Music Trade Review
Issue: 1897 Vol. 24 N. 12 - Page 11
Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
From the Land of the Montezumas.
GEO. P. BENT, THE CELEBRATED MANUFACTURER OF THE "CROWN " PIANOS WRITES OF
MEXICO AND ITS PEOPLE—A LETTER TO THE EDITOR OF THE REVIEW
WHICH WILL BE FOUND OF EXCEEDING INTEREST.
Hotel Iturbide,
Mexico City, Mex., March 7, '97.
Edward Lyman Bill,
My Dear Sir.—You asked me to write
you from Mexico so here goes.
Instead of going to the races or to the
bull fight, as they tell me here I ought to,
I am spending the afternoon writing let-
ters, among others, this one I promised
to you.
As yet, I have not been "touched," as I
understand you were, when here, by the
festive Mexican pickpocket—the great-
est artist, in his line, they say, in the
world. As yet, I have all and the same
handkerchiefs that I had when I entered
the country. I am told that you left sev-
eral of yours behind when you depait-
ed from these shores. I shall not see a bull
fight while here for I do not fancy such a
cruel, bloody sport and I do not care for the
experiences which they tell me you had
when they prevailed upon you to go to see
one. Last Sunday, when being entertained
at Monterey, we were so near the arena
that the yells of the crowd in attendance
could be distinctly heard where we sat.
Those yells reminded me of those given
forth by your humble servant when at a ball
game, opposite third base, with a runner
scooting for the home plate.
Mrs. Bent is with me and is enjoying the
trip as much as I, perhaps even more so,
for she goes about and sees the sights while
I work, for the poor piano man has to work,
you know, at least part of the time.
We entered Mexico the night of Feb. 26
and have been in a new strange world ever
since. We have been most kindly enter-
tained at every point. In fact this people
seem quite as much, or even more, given
to hospitality than they are to business.
The motto, "business first, pleasure after-
wards" seems to be reversed here. Our
ways are different, but still I think, from all
that I can see, their ways perhaps make
life quite as well worth living. The spirit
of cordiality and hospitality makes itself
felt here at every turn. All seem to be so
kindly and courteous that we feel, as did
the old lady in class meeting, "It's good,
brethren and sisters, to be here."
On our way to this city, we stopped at
Monterey, Tampico and San Luis Potosi.
We reached here last Thursday evening and
while waiting for Mr. Heuer to return (he
is making a trip, accompanied by his wife,
in Northern Mexico) I have been calling
on the trade generally and seeing as much
of the city and the sights about it as I could.
Mr. Heuer is expected home to-morrow.
We expect to start for Guadalajara, Zaca-
tecas, Lerdo and El Paso about the middle
of the week. From the latter point shall
go over the coast States, Idaho, Montana,
Utah, California, Nebraska, etc.
Yesterday we drove out the Paseo, a
most beautiful boulevard, to Chapultepec,
saw the palace and the park. The trees
there, centuries old, monstrous in height
and size, are wonders in themselves. We
also drove on to Tucabayo, where the bull
fighting arena is, which we saw but did not
enter, and found the ride and the village
most delightful.
To-day we went to the flower markets,
where they sell bouquets for 25 cents that
we could not buy, in the States, or at least
the Eastern States, for less than $3.00 or
$4.00. Then we strolled about among the
general markets for an hour or so. In
those are offered for sale almost everything
under the sun, except pianos. The only
reason they are not there also, I imagine,
is that they are not in very great demand
here, only a small part of the total popula-
tion being able to buy them. We then
went to church, attending service at the
Cathedral, the most prominent building
here, built on the site of the great Aztec
temple which was destroyed, after the city
fell, by the Spaniards, under Cortes, in
1521. The first stone in the existing build-
ing was laid in 1578. It is a great, though
not very grand or beautiful pile. It was
dedicated in 1667. Its dimensions are 387
feet from north to south, 177 feet from
east to west, and interior height 179 feet.
