Newspapers / Watauga Democrat (Boone, N.C.) / Feb. 8, 1951, edition 1 / Page 7
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VOL. LXm? NO. 32. WATAUGA DEMOC An Independent Weekly Newspapqg ? Established in the Year 1 888 ji . ' BOONE, WATAUGA COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 1051. Dr. A. P. Kephart Continues Story on Travels and Experiences in Old Mexico By DR. A. P. KEPHART Mexico U our nearest foreign nei^ibor. I use the word for eign' because Mexico if so much more different and the extremes are so much greater than in Canada, in the sense that the whole design of living, the cli mate, and the topography are different and strange to us. Mex ico is almost all of it farther south than Florida and extends as far west as California and east as far as the tip of Florida; almost all south of the Topic of Cancer and therefore tropical or semi-tropical; almost all moun tainous and very high, making for the most part a tropical eli minate tempered by high altitudes. iThe people in the different states and sections vary in illi teracy from SO to 75%, and, virhile in one town they boast of rrflore than thirty millionairs, for tlfe most part they are very poor, a ylarge proportion living in one ro^m huts without floors, win dows, stoves, sanitary facilities or '.furniture. This picture is changing very rapidly now with the coming of good paved roads andlelectricity and new Bchools, but lmong the mountain Indians resilience to progress is very sever*. The witch doctor has more influence than the govern ment assigned graduate physi cian and the parental illiteracy more than the attractions of the new government schools and the pressures of compulsory attend ance which cannot be enforced. For example, it is not unusual for the physician to find a preg nant woman as delivery time approaches in agony and turn ing blue from the cord tight around just below her ribs, as prescribed by the witch doctor, to prevent the unborn child from going in the wrong direction. Of course we do not have to go as far as Mexico to find similar and as stupid superstitions with which physicians and others have to contend. President Aleman is almost universally admired. His people mourn because they cannot leg ally re-elect him for another term. They praise him for the new schodls all over the country and for the provision that each college or university graduate, except physicians and lawyers, must teach for a year in some back country School, but the same hill people are not eager for the opportunities offered. Physicians and lawyers must al so give a year of servicc where sent and then for the rest of their lives give several hours per -day to government service. Why didn't we discover this device? We do provide for ap prentice teaching and for intern ships but we have not sent gra duates to the sticks to serve isolated and the less privileged. Twelve years ago, on our first visit to Mexico, as we drove along, almost every white clad man or boy we passed carried a machete, the almost universal tool of the peasant, and wore a sarape. The loaded burro and men, women and children carry ing on their backs or beads what seemed to us to be almost im possible loads, were everywhere. Now, after twelve years, these sights are. still common ljut not as numerous and trucks and autos have bccomc more com mon. Native markets are still every where and among the most pic turesque sights. One visits all of such markets be can reach to make quick surveys of native life and products, handmade merchandise and to see the pri mitive people, some in family groups in their primitive or na tive costumes, tending their stands or booths, or preparing the noon meal right where they are, perhaps over a small char coal pot, filling the streets and plazas in complete disregard of traffic. In fact if informed, the "PAUL SAID TO MR. ED" "ONE WAV OUT' Maybe the old colored woman had something when she said: ?"?. noncy chile, when yo' nint got no ed ucation, yo' jukt lot to use your bnln *." Friend*, do the fccnriWe thing ?insure your pra^erty today with the Wa visitor does not venture to drive through a market or into it. Oc casionally it is barely possible and we were caught once in the largest market in Mexico City, creeping slowly as reluctant na tives made way for the foolish and stupid Americanos, an ex perience not to be sought or re peated. Th4te was no unpleasant treatment, merely surprise and perhaps disgust. If you should visit Mexico do not miss the two enormous markets in Mexico City, at some distance one on each side of the Cathedral Pla za, and the most unique one at Toluca, about forty miles