Liberty High School - Lion Yearbook (Brentwood, CA)

Page 12 text:

keys to flt the locks were about eight or nlne lnches long and weighed half a pound or more. The houses for the better class were bullt around a patlo which served as a garden, slttlng room and porch. Our tlrst holiday was La Noche Buena tChrlstmas Evel. The Mexlcans decorate the patios and corridors of their homes wlth Mexican flags and pretty colored paper. They also burn candles on the altars. There ls an altar tn every home. no matter how humble. The children place thelr shoes. their sandals when they have no shoes, and an olla twater jugl when they have no sandals. ln the wlndows of their homes for the same purpose our Amerlcan children hang thelr stockings by the flreplace. On El dla Nuevo. tNew Year's Dayl the Mexicans ex- change calllng cards by mall and glve presents to their frlends. Almost everyone attends church. also. If they do not want to stand they take their own stools. as no seats are bullt ln the churches of small towns. On Eldta de las Palmas tPalm Sundayl every Mexican young and old. takes a palm leaf or an olive branch to the church. Here these tokens of reverence and peace are blessed, then taken home. where they remaln until the fol- lnwlng Palm Sunday. ln this way peace and prosperity is supposd to be assured ln the homes. El Donlngo Santo tEaster Sundayl ls celebrated by church golng and rellglous festlvals. El Clnco de Mayo tMay 5thl ls celebrated on account nf the llberatlng of Mexlco from the hands of France, by the 'execution of Emperor Maxmllllan. A large bomb ttruenol ls flred and after thls cock tights. bull tights. feasts, processlons and sports of all klnd take place. The next holiday, Eldla de las Cruces tthe day of the crossesl, ls celebrated on the 23rd of May. lt ls the rellglous festival of the mlnlng towns. each mine having its own par- ticular cross, which is gaudlly decorated and ls carried ln a procession by men, women and children. each person car- rylng a bouquet of flowers. Processlons from the different mlnes meet ln the heart of the town and then all march lu a body to the lglesla, or church. Here the crosses are bless- ed and then returned to their respective mlnes and placed wtthln the entrance to the main tunnel. This custom ls tn protect the miners from accident and to insure prosperity. The sixteenth of September, the day of Mexican Inde- pendence, ls celebrated by the entire country and the celebration lasts for two days. The processlons are always led by two llttle girls. one a blonde, representing Spain. and the other a brunette, representing Mexico. Literary ex- erclses, races and games of all sorts take place. A grand ball ls glven ln the evening which ls always lnvltatlonal. the peons not being allowed to partlclpate. Another peculiar feature or custom ls to celebrate the birthday of the saint after whom one ls named. instead of one's birthday. no matter when lt may occur. For lnstance. all those named John or Juan unite ln celebrating the blrth- day of St. John. the 24th of June, whlch ls called Eldla de San Juan. Another custom l notlced was the manner of throw- lng confettl. Before throwing lt, the gentleman goes up to

Page 11 text:

o'clock in the morning until about 10 at night, stopping at farm houses like the ones described before for our meals. Although the journey was rough it was very pleasant. From the mountain tops we could get a view of the whole country. In some places the trail was just wide enough for two mules to pass. We could lean from our saddles and see the farm houses hundreds of feet below us, while on the other side was the almost perpendicular side of the moun- tain. When we were making the trip the sides of the hills were covered with wild flowers. The wild flowers of Mexico are sometimes cultivated in California, such as the Japanese Moon Flower and the bigonia. The moon flowers grow to a monstrous size, and when they are in bloom, one can look across the valley from the trail and the mountains on the other side will be all colors of the rainbow. After traveling on this kind of a road for about a day or two longer we reached Molinas, which means The Mills. This place was really the quartz mills of an American com- pany whose mine was in Tepia, the ore being carried from the mine to the mill in a tramway. After resting ourselves and mules and meeting the superintendents of the mills we resumed our travel again to complete our journey. Our destination was about three miles away and was a little town called Topia. It took us about an hour to travel this three miles, but we had to climb some very steep places- the elevation at Topia being four thousand feet higher than that at Molinas. At last we reached Topia, one of the oldest towns of Mexico. We were the center of attraction while going through town. as Americans are not very common there, especially American women. Topia is situated on a mesa, or table land, and was sur- rounded by high mountains which were snow-capped dur- rounded by high mountains which are snow capped during the winter. It being a mining town, it was very much more lively than the other small towns through which we passed on our way. It was also the county seat of the Tamazula dis- trict. The town was laid off in blocks, the principal streets being narrow but paved with cobble stones and the side- walks made with large flat rocks. Three large stores, the school house, jail, church and La Salla de Justicia tHal1 of Justicel were built around the plaza. This plaza was similar to that of Culiahcan, only much smaller. The houses of the peons, or poorer classes. are usually rude huts of adobe with a thatched roof. The higher classes plaster their houses both inside and out The more common colors of the houses are pink, blue or white, and about three feet from the ground is a border of stripes going around the whole house. These stripes are usually of very gorgeous coloring-pink, blue, green ye!-A low and red. Sometimes these colors are used singly, or generally they. were combined, with two or three shades to each color. The doors of the houses were very large and heavy, the locks being great ponderous things made by hand. The

Page 13 text:

the lady and asks her permission. It is done very politely and the lady who has the most confetti thrown on her is considered the most honored. The lady always thanks the gentleman for throwing the confetti on her. One day shortly after our arrival we were passing through the plaza when we heard a confusion of sounds, and our first impression was that there was a riot among the prisoners of the jail nearby. On investigation we found it was only the sounds ema- anating from the school house during study period, it being the custom there to study aloud. Mexicans therefore ac- custom themselves to concentrate their minds under any and all circumstances. I afterwards went to a select school, owned by a well- to-do lady in town. The desks and seats consisted of small tables and drawers in them for the books, and common chairs, two at a table. VVe all studied in the patio of the house and so got the benefit of the fresh air. A store was built in the front part of the house and aprons full of ap- ples were secretly concealed in our table drawers for minia- ture picnics when the teacher was attending to the store. Before I found out the custom of studying aloud enough to accustom myself to the habit, I was reprimanded for not studying when I was really studying in the American way I had some difficulty in understanding and being understood at first. as neither teacher nor pupils could speak a word of English, but I soon became a first class Mexican and got along splendidly. Embroidery and plain sewing are taught in schools and the educated Mexican girl can always sew and embroider beautifully, while some of the educated American girls consider it below them. After fourteen months in Topia we returned to Cali- fornia by the same route which we took on the way down. At Altata we again boarded the Curacoa, which was and still is under the command of Captain Paulson, who extends courtesy and hospitality to all passengers. which helps to make this trip on the Pacific most delightful. Coming back, but not going down. we stopped at Mag- dalena bay. The Mohican training ship was in the harbor then and certainly looked splendid. After loading the ves- sel with huge turtles we resumed our homeward course. We arrived in San Francisco on Easter morning. The sea was calm and the sunshine bright and warm, and every- thing seemed to make us rejoice that we were once more in dear California, the home of La Copa de Oro tThe cup of gold. or the California poppy.l Z. C., '11, JOSHBS. Send-off to the Seniors from the Sophs: God speed to you all: that the boys may marry dress- makers and the girls farmers so they will have socks to darn. Bill had a bill board. Bill also had a board bill. The board bill bored Bill so that Bill sold the bill board to pax' his board bill. So after Bill sold his bill board to pay his board bill. the board bill no longer bored Bill.