Evening Republican, Volume 18, Number 209, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 September 1914 — Page 3

PULQUE-NATIONAL DRINK of MEXICO

Know you not that pulque , I Is a liquor divine. And that angels In heaven Prefer It to wine ’ 0 SING the Mexicans of (V* thpir national drink, a y\ beverage jvhose history dates from the earliest times, yet to which the millions of modem Mexico swear as faithful allegiance as did the ancient s Toltec nearly a thousand years ago. From the Plains of Apam and other pulque-producing districts adjacent, oyer one hundred carloads of this alleged diVine liquor are rushed each day to the pulquerlas of the City of Mexico to satisfy the thirst of the natives, who spend a total of more than SIO,OOO a day for the beverage.

Dally trips are necessary because pulque will not keep any length of time. In 24 hours it loses every trace of its former divinity and becomes a nauseating mess that smells to high heaven;

Pulque is a fermented liquor containing about 6 per cent alcohol. It is made from the cap of certain kinds of maguey. In the United States we call it the “Century plant,” because of the saying that it blooms only once in a hundred years. In Mexico, however, the pulque-producing maguey comes to full maturity in from seven to ten years. The growing of maguey for the manufacture of pulque is one of the most important and profitable industries in Mexico. The maguey is a variety of cactusS of which 33 kinds are given the general name of maguey. They thrive on the Mexican plateau, and, if we except cigarettes, represent about all that the average Mexican cares for in life. , Into a maguey field he may go hungry and naked. From the edges of the leaves he can procure a thornlike needle, to which is attached a strong thread; while from the leaf itself he gets the material to make the cloth for a suit of clothes. He builds a house and shingles it with the dried leaves. The fiber of the leaves he twists into ropes and the xopes into mats for making beds and chairs. He builds a fire. with the dried stalks and cooks the dried roots for food. What he does not need he sells to the vinegar factory, or the mo-, lasses mill, or the paper works, for many pesos, .which enable him to marry. Then, having clothed himself and built and furnished a house and satisfied his hunger and filled his pockets with money and' married a wife, he takes the sap which has collected in the stump of his old maguey, ferments it into pulque, and proceeds- to celebrate his prosperity by getting * gloriously drunk!

What more could sinful mortal ask? And the Mexican may have all that from the humble maguey. On the Plains of Apam, near the city of Mexico, the maguey Is said to attain Its greatest perfection. There, on the, great plantations, the huge, spiky, greenish-gray'plants, looking for all the world like monster artichokes, stretch away in symmetrical rows for miles and miles. There are no fences of any kind and the scend is unbroken save for an occasional hacienda, with its fort-like walls and towers. Millions of dollars are invested iri the pulque business. The man who goes into it must either buy a mar tured plantation, which costs a princely sum, or purchase many acres of land, secure young shoots from some old field, and then wait from seven to ten years for the plants to produce. True, if the soil be fertile, the hardy maguey needs little or no care meanwhile. When ready to produce, each plant is valued at from ten to twelve dollars.

Comes flowering time, and from the center of the cluster of great fibrous leaves, some ten feet long a foot Wide and almost as thick at the base, maguey sends up a giant flower-stalk. This stalk grows rapidly to a height of from twenty to thirty feet If allowed to flower, it bursts Into bloom with magical suddenness, several thousand greenish-yellow flowers appearing almost at once on the stalk, after which the plant dies. It is during the flowering time that the tlachlqueros, or pulque harvesters, with their gourd pipettes and pigskin receptacles, may be seen scattered throughout the fields and watching with alert eyes; for it Is their duty to tap the plant just before the stalk bursts into bloom. At the rigjit instant, which only the experienced harvesters know, the flower stem is cut off short and the heart

FAMOUS OLD CHAPEL BRIDGE

Antiquity of Which the People of Lucerne in Switzerland Are Ex-' tremely Proud. y Lucerne, in Switzerland, possesses what is probably the most unique bridge in the world, as well as one of the greatest historic Interest This bridge, known as the Kapellbrucke, Or •‘Chapel bridge,** crosses the River Reuss at its junction wjth Lake Luoerne. It was constructed so long £go

of the remaining stump is hollowed out to form a basin as wide as a washbowl and from one to two feet deep. Into this basin flows the sap that nature intended should give life and beauty to the flowers.

