Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1914-03-10

SOME FACTS ABOUT MEXICO.
keep Smiling Good Motto For
Strangers Dealing With Servants.

their DackS TO the wall, look ike
we'll drilled regiment. The furnitur,
Is usually under covers; it is arranged
with a precision which gives one al
icy feeling around the heart.
On the walls will probably be pic
lures Let us not speak Of them, but
like Virgil and Dante, glance ant
rass by" Very unconventional house.
holders may have some photographs
showing, and even a few books, not
Of course, lying about, but in a case oil
on shelf Rooms do not seem to be
lived in. They are like "show rooms
in some great house" through which
a glibly respectable parrot housekeep-
er leads parties of gaping tourist Wis
itors.
Yet there is one unfailing charm
about Mexican houses. This Is the
charm Of flowers. All Mexicans love
flowers. Their homes present to the
street bare, unlovely walls, with barred
and close curtained windows. Very
often, though, you get a glimpse as
you pass the open door Of a patio
where the sunlight flickers on green
leaves and vivid blossoms. Always
you may count upon such an interior
even If you cannot see 1t.
1t is the custom to build houses
round green plot open to the sky
Sometimes there is loggia on three
sides Of this, loggia into which all
the rooms open (there being no up
stairs") and where the household lives
in warm weather, cooled by the splash
and tinkle Of a fountain in the center
Or else the ground floor may be given
up to Offices or stabling, and mount
ing stairway you come to a broad
balcony screened from the sun by
thick trails Of Towering creeper.
Most hotels are built more or less
on this plan, which almost makes up
for the hardness Of their pillows. The
Mexican idea Of pillow is !that II
should, by it's extreme discomfort, pre-
vent you for as long as possible from
falling asleep. Otherwise hotels are
tolerable.
The food is usually pleasant enough.
Mexican dishes are always highly sea-
soned, sometimes painfully hot in the
mouth" But mole" which Is a
fowl or turkey served with thick.
dark brown, slightly sweet sauce all
over it, is as good as any curry; they
have attractive modes of cooking pork,
for those who are hardy enough to
eat it, in Mexico, and there is always
fruit and always drinkable coffee. This
is the land Of coffee, and / was told
how it really ought to be made"
A small quntity Of coffee, very, very
strong, should be prepared (of course,
from berries freshly roasted AND
ground), and in each cup little OF
this should be poured; the cup should
then be filled up with hot water. The
hotels are not cheap. From $3.50 to SO
is the usual charge for a room. But
they are clean as a rule, even those in
small places, and in towns of any ir"
portance sanitation is now looked af-
ter.
Mexican kitchens, being open to the
air like the other rooms, are fresh and
light and appetizing. Il speak Of those
have seem. Cooking Is done on a
"brasero," which is a charcoal stove in
the center Of the kitchen with several
glowing nests in it, on which several
pots or pans can simmer or frizzle at
the same time. The stove is on one
side followed out into a semi circle; {;
the cook stands inside this and is able
to look after all the operations at once.
The cook is frequently a Chino
(Chinaman). Possibly his knowledge
of Spanish Is limited to a few words,
yet somehow with mods and becks and
wreathed smiles" system Of commu
nication Is established. A friend OF
mine has a capital Chino" who for a
long time could only say, Il do know
This was his reply to everything that
was said to him.
1t was necessary to discover from
the way in which he said 1t whether
he understood or not. One day his
mistress gave him long instructions as
to getting his master up very early the
next morning and giving him his
breakfast so that he might catch a
train at dawn. When she had finish
ed the Chinaman said: Goodnight,
lady" That was all. But he carried
out her instructions exactly.
Woman servants are called "criadas"
and wear their hair down, either in
tails or falling loose around their
shoulders They can be trained into
clever cooks, neat mattresses and care
full housemaids, but it is not often that
they are so trained. Much patience is
needed 1t is useless to expect too
much of them. If they are scolded or
worried they simply leave without
warning. They must be allowed to do
their work more or less in their own
way Certain habits have to be check
ed.
1 suppose nearly all cooks use their
fingers to test the temperature Of the
soup Mexican servants practice even
more unpleasant tricks until they are
taken in hand. They are sometimes in
clined to pilfer, more from curiosity, l
believe, than from thieving propensi-
ty, but it is libel to call them all dis
honest, as many people in Mexico do.
They have odd ideas which may make
them appear dishonest when they are
not so.
For instance, a woman who washes
for an acquaintance of mine in Mexi-
co City told him one day she was going
to live in Toluca. He paid her and said
good by. A little later he discovered
that Lis linen press was short several
sheets, pillow cases, etc. He also miss
ed some shirts. Naturally, he conclud-
ed that the washerwoman had stolen
them. Three months afterward she
called at his office and said that she
had left the missing articles at his
rooms and would he please pay her?
She had taken them into Toluca, wash
ed them and kept them until she had
an opportunity to bring them back.
Tip,a meant nothing to her Resides