270 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 



Spaniards in 1720, Of late years 

 its surrounding districts have 

 been eosiderably cleared of 

 underbrush and jangles, and 

 handsome modern homes and 

 villas and irrigated fields- adorn 

 their place — century-old pecan 

 and oak trees, forming a fringe on 

 each side of the fine macada- 

 mized streets and boulevards 

 leading to the various Missions, 

 the Fair Grounds, Hot "Wells Park, 

 Park, Exposition Park, etc. 



Such olden-time Mexican ja- 

 cals, though crude and primi- 



ordinary commodities of life, they 

 are very cleanly as to the premises 

 and they are the most contented 

 lot of people on earth, with what 

 little they possess to sustain life. 



These reflections of course con- 

 cern only the lower class of the 

 Mexican populace and their pri- 

 mitive dwellings, etc. The hi'gher 

 class all have more substantial 

 dwellings, and the well-to-do 

 Mexican fellow citizens afe well 

 educated and highly respected 

 and many always have been iden- 

 tified with the municipal and ed- 



Mexican- Jacal and Shed, Some Fifty Years Old, Along the San Antonio River 



tive, were built very substanti- 

 ally as far as weather safety 

 is concerned; and they always, 

 for reason of their quaint and 

 picturesque appearance, have been 

 admired by tourists and sight- 

 seers in general. For want of 

 proper ventilation and other in- 

 fluences, many of the inmates of 

 such huts suffered much in winter 

 time through illness. As a rule, 

 though deprived of many of the 



ucational affairs of San Antonio. 

 Most of even the very poorest of 

 native Mexicans are nowadays 

 more Americanized and they strive 

 to better their environments, and 

 become better civilians. 



How the lower class of these 

 people are ho.used is well known 

 to most of us — and their primi- 

 tive huts and tents were not so 

 badly built after all! The Mexi- 

 cans show much skill and Inge- 



