CITY OF MEXICO. 83 



bricks. The roofs are nearly all flat and without chimneys; 

 there is no provision made for artificial heat, nor indeed is 

 there need of any in a climate where the temperature sel- 

 dom falls below 60° Fahr. It is always warm in the middle 

 of the day, and cool in the morning and evening. The 

 climate is temperate, and the atmosphere very dry. Fires, 

 on account of the indestructibility of the houses, are a rare 

 occurrence. 



The main thoroughfares enter and depart from the 

 Plaza Majo7'. Some are broad and some narrow, but all 

 are paved, straight, and clean. The street car service is 

 excellent. All the cars depart from the main plaza in front 

 of the cathedral. They are always in a hurry; the mules 

 are driven very rapidly through the crowded thoroughfares, 

 yet no accidents happen. Funerals are conducted by turn- 

 ing one of these cars into a hearse, or catafalque, another 

 car being reserved for the mourners and pall-bearers. A 

 long string of these cars may sometimes be seen gliding 

 into the suburbs, where the grave-yards are located. The 

 drivers of the cars blow cow-horns at the intersection of the 

 streets, to warn people off the track. The fact that all the 

 cars leave and enter the Plaza Major, makes it compar- 

 atively easy for a stranger to find his way around the city 

 and surrounding suburbs The central plaza of every Mex- 

 ican city and town, is always the central park. 



The streets of Mexico intersect each other at right 

 angles, and are so nearly alike that it is a little puzzling for 

 the stranger to find his way about them. Another draw- 

 back' is the awkward manner of naming the streets, each 

 block of a single street having a different name. This sub- 

 division is, however, to be entirely discarded, and in a few 

 years the streets will be named like those of our northern 

 cities. The Paseo de la Reforma is the principal boulevard, 

 and connects the city with Chapultepec. It is over two 



