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GENERAL PORF1RIO DIAZ, President of Mexico 
 
Hatto of ©ottmrroro 
 
 A Study in the Development 
 of Mexico 
 
 By JASPER T. MOSES 
 
 President 
 
 The Christian Institute 
 
 Monterrey, Mexico 
 
 Published by 
 
 The Christian Woman's Board of Missions 
 
 Indianapolis, Ind. 
 
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 ti«MRY of CONGRESS? 
 
 Two Cooles Received 
 
 SEP 6 «90f 
 
 . Cooyrtrht Bntry 
 
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 CLASS A XXC, lis, 
 
 /£2376 
 
 COPY D. 
 
 Copyright 1907, 
 
 By the Christian Woman's Board of Missions. 
 
 First Edition, August, 1907. 
 
©o Hg Hotter 
 
 Who has ever been my greatest 
 inspiration and help, and to 
 
 Pioneer Missionary to Mexico, 
 always a kindly friend and wise 
 counsellor, this little volume is 
 affectionately dedicated. 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2010 with funding from 
 The Library of Congress 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/todayinlandoftomOOmose 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 Foreword vii 
 
 List of Illustrations ix 
 
 Chapter I— The Rise of a Nation 1 
 
 Chapter II— The Country and the People 9 
 
 Chapter III— Men and Manners 15 
 
 Chapter IV— Family Life. 23 
 
 Chapter V— Street Scenes 29 
 
 Chapter VI— Education . 37 
 
 Chapter VII— Cities . 43 
 
 Chapter VIII— Feasts and Skulls 49 
 
 Chapter IX— Protestant Missions in Mex- 
 ico 57 
 
 Chapter X— The Work of the Disciples in 
 
 Mexico 67 
 
 Bibliography 81 
 

 
T 
 
 FOREWORD 
 
 1 HOUGH some have called Mexico the "land 
 of the manana" (to-morrow), in a half 
 joking way, because of the leisurely habits 
 of her people, the writer had no such thought when 
 christening this little volume. Mexico is full of 
 promise not yet realized, of aspirations only half 
 felt. Great as is her present, the future, the to- 
 morrow, has far greater things in store. 
 
 We have tried to put in words a few of our im- 
 pressions of Mexico and of her people. We have 
 not consulted encyclopedias nor histories in prepar- 
 ing what is herein set down. Should the reader 
 wish statistics or mere data of any special kind, 
 he is free to do this. He may be further assisted 
 by the brief bibliography at the close of the book. 
 
 If a foreigner who had lived in New England 
 some three years, had visited a week in New York 
 and Washington and had seen Chicago, should at- 
 tempt to generalize on American traits and insti- 
 tutions, he would be somewhat in the position of 
 the present writer. Yet many Europeans have 
 written volumes on a much shorter acquaintance 
 with America and still survive. If the things that 
 have impressed us in northeastern Mexico are not 
 equally true more than a thousand miles to the 
 south, remember that it is a far cry from Boston to 
 
Vlll FOREWORD. 
 
 Butte, and that some marriage customs in Salt 
 Lake City are not looked upon with favor as far 
 west as Buffalo. 
 
 The picturesque and historic features of old 
 Mexico that have been described by so many tour- 
 ist authors have not been dwelt upon at length. We 
 have tried to show the Mexican people as they are 
 and to give some idea of their struggles and aspira- 
 tions, of their daily life and of the forces that are 
 so rapidly changing Mexico's to-day and ushering 
 in her brighter io-morrow. 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 General Porfirio Diaz Frontispiece ^ 
 
 Religious Procession in a Mexican Village, 
 
 Opposite page 4 " 
 
 Military Parade in Mexico City 6 
 
 Returning from Market on Canal 10 
 
 Studies in Peon Architecture 12 
 
 Mountain Scenery at Monterrey 16 
 
 Plaza and Street Cars, Monterrey 20 
 
 Peons Working in a Trench 24 
 
 Entertaining an American Visitor 24 
 
 MexiCxIN Ox Carts 24 
 
 Public Washing Place, Monterrey 28 y 
 
 Patio op a Mexican Home 30 
 
 Market Bridge at Monterrey 32 / 
 
 Cargadores Resting Beside Their Burdens. . . 32 
 
 Street Market Scene 34 
 
 Public Letter AVriter and Curbstone Croup. 34 
 
 On the Doorstep op a Humble Home 38- 
 
 Public Buildings in Mexico City 40 
 
 Professor Andres Osuna 42 
 
 Class in Presbyterian Coi uege, Coyoacan ... 42 
 
 Street Scenes in Mexico City 44 
 
 Picturesque Mexican Cities 46 v 
 
 Market Stall— A Generous Assortment. ... 50 
 Monterrey Cathedral 54 
 
x list of illustrations. 
 
 Hanging op Judas on Holy Week 54 
 
 A Mexican Cemetery 54 
 
 Methodist Church and School, Pachuca. ... 60 
 
 A Family of Mexican Disciples 60 
 
 Group op Mission Buildings in Mexico City 62 
 School Building and Playground, Christian 
 
 Institute 66 
 
 T. M. Westrup and Family 70 
 
 Evangelist Jimenez and Family 74 
 
 A Village Outstation 74 
 
 Some Pupils and Teachers of the Christian 
 
 Institute 76 
 
Today in the Land of Tomorrow 
 
i> 
 
I 
 
 THE RISE OF A NATION 
 
 MEXICO is a land of contrasts and of sur- 
 prises, of deserts and of gardens, of hov- 
 els and of palaces. With the oldest civ- 
 ilization on our continent, her renascence of en- 
 lightenment and of advancement has been the 
 most recent and withal the most remarkable. In 
 the middle of the sixteenth century, when that 
 part of North America now occupied by our great 
 Anglo-Saxon commonwealth was a howling wilder- 
 ness, peopled only by savages, there were cities in 
 Mexico to which had been transplanted much of 
 Latin civilization, where already schools and 
 hospitals were established and where great churches 
 and cathedrals that were to outlast the centuries 
 were in course of erection. 
 
 "Whence then the difference between the com- 
 munities founded by our Puritan fathers and those 
 of the Spanish conquistador es ? Was not the civili- 
 zation of Spain, influenced as it was by contact 
 with the Moors and other foreigners, equal to that 
 of Elizabethan England? We know that in the 
 Europe of that day the influence of Spain, the 
 glamour of her power and her riches, outshone that 
 of the little island kingdom. Was not the roman- 
 
2 TODAY IN THE LAND OF TOMORROW. 
 
 tic adventurer, Cortez, who subdued whole nations 
 by his victorious sword, capturing vast treasures 
 and enslaving thousands of luckless aborigines, a 
 far greater figure than that other soldier, the 
 stalwart but prosaic Puritan, Miles Standish, whose 
 greatest battles were at best mere skirmishes with 
 the Indians, and who even engaged another man 
 to do his love-making ? 
 
 The difference lies in the motives for the estab- 
 lishment of these two colonies- as well as in the 
 characters of the men who founded them. The 
 Puritans came to establish a state where God might 
 be worshiped in freedom of conscience and where 
 equal rights for all might prevail. The Spaniards 
 sought wealth and power, the means to gratify their 
 selfish desires. Secondarily they came to establish 
 a system of religious bondage under which Europe 
 had groaned for centuries, whose logical outcome 
 was the Inquisition, with all its bloody horrors 
 and the even worse deadening of the moral and 
 spiritual faculties of the people that must ever 
 come where a system of dead works and of mean- 
 ingless penances takes the place of a heartfelt faith 
 in a living and personal Christ. The best men of 
 England came to make their homes in the new 
 world. They brought their families with them. As 
 soon as their modest cabins had been built, with 
 their own hands they erected the church and the 
 schoolhouse. The leaders of the Spanish colony 
 came only for a few years or until they could amass 
 enough wealth from the slave labor of the natives 
 
THE RISE OF A NATION. 3 
 
 or from their plundering expeditions to return and 
 lead a life of luxury in Spain. While John Eliot 
 toiled long- years to learn the Indian tongue and 
 to translate the Bible, the Spaniards baptized the 
 natives by the thousand, giving them the choice 
 of Rome or of death. For them the Bible was an 
 unknown book and their worship a meaningless 
 adoration of the glittering images of the Virgin 
 and of the saints. Most of them continued to 
 worship their former idols in secret or to adore 
 images in Romish shrines that were merely old 
 Aztec idols rechristened and newly garbed. 
 
 With such a foundation laid, is it any wonder 
 that the builders of the Mexican nation have had 
 a difficult task ? We sometimes think that our noble 
 Washington struggled against great odds in the 
 achievement of American independence. His task 
 was not a tithe so difficult as that heroicly begun 
 by Hidalgo and after so many years of struggle 
 completed by the inflexible Juarez. The American 
 colonies had always enjoyed a large measure of 
 liberty. Their citizens were self-reliant, vigorous, 
 ready to act. Even the clergy were in sympathy 
 with the revolution. Men of wealth like Robert 
 Morris lent their aid and great statesmen that were 
 the wonder and admiration of Europe represented 
 our cause abroad and guided affairs at home. 
 France was our ally, and we had a navy that was 
 no mean factor throughout the struggle. 
 
 Mexico had none of these advantages. Like a 
 pall over the whole land lay the influence of the 
 
4 TODAY IN THE LAND OF TOMORROW. 
 
 church and clergy, ever fully enlisted on the side 
 of tyranny and the constant foe of the republic 
 through all the years, even now quiescent only 
 because of necessity. At the beginning of the 
 nineteenth century the church owned nearly half 
 of the real and personal property of Mexico. 
 The Catholic Bank in the City of Mexico was the 
 financial institution of the country. Without 
 its sanction and aid no large enterprise could be 
 put through. Every town of any size had its mon- 
 astery or nunnery with great adjoining estates that 
 were free of taxation and whose occupants literally 
 lived off of the people. The clergy were not only 
 exempt from taxation, but they levied tithes on all 
 of the laity. They were not subject to the ordinary 
 civil courts, but must be tried before their own 
 tribunals, where of course they usually went free. 
 A large part of the people were tenants of the 
 church, and strict conformity with the existing 
 state of affairs was one of the prices of their exis- 
 tence. The Inquisition was still in full sway, and 
 any person suspected of liberal sentiments, either 
 political or religious, was haled before one of its 
 secret tribunals, perhaps never to be heard of 
 again. 
 
 September 16th, 1810, is the date in Mexican 
 history that corresponds to our Fourth of July. 
 Then the patriot priest, Hidalgo, summoned, his 
 parishioners by the furious ringing of the church 
 bell at midnight in the little village of Dolores. 
 They formed the nucleus of an army or rather a 
 
THE RISE OF A NATION. 5 
 
 disorganized mob, sometimes estimated at 100,000 
 men, who drawn by the eloquence of the venerable 
 patriot, enlisted under the banner of independence. 
 The important cities of Guanajuato and Guadala- 
 jara were captured with much bloodshed. But the 
 attempt to take the City of Mexico failed as 
 Hidalgo was defeated by the army sent against him 
 by the Viceroy. This defeat was due largely to 
 desertions and to the falling off of popular support 
 on account of the decrees of excommunication that 
 had been launched against him by the Church. He 
 was later captured and after being degraded from 
 his priestly office by the Inquisition, was shot and 
 beheaded. 
 
 In 1821 Mexico finally succeeded in throwing 
 off the Spanish yoke, but with the aid of the cleri- 
 cal party, Iturbide, the successful general, was. 
 proclaimed Emperor of Mexico and Roman Catho- 
 licism was recognized as the only religion to be 
 tolerated in the land. Other revolutionary generals 
 soon proclaimed a republic and the empire lasted 
 less than a year. Then followed a series of revolu- 
 tions in which the notorious Santa Ana played a 
 leading part, keeping the country in an almost 
 continuous turmoil until the latter fifties when 
 Juarez came into prominence with his program of 
 religious liberty and for the secularization of 
 church property that was not actually in use for 
 religious purposes. This Law of Reform, called for 
 by the constitution of 1857, was proclaimed in 1859, 
 but was not enforced until 1861, when Juarez 
 
6 TODAY IN THE Lx\ND OF TOMORROW. 
 
 finally succeeded in conquering the clerical troops 
 and entering the Capitol. 
 
 The Church party, eager for revenge upon 
 Juarez and the republic, intrigued with Napoleon 
 and other European monarchs for an intervention 
 and the establishment of a "Catholic empire" in 
 Mexico. The unfortunate Maximilian and Carlotta 
 reached Mexico in June, 1864. They were wel- 
 comed with frantic joy by the clergy and Te Deums 
 were sung in all the cathedrals. With the aid of 
 French troops Juarez was driven into exile and a 
 court modeled after those of Europe was estab- 
 lished with full ceremony and regal splendor. But 
 the dream of an American empire was short-lived. 
 As soon as the United States had concluded its 
 great internal strife, France was notified that we 
 regarded with disfavor the presence of her army 
 in Mexico. Napoleon was not slow to take the 
 hint, and the young Mexican empire was left 
 to shift for itself. No sooner had the French 
 troops embarked than Juarez entered the northern 
 part of the country gathering an army and carry- 
 ing all before him as he went south toward the 
 City. Poor Carlotta who had been in Europe the 
 summer before vainly pleading with the Pope and 
 with Napoleon to do something to save her hus- 
 band's kingdom, was now a maniac in her Austrian 
 home. Maximilian and his generals with the main 
 part of their army were captured in Queretaro on 
 the 15th of May, 1867. As an unmistakable lesson 
 and a warning to the clericals and monarchists of 
 
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 X 
 
 Q 
 
 < 
 
 < 
 
 a. 
 
 < 
 
 < 
 
THE RISE OF A NATION. 7 
 
 both Mexico and Europe, the royal prisoner was 
 shot on the morning of June 19th, 1867. 
 