But " there are others" and as a "city of
churches " this equals or surpasses Brook-
lyn in number, though not in variety, for
nearly all here are Catholic. The people are
devout worshipers, but the vast mass of the
natives, I am told, are profound profes-
sional pilferers. At a furniture factory I
visited at San Luis Potosi, I was told that
each workman was searched every night
before he could leave the shop, but that in
spite of that they had a loss of $8.00 to
$t2.oo worth of tools, etc., each week, and
that to atone for that loss, when made up
and amount known, a pro-rata deduction
was made from the wages of each boy and
man each week. They will not "squeal"
on each other, nor do they object to the
deductions from their wages. Seem to
take it and make it as a vicarious sacrifice
for the common sin of the nation. A con-
tractor here tells me that he has the same
experience with his workmen. They work
cheap but steal at every opportunity, but,
if reports are true, you know all this your-
self and hence I am not telling you any-
thing new.
After attending church, we went to the
Alemeda, the chief park, right in the heart
of the city, and listened to some fine music
and watched the people. I inclose a
program. The leader is a bespectacled
and much bebuttoned individual who knows
his business and attends to it, is a living
example of the poetry of motion. The
band and the selections played were fine
and all well executed. We were there nearly
three hours and were amused and enter-
tained every moment. The day is just like
one of our finest ones in June. In fact the
climate here is a constant delight, so every
one says, always cool, if you are in the
shade, though often very hot in the sun. Ex-
cept in the rainy season, from May to
September, they have all kinds of dust and
plenty of it and in this city they have ninety-
nine separate and distinct species of smells.
It is odoriferous, if not aromatic, in the
extreme. With that one exception it is a
fine city, well laid out and well built and
kept quiet clean. No doubt but for its
peculiar location its drainage would be
better.
To me the greatest attraction in this city
or this country, is its people. They are a
constant and ever.present object of interest.
To-day in the park, every one, his wife
and family seemed to be out. In families
they all seem to be very fond of each
other. Husband, wife and children seem to
go and keep together and one rarely hears
an unkind word. The usual size of a
Mexican family, so far as I can yet judge
it, is that of the Bent dimensions, six
children or more. Sunday is their gala
day and on reaching the park it seems to
be the custom to provide each child, if
purse will allow, with some new toy. The
costumes and customs differ widely from
ours. With us the ladies wear fine hats
and clothes, here the men sport the finest
toggery. Man here is a study, more so
than in any other point of the globe I
have visited. His pants, or pantalets, or
trousers, or pantaloons, or tights (which-
ever they may be called, but they ought to
be called the latter) must be worked on to
his pedal extremities with a shoe horn ; his
" bob tailed " coat has the double advantage
of exposing to the world the fantastic
striping and embroidering of his tights at
the sides and at the posterior portions of his
anatomy, and of not wrinkling when he sits
down; his altitudinous hat is a poem,
both in latitude and in longitude, is worn
in all sizes, colors, weights, and cost.
His entire costume is made up to show
the "male (not female) form di-
vine." And he is conscious of his good
points too, thoroughly so. The women
seem to have boycotted the corset market,
they wear no hats and if they have any
covering for the head at all it's a sort of
shoulder cape or shawl about a yard wide
and three yards long which serves also to
"wrap the baby up in" and carry him in,
suspended from the head or shoulders or
both. The poorest classes wear sandals or
nothing at all on their feet, both men and
women. What I have written as to cos-
tumes, applies to the simon pure natives of
the poorer classes. The more wealthy na-
tives and the foreigners who live here are
as much "up to date," according to our
ideas, in the matter of costumes and fash-
ions, as we are.
Have written in great haste, and in true
editorial style I hope (certainly have with
pencil on brown paper if that is any
proof of it.) Speaking of proof makes me
think to tell you that the two English pa-
pers printed here show great enterprise in
getting and printing news and-seem to be
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
From the Land of the Montezumas.
