I cannot end this until I give you a sample of the meanness of the
Mexicans, other than Indians. The real Mexican--a mixture of several
nationalities--has a great greed for cold cash, and thinks the
Americano, Yankee, or gringo, was sent here to be robbed. They do not
draw the line on Americans, but also rob the poor Indian of everything.
When I asked for my hotel bill, which was $4 a day, the clerk handed me
a bill with $1.25 extra. "What is the extra for?" I inquired. "Charming
senorita," he answered, "you called for eggs two or three times."
"Yes," I replied, "when you set down goat's meat for mutton, and gave
me strong beef I had seen killed by the matadore in the bull-ring the
day before." "Well," he continued, "eggs are expensive, and it was a
trouble to cook them." "My dear senor, I have no intention of paying
your salary, and your pocket is just minus an expected $1.25. Here is
the other." That settled it.
While looking at some marble objects in a store a poor Indian came in
with twelve blocks of marble twelve by twelve on his back; the poor
fellow had hewn them smooth and then traveled undoubtedly two days or
more on foot over hills and through valleys, the ground at night his
bed and the wild fruits or a few beans brought from home his food. He
was ragged and tired, and dirty, but he had a good, honest look on
his face, he asked the shopkeeper to buy the marble. After a little
inspection the merchant purchased, and for it all, which was weeks
of labor to the poor peon, and meant at least $300 for himself, he
gave fifty cents. Nor was that the worst of it; the two quarters were
counterfeit and the Indian told him so, but he said no. I stepped to
the door and watched the peon go to a grocer's store across the street.
They refused to take the money and he came back and told the marble
dealer. Upon his refusing to give good money the Indian turned to me
for help, whereupon the keeper laughed and said: "She is a Yankee and
can't understand you."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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