Show i I 1 IN M 1 R I 1 I 1 1 r 41 1 I 1 r fix A 2 7 41 I 1 M MANNERS ANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF CF SOd SOUTHERN THERN NEIGHBORS the me mexican U boxxe a 0 za X Ms BU cu castle la in a Z every ry sense or of the word cathode r st t and market P ale liftee the r 0 ox ct carte chihuahua mexico letter a HERE are three NI places in chihuahua pw which soon become favorite W 11 haunts tor for strangers ait 1 2 4 A P w 4 I 1 the market place the cathedral and the plaza ak they are all within I 1 a stones throw of one another but in them the life of the town is centered and they offer at all hours of the day scenes as strange and foreign as they are interesting I 1 and enjoyable the market is open from early morning until late at night and except at noon when each and every mexican tradesman and country ranchero raa chero takes a restful siesta the multitudinous wares are lustily called and eagerly offered for sale by the cigarette smoking owners who sit on rush mats beside their potatoes apples corn pumpkins and decorated jars the market place is within an inclosure formed by the tour four walls of a large building and arched entrances lead to it from the outside streets on the sidewalk or rather with their heads on the walks and their bodies almost filling the narrow streets stand long rows of burros their heads droop and their eyes are closed as though in sleep while the crates they have carried in from the country count ry are being emptied into large baskets and carried inside the animals animal s are not tied for they seem to be imbued with that vis Inert lae so BO characteristic of their masters and would not run away it if one of wiggins storms were to strike them passing through one of the large entrances the market place proper is reached in every direction p piles iles of goods are exposed consisting of cigar mal ros pottery onyx fruits vegetables corn fowls birds beans colored prints cheap jewelry candy and the thousand and one other articles too numerous to mention and too varied to remember the place Is a perfect bedlam harsh shrill voices are heard on every side packing and unpacking is going briskly on men stag stagger in with heavy burdens women are sorting and assorting piling up and placing in bunches of three and four their onions fruits and potatoes while equal to a cent and a half are rapidly changed from hand to hand and their heavy clinking adds yet another sound to the general pandemonium the cathedral is the most elegant building in the city conspicuously rising tar far above all its surroundings and visible when one looks at the city from the fields and meadows reaching tar far away on olevery every side the architecture is decidedly moorish and the church built during the first t quarter of the eighteenth century is a fine old ment of adobe stucco and wood ing it stands facing the plaza and the facade bordered on each side by two high agh towers is filled with elaborate carvings and niches holding time scarred images of saints and apostles over the doorway there is an illuminated clock with a dull sounding bell on which the hours and quarters are struck throughout the entire day and night in the towers which taper gradually to a diminutive dome from just above the solid m masonry onry of the facade are hung half a dozen bells the ithe wild tones of which call the worshipers to church or give peals of victory on fete t I 1 I 1 Y V y aw ta I 1 I 1 1 I 1 11 1 t z I 1 I 1 THE CATHEDRAL days and national celebrations the other entrances to the cathedral beside that facing the plaza are on OB each side of the building and the heavy i oaken doors vie with the stucco work i around them in fantastic but sadly soiled caral carvings over the a har altar an and d allowing soft rays of light to fall through it upon the gaudy decorations within the church is a finely constructed dome almost as light and graceful as that which is reflected in the waters of the arno amo in tar a away UY italy yet time baglein has been very busy with the chihuahua cathedral ci thedral it has nipped the noses and d plucked the ears off many a statue I 1 i standing in the dusty niches turned I 1 the stucco carvings dun band and yellow I 1 eaten holes in the woodwork and chipped off the edges of pillars and d cov comers the ancient pile pae is dirty too I 1 and 61 long extend down I 1 18 e an d eicele around the towe towers M ae 11 while w i vanea cm ae i dome bre best and twisted into every feaz coa j T X ill 1 tei vable shapes R M r i t I 1 0 e a qu 0 at ed r iliin laibl lai bf 1 1 ir X 1 I 21 1 e 1 I 1 1 ai Z biffl V I 1 I 1 I 1 1 1 X I 1 w 0 hua the tb e ag houses v we a wanted t to 5 ewer enter I 1 were apparently so 30 inaccessible with iron barsat barl lat thi the windows irin dows and so many