GEO. P. BENT, THE CELEBRATED MANUFACTURER OF THE "CROWN " PIANOS WRITES OF
MEXICO AND ITS PEOPLE—A LETTER TO THE EDITOR OF THE REVIEW
WHICH WILL BE FOUND OF EXCEEDING INTEREST.
Hotel Iturbide,
Mexico City, Mex., March 7, '97.
Edward Lyman Bill,
My Dear Sir.—You asked me to write
you from Mexico so here goes.
Instead of going to the races or to the
bull fight, as they tell me here I ought to,
I am spending the afternoon writing let-
ters, among others, this one I promised
to you.
As yet, I have not been "touched," as I
understand you were, when here, by the
festive Mexican pickpocket—the great-
est artist, in his line, they say, in the
world. As yet, I have all and the same
handkerchiefs that I had when I entered
the country. I am told that you left sev-
eral of yours behind when you depait-
ed from these shores. I shall not see a bull
fight while here for I do not fancy such a
cruel, bloody sport and I do not care for the
experiences which they tell me you had
when they prevailed upon you to go to see
one. Last Sunday, when being entertained
at Monterey, we were so near the arena
that the yells of the crowd in attendance
could be distinctly heard where we sat.
Those yells reminded me of those given
forth by your humble servant when at a ball
game, opposite third base, with a runner
scooting for the home plate.
Mrs. Bent is with me and is enjoying the
trip as much as I, perhaps even more so,
for she goes about and sees the sights while
I work, for the poor piano man has to work,
you know, at least part of the time.
We entered Mexico the night of Feb. 26
and have been in a new strange world ever
since. We have been most kindly enter-
tained at every point. In fact this people
seem quite as much, or even more, given
to hospitality than they are to business.
The motto, "business first, pleasure after-
wards" seems to be reversed here. Our
ways are different, but still I think, from all
that I can see, their ways perhaps make
life quite as well worth living. The spirit
of cordiality and hospitality makes itself
felt here at every turn. All seem to be so
kindly and courteous that we feel, as did
the old lady in class meeting, "It's good,
brethren and sisters, to be here."
On our way to this city, we stopped at
Monterey, Tampico and San Luis Potosi.
We reached here last Thursday evening and
while waiting for Mr. Heuer to return (he
is making a trip, accompanied by his wife,
in Northern Mexico) I have been calling
on the trade generally and seeing as much
of the city and the sights about it as I could.
Mr. Heuer is expected home to-morrow.
We expect to start for Guadalajara, Zaca-
tecas, Lerdo and El Paso about the middle
of the week. From the latter point shall
go over the coast States, Idaho, Montana,
Utah, California, Nebraska, etc.
Yesterday we drove out the Paseo, a
most beautiful boulevard, to Chapultepec,
saw the palace and the park. The trees
there, centuries old, monstrous in height
and size, are wonders in themselves. We
also drove on to Tucabayo, where the bull
fighting arena is, which we saw but did not
enter, and found the ride and the village
most delightful.
To-day we went to the flower markets,
where they sell bouquets for 25 cents that
we could not buy, in the States, or at least
the Eastern States, for less than $3.00 or
$4.00. Then we strolled about among the
general markets for an hour or so. In
those are offered for sale almost everything
under the sun, except pianos. The only
reason they are not there also, I imagine,
is that they are not in very great demand
here, only a small part of the total popula-
tion being able to buy them. We then
went to church, attending service at the
Cathedral, the most prominent building
here, built on the site of the great Aztec
temple which was destroyed, after the city
fell, by the Spaniards, under Cortes, in
1521. The first stone in the existing build-
ing was laid in 1578. It is a great, though
not very grand or beautiful pile. It was
dedicated in 1667. Its dimensions are 387
feet from north to south, 177 feet from
east to west, and interior height 179 feet.
