40 



INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY PUBLICATION NO. 6 



homes out of the total of 248 have bothered to 

 install electricity. A deterring factor may be 

 the belief that houses with electric wiring are 

 more prone to catch fire, in spite of the fact 

 that a house fire is virtually unknown. A more 



ing water through the streets for sale. As a part 

 of his program to improve the village. General 

 Cardenas in 1938 built a pump house over one 

 of the springs, and laid mains through the cen- 

 tral part of town. One hundred and ten taps 



Table 6. — House categories correlated icith literacy and property 



apparent explanation is the mental anguish 

 caused the householder by having to pay out 

 $1.40 at one time with nothing in his hand to 

 show for it. At the time of the installation of 

 electricity, light of a sort could be had with 

 candles or kerosene for from $0.60 to $0.90 a 

 month. Candles, curiously, are considered supe- 

 rior, because they do not smoke. With the war 

 inflation, however, candles, which last only for 

 a night or two, have increased in price from 

 $0.02-$0.03 to $0.10-$0.15, and kerosene now 

 costs from $0.05-$0.10 a night. Hence, mini- 

 mum lighting costs from $1.50 to $3.00 a 

 month, compared to $1.40 for electricity. But, 

 with the war, it has been impossible to get wire 

 for new installations, and so the would-be thrift- 

 minded householders are now paying dearly for 

 their conservatism. 



The story of water is the same thing. In spite 

 of the proximity of the lake, the traditional 

 water supply has been springs in Ojo de Agua 

 and wells sunk in patios. Since most well water 

 is muddy and unsatisfactory for drinking pur- 

 poses, families made a daily trip to the springs 

 to bring drinking water, or purchased jars of it 

 from muleteers who made a profession of carry- 



were installed in patios, free of charge, and for 

 the benefit of those who lived on the outskirts 

 of town, five public taps were placed in strategic 

 positions. A charge of $0.75 monthly was 

 announced for private taps, a very reasonable 

 figure, and the public taps were to be free. But 

 no sooner was the new system inaugurated than 

 people began to refuse to pay the monthly 

 charges. Those near public taps found it prefer- 

 able to walk to them rather than pay a nominal 

 sum for the convenience of water at the kitchen 

 door. Others, farther from public taps, banded 

 together in associations, paid $0.15 or so apiece, 

 and maintained the tap in the patio of the most 

 centrally located. There was no remedy other 

 than removal of taps; 30 were taken out during 

 the first 2 years, and by 1943, 28 more, leav- 

 ing only 52 private taps, less than half the orig- 

 inal number. One is forcibly reminded of pro- 

 verbs about horses and water. 



As in other parts of Mexico where it has been 

 installed, the molino de nixtamal, or maize mill, 

 has been the greatest step toward freeing wo- 

 man of drudgery. The first motor mill was in- 

 stalled about 1925, and there has been at least 

 one ever since. At present there is one mill 



