El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-03-25

gage of the tourist is carried by car
gadores. In heavy work these hu-
man burden bearers operate in pairs
They have a sort of platform which
might be ikened TO a double ended
wheeIbarrow without wheels. On this
is loaded the stuff TO be transported,
a man takes hold of each end and they
start on their journey. They usually
travel at a sort of pace, the motion OF
the feet of the man in front cores
ponding to that Of pacing horse. 1t
is surprising what heavy burdens
these men are able to carry. When
they operate singly they usually have
a heavy strap which passes around the
load and across the forehead right at
the edge of the scalp. Thus the whole
burden of the load Is thrown upon
their necks-
If there WE'RE as much in the germ
theory as many medical men assert,
surely half or the poems of Mexico
would be dead within a single year.
In the larger cities the conditions I'M
der which the poems live are unspeak-
ably unsanitary. The tenement OF
Mexico City, for instance, is usually a
one story structure, built around
square, and the inhabitants live as
thickly as bees in a hive. In many
cases three and four families viii oc-
cupy a single room. No effort is made
to observe even the simplest princi-
| pies of health. and the whole place
reeks with filth. Sometimes when
there is a bad outbreak Of an epidemic
disease. president Diaz issues an order
: requiring every native TO battle at
least once week. No other decree
of the government meets with such
+, hostility as this.
OF course. the condition of the peon
! is much worse in the cities than in
the rural districts. While their little
/ adobe huts on the plateau and their
/ matched ones in the low country sell
/ dom have more than one room and
rarely possess a window, there is more
/ air and less crowding than in the
] cities. While the children in the cities
usually are clothed to the point Of de-
| cency, this is not true in the country
1 districts. and the American employer
Of peon labor often must issue orders
compelling the peon families to put
| clothes on their children
Nothing On Earth Like Them
Perhaps nowhere in the world can
one find. race Of people whose wants
are fewer or more easily satlsIleo
( than those Of the average Mexican
! peon. He and his family may ban
! uuet on tortiIlas, frijo1es and chilli and
a simple mat for sleeping affords them
| as much comfort as the dOvniest couch
| brings to the average American c1t1-
men Wrapped in his Serape, with ms
hat for pillow, he sleeps as sweetly
/ as baby, from bedtime till dawn
The poems on a large ranch or plan
| tatior often view their employer much
in the same light as the old-tine
southern slave looked upon his mas
/ ter He. becomes their family phys1-
clan. prescribing for their ordinary ills,
/ officiates as godfather at the birth
of their children. attends their mar
riages ard is present at their wakes
/ The employer is usually kind, though
| he must always be firm. In some in
| stances. as in slavery days, employers
| are harsh and sometimes cruel to their
! peon labor 1t is charged by many
! who have investigated conditions, that
| in certain. sections of Mexico practical
/ slavery exists, but if it does. it is not
because there is anything lacking in
I the Mexican constitution An article
! in that instrument sets forth that no
/ Mexican shall be compelled to work
] without his full assent and that no cit
! izen of the republic can bargain away
/ his fight to freedom from imprison-
ment for debt
often Fares Well.
In some parts of Mexico the peon
| fares very we'll and received good pay
for his services On the docks Of the
| Tehuantepec railway they are paid two
| are given a substantial bonus for &C
complishing more than the usual stint
| The National Railways OF Mexico make
/ it rule to prefer Mexican labor to any
( other kind and so far as possible Mex
leans are employed on its lines. These
men give good service and the Ameri-
can officials Of the National railways,
while admitting that they are not fit
| ting themselves for the more respon-
! sible positions as rapidly as the gov
! eminent had hoped, declare that the
! interests Of the railroads are well pro-
! tected by the native employee.
There is only one thing in which
the peon has really expensive tastes
and that is in the matter OF hat. He
is content with a straw sombrero so
! long as he has no means to buy bet
! ter one. but the minute he secures suf-
/ ficiert funds. he will invest in the
highest priced felt affair that his
| means will permit 1t is no common
| thing TO see a peon wearing a $50 hat.
! a 81 pair of trousers. with not even
! an indian sandal TO cover his foot
Some Of these hats are very artistic
| and their possessor excites the envy
| Of every peon in the community.