servants stood at the door that we abandoned any intention we demay may have had and were well nigh discouraged about seeing the inside of on one when by chance the artist stumbled upon a place into which we were ushered by a white haired old domestic who informed us that the family had gone to the states on a visit and that we might walk into the placita there is an unvaried rule followed in building mexican houses they are all of whitewashed adobe one story high and are erected around a large open square known as the placita the only doorway y is the large rge one opening directly into the street and which is wide and high enough for any sized cart or carriage to be driven through into the court the house we had the good fortune to examine was evidently the abode of a wealthy w family for there were servants scattered all over the place and our guide was apparently an old family dependent who took great pride in her family and their home emerging from the hallway which we entered first on coming from the street the court was reached and there we found a fountain and plants and some flowers there was no roof to the placita and the drawing rooms bedrooms and various other apartments opened into it so that when one Is once within the court he Is practically in the whole house and it if ever a house bouse is a mans castle as blackstone so strongly insists then surely fi A mexican house is a well guarded castle the few windows that open on the streets are heavily barred with iron and instead of the gardens being around the house the houses are around the gardens the rooms into which we glanced had floors made of brick and covered with rugs while furniture had a very american appearance it was the court however which we both liked the best and in which we lingered the longest shut off from the street as aa it was a restful quiet lingered about the place disturbed only by the dripping of the water in the fountain our 1 ta I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 f 1 00 1 LUMBERING OX CARTS knowledge of spanish being very limited the old woman explained by pantomime when her words failed to enlighten us she showed us th the e room she and her husband occupied a little e closet sort of place leadin leading 9 from the placita and in the door of which sat a couple of dark eyed children who glanced at us once and then resumed their play A chihuahua oxcart ox cart is a familiar vehicle in the city it is patterned after some design of apparently a century or two ago and is so big and lumbering that it fills nearly the whole street and requires two yoke of oxen to pull it the wheels are made of huge blocks of wood and the wicker body of the affair looks as though it would last forever but then the cart carl is characteristic te and like the antiquated plow of the mexicans is a curiosity which will disappear no doubt before the new order of things and the modern regime introduced by the americans and their railways A mexican is a pretty good republican he loves show and pomp as much as any royalist and no matter how small the town may be one is sure to find a company of soldiers a band of music and very many yet diminutive policemen in chihuahua the eleventh regiment barrack consists of a large building north of the plaza and going in and coming out of the spacious place one may see varying members of rather shabbily dressed soldiers who march to different parts of the city for no other reason so it seems than to show themselves to the inhabitants the uniform is usually a dirty artt white set of garments and the men see seem to have little idea of military precision but a mexican policeman is the most attractive personage and the one concerning whom the greatest mystery exists 1 I should hate to attack a dozen of them at once said the man of the vencil pencil but I 1 dont think a halt half dozen would trouble me and because I 1 agreed with him his words went undisputed the tam tact is the referred to men are not only very short and tat fat and altogether chubby looking but they have an innocent childlike appearance which dispossess es any one at once of any idea that they are at all formidable during the day they sun inin them themselves at the street corners and on the benches of the plaza and look lor for al all I 1 the world like good H little boya bo ys out ont for a holl holiday day at night they each take a lantern made of tine and holding a tallow caudle candle a long 10 ug staff and a little whistle and squatting down in the middle of the street street at short distances apart watch the hours of darkness roll away to meet those of light and only giving evidence that they are alive by blowing shrilly notes on their whistles at ey every 7 halt half hour mark marked ed off by the dock clock in the cathedral |