The tlachiquero thrusts one end of his gourd pipette into the liquid, now called aguamlel, or honey-water. With' his mouth he draws on the other end and the honey-water is sucked into the gourd. Then it is emptied into the pigskin, which the harvester carries slung across his shoulders. The aguamlel is pleasantly sweet, golden in color, and not disagreeable to the smell. Two or three times a day the liquid must be drawn oft The average maguey will yield from ten to fifteen pints dally for two or three months; and then it dies. From plant to plant the harvester goes until the pigskin is filled. Then, with much grunting, he. shifts the bulging pigskin to an easier position, and, with the four pig-legs stuck out in ludicrous positions, tfie Mexican shuffles away to where his mule waits with two stone jars or tin cans slung across his back. He empties the pigskin into the cans and when they are full be takes the mule and its burden of aguamlel to the fermenting room.

There the honey-water is emptied into vats. A portion of the sap has already been gathered and allowed to fermjent»for about ten days, i? is now called madre-pulque, and <is used as a yeast to hasten the fermentation of the fresh sap. A little of the mother-pulque is added to the sweet aguamieL Fermentation begins almost instantly and goes on rapidly. In 24 hours the honey-wa-ter id converted into finished pulque, ready for the market The finished pulque is whitish in color, but otherwise is unlike anything else under the'sun. It has a taste and odor decidedly its own. The taste, to the Americans, is indescribable, but reminds one of spoiled buttermilk, only sweeter. The odor is very much like that of ancient eggs. The Mexicans claim that pulque isgood for the stomach, and they gulp down great quantities with, gusto. Americans do not readily learn to like it. By holding one's nostrils very tightly closed, it is possible to get some of the stuff down; but quite often, when the nostrils are released, the pulque comes back up.

The finished pulque is quickly run into large casks and loaded on to trains. There are a number of long trains, carrying nothing but pulque, that wind their way out of the maguey plantations each morning and hasten into the City of Mexico, where the liquor is quickly transferred to the pulquerias. " .

These pulquerlas are not at all difficult to find. Over the front door there is usually strung a lot of varicolored tissue paper, reminding one of carnival days back in the states. Where the tissue paper is missing, the odor of the pulque serves as an unfailing guide.

And, after all, pulque may be said to be the drink of the masses. Its cheapness makes it so. You can lean out of the car window in almost any city or village in central Mexico and buy 4 a drink of pulque for a penny. From three to five cents will buy a quart The bottled pulque, which is said to be really excellent and has, occasionally been indorsed by physicians, costs a trifle more. 5

At times the Mexican desires a stronger drink than pulque. Then he may drink tequila, also made from the maguey, but of a different variety. This is a fiery liquor that is distilled from the roots of the plant In the state of Jalisco, on the slopes of the mountain called El Cerro de Tequila,

as 1333, and for nearly 600 years has formed the chief avenue of traffic across'the broad but sluggish stream. In other days the bridge extended its zigzag shape to nearly twice its present length, and reached as far as the hofklrche, or cathedral, whence Its name. . In the center of this covered wooden bridge stands the famous octagonal “wasserthurm," or water tower, where in olden times the municipal treasure was stored. For ages it was also used as a prison, and among its dun-

THE EVENING REPUBLICAN, RENSSELAER, IND.

the tequila Industry has reached its highest development, and' millions of pesos worth of the liquor is shipped out annually.

Or the man with a thirst may have mescal, a fiery, colorless liquor, which is also distilled from the maguey. Both tequila and mescal are harmless-ap-pearing drinks, but they have a "kick” like an army mule. A Mexican peon who, when sober, may be frightened at the sight of a horned toad, usually feels, when drunk on tequila or mescal and armed with a machete or knife, equal to slaughtering all the rest of Mexico and occasionally starts out to do so.

Notwithstanding the popularity of mescal, tequila, aguardiente, rum, wine and beer, and in spite of the fact that Mexico imports each year over $6,000,000 worth of liquors, much of which is champagne for the gilded youth of the cities, the consumption of the "divine” pulque goes on unabated. As far back as 1625 efforts were made to stop its manufacture and sale. Edict after edict was issued against pulque, but each one seemed only to irritate the masses and literally “drive them to drink” —more pulque.

