The Washington times., 1914-01-21
MENCANS' HOMES
ARE LIKE BARRACKS
Chairs Lined Up With Backs to
Walls Like a Troop of
Soldiers.

LONDON. Jan. 21.-No Mexican house
is untidy. that is what ii England
would be called gent ensn's houses
The chairs with their backs 20 the wall
look like a well drilled re esiment. The
furniture is usually Under covers. il is
arranged with a precision which gives
one an icy feeling round +he heart.
On the wal will Dr2 1abIy be pic
lures. Let US not speak of them, but.
like Virgil and Dante, ''g ance and pass
by" Very unconventional household
ers may have some Photographs show
ing, and even a few books, not, OF
course, lying about, but il a case or on
a shelf. Rooms do not seem to be lived
II They are like show rooms" in
some great house through which
Rlibly respectable parrot housekeeper
leads part Is of gaping tourist vIsi-
tors
Yet there is one unCailing charm
about Mexican houses, rites H Ham
ilton F'yfe in the Daily Mail That is
the charm of flowers. Al MeNlcans
love flowers. Their homes pIesent to
the street bare. unlOvely walls. with
barred and close curtaiued windows
Very often, though, you get glimpse
as you pass the open l0orp OF a patio
leaves and vivid blossoms Always you
may count upon such an interior even u
You cannot see II.
1t is the cuspom to 0uild houses round
a green plot open to the sky. Some
time there is a loggia on tnlee sides
of this, roggia into wrlch all the
rooms open (tnere being no upstairs
and where the.househo.d d hHes in warm
weather, cooled by the plash and tinkle
Of a fountain in the center. Or else me
ground floor may be given M to offices
or stabling, and mounting stairway
you come to a broad balcony screened
from the sun by thick trails oil 1IoWer-
ing creeper.
Well Seasoned Dishes.
Mos, hotels are built more or less on
this plan, which almost makes up for
the hardness of their pillows. The
Mexican idea of a pillow is that 1t
should by its extreme discomfort pre-
vent you for as long as possible from
falling asleep. otherwise hotels are toll
eTablc
The food is usually pleasant enough
Mexican dishes are always highly sea
.sonec. sometimes painfully hot i the
mouth But a .'moIe," which is a fowl
or turkey served with a thick dark
brown, slightly sweet sauce all over, IL,
is as good as any curry; they nave at
tractive modes of cooking pork tor
LLOSG MnO dIG lldINg SAAOAGA " -
in Mexico, and there is always fruit and
always drinkable coffee. This is the
land OF coffee, and l was told how II
really ought to be made.
A small quantity of coffee, very, very
strong, should De prepared (of course
from berries freshly roasted and
groUI ID, and in each cup a little of this
should be poured; the cup should then
be filled up with hot water. The hotels
are not cheap. From 10 to II shillings
q ka Thar for n But
they are clean as rule, even those in
small places, and in towns Of any inn
poTtarce 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
hsN e seem. cooking is done in a bra
serc." which is a charcoal stove in the
center of the Kitchen with several glow
ing Tests in it, on which several pots
OF pans can simmer or friZzle at the
same time The stove is on one side
followed into a semicircle: the cook
stands inside this and is able to look
after all the operations at once.
Cooks Are Chinese.
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" a system of communi-
cation is established. a friend of mine
has n capital Chino who for a long
time could only say 4 do know" This |
was lis reply 20 everything that was
said &c him.
1t was necessary to discover from the |
way in which ne sa il whether he un- |
derstood or not One day his mistress |
gave him long instructions as to getting |
his master up very early the next morn |
ing and giving him his breakfast, so !
that he might catch a train at dawn |
When she had finished the ChiuamaE !
said: Good night, lady" That was
all. But he carried out her instructions |
exactly.
Woman servants are called "criadas'
and wear their hair down, either IL tails |
or falling loose around their shoulders. |
They can be trained into clever cooks, I
neat mattresses, and careful housemaids, !
but IL is not often that they are SO
trained. Much patience is needed. II 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
bc checked.
/ 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, I
believe, than from a thieving propens-
.ty. But it is libel to call them dis
honest. as many people in Mexico do
They have odd ideas which may make
them appear dishonest when they are .
not so.
Time Meant NOTHING.
For instance, a woman who washed
for an acquaintance Of mine in Mexico
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 his linen press was short OF several
sheets, pillow cases. etc. He also
missed some Shirts. Naturally. he con-
cluded that the washe-woman had
stolen them. Three months afterwdrd
she called at his office and said that she
had left the missing articles at hi
rooms and would he please paw her"
She had token them to ToIuca. Washe@
them. and kent them until she had 2.
opportunity to bring them hack. Tim
meant nothing to her. Besides he ha
so many"
That is the kind of me~t-Iitv one
frequently up against N Mexico Il
Is useless TO argue. II * worse thar
useless to be angry snr the poor Mexi-
can is simply bewiIde-od The onIv
thing TO do Is to see tho hurnor Of &
and smile. Smile when Won are toll
Of some valued niece - china that "at
dawn found itself broken" smile. az
ihOugh you know for ,artain that vOrr-
coffee and sugar are gI,DplieI ragr,'ar