 President Juarez and General Diaz entered the 
 City of Mexico in the following month. The lib- 
 eral Constitution of 1857 was once more pro- 
 claimed. Since this re-establishment of the repub- 
 lic, the progress of the country has been rapid. 
 In 1871 and in 1876 there were brief revolutions 
 over the presidential succession. Since the second 
 election to the presidency of General Porfirio Diaz 
 in 1884, the peace of the country has been undis- 
 turbed and its development unbroken. In Presi- 
 dent Diaz are blended most of the qualities needed 
 for a successful executive in a land like Mexico. 
 What a Mexican writer calls "the restless, incon- 
 stant character of our race" requires a different 
 sort of government from that enjoyed by the more 
 phlegmatic Anglo-Saxon with his centuries of com- 
 mon law developed by and for the people governed. 
 The more volatile Latin temper needs a stronger 
 central government and an omnipresent authority 
 that will preserve and maintain order. This is 
 exactly what General Diaz is furnishing for Mex- 
 ico. It is what the country requires, and her pres- 
 ent prosperous condition pleads eloquently for its 
 maintenance. 
 
II 
 
 THE COUNTRY AND THE PEOPLE 
 
 AL THOUGH geographically in the tropics, 
 the majority of the Mexican people live 
 in a temperate climate. The high cen- 
 tral plateau is the seat of the greatest density 
 of population. Less than ten per cent, of Mex- 
 ico's fifteen millions live in the hot belt along 
 the sea coasts. The country is shaped like a 
 great cornucopia, with its mouth toward the north. 
 The greatest length is about nineteen hundred 
 miles, from the upper corner of Lower California 
 to the furthest limit of Yucatan. While the boun- 
 dary line with the United States is about twelve 
 hundred miles long, the greatest actual width of 
 the country is not over nine hundred miles, and 
 at the Isthmus of Tehauntepec it narrows down 
 to about one hundred miles. 
 
 The Mexican people are of very mixed blood. 
 The Indian strain predominates; modified by an 
 admixture of Spanish and other European races. 
 The upper class including most of the wealth and 
 aristocracy is nearly white, while the lower classes 
 are of almost pure Indian stock. There are excep- 
 tions to both of these classifications. Some of Mex- 
 ico's ablest men, including the great Juarez, have 
 
10 TODAY IN TPIE LAND OF TOMORROW. 
 
 been of Indian ancestry; but the distinction holds 
 good in a general way. There is far more of contrast 
 and a wider gulf between these classes in Mexico 
 than that which separates rich and poor or educat- 
 ed and ignorant in our own land. There is not 
 however, any feeling of race hatred as between 
 whites and blacks in the United States, though the 
 difference in civilization is often more marked. 
 The Mexican peons in many instances are lower 
 in the social scale than are our southern negroes. 
 Mexican society is very different from ours. 
 Among the old families who are descended from 
 the grandees of colonial or imperial days there 
 is little of lavish entertaining or display. Great 
 balls or elaborate dinners are almost unknown. 
 Family calls, numerous because everyone who is 
 anybody is related to everyone else, the evening 
 promenade on the plaza to the accompaniment of 
 one of the innumerable and delightful military 
 bands, frequent carriage drives on some handsome 
 boulevard and a box at the bull fight on Sunday 
 afternoon, form the extent of the social round. 
 Intercourse between young people of opposite sex 
 is very limited. They are never allowed together 
 alone and do not appear together in public under 
 ordinary circumstances. After marriage they be- 
 come acquainted. It is the accepted thing in 
 Mexico for a young man to "sow his wild oats" 
 before settling down to the calm of domestic life. 
 It seems to be expected of him and he usually does 
 his best to live up to the requirement. Mrs. 
 
THE COUNTRY AND THE PEOPLE. 11 
 
 Grundy is even more lenient with the men and 
 correspondingly stricter in her views of womanly 
 propriety than with us. This applies, be it re- 
 membered, to the upper circles. 
 
 With the peon class there was formerly great 
 laxity in regard to the marriage relation, due 
 chiefly to the expense of the religious wedding 
 ceremony. They were taught by the priests that 
 the civil marriage was of no avail, was in fact 
 no marriage at all. The prices demanded for the 
 religious ceremony by the priests were so outrag- 
 eous as to be almost past belief. It was no un- 
 common thing for a poor laborer to be charged 
 the better part of his year's wages for this rite, 
 and the same system of extortion prevailed for the 
 other offices of the church. The growth of general 
 education, the influence of Protestantism and the 
 efforts of the civil authorities have done much to 
 improve these conditions, though they are still far 
 from ideal. 
 
 The Mexican of wealth and social standing is 
 oftener than not a cosmopolite. He has spent 
 more than one season in Paris and has seen the 
 great cities of Europe and of America. If he was 
 not himself educated abroad, he is very likely 
 sending his sons to college in Europe or the United 
 States. His views of matters social, political and 
 religious are what he delights to call "liberal," 
 though at heart he is apt to be conservative enough 
 on certain questions. For a half century the 
 brightest men of Mexico have been students of the 
 
1 2 TODAY IN THE LAND OF TOMORROW. 
 
 French school of so-called free thought, perhaps 
 because this seemed to offer the greatest contrast 
 and the readiest relief from the system of religious 
 bigotry and dogmatism that dominated the country 
 so long. The typical Mexican gentleman of this 
 class boasts of his liberality of mind and quotes 
 Voltaire familiarly, but in nine cases out of ten, 
 he has never even seen a Bible and knows nothing 
 of the teachings of Jesus except through the mis- 
 representations of priest or skeptic. He seems to 
 have no settled religious convictions, though he is 
 willing to admit that in a general way Christianity 
 is a very good thing; but it is not an affair that 
 he cares to bother himself about. Let the women 
 and children go to church, oh yes, to be sure, but 
 he is a man and above all such puerile matters. 
 
 Except for two or three feast days when it is 
 the fashionable thing to go to church, the great 
 cathedrals are almost empty of worshipers. Those 
 who go are the peons and a few women of the 
 better class, and these are often outnumbered by 
 the tourists. These women, ever the easiest dupes 
 of priestly flattery and insinuation, and the poor, 
 ignorant Indians, held by the fear of purgatory 
 and bound by gross superstitions that we cannot 
 comprehend, are the chief reliance of Romanism 
 in Mexico. 
 
 While the better classes live and dress after 
 the usual European standards, the peons move and 
 have their being in an entirely different manner. 
 Their homes, if so they may be called, are usually 
 
Studies in Peon Architecture and Domestic Economy 
 
 Plate 5 
 
THE COUNTRY AND THE PEOPLE. 13 
 
 built of canes tied or twisted together and thatched 
 with grass. Often they are not tall enough for a 
 man to stand up in. There is no chimney, the 
 smoke of the fire used for cooking escaping through 
 the open work of the walls and roof. The hum- 
 blest hut is often gay with vines and flowers which 
 contrast strangely with the surrounding squalor 
 and add a touch of aspiration after the beautiful 
 that is pathetic because of its hopelessness. The 
 family rolls about on the ground outside the door 
 when not sleeping or cooking. The first question 
 that usually occurs to the visitor is one of wonder 
 as to how they can all get inside the little hut at 
 the same time. Here they sleep together, huddled 
 as close as they can lie on the dirt floor, usually 
 without removing the scanty clothing worn during 
 the day. It is no wonder that children multiply 
 under such conditions and that the question of 
 their paternity is not always easy to decide. One 
 of the greatest demonstrations of the power of the 
 simple Gospel of Christ is that it can lift men and 
 women from such surroundings as these and can 
 make them strong, clean-lived servants of the Most 
 High. 
 
 Protestantism in Mexico is rapidly becoming a 
 mighty factor in the developing of a middle class, 
 something that the land has never known before. 
 Through the mission schools and through the 
 strong moral training of the pastors and teachers, 
 thousands have been elevated from the grass hut 
 stage to become the heads of . Christian families, 
 
14 TODAY IN THE LAND OF TOMORROW. 
 
 living decently, engaged in honorable pursuits and 
 looking forward to something higher than a mere 
 animal existence. No nation in the world's history 
 that was governed exclusively by an aristocracy or 
 by an ignorant mob has survived. A sane, right- 
 thinking middle class is the hope of any nation. 
 This is what Protestantism and general education 
 are building up today in Mexico. These two forces 
 go hand in hand and must do so, just so surely as 
 that in every land where Rome is dominant ignor- 
 ance and vice prevail. 
 
Ill 
 
 MEN AND MANNERS 
 
 ONE of the delightful features of life in 
 Mexico is the unfailing courtesy to be 
 met with on every hand. The poorest 
 peon raises his hat in greeting his equally ragged 
 amigo. No one is too busy or in too great a hurry 
 to grant a trifling favor, such as a word of di- 
 rection or the loan of a match, and to do it with 
 the air of a cavalier. Be he millionaire or peon, 
 the Mexican gentleman steps from the narrow side- 
 walk to allow a lady to pass, yielding the place of 
 honor next the wall. Life in Mexico is full of 
 little politenesses and ceremonies to which the av- 
 erage American is foreign. When one enters a 
 room full of people, whether strangers or friends, 
 each must be greeted with a handshake and a word 
 of inquiry after the health of the person addressed 
 and his family. Equally ceremonious should be 
 the leavetaking if the proprieties are not to be 
 violated. This extends even to offices and places 
 of business. It is correct form to shake hands and 
 chat a while with the clerk who waits upon you in 
 the drygoods store or the grocery. His feelings 
 may be hurt if you do not. If your servant's chil- 
 dren come to the house they are apt to be ushered 
 
16 TODAY IN THE LAND OF TOMORROW. 
 
 in and ceremoniously presented to all the family, 
 and they gravely go through the formula of inquir- 
 ing as to the health of each and again shaking 
 hands on leaving, though their stay may not have 
 exceeded five minutes. 
 
 If two old friends who have not seen each 
 other for a few weeks meet on the highway, the 
 scene is affecting indeed. They run towards each 
 other with arms outstretched and embrace fran- 
 tically, kissing first on one cheek, then on the 
 other, and patting each other on the back. The 
 first time you see grown men of venerable appear- 
 ance going through this emotional greeting, you 
 rub your eyes and wonder where you are; but it 
 soon becomes an old story. In some parts of the 
 country it is the custom among the rural folk to 
 embrace all comers, even strangers who are intro- 
 duced for the first time. 
 
 The average Mexican has never been taught to 
 value time so highly as it is rated on the other 
 side of the Rio Grande. Many an American has 
 come to Mexico thinking he could do business upon 
 the same terms and in the rapid manner in which 
 it is conducted in the States, to return a sadder 
 and wiser man. What Kipling said about "hust- 
 ling the east" applies with equal truth to the 
 difficulty of making things move in southern lati- 
 tudes. Business is done on long credit, and the 
 retailer expects a percentage of profit that would 
 make an American storekeeper's eyes bulge. It 
 was formerly the custom with all retailers to ask 
 
Saddle Mountain 
 
 Photo by scott 
 
 Mitre Mountain 
 
 MOUNTAIN SCENERY AT MONTERREY 
 
MEN AND MANNERS. 17 
 
 twice what a thing was worth or what they ex- 
 pected to get for it. If the buyer was wise, he beat 
 down the price, each descent drawing forth voluble 
 protests. This has been discarded in the larger 
 stores, where prices are plainly marked and are 
 generally adhered to ; but in the smaller shops and 
 usually in the markets the older system prevails. 
 
 As in some European countries, all Mexican 
 shops and stores are named. Some of the titles are 
 romantic, others commonplace. A corner grocery is 
 "The Anklet of Gold," another "The Garden of 
 Eden." Dry goods stores are named after foreign 
 cities— "The Port of Marseilles" or of Hamburg, 
 or "The City of Jerusalem," the last perhaps as a 
 delicate concession to the owner's nationality. 
 
 Except in two or three of the largest cities, all 
 business is suspended from midday until three 
 o'clock for the siesta. This does not apply to fac- 
 tories and the like, but all offices and stores enjoy 
 this respite from labor. They partly make up for 
 it by remaining open until eight in the evening. 
 
 The men of certain nationalities have largely 
 pre-empted special trades in Mexico. The French 
 control the drygoods business. The grocers, bank- 
 ers and pawnbrokers are usually Spaniards. The 
 drug and hardware trades are in the hands of 
 the Germans. Americans operate most of the 
 mines, smelters and railways. Mexican stores are 
 monotonously alike in one particular. A long 
 counter stretches across the front, shutting the 
 clerks off from the customers. The former usually 
 
18 TODAY IN THE LAND OF TOMORROW. 
 
 smoke cigarettes, varying the program by discard- 
 ing one that is burnt out to hunt and light a 
 fresh one. If the clerk happens to be in conversa- 
 tion with a friend when you enter, it is the custom 
 for you to wait patiently until he is quite through 
 and has concluded all his numerous adieux. Then 
 he will delve back to unknown and hidden recesses 
 behind the counter to produce what he thinks you 
 ought to have. There need be no hurry about 
 making the selection for you both have all day to 
 devote to the matter. If another friend comes in, 
 your clerk will stop waiting on you and will let 
 you rest for fifteen minutes or until the friend 
 sees fit to depart. 
 
 Mexican officials, even the custom house men, 
 are uniformly polite and attentive. They are 
 especially long-suffering with American tourists 
 who insist on shouting at them in a foreign tongue 
 and sometimes in swearing because they do not 
 understand it. The American tourist in Mexico 
 is often a poor representative of his native land. 
 Like the region "east of Suez," he too often 
 regards Mexico as a place in which to cut loose 
 from the restraints of home and make an exhibition 
 of himself. The Sunday bull-fight, for which we 
 criticize the Mexicans so severely, is largely sus- 
 tained by his patronage. The best Mexicans' are 
 tired of this relic of barbarity and it would likely 
 fail from lack of patronage in some places were 
 it not for the morbidly curious Americans. These 
 same tourists swagger about the streets laughing 
 
MEN AND MANNERS. 19 
 
 loudly at all they see, even entering private houses 
 to gratify their curiosity. Their attitude is that 
 ot having paid their admission to see the show and 
 of being bound to get their money's worth. It is 
 small wonder that many Mexicans have a low 
 opinion of their neighbors to the north. 
 