When was pulque first made? Qulen sabe? There is a tradition that about a thousand years ago, when the warlike Toltecs- held sway in Mexico, a certain man one day discovered a field mouse gnawing at the flowerstalk of a growing maguey. After frightening the mouse away, hi* attention was attracted to the golden fluid which quickly filled the hole the mouse had made. He tasted it and found it gobd. A large quantity of the honey-water was gathered and the man’s beautiful daughter was sent at once to carry the golden liquor to Tepancaltzin, then king of the Toltecs.

By the time the girl arrived at the king’s palace the fluid had fermented and was what is now . called pulque. The king tasted it. It was good: But over the golden bowl from which the king drank, hie hungry eyes feasted upon the lovely maiden who had brought the gift. The result was that the ungrateful old reprobate decided to keep the golden liquor—and also the beautiful girl.

•* While the king was making the maiden a prisoner in his harem, the servants gathered round and drank up the rest of the pulque. They were unused to the liquor, of course, and presently each one of them- felt that he himself Was as much a king as any man who ever walked Ip due course of time the maiden bore a child for the king. By that time the whole Toltec nation, including the king himself/ was worshiping at the shrine of the bianco nentli, as they called the pulque. And so they named the Infant the “Child of the Maguey.” From that day to this a steady and mighty river of pulque has flowed, and continues to flow, from the great maguey plantations down the throats of the thirsty "Children of the Maguey.’*

Dictionary Pillow.

I once knew a woman who wrote books, a woman who waa very learned in the matter of French and Latin and. German and Greek. Often when her nights were dark and dreadful and sleepless, she would lie awake and think of words—-what language they were derived from and what their original meanings had been. She told me that it was a great source of pleasure to her, and kept her from growing, nervous when she felt wide awake. Often through the qMll, gray dawn, I, too, lie awake and think about words to keep, myself from the unpleasant imaginings that sometimes haunt one in the nighttime. —Christian Herald.

geons is a torture chamber. But the most unique feature of all consists of the series of curious pictures in the roof of the bridge. There are 69 of these painted on triangular wqoden panels fitted into the pitched roof of the bridge. One after another they tell the salient facts of Swiss history or portray events in the life of the saints of the town, St Leodgar and St. Maurice.

Love may *be blind, but the Uttla god can detect gold by therin*.

WITH THE AFTERNOON TEA

Appetizing Drinks to Serve When the Weather is Something More Than Just Wirm.

In hot weather not all guests at afternoon teas care for warm tea. For such the punch known as Hongkong cooler is easily prepared.

Pour one quart of boiling water over three' tablespoonfuls of Ceylon tea; let it steep five minutes and then cool. While It is codling add four tablespoonfuls of sugar and three slices of lemon, two cloves and a tablespoonfol of Maraschino cherries. When ready to serve fill tall glasses half full of shaved ice and add a dash of rum and a cherry to each glass. Place a spray of mint on top of each glass. Case frappe is a very acceptable tea dainty and is not difficult to make. Pour one quart of boiling water over eight tablespoonfuls Of ground coffee, let it stand ten minutes, then strain and add three-quarters of a cupful of sugar, half a pint of warm milk and half pint of cream, and then partly freeze 'the mixture. Serve with whipped cream in tall glasses with a cherry on top of each.

Fanchojiettes are made like the old fashioned custard pie, only they are the size of tarts. Prepare the crust in little patty tins and fill with a custard made of four yolks of egjs, two ounces of butter, two tablespoonfuls of sugar, two beaten 'whites of eggs, three dessertspoonfuls of flour and three-quarters of a pint of milk. Blend smoothly and bring to bqlling point in a granite saucepan, then fill the tarts and b*ake in a medium oven. When done, whip the other two whites of eggs with two tablespoonfuls of sugar for a meringue, and let it lightly brown in the oven. When cold serve on a doily garnished with strips of angelica.