But " there are others" and as a "city of
churches " this equals or surpasses Brook-
lyn in number, though not in variety, for
nearly all here are Catholic. The people are
devout worshipers, but the vast mass of the
natives, I am told, are profound profes-
sional pilferers. At a furniture factory I
visited at San Luis Potosi, I was told that
each workman was searched every night
before he could leave the shop, but that in
spite of that they had a loss of $8.00 to
$t2.oo worth of tools, etc., each week, and
that to atone for that loss, when made up
and amount known, a pro-rata deduction
was made from the wages of each boy and
man each week. They will not "squeal"
on each other, nor do they object to the
deductions from their wages. Seem to
take it and make it as a vicarious sacrifice
for the common sin of the nation. A con-
tractor here tells me that he has the same
experience with his workmen. They work
cheap but steal at every opportunity, but,
if reports are true, you know all this your-
self and hence I am not telling you any-
thing new.
After attending church, we went to the
Alemeda, the chief park, right in the heart
of the city, and listened to some fine music
and watched the people. I inclose a
program. The leader is a bespectacled
and much bebuttoned individual who knows
his business and attends to it, is a living
example of the poetry of motion. The
band and the selections played were fine
and all well executed. We were there nearly
three hours and were amused and enter-
tained every moment. The day is just like
one of our finest ones in June. In fact the
climate here is a constant delight, so every
one says, always cool, if you are in the
shade, though often very hot in the sun. Ex-
cept in the rainy season, from May to
September, they have all kinds of dust and
plenty of it and in this city they have ninety-
nine separate and distinct species of smells.
It is odoriferous, if not aromatic, in the
extreme. With that one exception it is a
fine city, well laid out and well built and
kept quiet clean. No doubt but for its
peculiar location its drainage would be
better.
To me the greatest attraction in this city
or this country, is its people. They are a
constant and ever.present object of interest.
To-day in the park, every one, his wife
and family seemed to be out. In families
they all seem to be very fond of each
other. Husband, wife and children seem to
go and keep together and one rarely hears
an unkind word. The usual size of a
Mexican family, so far as I can yet judge
it, is that of the Bent dimensions, six
children or more. Sunday is their gala
day and on reaching the park it seems to
be the custom to provide each child, if
purse will allow, with some new toy. The
costumes and customs differ widely from
ours. With us the ladies wear fine hats
and clothes, here the men sport the finest
toggery. Man here is a study, more so
than in any other point of the globe I
have visited. His pants, or pantalets, or
trousers, or pantaloons, or tights (which-
ever they may be called, but they ought to
be called the latter) must be worked on to
his pedal extremities with a shoe horn ; his
" bob tailed " coat has the double advantage
of exposing to the world the fantastic
striping and embroidering of his tights at
the sides and at the posterior portions of his
anatomy, and of not wrinkling when he sits
down; his altitudinous hat is a poem,
both in latitude and in longitude, is worn
in all sizes, colors, weights, and cost.
His entire costume is made up to show
the "male (not female) form di-
vine." And he is conscious of his good
points too, thoroughly so. The women
seem to have boycotted the corset market,
they wear no hats and if they have any
covering for the head at all it's a sort of
shoulder cape or shawl about a yard wide
and three yards long which serves also to
"wrap the baby up in" and carry him in,
suspended from the head or shoulders or
both. The poorest classes wear sandals or
nothing at all on their feet, both men and
women. What I have written as to cos-
tumes, applies to the simon pure natives of
the poorer classes. The more wealthy na-
tives and the foreigners who live here are
as much "up to date," according to our
ideas, in the matter of costumes and fash-
ions, as we are.
Have written in great haste, and in true
editorial style I hope (certainly have with
pencil on brown paper if that is any
proof of it.) Speaking of proof makes me
think to tell you that the two English pa-
pers printed here show great enterprise in
getting and printing news and-seem to be
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