 The great social center in a Mexican town is 
 the plaza. This is usually in the middle of the 
 town and on it front the cathedral, the palacio mu- 
 nicipal and probably the leading hotel. There the 
 local band gives evening concerts usually twice a 
 week, but always on Sunday evenings. Hither 
 come all the maids and matrons and the young 
 men. The ladies, either in groups or accompanied 
 by their male relatives, promenade on one side of 
 the broad walk that surrounds the bandstand and 
 the young men walk in the opposite direction on 
 the other side. Often this is the only opportunity 
 that Mexican sweethearts have of seeing each other, 
 and many a rapturous glance is exchanged as the 
 adored one is passed in the crowd. It is even said 
 that notes are slipped from hand to hand under 
 cover of the confusion. Plaza night in almost any 
 Mexican city will bring out many beautiful and 
 well-gowned young women guarded by their watch- 
 ful mammas, who are usually inclined toward stout- 
 ness and rustle in black silk and laces. There is 
 generally a separate walk for the peons inside the 
 heavy shrubbery of the plaza where they are out of 
 sight of the main social whirl. They enjoy the 
 music quite as much as their more pretentious com- 
 
20 TODAY IN THE LAND OP TOMORROW. 
 
 patriots and have just as good a time in their 
 own way. They seem satisfied to be by themselves, 
 not appearing to resent the separation to which 
 they have always been accustomed. They ride in 
 second or third class railway coaches for which 
 they pay a fare considerably less than that de- 
 manded from first class passengers, and in some 
 cities even have second class street cars and a re- 
 duction of fare. 
 
 Speaking of street cars calls to mind the little 
 mule propelled vehicles that so long graced the 
 streets of most Mexican cities, but which are now 
 rapidly disappearing before the triumphant ad- 
 vance of the trolley. Open cars with six seats ac- 
 commodating four passengers each, were drawn 
 by two little mules hitched tandem. The driver 
 urged them forward with many a crack of his 
 long whip and a continual hissing sound like that 
 made by an angry gander. The car would dawdle 
 along for a mile until just before a curve was 
 reached when the driver lashed his steeds franti- 
 cally, making the turn with such a rush as almost 
 to upset the car, then to relapse into the same 
 gentle and placid motion. The car was always 
 stopped by winding the brake suddenly, an opera- 
 tion that pulled the mules up on their haunches; 
 but they endured it with that patient resignation 
 for which their race is famous. How polite the 
 conductor was! He would wait for you to walk 
 (not run) a block or more so that you need not 
 tarry for the next car, whose time of arrival was 
 
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MEN AND MANNERS. 21 
 
 problematic. He would assist ladies from the car, 
 carry their market baskets to the door, and bid 
 them farewell with a sweeping bow and wave of 
 his cap. 
 
 The real Mexican does not pose for the kodaking 
 tourist. He does not affect a big sugar-loaf hat nor 
 tight trousers and a sash. Those men who are the 
 bone and sinew of the nation rank in intelligence 
 and in culture with the men of affairs of any 
 race. There is little more reason for calling the 
 peon the typical Mexican than for setting the ne- 
 gro or the Indian up to represent the citizenship 
 of the United States. The writer or the artist who 
 is seeking the unusual and the interesting naturally 
 siezes upon the more picturesque part of Mexico's 
 population. So we see or read little of the substan- 
 tial citizens of our neighbor republic. 
 
 In some ways, the American people are very 
 provincial. They are slow to believe that any other 
 race is really endowed with sufficient wisdom to go 
 in out of the rain. The air of superiority assumed 
 by many Americans who go to Mexico is positively 
 ridiculous. Should a Briton or a German stare 
 about on the streets of an American town, com- 
 menting freely and contemptuously upon the ap- 
 pearance of things in general and of the inhabitants 
 in particular, some indignant Yankee would prob- 
 ably knock him down. The verdict of the jury 
 would be, "served him right." Yet this is what 
 happens almost daily in Mexico. 
 
 The "guide-book Spanish" occasionally over- 
 
22 TODAY IN THE LAND OP TOMORROW. . 
 
 heard among a party of American tourists must 
 convulse the Mexican bystanders. Mexicans appre- 
 ciate a joke as well as anybody; but their native 
 politeness keeps them from laughing at the wildest 
 errors of the foreigner. In the States, the broken 
 English of the freshly arrived German or Swede 
 is the sport of the town. In addressing audiences 
 in Spanish, the writer has felt himself committing 
 ridiculous blunders, but not a listener would show 
 even the faintest smile. Later, they might repeat 
 it among themselves as a good joke, and enjoy it 
 hugely; but never to the mortification of the one 
 making the error. 
 
IV 
 FAMILY LIFE 
 
 riri HERE IS ALWAYS room for one more 
 in a Mexican family. No matter how 
 -*- many little mouths there are to fill, the 
 latest comer seems as welcome as was the earliest. 
 This is true of all classes, rich and poor alike. 
 A peon hut eight by ten may house a family 
 of truly patriarchal proportions. There are 
 apt to be three generations represented and the 
 last is by no means the least. The babies roll 
 about in the sunshine and in the dirt clad in the 
 well-fitting garb designed by Mother Nature, or 
 in some cases of unusual prosperity, wearing an 
 abbreviated shirt. Mexican babies while they are 
 bran new are so much fairer than their parents or 
 than their little brothers and sisters who have 
 taken a few years of sun and dirt baths, that the 
 uninitiated tourist often imagines that he has dis- 
 covered a child of European or of American par- 
 entage. 
 
 In one end of the cane hut or in a smaller 
 separate shed, the mother of the household presides 
 over a stick fire built between a couple of large 
 stones upon which is laid a piece of sheet iron. 
 
24 TODAY IN THE LAND OF TOMORROW. 
 
 Here are baked the tortillas, the staff of life in 
 Mexico. These are made of corn-meal and water, 
 flattened ont between the hands to the size and 
 shape of a pancake, and baked on the rude, impro- 
 vised hearth just described. The other staple 
 dishes are frijoles and goat meat, though the latter 
 is rather too much of a luxury for every day con- 
 sumption. Frijoles are strong, black beans, not in 
 the least resembling the Boston variety. They are 
 boiled for hours and finally scrambled with quan- 
 tities of lard, all the cooking being done in cazuelas, 
 earthen pots of marvelous cheapness and conven- 
 ience. The meal is eaten with the family sprawled 
 on the ground within easy reach of the pot of fri- 
 joles. No knives or forks are there and the only 
 spoon is the large wooden affair that was used to 
 stir the cooking mess. Nor is there any need for 
 plates. What care they for microbes of which they 
 have never heard? Each takes a tortilla in hand, 
 deftly folds it and dips an end into the bowl of 
 frijoles, removing a sufficient quantity for a good 
 sized mouthful. Great is the tortilla] It is not 
 only bread, but knife, fork, spoon and chinaware 
 to the million. Other dishes common to the lower 
 classes are tamales, chile con came and enchiladas. 
 The first two are rather well known in the States, 
 and the enchiladas consist of a filling of chopped 
 meat and onions rolled in a tortilla and fried. Cof- 
 fee is the universal drink, and is cheaper and of 
 a better quality than ours. 
 
 The Mexican of high or low degree smokes 
 
I. Peons Working in a Trench. 2. Entertaining an American Visitor. 
 
 3. Mexican Ox Carts. 
 
FAMILY LIFE. 25 
 
 everywhere and at all times. It is almost as com- 
 mon among the women as with the men, though 
 ladies of the better class do not indulge publicly. 
 It is a common sight to see grandmother, mother 
 and daughter passing a eornshuck cigarette from 
 mouth to mouth, taking alternate puffs in evident 
 enjoyment. The children learn to smoke almost as 
 soon as they acquire the art of walking. 
 
 The gambling evil Is all too prevalent in Mex- 
 ico. Games of chance from the rouge et noir in the 
 casino, patronized by fashionable men and women 
 in evening dress, where fortunes are made and lost, 
 down to the dirty little roulette wheel where a 
 penny may be staked, prey constantly upon the 
 welfare of the country. Strange to say, the feast 
 days of the church are characterized by the great- 
 est activity in gambling. In front of the cathedrals 
 and close to the most sacred shrines in Mexico 
 gambling booths are to be found by the dozen on 
 all high days. The holier the celebration the more 
 prevalent is this evil and its accompanying vice 
 of drunkenness. The police and the priests have 
 the same busy days. As in most Latin countries, 
 cock fighting is a favorite pastime, and many a 
 villager will risk his whole fortune in backing his 
 favorite bird. 
 
 It is not much wonder that the Mexican re- 
 gards gambling with complacency since it has 
 existed in his land for centuries and with the high- 
 est sanction. Lotteries are a favorite means of 
 raising money for church buildings, and often the 
 
26 TODAY IN THE LAND OF TOMOKKOW. 
 
 purchaser of each ticket is granted an indulgence 
 beside the "chance" of winning a grand cash prize. 
 An oil painting of the Saviour was recently raffled 
 ofi. for the benefit of a Monterrey church. Another 
 church in this city was built largely from the 
 proceeds of bull fights held on land controlled by 
 the bishop. A "raffle of souls" is an annual insti- 
 tution in some churches. The winner of the lucky 
 number has the right to name some deceased friend 
 whose soul will be released from purgatory through 
 the intercession of the priest. 
 
 The drink evil seems on the increase. Formerly 
 the consumption of cheap native wines was bad 
 enough; but these at least were reasonably free 
 from adulteration and their sale was not pushed by 
 "modern business methods." Now the American 
 distillers and the German brewers have invaded 
 X>oor Mexico. Glaring saloons have taken the place 
 of the former obscure cantinas, and the landscape 
 glows with the praise of Blank's whiskey. Mon- 
 terrey beer, made in an immense plant employing 
 nearly a thousand men, floods the land. The. Ger- 
 man promoters of this enterprise boast that they 
 are doing "missionary work" in weaning the Mex- 
 icans from their native beverages to a taste for 
 good old lager. The bishop of Monterrey evidently 
 took this view of the matter, as he attended the 
 dedication of the brewery some years ago and fa- 
 vored it with his episcopal benediction. 
 
 The peon is as improvident as the proverbial 
 grasshopper. Formerly his wages were from 
 
FAMILY LIFE. 27 
 
 twenty-five to fifty cents a day in Mexican silver. 
 Now he commands more than twice the latter fig- 
 ure in many places. But the better wages he gets, 
 the less time he wishes to work and the harder 
 he is to manage. This does not apply to the indus- 
 trious artisans of the middle class, many of whom 
 are thrifty to a degree. But the bulk of the 
 unskilled labor of Mexico is performed by men 
 who are the veriest children mentally, and whose 
 only thought is for the moment's enjoyment. With 
 two or three dollars in pocket, the peon will lay off 
 for a few days' spree or lose it all unconcernedly 
 at a whirl of the roulette wheel. Then he will go 
 back to work until he gets a dollar or two ahead. 
 Most factories and mines that use peon labor keep 
 on their books from two to three times the number 
 actually needed. They consider themselves fortu- 
 nate if' out of this they can maintain a suf- 
 ficient daily working force. Some of these con- 
 cerns shut down for three or four days after each 
 monthly pay day, as they have learned from expe- 
 rience that their men will not return to work until 
 they have drunk or gambled away their last cen- 
 tavo. 
 
 The Mexican man of affairs, the professional 
 man, mill owner, or great hacendado, is abreast of 
 the times and is growing richer yearly. On the 
 streets of any Mexican city you will see prosperous 
 looking, well-dressed men differing scarce a whit 
 in general appearance from the average American 
 capitalist. Formerly he had a European or Ameri- 
 
28 TODAY IN THE LAND OF TOMORROW. 
 
 can foreman in charge of his factory or his mine, 
 but now his son has returned from completing his 
 technical education abroad and is running things 
 after the latest methods. There is the young man 
 now with the Harvard walk and the 'varsity cloth- 
 ing. He has already organized a baseball team in 
 his town. The Sundays that the boys spend in 
 this healthful outdoor sport are surely better put 
 in than formerly, when cock fighting or gambling 
 were the chief available diversions. 
 
V 
 STREET SCENES 
 
 THE AVERAGE Mexican town presents ex- 
 treme diversity of scene and also much of 
 monotonous sameness. There are streets 
 where every house is the exact architectural coun- 
 terpart of its neighbors, the only relief being that 
 some are painted sky blue, others pink and still 
 others are adorned with checks or with plaids that 
 would make glad the heart of a Highlander. Each 
 house is as severely plain and box-like as a cube, ex- 
 cept that it carries a heavy cornice, or, in lieu of 
 the real thing, an imitation one painted along the 
 sky line. Every window is securely barred with 
 iron. The doors of the older houses are strong 
 enough to withstand a siege with battering rams. 
 They usually have a smaller entrance for ordinary 
 use cut in the middle of great valves that give 
 ample space for the passage of a load of hay. And 
 this is exactly what goes through them sometimes, 
 for a Mexican house includes within the same walls 
 both dwelling and barn. Everything comes and 
 goes by the great front door for there is no other 
 opening on the street, and alleys are unknown in 
 Mexico. In the front hall of that fine house across 
 the way is the owner 's automobile awaiting his con- 
 
30 TODAY JN THE LAND OF TOMORROW. 
 
 venienee. Step lively as you pass this other house 
 for the coachman is bringing out the victoria and a 
 prancing pair of high-steppers that have probably 
 seen the New York horse show. 
 