west of Mexico City. You cross he mountains at ?ty>ve 10,000 feet. Toluca has changeU to be almost unrecognized after twelve years and the market has changed al so for it seem;; a little better or ganized, but is just as strange, native, and varied as ever. It fills the streets over an area which seems like about a third of a mile each way, making al most a square mile of market, all centered about a great cen tral market building, 200 by 300 feet. The streets are filled with tables, stands, stalls, covered and uncovered, and many many sel lers with their meager wares merely spread out on a cloth or paper or in baskets on the pav ing of the street. We hastily estimated that there must be not less than 500 different persons engaged in trying to sell a color ful variety of goods from fruit, vegetables, meats, to clothing, hardware, trinkets and orna ments of all kinds. Animals are usually butchered, sold, and eaten on the same day because of lack of refrigeration, although in the cities and resorts this is changing rapidly. It is a com mon sight in the villages and in most of the markets even in the cities to see meat hanging in long thin and flat strips, usually on the outside of the shop. We were told that the well-to-do and the fine hotels even send their servants or representatives to the markets daily to buy per ishables for consumption, that day and that these things are bought in small quantities. The visitor wanders about without embarassment and at tracting little aitention from the natives, even if he is taking pic tures, unless he is foolish enough, as some Americans unfortunate ly are, to make himself offensive or conspicuous. When he inquir es or shows interest in buying he is treated with kindness and gentle courtesy. In fact we have found in some twenty-five dif ferent foreign countries that from the most primitive to the most modern the common peo ple are kindly and helpful but that there are exploiters and rascals everywhere alike, (ex cept of course in the United States!) At Acapulco on the Pacific in Mexico, the American Riviera, as in Nice, on the French Riviera we paid our peso or franc for a chair on the beach or promenade where one could sit all day if he wished without molestation except from the at tention of peddlars and beggars and no one seemed to care whether we were prince or pau per, movie star or beggar, as FOI THt UNtST IN T AILOHBD-TO-M E Ar. He's Coming! With The Latest In Fashions and Fabrics . . . KAHN TAILORING CO. SPECIALIST JACK CHASTIAN WILL BE AT OUR STORE FEBRUARY 8 & 9 ? ? ?j? itid) fur Spring and Summer by teeing . these newest ind finest ideas in suits and topcoats for man and wompx. See for your self the truly outstanding selection of color*, weaves and styles, then make your choice and have your measurements taken for delivery at any time you specify. HUNT'S DEPT. STORE AIR DEKJVE&Y ... A C-11S flying boxcar delivers medical supplies, blanket*, rations, am munition and gasoline to grounu forces In central Korea. long as we ourselves were mod est and courteous. One wonders who is really civilized, particularly when he discovers for himself that near Mexico City there are' ruins the antiquity of which no one ven tures to estimate accurately, pro bably at least ten thbusand years, indicating a kind of civili zation and religious worship which could follow only many thousands of years of slowly evolving culture. What were the people like? Were they civil izcd or primitive, illiterate, or cul tured? The above reminds me oLthe area south of Mexico City, "wo or three miles long and wide, completely covered by a lava flo\fr from ten to thirty feet thick from a volcano which has disappeared. Excavations un covering skeletons and struc tures indicate at least pre-his-. toric- times. As you drive around this kind of discovery and see in the distance the towering snow clad peaks of Ixtaccihuatl and Popocatepetl which have not. been active for centuries, one wonders about the naive concep tion of the age of the earth which puts it at something just ovelr 8000 years. Fopo and Ixta tower up over 17,000 feet high. They dominate the Mexican skyline for nearly all of the central and southern part. For "forty miles north and south they are still to be seen. As they dominate the scene so they seem to have figured in the life and beliefs of the ancients for it has been observed that if one sights alongs the tips of the two pyramids north of Mexico City they are exactly in line with the peaks of these two vol canos. Since the pyramids have religious significance in Mexico, being adjacent to a large temple area of ancient times, we judge that