Photo by Shirley C. Hulse 



THE MEXICAN INDERAL ARMY GOES NOWHERE WITHOUT ITS WOMEN 



Soldiers are supposed to be paid daily and to look out for themselves as regards food 



and supplies of all sorts. The women forage and cook and take the place of a regular 



organized commissary department. At times they take active part in battle, and they are 

 said to leave nothing of value on the field after the fight. 



which are used in Mexico. These frames 

 are made somewhat like curtain-stretch- 

 ers, and from 5 to 15 girls gather around 

 one of them and work for days and even 

 months on the beautiful drawn - work 

 table-cloths which come from Mexico. 



The best drawn- work is made from 

 imported Irish linen, and the prices at 

 which these pieces are sold, considering 

 the work put on them, is ridiculously low. 

 Pieces may be bought in Mexico City for 

 $40 which could not be duplicated in the 

 United States for $200. The designs are 

 in endless variety, and each piece is so 

 finely fashioned that it takes a woman's 

 eye to tell which is the right and which 

 is the wrong side. 



The Indians make all sorts of small 

 objects to attract the centavos of the 

 tourist. The little dolls of Cuernavaca, 

 a half-inch tall and dressed in finely em- 

 broidered raiment, are the admiration of 

 every one who sees them. The small clay 

 animals, perfectly fashioned and ranging 

 from the peaceful dog to the charging 



bull and the bucking mule, would do 

 credit to the genius of many a sculptor 

 whose name figures in the art publications 

 of the world. 



DRESSED FEEAS 



But perhaps most wonderful of all are 

 the tiny dressed fleas which may be 

 bought in Mexico City. They are mounted 

 in little boxes which are a little more than 

 a quarter of an inch each in dimension. 

 Here are a bride and groom, the former 

 with her bridal veil and orange blossoms 

 and the latter with his Prince Albert coat 

 and silk hat ; here are two ballet dancers 

 dressed in true Spanish dancing cos- 

 tumes ; here a bull fighter in full regalia ; 

 here a water-carrier with his water- jug. 



Another wonderful work of the In- 

 dians is the making of feather pictures 

 from the plumage of humming-birds, now 

 almost a lost art. Several persons are 

 employed on each picture, blending the 

 various colors of the feathers together in 

 a way requiring extraordinary patience 

 and care. 



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