 In the evening, when the great front doors are 
 ajar, many a glimpse can be caught in passing of 
 beautiful courtyards or patios. We lay out our 
 yards and gardens around the house, but the well- 
 to-do Mexican builds his house about his yard. 
 Once within the street door, absolute privacy is his. 
 No prying neighbor can spy upon his doings. If 
 he wishes to lounge in his shirt sleeves minus a 
 collar, no passerby need know it. The house is 
 built in a hollow square, each side consisting of a 
 row of rooms all opening on a broad interior corre- 
 ctor. This is usually furnished with comfortable 
 chairs, tables and hammocks. Beyond the broad 
 arches of the corrector is the patio with its delight- 
 ful greenery of palms and other tropical plants 
 and often with a fountain playing in the center. 
 At the rear and well isolated from the rest of the 
 house are the stables and servants' quarters. The 
 house is built for the centuries. The walls are of 
 stone, often plastered outside, and at least two 
 feet thick. The flat roof is of earth and cement 
 laid over heavy beams, and is designed to keep out 
 the intense heat of the sun's rays as well as to 
 shed water. All foreign attempts to improve upon 
 this style of architecture in the warmer districts of 
 Mexico have proved abortive. An American 
 frame cottage in this climate is a veritable oven. 
 
STREET SCENES. 31 
 
 The thick walls and roof and the deep shaded cor- 
 redores of the native house fit the need exactly. 
 
 In the older cities in the interior of Mexico, 
 there are beautiful streets solidly built up with the 
 homes of the wealthy, and presenting an appear- 
 ance of culture and prosperity that would do credit 
 to any city in the world. Monterrey and northern 
 Mexico have not yet achieved this, though there is 
 much wealth there and no scarcity of palatial 
 homes. But on the same street, within a stone's 
 throw, are the wretched shacks of the poorest of 
 the poor, huddled together wherever a vacant space 
 can be found — squatters living off the tolerance of 
 the landowners. It is common for a prosperous 
 merchant to have his store or warehouse and his 
 dwelling in the same building on one of the busiest 
 streets of a large city. Sometimes the family 
 apartments are upstairs, but often they are on 
 the further side of the patio. For luxury of 
 living few surpass the great hacendados. On the 
 railway from San Luis to Mexico are some of their 
 ranches that resemble feudal castles, which they 
 really were less than one hundred years ago. One 
 of these estates had at that time thirty thousand 
 laborers and furnished a whole regiment, drilled, 
 armed and equipped for the field to aid in sup- 
 pressing one of the earlier revolutions. The 
 hacendado has at his call a host of servants. He 
 may even have a French cook. He has his own 
 physician, his electric plant, water works, private 
 tramway to the railroad station and other conven- 
 
32 TODAY IN THE LAND OF TOMORROW. 
 
 iences too numerous to mention. He maintains a 
 house in the capital, and when the season there 
 palls upon his taste, establishes himself and family 
 for a winter in Paris or in Madrid. 
 
 The greatest of the fortunes and estates are 
 hereditary. While mining, stock raising, the grow- 
 ing of cotton, cane, coffee and other products have 
 brought wealth to many, some of the greatest for- 
 tunes in Mexico have been made in the cultivation 
 of maguey. This is a cactus of which our century 
 plant is a dwarfed fac-simile. From the juice of 
 the maguey an intoxicating drink, pulque, is pro- 
 duced after a few hours of fermentation. This is 
 the great national beverage among the lower 
 classes. It is only mildly alcoholic, but the odor 
 is sickening. The back streets of Mexico City are 
 lined with pulque shops where drinks are sold for 
 a cent or two. That they are liberally patronized 
 the odor of the breath as well as the degenerate 
 faces of the consumers bear eloquent testimony. 
 
 A Mexican market never fails to show some- 
 thing of interest to the tourist or to the observer 
 of human nature. Here the Indian type predomi- 
 nates, men and women of good physique, inured to 
 exposure in all weathers, of erect carriage devel- 
 oped by centuries of bearing burdens on the head. 
 Faces honest, stolid, crafty or bleared by drink 
 bend over the stalls that contain a little of every- 
 thing and often not much of anything. Observe 
 how the vegetables are laid out in little mounds. 
 For three cents you may carry away that hand- 
 
MARKET BRIDGE AT MONTERREY 
 
 Photo by Sc 
 
 CARGADORES RESTING BESIDE THEIR BURDENS 
 
 Plate 11 
 
STREET SCENES. 33 
 
 full of shelled peas that is marked out so carefully. 
 For a like amount that quarter of a pumpkin or 
 half of this large beet is yours. Most of the trad- 
 ing is in three, six or twelve centavo lots. The 
 latter sum represents six cents in our money. The 
 purchases are never more than for the day, often 
 only for the next meal. Fantastic pottery, 
 bananas, baskets, long green peppers, gay colored 
 blankets, pineapples, striped hosiery, eggs, silver 
 mounted saddles, chickens, calico prints, oranges, 
 tinware, images of the saints and queer shaped 
 fruits at v^hose names you can only guess, are 
 jumbled together in hopeless confusion. The odor 
 of garlic and the perfume of great masses of freshly 
 cut La France roses blend with a dozen other 
 smells, some of which are best nameless. The con- 
 fused din of myriad voices, bargaining, passing 
 the time of day, scolding or entreating assails the 
 ear. 
 
 Let us step out into the street for a moment. 
 Here we see men in leather aprons bearing brass 
 tags on their breasts springing up out of the 
 ground and racing like mad to reach another man 
 who is clapping his hands. He is calling a carga- 
 dor, or public porter, to carry home his heavy mar- 
 ket basket. The tag on his apron is a city 
 license number. You may feel perfectly safe in 
 sending the man on any errand if you take his 
 number, for he knows that if he is reported to the 
 authorities for delinquency it will go hard with 
 him. Your cargador will carry a heavy trunk on 
 
34 TODAY IN THE LAND OF TOMORROW. 
 
 his head for a mile, running at a kind of dog trot. 
 With three or four companions he will transport 
 your piano in the same manner. They balance it 
 on their shoulder packs and trot along, keeping 
 perfect step. 
 
 Across the street is a curbstone group that may 
 well claim our attention for a moment. The man 
 in the center writing so carefully on his lap-board 
 is a public letter writer or evangelista, and 
 his duties are important. When you remem- 
 ijer that three-fourths of Mexico's fifteen 
 millions, comprising most of her Indian pop- 
 ulation, can neither read nor write, you 
 begin to realize what a field there must be for this 
 man's enterprise. He has acquired such skill in 
 the composition of love missives that many a youth 
 or maiden simply states the circumstances and 
 gives him carte blanche. What possibilities for a 
 man of romantic temperament ! He will not only 
 write your letter but will also read the reply, so 
 he is a man of weight and of responsibility in the 
 circle to which he ministers. Next to the padre he 
 it is who is best posted on the affairs of the humble 
 folk. Here is a field for some enterprising Ameri- 
 can—to engage a dozen of these men, hire some 
 centrally located room and open a "Correspon- 
 dence Parlor" with a phonograph going in front 
 during the day time and a blinking electric light 
 sign at night. Each of the writers engaged should 
 be a specialist in his particular line. A little row 
 of booths, one for the manufacturer of ' ' disdainful 
 
STREET MARKET SCENE 
 
 PUBLIC LETTER WRITER AND CURBSTONE GROUP 
 
STREET SCENES. 35 
 
 replies," another for "proposals," others for "ac- 
 ceptances" and for "rejections," would put the 
 whole matter on a business basis. There are mil- 
 lions in it for the right party. 
 
 To descend from the imaginary to the actual, 
 let us investigate that dark, buzzing cloud that 
 hovers further down the street. It hangs about 
 an ill-smelling little shop labelled carniceria, 
 Shades of the Beef Trust, it is a meat market! 
 Fighting our way through the flies, which ordinar- 
 ily are not troublesome in Mexico, we see the meat 
 hanging in ragged strings from a line of hooks. 
 Grime and blood are smeared about in generous 
 profusion. The meat is sold and eaten at once for 
 it has not been refrigerated. It is tough beyond 
 belief. Let us not stay longer, for a breath of 
 fresh air is becoming necessary. Clapping our 
 hands for a coach, we will enter and drive home. 
 
 Mexican towns would be quiet indeed were it 
 not for the street venders with their cries. At 
 four a. m. you are roused from peaceful dreams 
 by a roar like that of the famed bulls of Bashan 
 just outside your chamber window. Pan, pan 
 calient e is the cry in long-drawn accents. "Who 
 on earth can be wanting bread at such an hour, 
 even if it is hot ? ' ' you mutter as you roll over for 
 another nap. But again comes the voice of the 
 disturber. This time it is a vender of the fresh 
 juice of the sugar cane or of the maguey. Agua 
 miel, agua miel de maguey, is the refrain. 
 Then comes a succession of everything im- 
 
'3d TODAY IN THE LAND OF TOMORROW. 
 
 aginable that may cater to the Mexican taste. 
 Hardest of all to get used to are the peddlers of 
 fresh kid meat. The poor little animals are tied 
 in bunches by the legs with their heads hanging 
 down. As the man goes along, they utter the most 
 pitiful cries, for all the world like the wailing of 
 a baby. He does not need to cry his wares. They 
 do this for him. Whenever a purchaser is met, 
 the kid is killed and skinned on the doorstep, and 
 the man goes on carrying one more bloody pelt 
 and one less kid. 
 
VI 
 EDUCATION 
 
 IF ANY country in the civilized world just 
 emerging from centuries of chaos, plundered 
 and ground down by foreign officials and pre- 
 lates, with several decades of bloody and incessant 
 revolution to further devastate her fields and cities, 
 can show a better record of recent advancement 
 than has Mexico, let us hear from her. We should be 
 careful how we judge our sister republic. While 
 frankly admitting conditions as they are have not 
 reached the high plane which we enjoy after 
 centuries of liberty and uninterrupted progress, 
 let us give Mexico full credit for her brave strug- 
 gle toward the light. 
 
 Mexico has had schools, even universities, so 
 called, for three and a half centuries. But only 
 in the last fifty years has there been an attempt at 
 general education. Under the rule of Spain and of 
 Rome, the masses were kept in abject ignorance. 
 The few schools that existed were for the priestly 
 class and the aristocracy. The Jesuits and other 
 orders maintained colleges in splendid cloistered 
 monasteries, adorned with every art of the sculptor 
 and the painter. But their attitude toward real 
 learning and toward usefulness to the nation is 
 
38 TODAY IN THE LAND OF TOMORROW. 
 
 well illustrated in the burning of all the ancient 
 Aztec scriptures and historical books that could 
 be gathered together, on the alleged ground that 
 they were "heathen writings/' thus depriving us 
 of these priceless records of an ancient civilization. 
 Of course, there were occasional parochial schools, 
 even under the old regime, but then, even more 
 than now, these were chiefly concerned with teach- 
 ing the catechism and the lives of the saints, and 
 with inculcating a perverted view of republican 
 institutions. 
 
 Practically every one of the score or more of 
 states in the Mexican federation now has a compul- 
 sory education law. In a few of them this is strict- 
 ly enforced, at least -in the larger towns. But 
 there are yet many communities where the school 
 accommodations are by no means equal to the pop- 
 ulation of school age. This is no discredit to the 
 authorities, for they are doing all that can well be 
 done with the means at hand. A more conscien- 
 tious set of men than the Mexican school officials 
 would be hard to find. Some of them have been 
 trained in Europe or in the United States, and 
 they are usually men with ideals aimed high and 
 wills set to reach them. 
 
 The common school course in Mexico lasts six 
 years. An attempt is made to cover more ground, 
 or at least to touch upon more branches, than with 
 us in this time. Some scientific subjects that we 
 leave for the high school are given in the fifth and 
 sixth years, usually without much laboratory work. 
 

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EDUCATION. 39 
 
 as few schools are equipped for this. The school 
 term covers ten or eleven months in the cities and 
 the day's sessions are longer than ours. Instead 
 of allowing all of Saturday as a holiday, two after- 
 noons, Wednesday and Saturday, are given. For- 
 merly studying aloud and reciting in chorus was 
 the prevailing method of class work. A school 
 house could be heard a block away. Now the 
 government schools in the more progressive states 
 have done away with this, but it still persists in 
 many little private and parochial schools. 
 
 Discipline in a Mexican school seems to be on 
 a different basis than with us. There is less of 
 rule, of uniformity and of system, more of free- 
 dom to move about, and little effort at keeping 
 silence. The relation between pupil and teacher 
 is marked by great courtesy on both sides. A hand- 
 shake and a word of greeting in the morning are 
 seldom overlooked, no matter how small the scholar. 
 The whole class lines up on the sidewalk after they 
 have filed out in the evening and bids the teacher 
 a respectful farewell, the boys raising their caps 
 as if to the manner born. When a visitor enters 
 the school room the class rises instantly and remains 
 standing until spoken to. They repeat this when 
 you leave the room. Mexican children are unus- 
 ually sensitive to praise or to criticism. At the 
 least word of reproof many a boy even will burst 
 into tears. They have never been schooled to self- 
 repression as have Anglo-Saxon youngsters. In 
 the public schools and in most private institutions 
 
40 TODAY IN THE LAND OP TOMORROW. 
 
 the sexes are kept separate. In Monterrey this 
 applies even to the state normal school. There 
 are adjoining buildings exactly alike, one for 
 profesores and the other for profesoras. Wages 
 have advanced so rapidly in all of the trades and 
 professions except that of teaching that the spac- 
 eious buildings just mentioned are now almost 
 empty of students. 
 
