Omaha Daily Bee Newspaper, December 28, 1902, Page 24

PREPARING THE DAILY TORTILLA ITY OF MEXI1C0, Dee, 16.—(Special Correspondence.) ~The City of Mexico s nearly 2,000 miles further south than Omaha, It is about fcur times as large and seven times as high, being nearly 8,000 feet above the sea level It has seen hundreds of years of history to Omaha's tgns Yet in many ways Omaha excels While Mex led has many large, fine stores, they are not as up-to-date as those of Omaha After tramping around for half a day in &earch of some such simple articles as a ruling pen or l0-cent crash for Kitchon towels, it would be a great comf into some of the stores at home and find Just what you want The City of Mexico, however, is indecl a city With a population of over 400,000 many miles of electric car lines, its bril t to step liantly lighted streets, it would compar favorably with any city of its size in the United States Viewed from an aesthetic standpoint, there is but one thing lacking to make it a very beautiful city Indecd one cannot say that it is not beautiful with its bread, clean, asphalt strects, its beautiful buildings, many of adobe, white or tinted in various shades; its hundreds of church spires that point upward toward the blue, blue sky And on every side the 1€ mountaing, some snow-capped keeping guard over the city Yet the first thing one misses is the beautiful expanse of God's green and the lovely flowers—the ‘“‘messengers of God" that are so common in the home land and which one expects to find in abundanc here in the tropics Aside from a few very small parks, where one is never al lowed on the grass, one never sees a grecn thing from the streets of Mexico. Houses, which are never more than three stories high, are built straight up from the street, with never a porch or a foot of lawn The nearest approach to a porch is a balcony on the second floor, which is built out a foot or two over the street, The windows on the first floor of the old houses are always protected by iron grat ings, like a prison, which is a relic of the necessity of early days The family very seldom lives on the first floor, that ls reserved for the servants and tower animals. One enters the house from the stroet through a great door onto the “patio,” or court. This is paved and often made very pretty with potted palms, ete The carriages drive right into this part of the hous« T'o the back of the patio are the stable aind servants quarters From the patio a broad stairway leads to the second floor, where are all the living rooms. These are all arranged around the MEXICAN MOTHER WITH HER BABY, FORTH. open patio and in the best houses are ver pleasant. Sometimes there will be a beau titul garden back of the house inclosed by a high stone wall The common people, or "“peons’ —of which class there are so many—Ilive in very differ ent homes from the ones described. Their homes are dark, damp and cheerless, with many in one small room They sleep there, but spend but little time there dur ing the day The father goes to his work very early in the morning Mexico is known as a country of no breakfasts. They never eat more than a piece of bread and a up of coffee The mother straps the little one on her back with her ‘“rebozo’” and goes to her work, too Often she has a little stand in the plaza where she sells From Left 10 Right—Vice President G. G. Wallace, Omaha; President James lin; V lis Caldwell, Broken Bow; Secretary President Lew Tibbetts, Hastings; Vice President J. A. Slater, Minder Vi . Hanson, Fremont; Stenographer O. E OFFICERS NEBRASKA REAL ESTATE DEALERS' ASSOCIATION—FPhoto by READY TO GO THEY O a CARGADORS MOVING BACKS very uninviting looking cakes, tarts and pies The baby is stowed away in a box under the stand, where he seems to be very contented At noon the woman takes the dinner to her husband She, with the children and her husband, sit down wher ever they happen to be and spread out their dinner. Often it is on the pavement The meal will consist of frijoles (kidney beans cooked with an abundance of chili (red peppers), tortillas (a thin pancake of na tive cornmeal which the women grind them selves with two stones), and a pitcher of pulque, the common liquor. It is the fer mented juice of the cactus and is the uni versal drink. They give it to their children from the baby to the oldest The pulqu shops are numerc G g Frank DELEGATES e President W ro aff Artist Artist N CARRY GREAT LOADS thronged by the peons sight that one sees in the picturesque Alameda (plaza) a bell-shaped and tucked in clusters small tucks down each side CONVENTION Anders Fren TION, ASSEMBLED ON NEBRASKA REAL OMAHA CITY HALL—Photo by a Staff HOUSEHOLD GOODS their bright colored blankets around them. The women of this class never wear hats. They have their “rebozo,” or shawl, around them always, and if it is cold they draw it over their heads They are usually barefcoted Often several women will sit in a group gossiping and enjoying their cigarettes with their babies in their arms. It is common to sce a man and woman walking together, either or both smoking. Often the woman and not the man. Men, women and children all smoke. There are dozens of little stands in the Alameda and along the streets where one can buy fruit, cakes and candie Other more ambitious venders carry trays around on their heads, crying out their various wares. It is as common to see women and little girls selling newspapers as to see men and boys There are hundreds of persons of all sizes and sexes that peddle lottery tickets on the streets. The Mexi- cans are a great people to be always eat- ing some little trifle, and no matter if the person has no shues and the clothes are more patches than whole cloth, the stop at a stand and buy ‘‘un ceatavos' of “dulce."” From childhood the wmen are trained for strength in their necks and backs by hav- ing stones strapped on them. When grown it is amazing to see the.stremgth they pos- sess. One man will carry enough for a wagon load. The “cargador’” of a furniture house will carry a rge-sized refrigerator a mattress and several other things on his back at one time, and seem to enjoy it They support these immense loads by means of a strap which passes over their fore- heads and practically all the weight hangs from the head. On Sundays and Thursdays the band pl in the Alameda On Sundays the peons are not allowed there between the hours cf 10 and 1 o'clock. Then it is that canvas is stretched for a long promenade, with awnings over it, and rows of chairs at each side Crowds don their best attire, the women often dressed elaborately in silks and satins—some as for evening—and prom- enade in the Alameda This is the only time when the plaza is not thronged with peons, and consequently the only time when one sees the better class of Mexicans. Some of the women are very beautiful They are very fond of bright colors. Even tiny babies will be dressed in red and yellow Children of 2 or 3 will wear dresses of bright colored silks made after the fashion of women Thus the scene presented on Sundays is in marked contrast to that seen n a week day CORA CHAFFE BABCOCK STATE DEALERS' ASSOCIA