The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1910-01-07

SSll III the pdIiO VI SouI ydIu, WHICH,
is thirty, or forty feet square. The
house has veranda extending around
its three sides. The living room and
the kitcaen are in the center part and
the bedrooms in the wings.
The floors are of stone or hard
pressed dirt, the walls bare and there
is very little furniture. In two of the
rooms CT house we were in there
were Only three chairs, table and
bedstead; in one of the rooms the
only furniture was a chair and the
bedstea6. We went to this house to
see some strings of beads and neck
laces, and were shown half dozen
or more, worth probably $1,000, so
that the family was comparatively
wealthy, while appearances indicated
that it was poor.
The poorest classes live in the out
skirts of the city in huts loosely built
of bamboo poles and sticks and the
roofs matched with banana leaves and
straw. Frequently two or more fam.
lilies live in one-room hut The chill
dren of the poorer people run around
naked. 1t is a mystery how they all
manage to live.
1t is an ordinary sight to see the
women and children going in bathing
from the sandy beach of the river that
flows past and near the city. They do
not wear bathing suits.
The railroad crosses bridge on the
edge of the city, and the bathers are
plainly seen from the car windows.
Yet these people are the most moral
of Indians, and they have not inter-
married with other Indian tribes or
with the Spanish, Mexicans, Japanese
Central America and some other parts
OF Mexico.
The women always carry on their
heads whatever bundles or packages
they have to carry. For this reason
they are unusually straight and well
formed. The young women have ex.
ceptionally fine compilations, of a very
light copper color, but as in all tropi-
ca: climates they wither rapidly after
passing their twenty-fifth year.
Some of our party were DESTROYS Of
purchasing one of the strings of beads.
an. after making inquiries we were
directed to one of the finer adobe
houses on one Of the main streets. We
were welcomed with every courtesy.
The family consisted of the father and
mother and two daughtres, one about
16 or II and the other somewhat
older.
The parents looked old and dried
up. AS it was about noon the father
was taking his siesta, sitting in an
arm chair on the veranda, smoking q
long, black Mexican cheroot. After
making our wants known, we were
shown several strings of beads, on
which were hung number of the gold
coins. The prices were 500 up to
500 Mexican, that is from $50 to 500
gold
The market place is of interest to
Americans. 1t is near the railway sta
ton and occupies about block. The
principal articles for sale were vege-
tables, meats, fruits, cloth of many
and bright colors, sandals, the pecu-
liar head dress, calabash vessels and
many curios. These articles were laid
ont on the stone floor or on boxes, and
some were hung on the posts which
support the roof
The stalls are tended mostly BY
women, old and young. Some of the
young women were very comely, viva
cious and kept very sharp lookout
for trade. AS you were passing the
stands they would catch you by the
coat and smilingly show you their
wares, all the time keeping up con-
slant chatter in Spanish.