 English is taught in most of the secondary schools 
 of Mexico as well as in the business colleges, gener- 
 ally by Mexican instructors. The pupils gain 
 about as ready a knowledge of the tongue of Shake- 
 speare as our American boys and girls do of con- 
 versational Latin. There is a great demand in Mex- 
 ico for good English teaching, and some of the mis- 
 sion schools are profiting by this. 
 
 After the six years of common school work, 
 the Mexican youth may elect the four-year normal 
 course, or he may choose the civil college, if he 
 expects to enter a profession. If his ambitions are 
 not thus high, his education stops unless one of 
 the numerous business colleges claims his attention 
 for a few months. The civil college has a course 
 that may be completed in four or five years; but 
 grants no degree. The graduate is then eligible 
 for one of the professional schools, several of which 
 are in the national capital. Schools of law and of 
 medicine are to be found in other of the leading 
 Mexican cities. Mexico is the great student center 
 of the land. There are schools of medicine, both 
 homeopathic and allopathic, splendid schools of 
 
SCHOOL OF MINES 
 
 photo by kahlo CORRIDOR IN POSTOFFICE 
 
 PUBLIC BUILDINGS IN MEXICO CITY 
 
EDUCATION. 41 
 
 mines and of engineering, a college of agriculture, a 
 military school, national academies of music and of 
 fine arts, a national astronomical observatory and 
 other like institutions, in this great and historic 
 center of the nation's life. 
 
 Not a few of those who are taking the lead in 
 solving Mexico's educational problems are Chris- 
 tian men, reared in Protestant homes and schools. 
 Professor Andres Osuna, Director of Education in 
 the State of Coahuila and President of the State 
 Normal School, was at one time a minister in the 
 Southern Methodist Church, and is still an active 
 Christian worker. His energy, tact and patience 
 have won him universal respect and admiration 
 from Catholics and Protestants alike. Another 
 younger man, a member of one of the oldest Bap- 
 tist families of Mexico, Professor Joel Rocha, is 
 Superintendent of the Monterrey schools and As- 
 sistant Director of Education for the State. Prot- 
 estantism has contributed many others, perhaps 
 equally prominent, to the list of Mexico 's educators. 
 
 Mexico's present degree of progress has been 
 obtained only through the blood and sweat of 
 a host of self-sacrificing, consecrated heroes. 
 While we are awe-struck at the matchless 
 devotion of Hidalgo, the father of Mexican 
 liberty, and yield our homage to the stal- 
 wart courage of Juarez as alone he fought 
 entrenched greed and bigotry and in the 
 face of public opinion proclaimed religious liberty 
 and the downfall of the temporal power of the 
 
42 TODAY IN THE LAND OP TOMORROW. 
 
 clergy, and as we see what the firm, guiding hand 
 of Diaz has wrought for his native land, let us not 
 forget the far more numerous but less conspicuous 
 band that has done perhaps as much for Mexico. 
 The humble school teachers that in each community 
 have been centers of light and of advancement de- 
 serve a nation's recognition, and shall at least 
 claim a word from us. Without their work, these 
 other greater achievements, as the world counts 
 such things, would have failed utterly. Think 
 what it meant to many of these young men, edu- 
 cated, equipped for a life of success in business or 
 in the professions that would have brought infi- 
 nitely more of financial gain, of ease and of public 
 recognition. But all this was given up for the 
 routine of the school room. The chance for private 
 riches was refused in order that the nation might 
 have a better opportunity to prosper. The petty 
 persecution of bigoted haters of the newer order 
 was patiently endured so that truth might work 
 out her perfect fruit in the lives of coming genera- 
 tions. These are the real makers of Modern 
 Mexico. 
 
PROFESSOR ANDRES OSUNA 
 
 Director of Public Education, State of Coahuila 
 
 CLASS IN PRESBYTERIAN COLLEGE AT COYOACAN 
 
 Plate 15 
 
VII 
 CITIES 
 
 AS IN the ancient world all roads led to 
 Rome, so in Mexico the capital is the great 
 center of national life. For many decades 
 no effort nor expense has been spared to make this 
 a city to which every Mexican may point with 
 pride. Its splendid public buildings, some of which 
 are still in course of erection and others are as yet 
 only projected, reveal the interest that the nation 
 takes in the dignity of its government. The beau- 
 tiful parks and broad, clean, well-lighted avenues 
 put many an American city to shame, as does the 
 excellent street railway and interurban service. 
 
 The main business streets of the City of Mex- 
 ico are built up solidly with massive three and 
 four story blocks. Here and there persists a house 
 of a century or two ago, still in good condition. 
 The old courtyard, once the scene of gay social 
 life, is piled high with packing boxes. Trucks and 
 vans go in and out of the great doorway that was 
 the former entrance for carriages of state. Some 
 of these older structures are covered with beautiful 
 tiling brought from Europe and laid on in exquisite 
 designs. There are a few steel frame office build- 
 ings, but none of these are over five or six stories 
 
44 TODAY IN THE LAND OF TOMORROW. 
 
 high. The jagged skyline of our American cities 
 does not appeal to the Mexican temperament. 
 
 The finest houses of modern build are in col- 
 onias, suburbs that are organized as distinct cor- 
 porations with strict regulations as to the class of 
 buildings to be erected and their occupancy. Here 
 are to be found veritable palaces. Further out on 
 the interurban lines are homes with spacious 
 grounds that contain some of the finest flower gar- 
 dens in America. The city is in a perfectly flat 
 plain except for the abrupt hill of Chapultepec 
 which is crowned by the residence of the President 
 of the Eepublic. The altitude is about eight thou- 
 sand feet. Consequently it is never uncomfortably 
 warm. The location several hundred miles south 
 of the Tropic of Cancer keeps it free from extreme 
 cold also. There is scarcely a month of the year 
 that light wraps are not in demand for early morn- 
 ing and for evening wear. The rainfall is abun- 
 dant. 
 
 Everywhere are to be seen churches or the re- 
 mains of churches and monasteries. When the 
 latter were confiscated by the government most of 
 the properties were sold to private individuals. 
 Consequently many business houses are in the 
 lower stories of buildings whose tiled domes and 
 carved facades reveal unmistakably former eccle- 
 siastical usage. At least two of these structures in 
 the City are now used by Protestant churches. The 
 Presbyterian Church of El Divino Salvador and the 
 great Methodist property at Gante No. 5 are old 
 
Photo by Co 
 Plate 16 
 
 STREET SCENES IN MEXICO CITY 
 
CITIES. 45 
 
 Romanist structures located in the heart of the 
 city. Most of these relics of the constructive art 
 of the monastic orders, monuments of which they 
 may well be proud, have fallen to less worthy uses. 
 Tobacco shops and saloons glare forth from be- 
 neath many a gilded dome that once echoed to 
 Latin chants and glowed with countless candles. 
 In one town of Mexico an old church is used as a 
 railway station, and the freight scales occupy the 
 former place of the high altar. Sic transit gloria 
 m wndi. 
 
 Few cities of four hundred thousand popula- 
 tion boast better or more enterprising daily papers 
 than are found both in Spanish and in English in 
 Mexico City. A goodly number of illustrated re- 
 views, literary, scientific and religious weeklies and 
 monthlies are published in the Mexican capital, 
 where the first printing press in America was set 
 up in 1535. Beside the great number of institu- 
 tions for higher education that have been referred 
 to, the system of elementary schools serves as a 
 model for the whole country. Many of these build- 
 ings are used also as night schools for the laboring 
 classes. 
 
 No American city is more addicted to the auto- 
 mobile habit than is the Mexican capital. Autos 
 are considerably more expensive there, too, on 
 account of the long freight haul and the high 
 tariff. One has to step lively in crossing any of 
 the main thoroughfares because the benzine buggies 
 are not only numerous, but their drivers are unus- 
 
46 TODAY IN THE LAND OF TOMORROW. 
 
 ually reckless. If there is a speed ordinance it 
 must be very liberal. The combination of auto- 
 mobiles and ox carts, which are still used exten- 
 sively for heavy hauling, is only typical of the 
 contrast that one meets with on every hand in a 
 land whose progress is of so recent and rapid a 
 growth. 
 
 Not a few tourists as well as those who have 
 spent years in Mexico affirm that Guadalajara is 
 a more attractive place of residence than Mexico 
 City. This second city of the land is located two 
 or three hundred miles northwest from the capital. 
 It is an ancient city, famous for the wealth and 
 culture of its leading families and for the beauty 
 of its daughters. The climate is mild, though 
 warmer than that of Mexico. The Pacific is not 
 far distant. The churches, theaters and hospitals of 
 Guadalajara are among the finest in the Republic. 
 Fuebla and San Luis Potosi are great cities of the 
 central plateau region that are seats of wealth and 
 ancient culture. None of these are boom towns. 
 Their growth has been steady and conservative. 
 While not so modern and pretentious as the capital, 
 they are solidly built up, clean, except in the 
 slums, and with most of the improvements and 
 luxuries of modern city life. 
 
 Next in order of population comes Monterrey, 
 the metropolis of northern Mexico, the chief manu- 
 facturing city and one of the great railroad centers 
 of the republic. The railroads made Monterrey, and 
 
QUERETARO 
 
 GUADALAJARA 
 PICTURESQUE MEXICAN CITIES 
 
CITIES. 47 
 
 now with her great ten million dollar steel plant 
 she helps make the railroads. Two great smelters 
 are here that refine the output from hundreds of 
 mines, converting trainloads of red clay and rocks 
 into gold, silver and lead bars. Flour mills, cotton 
 mills, tanneries, foundries, railroad shops, a brew- 
 ery and many great wholesale houses, attracted by 
 Monterrey's advantageous situation as a distribut- 
 ing point, contribute to the city's activity. The 
 city is belted by a rim of factories whose chimneys 
 ever darken the horizon. These are far enough 
 from the main business and residence districts that 
 atmospheric conditions seldom resemble those of 
 Pittsburg, to which city Monterrey is sometimes 
 compared. 
 
 Monterey is in a valley closely surrounded by 
 beautiful mountains. It is only twelve hours' ride 
 by fast train southwest from San Antonio. The 
 rainfall is too irregular to be depended on for any 
 kind of gardening, but irrigation from the moun- 
 tain streams has produced many fine quintas in the 
 western part of the city. Most of the town is bar- 
 ren and dusty except for an occasional patio that 
 is kept well watered. There are several fine plazas 
 in the business center that afford grateful shade 
 and whose green trees and blooming plants re- 
 lieve the eye, blinded by dust and by the cruel 
 glare of the sunlight. Unlike all the other cities 
 of its size in Mexico, Monterrey has not sufficient 
 elevation to furnish any relief from the long tropi- 
 
48 TODA.Y IN THE LAND OF TOMORROW. 
 
 cal summer. The winters are mild and delightful 
 except in the rare event of a Texas norther venting 
 its almost exhausted energies. 
 
 Monterrey presents most of the crudities inci- 
 dent to a city of rapid growth at the intermediate 
 stage of development. Here and there are signs 
 of metropolitan aspirations. Almost equally prom- 
 inent are some things more characteristic of the 
 middle ages than of a modern city of any pre- 
 tentions. Now in the year of grace 1907, an 
 electric street railway, sewers and a water works 
 system are all being installed. The work is being 
 done simultaneously by a Canadian company. 
 When these are finished and the streets are repaved 
 it is only fair to presume that the city will take 
 on a greatly improved aspect. 
 
VIII 
 FEASTS AND SKULLS 
 
 OWHERE is the coldness and despair of a 
 religion that recognizes Christ only as a 
 helpless babe in his mother's arms or as a 
 dead figure nailed to a conventionalized cross better 
 shown than in the funeral and burial customs 
 among the poor of Mexico. There seems to be no 
 gleam of the resurrection hope. Purgatorial dark- 
 ness enshrouds the scene. 
 
 When death approaches, the priest is summoned 
 to administer the last rites of the Church. For 
 this office, as for all others, a fee is usually de- 
 manded in advance. If this is not forthcoming the 
 poor may die unshriven for all that the padre cares. 
 A leading civil engineer of Monterrey says that 
 as a child his first shock of awakening to the real 
 character of the clergy was caused by the refusal 
 of the village priest to attend the bedside of his 
 dying grandfather unless ten dollars were sent in 
 advance and a coach put at his disposal. The fam- 
 ily was not so poor but that they would have paid 
 the priest a fee, but they were so indignant at this 
 answer to their call for spiritual consolation, that 
 the old grandfather was allowed to die in peace. 
 That there are good priests, who try conseien- 
 
50 TODAY IN THE LAND OF TOMORROW. 
 
 tiously to look after the welfare of their parishes, 
 no one would deny. But of the hundreds of priests 
 to be seen in various parts of Mexico, few are 
 encountered whose faces are benevolent or even 
 kindly in aspect. Many of them show unmistakable 
 marks of greed and of dissipation. 
 
 Burial takes place within twenty-four hours, 
 according to law. Lace curtains are often hung 
 outside of the doors and windows of a house that 
 contains a corpse. If the family is too poor to buy 
 a coffin, one is rented for the occasion. As soon 
 as the body has been dumped into the shallow 
 grave, the undertaker returns it to his shop for the 
 use of the next customer. Among the very poor a 
 formal funeral is seldom held for a small child. 
 A rough box painted blue with white trimmings 
 is carried to the cemetery on the head of some 
 member of the family. Sometimes the mother goes 
 to the carpenter shop for the little casket and 
 carries it home on the street car wrapped in her 
 shawl. 
 
 Tramway funerals are common among the mid- 
 dle and upper classes. The street railway company 
 has funeral cars of various degrees of elegance 
 and expense. The funeral of a rich man will call 
 out a string of special cars several blocks long, 
 and all who wish may get a free ride to the ceme- 
 tery. Mexicans are not the only people who in- 
 dulge in this form of display, and we offer no 
 criticism upon the practice. 
 
