The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1904-11-05

CITY OF MEXICO. Oct. I'll have
never been in a place that bewilders
me so much with Impressions and
strange to say my first one was of dis
appointment: the greyness. the olaness,
the one and two story buildings when
met my gaze as I left the railway sta
ton at midnight: the eargadores
(peons) wrapped in their blankets, sur
mounted by their high conical hats.
the women with their black rebozas
around their shoulders or over their
heads; the rawness of the midnight
air, the poor aspect of the people (for
they We're nearly all of the hunlbIest
type that met my gaze on my first
plunge into the vortex of a new life
into la Ciudad de Mexico, all made
me half regret leaving the soft tran
quill cline of Hawaii nei. But that
cloud has been dissipated. and though I
am still impressed strongly by the
greyness and the Anticipated expression
on the face of the city, I am bewilder-
ed by the strangeness of it all. for
amidst the inconsequent and insignifi-
cant arises the massive and the beauti-
full; mighty old churches, hoary with
age, bedecked with statues and finest
sculpture in stone. with paintings with
IL by some of the old masters. and
full of rare antiques and beautiful cary
ings; and on almost any old street you
may see beautiful garden, behind
iron ratings, dainty with flowers, the
patio of some comfortable home of a
well-to-do Mexican, and perhaps next
buildings seem to be on the square.
which is more than I can say for the
people, for they do you up, or down,
in every conceivable way. But there
is one thing [ admire greatly and that
is the patio. which you will find in
any decent-sized house. 1t is a square,
or plaza, in the center of the build
ing, the rooms surrounding it and the
open sky above; and the patio is moth
ing more nor less than a household gar
den, some of them delightfully."- enchant-
ing, according to the means and artis-
tic taste in gardening of their owners.
And thel. the plazas, which are every
where in the city, are decidedly re-
freshing with their welI-kept lawns and
plants and flowers; and the arrange
ment of the trees usually making them
appear like a section of a primeval for
est. The streets: well. they are of all
kinds, from cobble stones to asphalt,
but nearly all having sidewalks about
sixty inches wide, and there appears to
be no rule as to which side one must
keep, right or left-any old way does.
And you cannot help being favorably
by the fine statues you see,
even in the dirtiest parts of the city,
where the ilIy-clad poems surge along
the narrow sidewalks. or sell candies
and cakes and bum vegetables and
fruits It is the old part of the city, |
and the statues and other remarkable |
works of sculpture have been there
since the time of Cortez perhaps, or
earlier.
The cathedral is marvel, and I
would take whole evening to tell its +
beauty and history in detail; and there
S a fine avenue where the people de- /
light to drive of an evening, the ladies
n their carriages, with or without es-
,orts, and the clerk in his hired hack
It 70 cents an hour, for as many as the
7ehicIe will hold; all love to drive
llong the great avenue, which leads
o La Casa de Chapultepec. the home
f the president. 1t lies about two or
wo and a half miles from town. On
he drive, called Ell Paseo de la Re
orrna, there are. several remarkable
roups of statuary; in fact, all along
he way you see statues, which are
hose of the great men from the differ
Mt states of Mexico, scores and scores
f them, some with books under their /
rms, others with books in their hands t
book agents or poets perhaps), some
18th swords at their sides or in their !,
-.
,Ided arms, others with appealing
ands with palms outward, but all rep
.senting some form of greatness The a
lnniest thing about it is, however, thseS y
1 the statues seem TO be those OF 7
warts, though they are about life-size, h
Id elevated on pedestals about seven a
ct above the ground: yet a statue t
ever looks well unless it is more or /,
IS ten times the natural size of the e
,ject it epresents-which shows O
ait in our human character which not h
cry one suspects we possess, ana "
at is an extravagant vanity which :,
lights in exaggeration. 6,
Now a few words as to myself and
g effects of this climate upon me, and -
q climate itself. BY the gods, you
we to tumble someEsaults to Keep
,rrn, even in the daytime if you stay =
the shade awhile, though there IS =
arm Sunshine every day and hardly :.
season pau. We heard :
nm r,eopIe in Honolulu, who have II