The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1905-10-13
IN QUAINTEST MEXICO
MANY or THE OLD AZTEC CUSTOMS
STILL IN VOGUE.

Picturesque Method of storing Grair
In the Land of "the Fair GOd"-A
Primitive Bellows and a Crudely
Constructed Plow.
While Cortez destroyed a civilization
and people In Mexico many of the
customs Of the Aztecs have been per
petuated by their conquerors and may
be seen and marveled at today by the
visitor to the land of the fair god
Not the least picturesque OF these is the
method Of storing grain in the conical
houses which dot the land for miles
around in some districts and are prac-
tically uniform in SIZE
Instead of increasing the size Of the
house more were built, and in some
places it is difficult to make out at a
distance what an aggregation Of these
huge cones may be. One Of the ques-
tions asked by the observant visitor is,
Did the Mexican, or. rather, his
Aztec ancestor, design the grain house
first and then, pleased with its shape,
pattern his hat after it. or vice versa 2"
Though within a few hundred miles
Of the most progressive country in the
world, where little is done by hand
that can be accomplished by the aid Of
machinery, there are many places in
Mexico where the medieval civiliza-
ton of Spain reigns as completely to
this day as if there were no modern
world outside.
History is silent as to the date of
the origin Of the primitive bellows
which is in use In many parts of our
sister republic. It was brought over
by the SpaniaFd several centuries ago,
and 1t has never been changed or i'm
proved upon since then. How many
centuries 1t existed IN Spain in iden-
tically the same form before Columbus
sCiled westward is unknown and how
long it will be before the Mexican real
ICES that he can buy a modern bellows
not far from home and above all viii
to use It is a problem.
The apparatus is manipulated by a
boy, who alternately pulls on ropes
held in both hands and shOves with
his feet. The bellows itself is directly
beneath the cumbrous frame which
supports the operator. The result Of
the boys labors is about one-tenth the
wind that is ordinarily supplied by the
small rotary blower used on a modern
portable forge
The Spaniard or his descendants in
the Americas would look with scorn
upon the 3,0OO-year-old pillow Of the Chi.
nese agriculturist, but there are thou
sands and thousands Of ploVzs in Cen
trail and South America in daily use
which are built on a pattern so nearly
identical with that of the favorite pillow
of the disciple Of Confueius as to make
t reasonably, certain that their origi-
lals both came from the hand Of the
same craftsman some time in the dark
lges.
Oftentimes not so much as a single I
lail is to be found in the whole crude 4
and when used in these I
ancient plows it is only present in the
shape Of shoe for the point Made Of
ignum vitae, "quiebra hacha" hatchet /
lreakerl or a wood equally heavy, It
axes the strength Of good man to
lOld the plow upright and guide it, and
he novice who tries it makes about as
DOOR a showing as a hen does swim
ming Then the services Of a boy are
equired to tend the team Of oxen. At
be best this combination can only go
'ver an acre or two a day, merely
cratchlng the surface at that.
An odd custom still followed in Mex
co and parts of South America is car
wing the image Of the patron saint Of
be district about the fields to bless the
oming crop. It is gone through reIl-
iously year after year, and no crop,
to the simple faith Of the
God people, could possibly succeed
'ithout it. That many fail in spite Of
apparently does not decrease their
lith in the efficacy Of the blessing in
ne first instance in the minds Of the
In the land Of luxurious vegetation
on the equator and as far
rom it as 10 to 10 degrees north lati-
ldc the fruits and vegetables Of a
lore temperate zone are at their
-Orst. The watermelon is a sickly, :
ale, tubular affair Of less than a foot
] length. The monstrous pumpkin
Drtherners are accustomed to hardly
-tains the size Of baseball before ar
wing at maturity and so on through
Ie list until one comes to the potato,
hich is a mere marble, so valuable in
5 diminutive state that it is sold not
7 the peck or bushel, but by weight
is seldom that the entire stock OF a
,aler in potatoes viii aggregate more r
an a bushel.-New York Tribune. :
nnr.-nr.naar- 4