 Graves in a Mexican cemetery are usually rent- 
 
FEASTS AND SKULLS. 51 
 
 ed for five years at a time unless the family has a 
 lot. If the lease is not renewed at the end of 
 the term, the bones are dug up, tossed on the fer- 
 tilizer heap, and the hole is ready for another 
 tenant. It is not at all uncommon to see human 
 bones lying about in the loose soil. In some places 
 the skulls that have been unearthed are set in 
 numbered niches along the wall. Black wooden 
 crosses, rude and grim, rise from the head of every 
 grave. Not only are they seen in the burying 
 places; but every spot where a man has been mur- 
 dered or killed by accident is marked by a pile of 
 stones and a cross. These are especially noticeable 
 along the railroads. Sometimes a good sized group 
 of them at the side of the track will make you 
 devoutly hope that your engineer has a steady 
 nerve and is running on correct orders. 
 ,Railway accidents are not so common in Mexico as 
 in some lands that consider themselves more highly 
 civilized. Should one occur, the train crew is imme- 
 diately arrested. If the matter is not cleared at 
 the preliminary hearing, they are thrust in jail. 
 Under the Latin law, the accused is not given the 
 benefit of the doubt, as with us. He must prove 
 his innocence. As a result, engineers and conduc- 
 tors are very careful in Mexico and the running 
 time of the trains is slower than in the States. 
 
 Mexico is a land of holidays, both civil and relig- 
 ious. Often all banks are closed two or three days 
 at a time, causing great inconvenience to foreign- 
 ers who may want to transact business in a hurry. 
 
52 TODAY IN THE LAND OP TOMORROW. 
 
 It never bothers a native, for he adjusts all of his 
 affairs to suit the customs of the land. The aver- 
 age peon would consider himself eternally disgraced 
 if he stooped so low as to labor on one of these fes- 
 tival seasons. If he does not celebrate the birthday 
 of his patron saint by getting gloriously drunk as 
 soon as possible after attending morning mass and 
 gambling away all of his cash and as much of his 
 wardrobe as is not indispensible, he is no true man 
 — he is becoming tainted with foreign notions and 
 is to be viewed with suspicion. If he is paid off 
 Saturday evening, his Sunday spree is of so pyro- 
 technic a nature that he is unable to report for work 
 before Tuesday noon or Wednesday morning. Con- 
 sequently, some employers pay off on Monday, thus 
 trying to shield their employes from the tempta- 
 tions of the Sabbath. 
 
 One of the most picturesque of Mexico's Church 
 festivals is that Avhich commemorates the sanction- 
 ing of the doctrine of the immaculate conception 
 of the Virgin by the last Vatican council. This is 
 celebrated by the display of lanterns in every win- 
 dow of the homes of the faithful and by the out- 
 lining of the towers and gables of the great 
 churches in the glowing light of hundreds of lamps. 
 Purisima Day, as this is called, comes early in De- 
 cember. 
 
 The Christmas season is celebrated by posadas 
 in the homes of many. These are little pantomimes 
 representing the journey of Mary and Joseph to 
 Bethlehem and their difficulty in securing lodgings, 
 
FEASTS AND SKULLS. 53 
 
 which is the meaning of the word, posada. A pro- 
 cession carries figures of Mary and Joseph, the for- 
 mer upon an ass which is led by her husband. They 
 journey about the court of the house, stopping at 
 various rooms, which represent different inns, 
 pleading to be taken in, but meeting with denial 
 until the last room is reached. Here the porter, af- 
 ter arguing the matter a while, grants grudging en- 
 trance. At the close, dulces, or sweetmeats are dis- 
 tributed among the guests. Sometimes the visit of 
 the wise men or other scenes of the nativity are 
 acted out in the churches and attract great crowds, 
 but these exhibitions are becoming rarer each year. 
 
 Probably the most bizarre of the customs that 
 persist from the olden time is the hanging of Judas 
 on Holy Week. Holy Thursday and Good Friday 
 are given to grewsome pantomimes of the events of 
 the trial and crucifixion as well as the entombment. 
 These are mostly acted out with wax figures, though 
 often men are dressed in oriental garb to represent 
 the scribes and Pharisees. Judas is disposed of by 
 lynch law on Saturday morning. It seems the tra- 
 ditional duty of each Mexican baker to provide an 
 image of the arch traitor to be suspended in 
 front of his shop. The figure is grotesque in the 
 extreme, with long horns, cloven hoofs and a 
 pointed tail. Sometimes there is a whole family of 
 Judases— pa, ma and the children— all to suffer 
 alike. The figures are stuffed with fireworks and 
 each is provided with a fuse. 
 
 Alas for the commercial spirit of the age ! Some 
 
54 TODAY IN THE LAND OF TOMORROW. 
 
 of the Judases that so cheerfully expiated the age- 
 long crime of their ancestor, in the streets of 
 Monterrey in the present year of grace, bore on 
 their backs the advertisements of the enterprising 
 donors. One was even adorned with a string of 
 lemons, though the decorator probably knew little 
 of current American slang, when he handed this 
 fruit to poor Judas. 
 
 At a signal peal of bells from the cathedral 
 tower, the fuses are touched all over the city. There 
 is a sputter, a crackling sound as of many bunches 
 of small firecrackers, and finally a mighty boom that 
 scatters the remains of the villain, and the bread 
 and cakes with which he had been carefully stuffed, 
 far and wide over the heads of the multitude. 
 Then ensues a wild scramble among the assembled 
 small boys for relics of the occasion. This ends 
 the career of J. Iscariot until the next Easter time. 
 
 There are not wanting authorities who solemnly 
 aver that on the feast day of St. John the Baptist 
 the peons take their annual bath. Appearances of- 
 ten seem to confirm this report, but it seems scarcely 
 credible, for public bathing places are numerous 
 acd surprisingly cheap in most Mexican towns. On 
 the day that commemorates the Last Supper, the 
 bishop of each cathedral town goes through the 
 public ceremony of washing the feet of twelve men 
 selected for their great age and extreme poverty. 
 In some parts, the blessing of the animals on a 
 certain feast day is still in practice. All the live 
 stock in the community — pigs, chickens, burros and 
 
Hanging of Judas on Holy Week 
 
 Monterrey Cathedral 
 
 A MEXICAN CEMETERY 
 
 Plate 19 
 
FEASTS AND SKULLS. 55 
 
 all— are washed up, decorated with ribbons and 
 brought to the church to be blessed and sprinkled 
 with holy water by the priest. 
 
 Beggars are common enough in Mexico at all 
 times. With their hardened, wrinkled faces, pictur- 
 esque rags and filth, they present a shining mark to 
 the tourist's camera. But on holidays they fairly 
 swarm about the plazas, and one has to run a gaunt- 
 let of them to enter any of the leading churches. 
 
 Among the quaintest sights in some of the older 
 churches in the interior are the paintings that sur- 
 round the shrines of the saints. Rude little daubs 
 they are, often ridiculous from an artistic stand- 
 point, but the story of faith which they reveal is 
 pathetic in the extreme. Here is represented a fall- 
 ing wall from beneath which a workman is being 
 extracted by the virgin of Guadalupe. When he 
 heard the crash, he called on her for deliverance, 
 and was miraculously preserved. All this is set 
 forth in quaint legend below the picture. The 
 name, the place and the date, more than a cen- 
 tury ago, are all given — enough to convince the 
 most skeptical. Sometimes a favorite shrine will 
 be surrounded by dozens of these little votive offer- 
 ings, each quainter and more credulous than the 
 next. 
 
IX 
 
 PROTESTANT MISSIONS IN 
 MEXICO 
 
 THE REAL beginning of Protestant work in 
 Mexico was coincident with the outbreak of 
 the Civil War in the United States. Before 
 that time some seed had been scattered, chiefly by- 
 army chaplains during the American invasion ; but 
 no permanent work had been done. In 1861, James 
 Hickey, a Baptist clergyman of Irish extraction and 
 of northern views on current topics, suddenly found 
 it convenient to leave Texas by the shortest route. 
 He crossed the Rio Grande into Mexico, and m the 
 course of time found himself in the city of Monter- 
 rey. He discovered a congenial spirit in Thomas 
 M. Westrup, a young Englishman, who had come 
 to Mexico with other members of his father's fam- 
 ily in 1852. 
 
 Mr. Westrup knew the language and the people 
 of Mexico, so he became a valuable ally to Mr. 
 Hickey. They preached from house to house, ex- 
 periencing many difficulties in securing a,nd in 
 holding places of meeting. Finally in January, 
 1864, the first converts, J. M. and Arcadio Uranga, 
 were immersed by Mr. Hickey. as was also Mr. 
 Westrup, who was formerly a member of the 
 Church of England. The same day a church was 
 
00 TODAY IN THE LAND OP TOMORROW. 
 
 organized with five members and with T. M. West- 
 nip as pastor. This congregation still exists with 
 an active membership of more than two hundred. 
 By the end of 1864, Mr. Westnrp had baptized 
 fifteen more members. 
 
 In the spring of 1865, Miss Melinda Rankin, 
 who had been conducting a seminary at Browns- 
 ville, Texas, came to Monterrey. For some time 
 she had been sending Bibles into Mexico. She came 
 to see if a Bible Society agency for northern Mex- 
 ico might not be established at this central point. 
 She soon went to New York to report to the society 
 and to arouse interest in opening the work. 
 
 In December, 1866, the pioneer, Hickey, died 
 in Matamoros. His last request, that he be buried 
 on American soil, but within sight of Mexico, was 
 granted. His remains lie in the Presbyterian ceme- 
 tery in Brownsville. 
 
 Thomas Westrup was appointed agent for the 
 Bible Society to succeed Mr. Hickey. His labors 
 as a colporteur and as superintendent of native 
 distributors of the Word were long and full of ad- 
 venture. Often his life was in peril. At other times, 
 his books were taken from him and burned by the 
 priests. Still oftener, persecutions would arouse 
 the interest of the people, and he and his compan- 
 ions would sell out their entire stock in a few 
 hours. Nearly half of the gospel hymns used in 
 the Mexican churches were either written or trans- 
 lated into Spanish by Mr. Westrup. 
 
 In 1867, Miss Rankin returned to Monterrey 
 
PROTESTANT MISSIONS IN MEXICO. 59 
 
 and purchased a good property there for school 
 purposes. She trained a number of native colpor- 
 teurs and workers who traveled into the interior 
 of Mexico distributing Bibles and tracts. In 1871, 
 the American and Foreign Christian Union trans- 
 ferred Miss Rankin's work to the Presbyterian 
 Board. Under the joint direction of Mr. Westrup 
 and Miss Rankin, the work in Monterrey had pros- 
 pered and a number of congregations were organ- 
 ized in outlying towns. Little was said before 
 this time about denominational teachings. The 
 churches were called evangelical, different modes 
 of baptism being used as the case seemed to de- 
 mand. In 1872, Miss Rankin returned to the 
 States on account of her failing health. 
 
 In 1869, Rev. Henry C. Riley was sent to Mex- 
 ico City by the A. and P. C. U. He had preached to 
 a Spanish congregation in New York, so was famil- 
 iar with the language. He took the people of Mexico 
 by storm, and the work started promised great 
 results. ".The Church of Jesus in Mexico" was 
 organized along Episcopal lines, and several of 
 the confiscated Romanist church buildings were 
 purchased. The brilliant promise of this work was 
 not at that time fulfilled. The people were not ed- 
 ucated to the standards of life required by Protest- 
 antism, and there was nothing like an adequate mis- 
 sion force to teach them. The churches of this 
 mission were later absorbed by the regular Episco- 
 pal mission board, which is doing a valuable work 
 in the capital and in central Mexico. The Episco- 
 
60 TODAY IN THE LAND OF TOMORROW. 
 
 palians a]so make a specialty of reaching Ameri- 
 cans and Englishmen in several of the foreign colo- 
 nies in the larger cities. 
 
 The Presbyterian Board, which had received 
 the Monterrey school work by transfer in 1871, 
 was opening other work in Mexico about this time. 
 They soon sold the plant in Monterrey, as their 
 workers could not stand the climate, removing to 
 the mountain city of Saltillo, sixty miles to the 
 south. This has been their center for work in 
 Northern Mexico. Here they have an excellent 
 normal school for girls as well as an active local 
 congregation. The chief field of Presbyterian work 
 is in the south of Mexico in the States of Guerrero 
 and of Vera Cruz. They have important educa- 
 tional work in the City of Mexico. Their girls' 
 normal school occupies a valuable corner in the 
 heart of the city. The theological seminary in the 
 suburb of Coyoacan promises to be the leading 
 Protestant educational plant in Mexico. It has a 
 campus of several acres, well located, and three 
 splendid new buildings as well as several old ones 
 that will be replaced as rapidly as means are pro- 
 vided. The Presbyterians have been long enough 
 on the field that they are now realizing splendidly 
 on their educational investment in an abundance 
 of trained teachers and preachers for the growth 
 of their work. 
 
 Dr. William Butler, who was the pioneer of 
 Methodism in India, opened the first station of that 
 body in Mexico City in 1873. He made the strate- 
 
METHODIST CHURCH AND SCHOOL, PACHUCA 
 
 A FAMILY OF MEXICAN DISCIPLES 
 
PROTESTANT MISSIONS IN MEXICO. 61 
 
 gic purchase of a part of the old Franciscan con- 
 vent in the heart of what is now the modern busi- 
 ness section of the Mexican metropolis. Like the 
 Presbyterians, the Methodists built carefully and 
 educated their converts. They have great schools 
 in Puebla and in Pachuca as well as in the capital. 
 Their work covers dozens of towns and villages, in 
 each of which schools are sustained. They main- 
 tain an exceJlent mission press. El Abogado Cris- 
 tiano, "The Christian Advocate," is the name of 
 their weekly paper. It is a credit to the mission, 
 and is better in its appearance and make-up than 
 most of the secular papers of Mexico. The Method- 
 ists have 143 churches, 3,000 members and an 
 equal number of probationers and of Sunday 
 School scholars. They have 4,000 day school pu- 
 pils. Last year they gave $50,000 in gold for self- 
 support. Their educational policy differs from 
 that of the Presbyterians, in that they make their 
 courses and terms popular, appealing to pupils 
 from Romanist families as well as from among 
 their membership. Thus their schools are some- 
 times on a self-sustaining basis and have large en- 
 rollments. The Presbyterians, disregarding the 
 financial receipts, take pupils only from among 
 their churches, and make their school life and work 
 strongly evangelical. They expect all of their grad- 
 uates to enter active Christian work. 
 
