The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-04-26
MEXICAN SERVANTS. COOKS AND KITCHENS Hotel Accommodations T0l-
 erable, Except Pillows ODD IDEAS OF WORK Three Months Returning Washing. Suit for Defamation of Thiefs
 Character-Useless to Get
 Angry With Mexican
ODD IDEAS OF WORK

No Mexican house is untidy, that is what In England would be called gen tlemen's houses" The chairs with their backs to the wall look like a well drilled regiment. The furniture Is usu- ally under covers; 1t is arranged with a precision which gives one an icy feel ing round the heart
 On the walls will probably be pie lures. Let us not speak of them, but. like Virgil and Dante, glance and pass by" Very unconventional householders may have some photographs showing and even a few books, not, of course, lying about, but in case or on a shelf. Rooms do not seem to be lived in. They are like show rooms" in some great house" through which a glibly respect able parrot housekeeper leads parties of gaping tourist visitors.
 Yet there is one unfailing charm about Mexican houses, writes H. Ham, ilton Fyfe In the Daily Mail. That 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 of ten, 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 it.
 1t is the custom to build houses round a green plot open to the sky. Some times there Is a logRia on three sides of this, a loggia into which all the rooms open (there being no "up- stairs') and where the household lives fr, IL. and tinkle of a fountain in the center. Or else the ground floor may be given up to offices or stabling, and mount ing a stairway you come to a broad balcony screened from the sun by thick trails of Towering creeper
 Well Seasoned Dishes
 Most hotels are built more or less on this plan. which almost makes up for the hardness of their pillows. The Mex ican idea of pillow is that it should by it's extreme discomfort prevent you for as long possible from falling asleep. Otherwise hotels are tolerable.
 The food is usually pleasant enough. Mexican dishes are always highly sea soned, sometimes painfully "hot r the mouth" But a "mole," which is a fowl or turkey served with a 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 I was told how it really ought to be made"
 A small quantity of coffee, very, very strong, should be prepared (of course from berries freshly roasted and ground4, and in each cup little of this should be roured the cup should then be filled up with hot water. The hotels are not cheap. l From 10 to- 12 shilinds is the usual charge for room. But they are clean as a rule, even those in small places, and in towns of any importance sanitation is now looked after.
 Mexican kitchens. being open to the air like the other rooms, are fresh and light and appetizing. q speak of those I have seem. Cooking is done on a "brasero," which is 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 hol1owed into a semi circle; the cook stands inside this and IS able to look after all the operation at once.
 The cook is frequently a Chino" fChinaman). Possibly his knowledge of Spanish is limited to a -ew words. yet somehow with mods and backs and wreathed smiles,' system of communi- cation is established. friend of mine time could only say, 'I do know" This saio to him.
 way in which he said it whether he un-