Mexico weekly ledger., 1918-02-21


Dne as being quite thiekly populated
The towns are close together and prae-
alike. As n Of the boys said,
England is a pretty good sized city"
And the impression hat IS everywhere
conveyed is that Of neatness and clean
illness. The roads, little fields, the
very back yards are as clean and spot
less and free from weeds As though
undergoing a perpetual inspection.
There are no tumbled-down buildings,
nothing out Of repair. In the towns
the houses are all built according to
the same style Of architecture, brick,
with tile roofs. And ~ehimneys! As
you look over a town the first impress
sion you get it Of a forest Of Chin
neys, each exactly like the others.
You have heard Of the hedgerows Of
England. It's no fiction. They are
Used everywhere instead Of fences,
and they are kept trimmed as neatly
as those in our front yards. There
are practically no tall buildings and
few large ones. There are no large
farms or fields. In fact, the whole
island reminds one of a toy country.
Its people are Unconditional, self-satis-
fled, a bit reticent, but withal, great,
and very, very capable of doing what
they make up their minds to do.
One afternoon we passed through a
little inland village. l have read about
such places, but l hardly think real
lied that they really existed. To at
tempt to make you see it would be
! foolish. l used to wish that you were
along occasionally when something
unusual occurred (don't imagine that
I would want you here only for the
pleasure of gratifying your curiosity,
however. As usual, | am always sell
/ fishly wishing for you simply for the
pleasure of your company, which, like
most other enjoyable things, | don't
think | fully appreciated until ] had
to withdraw it) but now, when won
d1rful and unusual things are coming
under my observation every day, re-
alize how much more | would get out
of them if there was someone to see
them with me and to talk to
about them. But about this little viii
lage Of mine. When We think Of lit
tie inland towns we picture a place
like Florida or Victor or Santa Fe-
a row of struggling, ramshackle frame
houses, unkept fences, rubbish in the
yards-a generally barren. unhome-
like atmosphere about the whole
! thing. Perhaps there will be n or
r two we'll built cottages which look
, ashamed of their surroundings and
( out of place. Far different here.
, You come down one of these little
A hedgc-fringed lanes, turn a corner,
( and are Immediately transported
Y back TO the middle ages. There before
c you lies an irregular cluster of the
g oldest brick houses Imaginable, nest
g ling in a clump Of trees and shrub
berry. The walls are UNCOVERED, the
S roofs are thatch, with moss growing
e over it, and the impression one gets is
e the houses were built shortly after the
flood. But, as everywhere, the yards
are perfect little gardens, every stick
II and stone is in its right place, and the
whole town looks as if it really be-
longed there, almost as if it had
grown up out of the soil. There is a
/ quiet, sleepy, coy, honey atmos.
phere, and l never in my life saw any
,s thing in more perfect harmony with
" its surroundings.
70 There as some things about this
Is "bally bloomin' land" however, that
are far from quoting to the nerves
Their money system, for instance, viii
soon leave me a raving maniac, and /
A has already made more gray hairs IL
" my head than worrying about you kids
h ever did. The English currency sys'
,r TEN Ito use the word System" in con
ID ~nection with it is the baldest irony) hal
"a absolutely no excuse for existence
W that | have been able to discover VI
~ to the present time. So far as cal
of Judge, it is a combination of tha
70 used by every race that has ever com
w in contact with the Britons,-Celts
f. Anglo-Saxons, Normans, with a dasI
of Roman thrown in for good meas
10 ure. The coins are unrelated, there i
st a mere shadowy attempt at regula
f. graduation, and the English pronuncia
ton of their names is so different fror
III the way they are spelled that | sci
rs dom know what they are talking about
a IL it were not for the fact that uni
or versal honesty seems to prevail | woul
Il have been broke long ago. TIL
If youngsters around here are very kce
no for American souvenirs, and | CAV
,ir away my last U. S. coin the othe
day-a Lincoln penny. As / droppe
it into the paw of the bright-eyet
ut req cleeheu SIlllHlhB litIiC Viii
felt as if | had burned my last bridg
no behind me. From now on I'll have
H. depend on my knowledge Il hate I
,lv call it that of English coins, and ma
90 my good angel guard me.
Lp- / can't leave this without tellin
at you something about the English raj
roads. To us, who are accustomed
isb see old No. 8 come tearing in wit
9lv her great big engine and her strir
Ne of heavy steel Pullmans weighin
ice hundreds of tons, the British roads al
of almost inconceivable. Their engine
lis and little tracks remind one Of thos
,rv at the brick plant, and the cars al
m. built to match. An English railroa
80. would make an admirable toy, and Y
,at thinging strongly of bring n bai
re. for our little brother Gibby to pla
not with. The passenger coaches are
Of three kinds-first, second and thil
class. Each coach is divided into cor
Of painted a good ommon sense blat
his people. There are doors in the side
ard the car leading into each compartmel
Md but no means of communication fro