The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1909-09-18
OBSERVATIONS OF A GADDER
BY FLORENCE JOHNSTON.

to ne near Darjiling Il think) in In
| dIa- 1t is a wonderful ride past mar
| Vicious scenery-deep rocky gorges. in
| the depths of which leap mountain
! torrents, fertile valleys and cultivated
mountain sides, snowy peaks and all
about it in Baedeker-far be it for me
| to describe scenery
If 1 could. however, L would de-
scribe Cordoba, the charming village
| unspolled by modern conditions at
which we spent a golden day, on our
way to the Isthmus 1t was only an
accident that we stopped there by
daylight at all. Charlie Gault lost his
suit case and we stopped there to wait
Its return. He said it was all our fault
ABOUT the suit case and after we had
seen Cordoba we were willing to as
sumo full responsibility. For had it
not been for the suit case we would
merely have changed cars at Cordoba
and gone right on down to Santa Luz
crecia-but more about that later
Like so many of the old, old towns
of Mexico, which were built long be-
fore railways were dreamed of, Cor
doba lies at least two miles from the
station. There is a street car hauled
by small mules which clatter over the
cobblestone paving, to meet the
trains, and there is a hotel porter
who speaks some English and who is
a bull-fighter by profession and who
puts you on the car and escorts you
to his hotel the historic building in
which the treaty was signed at the
close of our Mexican war. 1t is
grand old house with wide double
deck verandas facing on the green
plaza in the center of which splashes
a fountain guarded by four giant
palms as tall as the church on the
other side of the square. I have no
of the old, old churches of which
there are so many in Mexico, with a
Moorish dome of blue and gold, and
the stone walls are black with age and
covered with moss and lichens. And
when it is time for mass or vespers, or
peon climbs to the steeple and rings
the bells; not by pulling on a rope, but
by swinging on one with his feet
while he strikes the bell with a long
iron rod. There is also a government
tai building, sort of state house
fronting on the plaza and row of
buildings, shops below, and apart
ments above with brilliant blooming
plants in great terra Gotta Jars which
just match in color the red tiled roofs
of the houses All the buildings are
stone with tiled roofs, and double-deck
verandaS projecting over the side
walks, and all are built around courts,
and as you stroll along the narrow
winding streets and look in through
the open doors and windows you
catch glimpses of these courts in
which there are fountains and flow
ers and palm trees and women wash
dogs basking in the sun. The hotel
is built around a court. too, and the
tables for the guests are placed
around near the fountain among the
oleander plants and the roses and
palms and geraniums, and many flow
ers of which you don't know the
names.
The streets in Cordoba are narrow
l. N1~I
stones and a gutter in the middle. The
town has a population of fifteen thou
sand people but we saw not one two
horse, four-wheeled vehicle except the
street cars. Two-wheeled wooden
carts hauled by donkeys or poems we
saw, and planters on horseback, with
gorgeous silver mounted saddles and
brides but no carriages and no au-
The country roundabout
is occupied by great plantations. most |
ly sugar, but we saw many banana
groves with coffee plants growing in
the shade of the great banana trees
The back windows of the hotel COM |
mand magnificent view of the
haciendas, the broad, fertile fields |
reaching as far as eye can see, cross
ed by the reddish brown roads, the !
white buildings and walls, the noun |
tains covered with waving palm
trees and in the distance the snow
capped peak of Oriziba.
A Topeka man who loves flowers
and has wonderful luck with them
has a hibiscus plant, a fine flourish |
ing specimen which blooms frequent |
ly and gorgeouslys for house plant,
and of which he is very proud. He
also has a dog which is old and deli
cate and to which he is devoted. In |
the winter time the hibiscus plant is
placed in his room because it has the
best windows in the house. and the |
dog also likes to sleep there and may
not be denied. The man likes fresh
air but he dare not open his windows
for fear of freezing the hibiscus or
Jock so all winter he sleeps with the
hibiscus and the dog and gasps for
air I tell the storv to illustrate how
precious a hibiscus plant may be in
his latitude but in Cordoba there are
great hedges of them and in the vicfn-
ty hibiscus is used to fence whole
They were in bloom
when we were there and you could
Tot imagine a sight more magnificent.
In Cordoba there are few beggars
and the people are the simplest, and
the most contented that we saw in
Mexico. There are many Indians who
sit in the market and on the street
corners all day with their wares
around them. But nobody is impor-
tuned to buy and the merchants seem