
6s If fhs field Ke continues to the end OF the
kuv With never a thought OF marking the spot
Nnsxs fhs reed stopped running. The later notified
ASssarsnes Of tbs field never troubles his
sntsnca
An illustration Of the difficulty Of teaching the peon
efass nsw methods is story told by two American
tafnosa engineers. A consignment OF barrows
had tuSt arrived. and they were Initiating gang
ct this clsss OF men in the process Of trundling
tts bsrrows OF earth along the planks laid down
the edge OF embankment.
TN bet you anything you like said OF the
contractors TO the other. that II go away from
here and back in half hour those
poems Will have thrown that way of moving
the dirt and adopted some method Of their own
IN take you up" responded the other. Make It
a dollar"
On returning at the expiration o. half an hour
they found that the planks had been taken up and
up the embankment, each on the shoulders Of two
men.
Sometimes the memory Of members OF this class
IS Unexpectedly long and them do curious
things. An American who believed in the virtues
OF skunk oil asked some Of his men TO procure him
p skunk Apparently his request had fallen
barren soil Tor nothing of it for three months
Then he awakened IN the dead OF night by a
knocking ct the door. He arose and opened II. A
peon said he pitched furry object into the
middle OF the room, where ii fell with a muried
thud. Here's your skunk. senior" and turned
go. his duty done. No could have been more
surprised than he n the bueness Of the language
which PLAYED around his for a few minutes.
The peon class has an enemy. 1t is pulque The
higher classes have their wines, but the poverty OF
the lower classes shuts them out from all except
.ha cheap native beverages. Drunk for Penny;
Dead Drunk for Tuppence: Clean Straw for Moth
ing" legend which placed on the walls OF
English tavern many years ago. is discounted by
the prices for these drinks Pulque sells for
centaro litre in Mexico City.
The gathering Of the aqua mel. or honey water,
the sap OF the plant known in the nefghborhood
OF New-York rs the century plant, which be-
puique after fermentation. has Oriental ac-
cessories. Twice day during the productive Pc
ROD the pulque gatherer makes his rounds through
the fields. He collects the fluid in brown leather
bag mad OF the whole skin OF the goat calf or pig,
after the manner Of the Scriptural wine bottle
This IS Surg over the mans back In net Of cord
long gourd is stuck into the open neck. Arriv-
Ing al Of the plants. the dusky peon stoops
over and takes of the from the hole in the
heaTl u the plant into which the sap is yelling.
Inserting the stem OF his hollow gourd well down
:ng air hole in the other end. The juice
rises Presently the peon claps his thumb
the hole at which he has been sucking. and swings
the haif-hled gourd over his shoulder until II