 In the latte. eighties, the M. E. Church, South, 
 entered Mexico. They have strong stations in Mon- 
 terrey, Saltillo, Chihuahua, San Luis Potosi and 
 
62 TODAY IN THE LAND OF TOMORROW. 
 
 Mexico City. Their school work is especially suc- 
 cessful, being for the most part under the Woman's 
 Board. The Baptists followed up the work begun 
 by Thomas Westrup, sending re-enforcements in the 
 early seventies. Their strongest congregation, which 
 is the oldest of any denomination in Mexico, is in 
 Monterrey. They have good work in Toluca, C. P. 
 Diaz, Mexico City and Torreon, besides dozens of 
 smaller points. Their total membership is over 
 2,000. 
 
 The Friends have had work in Mexico for twenty 
 years or more. Matamoros, Victoria and Matehu- 
 ala are their strongholds. Schools are at each of 
 these stations. E. M. Sein, a Mexican, now Sunday 
 School secretary for Mexico, is a product of this 
 denomination, and is one of the forceful men of 
 his native land. The Congregationalist center for 
 work is Guadalajara, where a thoroughly equipped 
 mission is maintained. Some independent work has 
 been done in Mexico and there are missions with 
 which the writer is not acquainted. One or two 
 of the latter are carried on by European societies. 
 The work of the Disciples of Christ is mentioned 
 in another chapter. 
 
 One of the active agencies for the evangelizing 
 of Mexico is the American Bible Society. It was 
 probably the first organization to sustain workers 
 on the field. The pioneering done by their colpor- 
 teurs often paves the way for the establishment of 
 whole congregations as well as for the conversion 
 of isolated families and individuals. The Rev. 
 
M. E. Church, South 
 
 Seven or eight Mission Boards are repre- 
 sented in Mexico City by nearly hfty 
 missionaries. There are more than a dozen 
 Protestant congregations, and more than this 
 number of day schools and colleges. Prop- 
 erty is held to the value of about half a 
 million dollars. 
 
 Christ Church, Episcopal 
 
 Presbyterian Girls' Normal School 
 
 GROUP OF MISSION BUILDINGS, MEXICO CITY 
 
PROTESTANT MISSIONS IN MEXICO. 63 
 
 Frank Marrs of the Baptist mission, tells that in 
 1903 he was called from Durango to baptize some 
 believers who had been discovered by a native lay 
 worker. The candidates were members of a family 
 who thirty years before had purchased a Bible 
 from Thomas Westrnp, agent for the Society. The 
 book had been treasured as an honored possession. 
 Their conversion resulted from reading and pray- 
 ing over the Gospel story, and they had sent for 
 the native worker to come and preach to them. This 
 furnished the beginning for a good congregation 
 in the little town. The American Tract Society has 
 published many tracts and books in Spanish that 
 have been useful in the propagation of Gospel 
 truth. The Los Angeles, California, Bible Insti- 
 tute is doing a noble work of love and of faith in 
 the issuing of marked Testaments, Gospels and 
 really vital tracts. So far as possible, these are 
 provided gratuitously. 
 
 The Christian Endeavor movement has made 
 good progress in Mexico. Annual conventions are 
 held in connection with those of the Sunday School 
 Union. These are participated in by the young 
 people of the Epworth League as well. An excel- 
 lent monthly paper, El Esforzador Mexicano, is ed- 
 ited by the Kev. AVilliam Wallace and a corps of as- 
 sistants. About 225 societies with over 7,000 mem- 
 bers are reported. 
 
 Few of the Boards have undertaken medical work 
 in Mexico. The Methodists have an excellent hos- 
 pital in Guanajuato, with dispensaries and attend- 
 
64 TODAY IN THE LAND OF TOMORROW. 
 
 ant physicians in one or two other places. The 
 Southern Methodist Hospital in Monterrey is a 
 power for good. The daily chapel services held pre- 
 ceding the free clinics attract multitudes of ready 
 listeners to the Gospel story. 
 
 The Young Men's Christian Association is thriv- 
 ing in Mexico City, Monterrey and Chihuahua. Mr. 
 Mott has just concluded a campaign for the raising 
 of funds for a great building in the capital. Some 
 of the -leading business men and government offi- 
 cials are actively supporting the association work. 
 
 There are still many Indian tribes in the 
 mountain fastnesses of central and western Mexico 
 that have been almost untouched by Spanish influ- 
 ence or even by the perverted gospel of Rome. 
 Professor Starr, of Chicago University, and Carl 
 Lumholtz, a well known ethnological writer, have 
 each published interesting volumes about the prim- 
 itive life of these people. Mr. Lumholtz was try- 
 ing to test the reasoning power of a Huichol Indian 
 by arguing against the worship of the sun, which 
 prevails among this tribe. The Indian replied, ' ' If 
 Christians pray to the saints that are made by the 
 carpenters, why should not the Huichols pray to 
 the sun, which is so much better made ? ' ' The Bap- 
 tists have recently decided to open a mission among 
 these neglected tribes. Funds for this purpose 
 were raised at their last annual convention in San 
 Luis Potosi. 
 
 Within the churches that entered Mexico a quar- 
 ter of a century ago, there is now a generation of 
 
PROTESTANT MISSIONS IN MEXICO. 65 
 
 men and women trained in Christian homes and 
 educated in the mission schools, who are as strong 
 for Christ and His cause as any class in the home 
 J and or elsewhere. The delightful family life and 
 the hospitality of these native Christians must be 
 seen and experienced to be appreciated. There are 
 Christian mothers in Mexico who have raised whole 
 families that have dedicated themselves to the work 
 of spreading the Gospel. Martyrs are not lacking 
 in the Mexican church. Within the decade men 
 have met death for Christ 's sake in Mexico. In the 
 pioneer days it was no uncommon thing for the 
 evangelist going from village to village to be 
 stoned and cursed by mobs incited by the priests 
 or to meet with assassination in some lonely spot 
 on his journey. 
 
 There are now about 750 Protestant congrega- 
 tions in Mexico. The number of foreign workers 
 is nearly 300. The native workers number over 
 600. The number of communicants is nearly 25,- 
 000. There are over 400 Sunday Schools and 15,- 
 000 or more scholars. Over 12,000 children are in 
 missionary day schools. The total Protestant com- 
 munity is estimated at over 80,000. The influence 
 of this seeming handful as compared with a popu- 
 lation of fifteen million is disproportionately large. 
 It must be remembered that these people are en- 
 lightened and a large part of them educated. The 
 graduates from Protestant schools and colleges are 
 taking high rank among the professional men of the 
 land. They are even filling important public of- 
 
66 TODAY IN THE LAND OP TOMORROW. 
 
 fices. This is the leaven that must renew and 
 quicken the great mass now in ignorance, and re- 
 tarding the right development of Mexico. Here is 
 a chance to be Empire Builders in the best sense 
 of the word, to lend a hand toward the ushering in 
 of Mexico's bright to-morrow. 
 
III, una 
 
 
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 iv_ 
 
 - 
 
 School Building and Play Ground, Christian Institute, Monterrey 
 
X 
 
 THE WORK OF THE DISCIPLES 
 IN MEXICO 
 
 1HE LAST of the great Protestant bodies in 
 the United States to open mission work in 
 Mexico was the Christian Chnrch or Dis- 
 ciples of Christ. Aroused by the appeals of some 
 of the leading women of Texas, the Christian AVom- 
 an 's Board of Missions decided at the National Con- 
 vention in Dallas, to open a station in Juarez, just 
 across the Rio Grande from El Paso. This was 
 done in December, 1895. The first workers were 
 M. L. Hoblet and Miss Bertha Mason. 
 
 While good was done in Juarez, and there is a 
 prosperous mission and a native pastor there work- 
 ing under the supervision of the El Paso church, 
 the work was transferred to Monterrey in June, 
 1897. This proved a wise move, as Monterrey is a 
 city of far more strategic value. Since 1897 its 
 population and its commercial importance have 
 greatly increased. As the chief railway center of 
 northern Mexico, it is a convenient point from 
 which to supervise work in adjoining fields. 
 
 Mr. Hoblet is still remembered by many of the 
 Mexicans in Monterrey on account of his excellent 
 command of the Spanish tongue. He did good 
 
68 TODAY IN THE LAND OF TOMORROW. 
 
 work with Bible classes among the college students 
 of the city. He could labor with his hands as 
 well, as some of the furniture still used in the mis- 
 sion bears witness. He returned to the States in 
 1899. His associate, Miss Mason, a young woman 
 of great energy and consecration, won a warm place 
 in the hearts of the Mexicans. Although her work 
 was mostly in the school room, yet it was in the 
 homes of the people and in the outstation work 
 that she found greatest joy and success. She re- 
 mained with the mission until 1902. Since then as 
 corresponding secretary and organizer for the 
 Christian Woman's Board of Missions of Texas, 
 she has been one of Mexico 's most active friends in 
 the home land. 
 
 The station in Monterrey has been unfortunate 
 in that none of the American men sent there in the 
 past have been able to remain more than three 
 years, and some of them not more than half this 
 long. At first, before mission property was pur- 
 chased, the native houses used were often dark, 
 damp and unhealthful. The mission force being 
 small and the work to be done large, no adequate 
 time could be allowed for becoming acclimated and 
 for the study of the language and the people. This 
 led some of the missionaries to overwork and to a 
 consequent breaking of health. Now with good mis- 
 sion homes and suitable buildings for the work, 
 either provided or in sight, no one should lose 
 health in Monterrey who will take proper care of 
 his body, keep cheerful and not overwork. Occa- 
 
THE WORK OF THE DISCIPLES IN MEXICO. 69 
 
 sional trips must be taken to a cooler climate, as 
 the continual heat is ennervating to those bred in 
 northern latitudes. The difficulty of securing Amer- 
 ican food is a real hardship to those with weak 
 digestion. 
 
 From January, 1900, to April, 1901, the station 
 was in charge of Mr. and Mrs. L. M. Omer. They 
 were succeeded in June, 1901, by Mr. and Mrs. 
 A. G. Alderman. Mr. Alderman was a practical 
 school and newspaper man as well as a minister. 
 His policy was vigorous and well directed. Find- 
 ing that the school with its twenty-five or thirty 
 pupils had little outlook for growth in the cramped 
 quarters it occupied at No. 50 Roble street, and 
 that this location under the shadow of the leading 
 Romanist church of Monterrey was not the best 
 for the mission, he moved the work to a commodi- 
 ous rented house in the newer part of the city, 
 north from the business section. 
 
 Here the school grew and thrived until in two 
 years the annual enrollment reached over four hun- 
 dred. A weekly paper, "The Gospel Call," was 
 published in July, 1901. As rapidly as he could 
 master a little Spanish, articles in this tongue were 
 inserted in the paper. Through the interest of the 
 physicians of the city, aroused by Mr. Alderman, 
 a free clinic was conducted at the mission, and did 
 a great deal of good. 
 
 Reading of the position of the Disciples in '"The 
 Gospel Call, ' ' Thomas M. Westrup, pioneer mission- 
 ary to Mexico, who for several years had labored 
 
70 TODAY IN THE LAND OF TOMORROW. 
 
 independently on account of his disagreement with 
 Baptist views on close communion and other points 
 urged by the radical wing of Southern Baptists, 
 found that he was in practical agreement with 
 what he read and came to Mr. Alderman to inquire 
 more particularly. He and his wife united with 
 the mission, followed by several of their children. 
 Later, in 1902, Mr. Westrup was employed by the 
 Board as editor and translator. The name of the 
 weekly paper was changed to La Via de Paz, "The 
 Way of Peace." It was doubled in size, six pages 
 being devoted to Spanish reading matter and two 
 to English. Numerous tracts and several useful 
 books have been translated into Spanish by Mr. 
 Westrup. La Via de Paz has since been changed 
 to an eight-page fortnightly issue, entirely in Span- 
 ish. A. monthly edition in English and a monthly 
 juvenile and Sunday School paper in Spanish are 
 also published. 
 
 The Westrup family and their work and influ- 
 ence have been a powerful factor in the growth of 
 the Monterrey mission. Probably no foreigner of 
 Anglo-Saxon birth has identified himself more thor- 
 oughly with the Mexican people than has T. M. 
 Westrup in his more than half a century of life 
 among them. His wife is a cultured Mexican lady 
 of excellent family, and their children have cast 
 their lot unreservedly with the land of their birth. 
 Enrique Westrup, now pastor of the native church 
 in Monterrey, is a man of force and of eloquence. 
 He has few superiors in the pulpit among the 
 
>- 
 
 f- 
 
THE WORK OF THE DISCIPLES IN MEXICO. 71 
 
 Spanish speaking ministry. He has now succeeded 
 his father in the active editorial work on La Via 
 de Pas. Miss Bertha, principal of the Mexican de- 
 partment of the Institute, is capable and efficient, 
 a real general in the management of children. Her 
 younger sister, Miss Irene, is a born primary 
 teacher. Her equal in this line would be hard to 
 find among the schools of Mexico. 
 