AROUND THE HOUSE

To scale fish quickly dip them in boiling water. It you have a chimney that does not draw well, open the windows in the room for ten minutes before the Are is lighted, and see if that will not help the draft Gold lace on embroidery can be cleaned by 'brushing it clean of dust and then rubbing powdered plum well Into it. Leavie this on for several hours, and when you brush it off the tarnish will be gone. To make the windows bright and shining, add a small quantity of bluing to the water when you are washing them. • / 4 Sheets of tinfoil placed under dollies upon which glasses, pitchers .or vases of water are set will prevent the dampness from soaking through and staining polished tables. t r Warm a lemon before squeezing it and you will obtain nearly double the quantity of juice. • In washing delicate laces never use starch, but if a slight stiffening is desired two lumps of sugar in a basin of warm water will give all that is needed.

Salad a la Diable.

Take the meat of one large, fresh boiled lobster and dice it; drain and dry 12 raw oysters; cut in half one fresh cucumber, remove the seeds, then slice it thin, mix and put in a bowl to marinate one hour in a dressing made as follows: Four tablespoonfuls olive oil, two of horseradish salt, cayenne pepper; of Worcestershire sauce and one sliced shallot, two cloves and six drops lemon juice. Drain very carefully when ready, mix with mayonnaise and add' a quarter cupful of finely chopped celery. Serve in crisp lettuce leaves garnished with olives. \

Jellied Peaches.

Drain the sirup from a jar of peaches and cut the fruit into small pieces. Measure the sirup, and if there is not enough to make one pint, add enough water to make the desired quantity. Heat the sirup to the boiling point, stir in one tablespoonful of granulated gelatin, softened in onehalf cupful of water. Stir until dissolved, add one tablespoonful lemon juice, let stand in a cool place until it begins to thicken, then add the peaches, turn into a mold and let harden. Serve with whipped cream.

Cucumber Supreme.

Pare and slice thinly four cucumbers, two bunches of spring onions, a dozen radishes, one small green pepper chopped fine. Marinate in French dressing 20 minutes, drain and fill half green pepper shells. Put a little heap of mayonnaise on each, and lay the shell on a red and green beet leaf. This is decorative as well as being yery good.

Softening Hard-Boiled Eggs.

Eggs that have been boiled too long can be softened by lifting the saucepan off the fire and quickly placing It under the cold water faucet allowing the cold water to run Into It The sudden shock In changing from hot to cold water has the effect of roftening the egg. ' *

Dressing for Flank Steak.

Flank steak has better flavor if spread with a highly seasoned bread dressing, rolled tightly, braised with vegetables and a small quantity ol liquor, then cooked In a casserole, Serve when tender, with tomato sauce

To Stone Raisins.

Place the raisins on a tin plate tn a hot oven. When they are heated through they can be split open and the stones easily removed. T •' ’ ' . Jt .■

Amazons of Manless Techuantepec

I TRAVELED for a month through the heart of Mexico looking for the women of beauty and romance of whom I had heard so much. In all that month I saw not one of them. Instead, there was always a horde of sad creatures, child-laden, prematurely old, who hung about the railway stations and repeated the plaint, "Un centavo, un centavo,” always begging for a mere penny. And further back there was the hovel where the mother presided over the destinies of a large family and attempted to make ends meet on the small and Irregular earnings of her men folks,/ writes W. A. Du Puy in the Detroit Free Press. There are two dominating ideas in the mind of the resident of the United States with reference to the people of Mexico. Light opera is responsible for both. The first Is the picture of the man—a creature of an inconceivably wide bat, of trousers skin tight to the ankles, of flowering, scarlet sash and colorful blanket. And the picture is true In/ Its minutest details. No stager of light opera has ever exaggerated the man of Mexico. He loafs today In magnificent ennui about the railway stations at Chihuahua and Saltillo and San Luis Potosi so arrayed as to defy exaggeration. The second Mexican idea of the man from the states is of the senorlta, gay clad, bespangled, jangling her tambourine and with a dagger, for jealousy, hidden In her bosom. But this maiden Is as conspicuous for her absence as Is the male of the species for his omnipresence. Poverty Prevent*. For it must be remembered that -the people of Mexico are. inexpressibly poor. It is of the masses I am writing, the 98 per cent. When Diaz became president there was an occasional opportunity for the native to earn 15 cents a day at hard labor. Diaz let In foreign capital for the development of industry and in’3o years these same men could earn 60 cents a day and had more opportunity to work. Yet even this was not luxury. And the toys and girls grew up as

do the herds in the fields and mated long before they had reached maturity. Sometimes there was the formality of marriage, but more often there was not, for the fees were prohibitive.. It was rare that a peon girl passed the age of fourteen without having found herself a mate.

