Show readers column 0 we invite your personal comments and will include your letters if they include information of general interest to our readers 0 apparently our friend mrs grace cleary of brooklyn N Y thinks she has given you a wrong impression of life in new york city so go she has written another ar interesting letter to correct any false statements made for her benefit and your enlightenment if you have never been to new york or any other large eastern city may we say that in new york brooklyn chicago or in I 1 any large cosmopolitan center one may find every form and condition of living according to an I 1 individuals preference if they are in a position to choose or as they are forced to live in an environment of close contact such as you will find in the slum districts or in sections where apartment houses are the abiding place of hundreds of families what we wonder at is the choice some people make to live in such congestion and confusion w when hen they might find their way vay to the wide open spaces and so live in closer contact with god and nature which is impossible to do in the crowded centers where millions of people seem to prefer to live and rear their children in order to contact the material pleasures which such environment roni nent may have to offer mrs Cle cleadys arys letter follows in which she relates another phase of city life which may interest you december 4 1940 dear mrs ogden im sorry I 1 said the not so nice things about new york the people are much more friendly than one is told and cleanliness is a big part of their life I 1 am no j judge adge of the families f because of the few I 1 know there are only two or three large ones brooklyn is called the city of churches and it certainly is there are few places where one can go five blocks without seeing at least one church there is one for you no matter what your belief may be and people can be seen on their way to church almost anytime of day on sunday new york certainly tries to take care of its children there is a child health station within easy reach no matter what part of the city you live in there doctors and nurses care for any child brought to them from prescribing the foods for infants to vaccination of the child so he can go to school it is nice to live where one can choose what he buys by seeing and examining it instead of having to read a description of it in a catalogue there are lots of parks with play grounds one about eight blocks from here was completely made over last year and now has a large softball diamond tennis conits handball courts a swim ming ining pool swings and teeter tot besides lots of walks with benches trees and lawns aquarium the beaches for fun an and d there are so many interesting museum parks the zoo and out on long island is any amount of country without many man homes hoines it is beautiful out there I 1 hope this corrects any wrong impressions I 1 may have riven given concerning things here in new york there are so many nice things that they outweigh the unpleasant sincerely yours grace cleary 0 another phase of life in this western land is depicted in the int interesting er esting letter received last week from mrs claude powell a former bluff resident who r now ow lives in gallup new mexico her account of the sacred indian d dance ance and ceremonials is very fine and we offer her letter in its entire ity because we know it will be of interest to you we also thank you mrs powell for your kind reference to the record and hope you will write to us again mrs powells letter follows 0 dear mrs airs ogden would the following description of the zuni indian dance performed near here every year at this time be of interest to your readers column the dance spiritual petition of the zuni indians has a deep religious significance it is a sincere prayer to the sun father for protection for crops and life for the guidance of his children the zuni indians the hearts of the indians are filled with profound gratitude at this time for all the blessings they have enjoyed during the year that is about to pass away into a new one A great feast is held at which the spirit of the brotherhood of man prevails there is only one common father no white brother and no indians are forgotten all share alike this festival expresses gratitude for f or the past year and hope and trust for the one to come As well as closing the old year new houses which have been comp completed feted are dedicated during the ceremony the attitude of the indians is one of deep religious respect childlike is their faith and adoration touching in in its sincerity and simplicity the six of them about nine nine feet tall with shining black hair about four feet long represent giant messengers of the rain gods the zunis are short ip in stature their height during the ceremonies is increased by gig gantic a n t i c gorgeously beautiful masks which have enormous birdlike beaks these beaks are controlled by mechanism hidden beneath the garments of the dancer the at will causing tf the e I 1 beaks to send forth calls and cries similar to those of birds these colorful dancers are the leading participants although men women and children all join in the annual event all work merrily preparing for the celebration by grinding corn collecting herbs tending crops hauling wood and building the new homes to be dedicated the this year was attended by over 1000 navajos cavajos and also many other groups of pueblos and white people from all over the united states mr powell and I 1 formerly owned and operated a navajo trading post at bluff utah since coming to gallup where we are engaged in the same business we look forward to the arrival of the san juan record and enjoy reading of the things things that go on in san juan county FERN L POWELL box gallup new mexico |