Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1913-09-24


Coronado, in the state of Du-
range, presents an average
Mexican village, one that can
be duplicated anywhere in the
northern two-thirds Of the country 1t
is typical even in it's legend-all min
ing towns here have the same. Once
upon time it's mines yielded so much
rich ore that the owner could pave
with silver the street leading from
his house to the church on the occa-
sion of his daughters marriage.
Panuco, like all Mexican villages, is
a transplanted bit of the orient.
There is the same small, low adobe
house with fiat roof and no chimney
and usually no window. Women carry
the same jars of water on their heads
and men clad in loose white cotton
trudge lazily behind their little burros
or more likely add their weight to the
already overburdened animals. The
glaring sun beats down from a trop-
ical sky on the same palm and cactus
and general air Of emptiness. and 81
lence peryades the streets
The universal building material is
adobe, which is faced with plaster only
in the better houses. These are al
ways built in the form Of hollow
square-the rooms opening into the
patio in the center The more pre-
entious homes have windows, barred
on the outside because the houses are
built snug up to the street, which
gives them the appearance of cells in
a prison
Village Scenes by Day.
There is no patch of green or any
thing bright to relieve the uniform
dust brown color of house end street
writes Jessie Fawler in the Los An
geles Times No spear of grass is in
sight and all the flowers are kept
in the patio. The particular village
can boast. of two trees, one cottonwood
on the outskirts and one pepper berry
To enter one of these huts is to
step in on a mud floor, rarely brick
one, to see a few earthenbowls and
saucers in one corner, a little pile OF
charred ashes in another and rude
altar made of a couple of packing
bits Of tinsel and scraps Of ribbon and
empty beer bottles with withered flow
ers, an offering to the virgin Of
Guadalupe who looks down from the
wall Chairs, bed and table are lux
uries not commonly found Mexican
women are fond of flowers and the
patios are bright with blossoms
throughout the year.
One traveller describes q Mexican
village as sun, silence and adobe, !"
and this is ones first and last impress
sion Whatever life it is around the
plaza; for away from here one sees
only an occasional water carrier or a
peon closely wrapped in his serape
squatting on the ground in the sun.
come from every open doorway and
follow us, yelping and barking. A
dozen dogs are not too many for an
average family. And the pigs-thcy
sleep in the middle of the street, and
not until our horses feet are almost
on them do they grunt and lazily move
a step to the right.
But in the evening all is changed
and the place is full of life and stir.
Every body comes out to enjoy the
music and to stroll around and around
the plaza. Men and women do not
walk together unless married or en-
gagged, but the men walk three or four
abreast on the inside of the promenade
and the women on the outside in the
! opposite direction. Through the open
doors. OF the pulque shops may be
seen groups OF men drinking the
nauseous beverage.
These shops, as well as all the
stores, are not known by the name of
their owner, but by some such fanci-
full names as Flowers of May" aft
ernoons In April and The Surprise. .
No village is too small to have Its
band, and good one, too, that plays
at the plaza one or two evenings a
week throughout the year. The ma
tives are very musical and one hears
everywhere the tinkle of the guitar or
| mandolin playing some native air, like
the plaintive la Golodrina," or pos
sibly the latest Importation from
! home.
One does not need to read the sign
'Esquela para ninas" painted In big
black letters on low plastered build
ing to know that it is school for
girls, for the children study in concert
and-well, pulmonary troubles are not
common at this altitude. Primary edu-
cation is compulsory throughout the
republic and SO every village has two
| schools. one for boys and another for
girls.
When Pay Day Arrives.
Pay day comes once a month. Work