 Another worker who was with the mission at 
 this time and earlier, is Miss Clara Case, who came 
 to Monterrey in 1900. Part of the time she has 
 taught in the school, but more often her work has 
 been that of visiting in the homes, reading the Bi- 
 ble to the sick and those who could not read for 
 themselves, and training some of the young girls 
 of the school to assist in this carrying of the Gos- 
 pel message into the homes of their people. 
 
 In July, 1902, Mr. Alderman recommended the 
 purchase of a lot for a school building at the cor- 
 ner of Isaac Garza and Puebla streets. The lot, 90 
 by 140, was considered ample at the time. Its 
 purchase was made possible by the generosity of the 
 Texas Auxiliaries. 
 
 Mr. Alderman did not live to see the school 
 building that he had hoped to erect. On Septem- 
 ber 23, 1903, he fell a victim to yellow fever. His 
 untimely death was a great blow to the work. The 
 epidemic crippled the school and mission work ; but 
 the former was soon resurrected under the leader- 
 ship of Mr. and Mrs. J. E. McDaniel, who came in 
 the spring of 1904. It was at this time that the new 
 
72 TODAY IN THE LAND OF TOMORROW. 
 
 school building was erected at a cost of over $15,- 
 000, gold. The building, 65x110 feet, nearly cov- 
 ered the lot, leaving little space for play-ground for 
 the four hundred pupils. Additional lots to the 
 west were purchased, giving the school a frontage 
 of an entire block on Isaac Garza street with a 
 depth of 90 feet all the way. On the other corner 
 a house for the president of the Institute was built 
 over a year later. In the fall of 1907, additions are 
 to be made to this building to accomodate several 
 teachers and a number of boarding pupils. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. McDaniel, like some of their prede- 
 cessors, did not have good health in Monterrey. 
 They returned to the States in June, 1905. A di- 
 vision of the work was decided upon, owing to 
 the growth of the school and to the need for greater 
 development of the evangelistic side of the mission. 
 Jasper T. Moses, who had been on the field a year 
 as a teacher in the Institute and as one of the edi- 
 tors of La Via de Paz, was made head of the school, 
 and S. G. Inman was called to take charge of the 
 local church. They still occupy these respective po- 
 sitions, though Mr. Inman will soon be sent into the 
 field as an evangelist and to oversee the work of 
 the native preachers in the various stations, and an 
 American missionary is to be appointed to succeed 
 him in Monterrey. Others who have served the 
 work as teachers in the school but have left the 
 field are, Misses Lucile Eubank, Mary Robertson 
 and Rena McLaughlin. Miss Elma C. Irelan, who 
 came in the fall of 1905 is still teaching, as is Mrs. 
 
THE WORK OF THE DISCIPLES IN MEXICO. 73 
 
 A. G-. Alderman, who has remained faithfully with 
 the mission since the death of her husband. 
 
 The native congregation at Monterrey, small in 
 its beginning, has grown steadily in the past few 
 years. It now numbers nearly two hundred mem- 
 bers. Half of these were brought in during a re- 
 vival early in 1907. Considerably over one hun- 
 dred made public profession of their faith in Christ 
 during the meetings. These lasted for a month 
 with Felipe B. Jimenez as evangelist. Mr. Jimenez 
 and an independent congregation at Saltillo, to 
 which he had been ministering for .several years, 
 came into the mission in 1903. Like many others, 
 they were first attracted by the reading of La Via 
 cie Paz. The church in Saltillo has a membership 
 of twenty-five or thirty. They are unusually intel- 
 ligent and thoughtful people and most of them 
 are in good circumstances. 
 
 In 1905, a work that had been started by one 
 of our Mexican ministers from Texas in the mining 
 town of Fuente, was taken in charge by the Board. 
 Here Eligio Camacho ministers to a band of thirty- 
 five or forty. Felipe Jimenez, now located at Sabi- 
 nas, in the center of the new coal mining territory 
 of Mexico, has a great field and is ministering to 
 a number of churches and groups of Christians that 
 form the nucleii for future strong congregations. 
 He is the right man in the right place. His energy 
 and consecration have meant much in the growth 
 of our mission. Other laborers must be put in this 
 field to share the heavy work, if we are to take ad- 
 
74 TODAY IN THE LAND OP TOMORROW. 
 
 vantage of the splendid opportunities offered. Sev- 
 eral outstations are operated from Monterrey and 
 others are manned from each of the outlying 
 churches. The newest and most pressingly needed 
 feature of the work is the education of young men 
 for the ministry, undertaken in connection with the 
 Monterrey school. 
 
 The Monterrey church worships in the chapel 
 of the school on the second floor. This is a hin- 
 drance to both school and evangelistic work. People 
 confuse the school and the church and are afraid 
 to send their children to the former because they 
 believe that it is a mere proselyting institution. The 
 meetings upstairs are hard to find and do not at- 
 tract the passers-by that throng the streets. Often 
 better crowds attend the outstations, held in mean 
 little rented rooms, because they can stand about 
 the windows and doors, seeing what is going on 
 without committing themselves by entering. When 
 they learn that the horrible tales they have heard 
 about the worship of the Protestants are not true, 
 they are ready to enter and hear more. A good lot 
 has been secured for church and parsonage, and the 
 latter has been built, but as yet the means for erect- 
 ing the church building are not forthcoming. 
 
 The Disciples have in Mexico five churches and 
 eleven other preaching places. There are 325 
 church members, 200 Sunday School scholars and 
 425 day school pupils. Twenty-two teachers and 
 workers are employed, of whom twelve are regular 
 
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 1 -5?iiJ 
 
 
 EVANGELIST JIMENEZ AND FAMILY 
 
 A VILLAGE OUTSTATION 
 
THE WORK OF THE DISCIPLES IN MEXICO. 75 
 
 missionaries. Mission property is held to the value 
 of $40,000, gold. 
 
 The States of Nuevo Leon and Coahuila are open 
 for the message of the Disciples. Of the former 
 State, Monterrey is the capital, though it is equally 
 accessible to Coahuila because of its railway con- 
 nections. Saltillo, the capital of the latter State, 
 is only sixty miles from Monterrey. There is al- 
 ready a small congregation there. It is an educa- 
 tional center, with probably the best state normal 
 school in the country, a civil college and three 
 Protestant schools for girls. There is a splendid 
 opportunity here for the establishment of a secon- 
 dary school for young men. We need a mission 
 home here, not only for the workers who should 
 be located in Saltillo, but to serve as a summer 
 resting place for the force at Monterrey. Saltillo 
 with its delightful summer climate, is becoming 
 quite a resort at this season. Board and rents are 
 high. A trainload of Americans from Monterrey 
 comes up every Saturday afternoon to remain over 
 Sunday. It would be a means of economy to the 
 work if the missionaries could have a suitable place 
 here to spend their vacations instead of taking 
 long and expensive trips north, which they can ill 
 afford. 
 
 Towns are springing up as if by magic all over 
 the coal fields of northern Coahuila. It is here 
 that most of the new stations are being opened and 
 where there is the greatest opportunity for service. 
 
lb TODAY IN THE LAND OF TOMORROW. 
 
 AD nations are here. In one mine, over a thousand 
 Japanese are employed. Another rises hundreds of 
 southern negroes. The Mexican miners receive 
 two or three times the wages paid ordinary laborers 
 in Monterrey. Scores of bright American young 
 men work in the offices or direct the operation of the 
 mines. Many of these camps have practically no 
 religious opportunities except the meagre work 
 done by our overburdened evangelist. That this 
 is a new country where we can enter "on the 
 ground floor," makes the opening all the more 
 available. It is a rare thing in an old and con- 
 servative land like Mexico to find new communities 
 where the people are bound to no stately church 
 buildings and have comparatively few prejudices 
 to overcome. If the opportunity is not seized at 
 once, it may pass by or be taken by others. The fu- 
 ture of the work demands that the Disciples oc- 
 cupy these fields adjacent to our present stronghold. 
 Monterrey was entered that on account of its 
 splendid railway systems it might be used as a cen- 
 ter for evangelizing. The work has developed log- 
 ically. All that remains is to prove our ability to 
 act wisely in the face of this opportunity for ad- 
 vancement. Just as other boards have concentrated 
 in certain States, and have made a definite impres- 
 sion upon them, we can take Coahuila and Nuevo 
 Leon for Christ. The policy of scattering the 
 churches so far apart that they can not keep in 
 touch with each other, and can not be visited regu- 
 
Some Pupils and Teachers of the Christian Institute, Monterrey 
 
THE WORK OP THE DISCIPLES IN MEXICO. 77 
 
 larly, is poor business policy and is not necessarily 
 good religion. 
 
 One of the most encouraging things about mis- 
 sion work among the Mexicans is the enthusiam and 
 liberality of the new converts. A large part of 
 these are tithers. In March of the present year, 
 Sanchez Ramos sent a money order for one hundred 
 dollars (silver), to the mission treasury as his tith- 
 ing money for several months. This he had rigor- 
 ously set aside from his precarious income as a 
 traveling herb doctor. Many others have been pro- 
 portionally generous. If the Disciples of Christ 
 in the United States gave with the same liberality 
 as do their Mexican brethren, the income for all of 
 our enterprises would soon be doubled and trebled. 
 
 The door is open in Mexico. Men and women 
 are waiting to accept the Gospel as soon as it is 
 presented clearly and reasonably. The people are 
 conservative at first and want to be shown unmis- 
 takably that the message is true. Then they become 
 enthusiasts for Christ, and are eager to bring oth- 
 ers to Him. Their zeal needs to be trained and 
 kept directed along wise channels, or it may fan 
 itself out. Here the work of an educated native 
 ministry is doubly important. We dare not go for- 
 ward in any large way until we are prepared to 
 conserve the fruits of the work, until a company 
 of men is trained as pastors and teachers as well as 
 for the evangelizing of Mexico. 
 
Bibliography 
 
G 
 
BIBLIOGRAPHY 
 
 A FEW OF THE BEST RECENT WORKS ON MEXICO 
 
 A White Umbrella in Mexico, by F. Hopkinson 
 Smith, Houghton, Mifflin and Co., Boston, 1889. A 
 delightfully written book in Mr. Smith's best vein 
 of humor and of fancy. 
 
 From Empire to Republic, by A. H. Noll. A 
 fair historical text-book written by a professor in 
 one of the southern colleges. Has maps, portraits 
 and an index. McClurg, Chicago, 1903. 
 
 The Maker of Modern Mexico, Porfirio Diaz, by 
 Mrs. Alec Tweedie. John Lane Co., New York. 
 Elaborately illustrated, covers in a general way the 
 history of modern Mexico as well as the life of 
 President Diaz. 
 
 Unknown Mexico, by Carl Lumholtz, (2 vol- 
 umes, profusely illustrated). Scribner's, New 
 York. An interesting account of life and customs 
 among the little known Indian tribes of the moun- 
 tain fastnesses of Mexico. 
 
 Mexico, Our Next Door Neighbor, by Rev. Fran- 
 cis Borton, D. D. A well printed and illustrated 
 pamphlet of some fifty pages that bristles with 
 facts like a campaign handbook. Price, ten cents at 
 the Methodist Book Concern, 150 Fifth Ave., New 
 York. 
 
82 TODAY IN THE LAND OF TOMORROW. 
 
 Campbell's Guide and Descriptive Booh of Mex- 
 ico is a gem among guide books. It is well bound, 
 printed and illustrated. It contains much that will 
 claim the attention of the reader who is interested 
 in Mexico, whether or not he expects to visit the 
 country. The book contains 350 pages with excel- 
 lent maps. It may be obtained by addressing Keau 
 Campbell at Chicago, or The Sonora News Co., at 
 Laredo, Texas. Price, $1.50. 
 
 Mexico Coming Into Light, by Rev. John "W. 
 Butler, D. D. This little book by the head of the 
 Methodist mission in Mexico is a thoughtful study 
 of the nation's history and growth. It is of pocket 
 size and attractively bound, but not illustrated. The 
 price at any branch of the Methodist Book Concern 
 is fifty cents. 
 
 The Mexico Series of Leaflets, published by the 
 Presbyterian Press, 4th Ave. Humboldt, No. 
 1323, Mexico City, Mexico, comprises eight or ten 
 leaflets of uniform size and perforated at the back 
 so that they can be bound together. They are il- 
 lustrated, and are well written by various mission- 
 aries. Some of them show a familiar side to the 
 work not easily obtainable. The price is not stated, 
 but fifteen cents in stamps sent to the above address 
 would doubtless bring the whole series. 
 
 A Series of leaflets on Mexico is published by 
 the Christian Woman's Board of Missions, 152 E. 
 Market St., Indianapolis, Ind. (Price ten cents.) 
 Besides descriptions of the life of the people and of 
 the work being done, this includes a good historical 
 
BIBLIOGRAPHY. 83 
 
 sketch of missions in Mexico, and a map showing 
 the fields occupied and the statistics of the work 
 done by this Board. 
 
 Twenty Years Among the Mexicans, by Melinda 
 Rankin, Christian Publishing Co., St. Louis, 1875, 
 is a record of Miss Rankin's personal experiences 
 and opinions, rather than a description of Mexico 
 or its people. 
 
 Two periodicals in English, Mexico, published 
 quarterly by Mrs. J. P. Hauser, Apartado 1291, 
 Mexico City, and La Via de Paz, monthly, edited 
 by Jasper T. Moses, Apartado 236, Monterrey, Mex- 
 ico, have the same subscription price of twenty -five 
 cents a year. 
 
 The Mexican Herald is the leading English daily 
 of Mexico. It is published in the City of Mexico. 
 
 Modern Mexico, edited in the City of Mexico, but 
 published in New York, is a monthly magazine of 
 especial interest to miners and investors. It con- 
 tains many good literary features and illustra- 
 tions. The annual subscription price is one dollar. 
 
ccp.- 
 
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