Perth Amboy evening news., 1922-01-25
Learn One New Thing Every Day
BULLETINS BY THE
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC sOCIE TY
THE STORY OF PULQUE.

IF the Mexican government has
undertaken IL abolish pulque drink
ing as dispatches say. it has assumed
a task beside which the enforcement
of Cur VI eighteenth amendment
would seem a MINOR detail of ad-
ministration," according to a bulletin
from the Washington, d. c.. head
quarters OF the Nailcnal Geographic
Society.
"Edicts against pulque are nothing
new in the MCxican's life. AS early
as 1892. at least. . Spanish viceroy
thought it would 81 a good thing to
stop pu.Que drinking. and precipi-
tated a rio. which ended in the burn
ing of public buildings, and as re-
Gently as 1917 an anti-pulque sec
ton was Incorporated in the new
Mexican ccnstitut. or But the Mex
lean hes b'tssfully ignored such pro-
hib.tions, as did TIE Aztec before him
and as did IA Tolteo before the Az
tee.
An Aristocrat of Beverages
Drunk Only by the poorer class
es, pulqu Cal. la n claim, that or
age. tc b an arlstocrat of New
World beverages. The conquista-
dores found the Aztecs drinking pull
QuC, III AN bShN tHS
dairy tai, " hos a certain Toltec
saw a mouse gnawing at the heart
OF A growing magpey Peering clos
er ne discovered a fluid oozing forth.
The cbservant Toltec sent his daugh-
ter to convey a sample of the huld
to his king. The monarch liked
both the beverage and the girl. TO
them was born q child named Me-
conetzin, meaning Child of the Ma
guey' From that time forth. SO
runs the stofy. the Toltecs began
to decline IA power and, their vitality
sapped by the wire of the maguey.
they fell easy prey to the Aztec con-
qunrers in the Valley of Anahuac.
"Pulque has long entered into
Mexica history and is closely re-
lated to social and labor conditions
there, because the geography of GER
tain districts CT the States OF Hldaigo;
Tlaxcaia, Mexico, and of the Federal
District itse f, is extremely favorable
TO growi y; certain varieties of cac-
tfs, There are thirty-three kinds OF
cactus wh.c' thrive in h e Mexican
plateau, al! of which are grouped
under the generic name of 'maguey.'
The Greek 'Agave' (noble) ais Is
| applied to this group a c~haracter1za-
| ton whict. is defensible even If the
Maguey il comparable to a Gargan-
| taun ~artichoke.
Shipped by JrdinlOad
1.-THE visitor to Apam, a town OF
southern Hidalgo, might mistake the
| long lines Ct cars constantly moving
| away f.om the sjdings for mill
| trains Instead they are pulque ear
| goes. a OF tL.en. bound for Mex.
| leo City, where the gluey, whitlsr
fluid will find it's way into the ex-
aggerated * hoon ers.' set out on the
| long counters of the ~pulquerias. OF.
| ten shese rsceptacles are of colored
| glass, giving the suggestion of pink
| lemonade a. a circus. The kick Is
only abou. 6 per cent, but the guam
tity in v hici the beverage is drunk
| for It is very cheap. produces effec'
tive intoxication.
.'I.ikewis. the uninitiated traveller
might mi'take n of these pulquer'
las eta r for a barber shop or
Greenwich Village resort. Its exter'
Tor usu lily is marked by vari-color.
ed paper hung across the ntran
suggestive of the old time barber
pole while the proprieto is apt tc
give II a fanciful name. Inside. the
only furnishing beside the ions
count.r, recallin the American sa'
looa bar OF othe. Gays, are barrels
eauJily cainted. and perhaps som'
crude crockery. Women OF the hal
world are supposed to d allure
ment to the establishment. but u
the American and to the highel
lclass C. Mex.can. h whole scene II
sodGen so-did and depressing.