890 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dec. 1. 



particulars of which are'given in the following, 

 which we clip from the.i Rural New-Yorker of 

 Nov. 19: 



2 Itfappears that the unjailed bird, J. M. Bain, is 

 back of tlie new swindling' dodge of selling " black 

 pepsin " for increasing t)ie amount of butter to be 

 churned from a given amount of cream. An ex- 

 tract from this scamp's letter was given last week 

 (see page 741). It is a fraud and a humbug, a scheme 

 well worthy of one who has robbed thousands of 

 women by his fraudulent schemes, in the guise of 

 plating-maclitnes, incubators, pure-bred chickens, 

 eggs, valuable new seeds, and other delusive tempt- 

 ations. Tlie fraud has letters sent to an alleged 

 " Cliemical Co." in New York to avoid detection and 

 make his absurd offer more plausible. To their dis- 

 grace, be it said that several agricultural papers 

 have printed this stuff. 



Notes of Travel 



FROM A. I. ROOT. 



PASO DEL NORTE. 



In crossing the great bridge that separates 

 the United Stales from Mexico, wo were obliged 

 to pay an extra fare of ten cents on the street- 

 car; and in just a few minutes we were in a 

 foreign country. One would hardly believe 

 that simply crossing a river like the Rio Grande 

 — a river which is many times not a river but 

 only a dry gravelly bed— as I have said, one 

 would hardly believe it possible to find the 

 change we meet in going from El Paso to Paso 

 del Norte. The people are different and the 

 buildings are different. It is true, we meet 

 many Mexicans, Spaniards, and Indians in El 

 Paso; but across the river the people are all 

 alike unless it be an occasional visitor of the 

 American type. The Mexicans seem to be a 

 quiet, inoffensive, and peaceable folk. As there 

 are many visitors we find fruit-stands and curi- 

 osity stands at almost every turn. In fact, in 

 this mild climate these litill' stands for traffic 

 and trade stand outdoors the year round. 

 Things are very cheap in Mexico, and pennies 

 are in common circulation. In the way of eat- 

 ables you can get more for a penny of almost 

 any thing than you want. Perhaps one reason 

 for the latter fact is that, as you pass along 

 with your cakes or pies in your hand, a glimpse 

 into the dwellings, with the doors wide open, 

 makes yon fear that some of the dust and dirt 

 may have got kneaded into the cakes. Atone 

 place a Mexican was supplying a hungry crowd 

 with chunks of something from a great dish- 

 pan. It was probably pieces of sweet potato, 

 or yam, fried in fat of some kind. They passed 

 in;, their pennies, and he cut off slices which 

 they took in their greasy fingers. While we 

 were thinking of sampling this delicious luxury 

 — at least the people seemed to think it so — the 

 vender noticed some crumbs of the potato stick- 

 ing to his big knife. Without a bit of hesita- 

 tion he licked his knife clean with his tongue, 

 and then went on in a very businesslike way 

 slicing oft' more for the people. Mrs. Root took 

 umbrage at this proceeding, and not only re- 

 fused to make a purchase, but she would not 

 buy their candy, cakes, nor any thing else, un- 

 til we got across the river into Uncle Sam's do- 

 main once more. 



On the adjoining page I have given you a 

 picture of one of the oldest churches in Ameri- 

 ca, liut I am not ready to take a look at the 

 chur<'h just yet. I want you to notice the 

 dwellings at the left hand of the picture. This 

 is a fair type of the streets and dwellings of 

 Mexico; but they are rather finer than you find 

 anywhere else, because they are on the street 

 close, by^the old church. Please notice those 



sticks projecting along where we should see 

 the eaves. I saw these all through the Mexi- 

 can towns and finally I asked somebody what it 

 meant. "Why, bless your heart," said he, 

 '• those are the eavespouts that carry the water 

 off ovei- the sidewalk." The roofs of the build- 

 ings are made of weeds and straw, covered with 

 clay, or " dobe," pronounced do-by. They sel- 

 dom have rains hard enough to wet clear 

 through the dobe straw roof. But when there 

 is enough rain falls these spouts sticking 

 through the wall carry it away from the build- 

 ing, else It might wash out the dobe sides and 

 dobe foundation. The floors are of the same 

 clay, or dobe. stamped hard. I suppose the 

 grease and dirt that get on the floor in the 

 course of years make the floor a little harder, 

 for that too is stamped in. These floors, how- 

 ever, are generally swept clean, and the door- 

 yards are swept clean and tidy also, sometimes 

 for quite a little distance. The abundant 

 sweeping gives the dooryards a rather pretty- 

 lookiiig appearance, and then the ground is 

 generally stamped very hard and firm all around 

 the doorway by the abundance of children that 

 troop about. I am glad to notice that the 

 children are fast getting hold of the customs of 

 the United plates, and I believe they <tU go to 

 school, although every thing seems to indicate 

 that these people are just emerging from a sort 

 of at least semi -heathenish state. They act 

 much like the Indians I have described. They 

 are backward about talking much, especially 

 with foreigners; and when you try to talk with 

 them, many times their swarthy faces are tinged 

 with a blush of embarrassment^. They evident- 

 ly recognize us as their superiors in many 

 things. I am inclined to think, however, that 

 they think their religion better than any thing 

 we have to ofter. 



And now about this old church, built some- 

 where about the year 1550. I thought I had 

 the date in my notebook, but I can not find it. 

 Any way, it was built so long ago that the door 

 which you see in the shadow, on the right hand 

 of the tower, swings on a pole instead of on 

 hinges, as in modern times. The bottom of the 

 pole stands in a hole made in a block of wood, 

 and the top sticks through a hole in a piece of 

 block above, and the door is built fast to said 

 pole ; and when you open the door the pole 

 turns around withthe door. The winding stair 

 is worn by the tread of many feet for centuries. 

 There are" two bells in the tower— a large and a 

 small one. The audience-room of the church is 

 very neat and tidy. At the further end, candles 

 are burning all day long, and priests and other 

 officials are constantly going through some rite 

 or ceremony. But the strangest part of it all to 

 me was to see people going into and out of the 

 church, apparently at every hour of the day. 

 Some of them simpty went inside and dipped a 

 finger into a little stone tank of " holy water." 

 With the wet finger they then made a cross on 

 the forehead, and with bowed head they went 

 out. Fine ladies, servant girls, business men, 

 and even children, did the same thing. They 

 seemed to take in the phice of worship on the 

 way to and from business. Sometimes pack- 

 ages of merchandise were laid down while the 

 owners went in to pay their vows. Many of 

 th(» worshipers knelt on the stone floor, and, I 

 sui)posed. breathed a prayer, although I did not 

 hear it. Others went up nearer to the lighted 

 candles, and approached certain holy inclos- 

 ures. Sometimes they went inside as they 

 knelt in woiship. As I looked on I felt moved 

 by the spirit of the place and the people. A girl 

 came along with some packages which she had 

 probably purchased. She had the appearance 

 of a girl who works out. She laid her bundles 

 down, approached thee holy water with a sober 



