El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-09-21

out on the aisles and the men come
! and are fitted in the sight of the pas
/ serby In some places the tailOrs have
| their sewing machines on the street,
\ and all sorts of work are to be seen
Here is a Iocksmith. Next door is a
girl selling pottery and further on Is
a section where the men are dealing
in nothing but sugar. The sugar is put
I'D in Ioaves about the size of an Edam
cheese, and wrapped around with palm
leaves and tied with a palm string IN
the center 1t is made from cane in
coarse, brown loaTes and it looks not
unlike dirty maple sugar. Further on
are the grain merchants and in an
other street are women selling dresses
lace and notions of one kind or other
Among the Costa Rieans.
But let us stop a moment and look
al the throng which is buying and
selling We have here all classes of
Costa Ricans. There are the residents
OF the capital and also the small farm
ers who have come in from the coun-
try. The most of the crowd is com
posed of common people, the rich doing
most of their buying in the stores. or
sending only their servants to market
As we shall see later this little re-
bubble has its well marked social
classes. some of which are quite as
aristocratic as our 400 at home.
How well dressed the people are;
Everyone seems to wear fairly good
clothes The merchants are natty IN
comparison with the Panamanians and
even the peasants are clean
Here come two policemen. They
have uniforms of light blue, with blue
caps Each carries an ebony club, and
I can see their revOlvers showing out
at the hips. They are nice little TEL
lows and far more polite than the
mOngrel officials Of the Panama re-
public / stand two up at corner and
photograph them They smile and are
seemingly delighted to have their faces
go to America Here come some boys
selling lottery tickets This is one OF
the chief businesses of Central Ameri-
ca, and it gives occupation to scores OF
men, women and children.
Bareheaded Women.
But look at the bareheaded women.
Not one of all those about US has a hat
on. The girls part their hair in the
middle and wear il in long braids down
their backs. 1t is as black as the
wings of the vultures outside the mar
ket and in most cases It hangs to the
waist or below
Nearly every girl has on a silk shawl
over her dress. This is part Of the nd
tiOnal costume and these shaWls, like
the obi or wide silk belt worn by the
Japanese " omen, are often the most
expensive part of the costume The
shaWls are of silk with a fringe Of lace
a fnot long. and are covered With as
much embroidery as the purse of the
owner can stand. The older women
wear black. but the girls and younS
women have shaWlS of the most dell
cate rose pink, or sky blue. Of sea
green and pale yelloWs and rich reds
A girl may be in bare feet and bare
head and her shirt waist and skirt
such that You could buy FOR $2-9S in
the States, but. nevertheless, this
shawl which covers her shoulders
would have cost ten times as much
These shawls are gracefully draped
about the person They are so folded
that long letter V hangs down to the
knees at the back and so that they |
l. 4 ~rH
the front Of the sides of the breasts,
leaving the arms bare to the elbow.
The girls wear elbow sleeves and the !
shawls set off their finely formed arms
and hands.
How the Girls Look.
But stop a moment. Here come half I
dozen young women who are evidently |
of the better class families. They are |
typical of these Costa Rica women, |
who have such g reputation for beauty \
They are from Is to 20 years old and |
are at their best. They are straight /
and well formed and walk like so /
many queens. Each is bareheaded and |
her black hair, just a trifle curly and |
wavy. hangs down in long braids. 1t is /
bound at the back Of the ears with /
butterfly bows of the same color as ]
the silk shawl she is wearing What !
beautiful eyes, They are large, dark |
well marked dark eyebrows. The
features are regular, the foreheads
rather low and the cheek bones per-
haps 4 trifle too high The lips are /
red. ripe and luscious, and the teeth,
which show as the young ladies gig
gle, are as white as slaked lime. The 1
complexion is of a light olive with
just a tinge of red at the cheeks. These
girls wear no paint or powder, al
though some others in the market !
show signs of the puff box. Now look (
at the shawls. One is of salmon, an
other is pink and third is bright
red and in each case the skirt and
shirt waist match.
Now refreshing it is to see girls
without hats. When 1 left home the
street headgear of our women was
more fantastic than any 1 have ever
seen on the stage 1 am told II is !
even so here with the young women
who belong to the rich upper crust.
But I can tell you a goodlOoking |
maiden looks far better. with no hat
at all, and besides-it costs less
Now examine the dress of the men. |
Those of the better classes wear the
same costumes that we do at home.
The climate here is perpetual spring, !
and the white ducks and linens of
Panama are too cool for comfort 1t is
only the peasants and farmers who
dress largely in cottons. They have
on short jackets like roundabouts
which reach a little below the waist.
and their trousers fit almost tight
around their thin shanks. Nearly !
every man has a pair of saddlebags
on his shoulders or back. These are
made of leather beautifully embrOid-
cred, each bag holding about peck.
But few of the men are fat, and
l. I