The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1906-09-29
THE CITY OF JALAPA.
An Old Fashioned Place, Curious Ever
In Mexico.

An Old Fashioned Place, Curious Ever
In Mexico.
Jalapa means "place of water
and sands" 1t was an Indian towr
at the time of the conquest, and b.
cause of its position. on what for .
long while was the main road BE-
tween Vera Cruz and the City Of
Mexico it early became a place Of
Importance. After the establish
ment of the republic it was made
the capital of the state of Vera
Cruz. Between the years 1870 and
1777 a great animal fair was held
here for the sale of goods brought
for years by the feet from Cadiz,
whence it derived the name of ia
lapa de la Feria, frequently applied
to the city in documents of tine
eighteenth century.
The city is famous throughout
Mexico for the exceeding beauty Of
its women and of its situation. From
these, its pleasing characteristics,
arise the saying that Jalapa is .
part of heaven let down to earth,
and the proverb, 'Las Jalapenas son
halaguenas" (bewitching, alluring
are the women of Jalapa). A less
pleasing characteristic, it's frequent
days of mist and rain, at once the
cause of and a very serious draw
back upon the enjoyment of its
green loneliness, has given rise to
yet another saying in Jalapa. During
these melancholy days the Jalapeno,
muf1ed in his serape and smoking.
dismally mutters, Gave Maria puri-
sima, pue venga ell soil" (Holy Vir-
gin, let the sun shineD
The city is curious, old fashion
ed place-curious even in Mexico,
where everything seems odd to the
tourist with narrow, crooked
streets, lined with tile rooted
houses, whose pitched roofs project
their caves so far that they seem to
cover the sidewalks like a shed, and
pending from these are spouts to
carry the rainfall from the roof to
the center of the roadway The city
has perfect drainage system, based
upon and indeed consisting almost
entirely of the facilities so lavishly
bestowed by nature in the shape Of
rain and grade. The streets slope
gently from the sidewalk on either
side to the center of the roadway.
thus practically forming high
troughs OF cutters, and all dirt OF
refuse matter is Immediately washed
beyond the city limits by the rains,
which fall, at least for short time,
almost daily throughout the entire
year. This accounts for the scrupu-
lousy clean appearance of the city,
which impresses those who have WIS.,
tied other Mexican cities not so ad-
vantageously located in respect to
drainage as Jalapa. So abrupt is
the descent of the streets down the
side of the hill that no attempt is
made to use carts or carriages for
transportation of goods or persons.
A tramway which provides means
of transportation to Coatepec runs
through portion of the main thor
oughfare and is the only wheeled We
hicle to be found within the city linn
its, and even this requires six mules
to haul it up the steep grades from
the railroad station to the hotels.
All merchandise is carried from one
part of the city to another by carga-
dores and pack mules, which latter
are utilized extensively and almost
to the exclusion of the burro and the
horse.
A walk through the streets of the
city is repaid by many interesting
sights. The lavanderas, or washer
women, pursue their vocation in the
public streets at large basins or
troughs, which have been placed in
all parts of the city for their accom-
mediation. The churches are open
all through the day, and at all hours
worshipers may be found.-s'Mod.
ern Mexico"