This same girl at twenty was the mother of four chi|dren. At that age she should have just been coming Into her maturity, blossoming into whatever of beauty lay within her. But.the girl of twenty who, in poverty, has brought Into the world four youngsters and cared for them, has had little chance for the flowering forth of the latent beadty that may have been her birthright.

This is the condition that is almost universal among the people of the masses. It is because of this condition that one looks In vain for the dream maiden of Mexico who burns up her soul In jealousy for her sweetheart and slips the stiletto between his ribs rather than lose Mm. It is a condition almost universal, but not quite. There is the town of Tehuantepec that saves the day, for Tehuantepec is the home of women who throw down the gauntlet to all the world for beauty and for those characteristics of leadership that dominate Ull around them.

Where Mexico grows narrowest toward the southern end the Isthmus of Tehuantepec separates the main body of the country from Yucatan. A railroad crosses this isthmus and makes - a short cut between New York and the Orient At the top of the divide there is a native Indian town and here reside Mexico’s amazons. Here are found those rare natives with the flu*ed and extraordinary headgear that

has won an international reputation. When the traveler alights in Tehuantepec he is met by peddlers of opals and beads beaten out by native goldsmiths from the metal of tribal mines, and the fruits of. the “tierra caliente.” Soon he notices that these peddlers are all women and that many of them are young and beautiful. He passes Into the market place, where he finds innumerable stalls, also presided over by wdmen. There is the appearance of Immaculate cleanliness and the air of business efficiency. Near by are native stores, also presided over by women. There is hardly a male creature anywhere to be seen. Eventually the traveler learns that this is a city of pretty women. There are 3,000 of them and but 500 men. They have assumed the reins of government and the responsibility of providing for their own support They have done both so effectively that Tehuantepec is the cleanest, best governed, most prosperous community between the Rio Grande and Guatemala. And the beauty of these self-govern-ing, self-supporting women lifts the traveler out of his boots. They are a remnant of the unsullied blood of the Aztecs, that race of high civilization that suffered so tragically when It fell under the all-blighting domination of Spain. They are a remnant of the people who built pyramids that rival those of Egypt and temples of such decorative beauty as to draw students from the world around into the jungles of Yucatan. And, these women have a classic delicacy of feature and a dignity that is in accord with:thia ancestry. A Diaz Tragedy. manless Eden Is also a heritage from the Diaz regime. President Diaz sent his younger brother to Tehuantepec as’ governor. This latter was but an unlettered Indian and possessed none of' the unusual qualities of Porfirlo. He governed his 4ztec subject* with aboriginal cruelty and Stupidity. His many atrocities came to a climax when, one day, he shot and

SCENE IN SOUTHERN MEXICO

killed one of these women of Tehuantepec as she passed his dwelling. The shooting was done on a wager and merely to prove his marksmanship. There is a touch of cruelty in even the Aztec when aroused. The people rose as a man and went for Governor Diaz. When they had captured him they performed an operation that is not unpopular in Mexico. They skinned the bottoms of his feet and then forced him to walk to his execution. To avenge the death of his younger brother President Diaz dispatched an army to Tehuantepec with instructions to kill every male in the village. The orders were so effectually carried out that the only men left were those who fled to the mountains. Since then the town has been a community almost without men. As I walked the streets of this native city of the tropics one of the most peculiar of the efforts of Nature to keep her balance was thrust upon me. The male children of the Tehuanas go stark naked, but the little girls wear a skirt about their waists. I noticed that there seemed to be many more male children than female. So great was the apparent difference in number* between the sexes that I began to keep a . tally. * At the end of the day I had seen four times as many boys as girls.

Once In a while a woman patents something that one Would only expect a man to know anything about. An example of this is the patent of Miss Anna R. Tye of St Joseph, who has patented an automatic stop for trolleys on overhead wires, combined with a switch to move the stop.

Patented by Woman.