these two volcanic peaks have entered into and become a part of that significance. Popo seems now to be smoking or steaming. This is easily to be confused with clouds which hov ?r over such peaks but it has been established to be steam or smoke and- some fearful souls fear that it is the beginning of a period of activity which may be responsible for the many earth quakes. There have been record ed as many is 1000 shocks a year, many occurring right along in a short period of time. We ex perienced two of the more severe ones. We are glad now that we did and can see the humorous aspects of them but at the time we were not just sure whether they might not be tra gic. We were preparing for our journey to Acfepulco, 300 miles to the southwest. I had gone to the garage, a big brack building housing at least 50 cars, to get the car for the trip. As I stood by to open the door I felt a very peculiar whirl, as if' I had pivot ed on my feet and were swing ing my head around in a two foot circle. I leaned against the car and wondered whether some strange illness were coming ov er me. The car was moving back and fourth, rocking back at least eight inches and then forward again. I then began to speculate on whether to escape a falling building or to get the car out first I decided on the latter. When I reached our room the hanging lamps were still swing ing. There were twelve shocks in five minutes, the severity of which can be best realized by the fact that a water tower near by was rocking from side to side and the water was spilling out on both fides; a tree juit in front of our room, ite trunk about thirty inche* in diameter, was weaVing trdfn side to side from the baae, and the branchei at if in a strong wind. My sister wan in her bath-room brushing her teeth'. She had asked her physician what to do in case of fainting and he told her to lie down on the floor and call for help. When things began to weave and sway she assumed that a fainting spell was on so s^e lay down and called to another sister in the adjoining room .She called to her husband that Pearl was fainting. He repli ed, "Well I feel dizzy myself." Damage was slight. After much experience buildings are plann ed to take the shocks and the on ly visible damage in the city was a twenty foot crack in the wall of one of the larger hotels. At Acapulco one morning a number who lived where we did reported hearing a large body strike the tide of the building right by their own rooms. My wife said she thought a big truck had collided with the wall out side our room. Others thought the same thing. Of course we found that there, had been a fair nixed earthquake shock at about mid-night We appreciated hav ing these two big shows put on while we were there. Please do not get the impres sion from what has been said to this point that all Mexicans are illiterate natives, that all build ings are huts, and that all are dirty and primitive. Let me tell you another time about the con trasts along this line. TRADE AT HOME? SAVE! r|[ ]U DEVELOPED Offc rllilTI ? EXP. ROLL OD Overnight Service WESTBBOOK PHOTO TODD, N. C. SKY-VU DRIVE-IN One-Half Mile from City Limits on Old Blowing Rock Road Saturday 7:15 and 9:00 o'clock ? Sunday 8:30 o'clock CHILDREN FREE ANY TIME -Chevrolet AMERICA'S LARGEST AND FINEST LOW-PRICED CAR ! Tito Smart Nmw Styl?lin? 0* lux* 2 -Door S?dcM yes - refresh ing l(j new ? ? ? WITH FINEST QUALITY ALL THE WAY THROUGH ! ? with lim?-prov?d POWER AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION ?proved by more (ban a billion miles of performance in the hands of hundreds of thousands of owner*. ? Combination of Powrrglide Automatic Trunimitqpn and 105-h.p. entitle optional on tie Luxe models at extra cott. AMERICAN BEAUTY DESIGN - Brilliant new sty ling . . . featuring entirely new grille, fender moldings and rear-eml design . . . imparting that longer, lower, wider big-car louk which xsets Chevrolet apart from all other cars in its field. st ruction AMERICA-PREFERRED BODIES BY FISHER ?With new and even more strikingly beautiful lines, contours and colors . . . with exlra sturdy f isher Unistcel con Curved Windshield and Panoramic Visi bility .. . all combining for smartness, safety, comfort. Buy the car that's refreshingly new, and thoroughly proved, too ... the new 1951 Chevrolet! It's more dependable, more desirable, from its time-proved Powerglide Automatic Transmission* foe finest no-shilt driving and Silent Synchro-Mesh Transmission for finest standard driving at lowest cost to its time-proved Valve-in-Head engine pcr scating room for driver and all passengers on big, deep "Five-Foot Seats." ? self -energizing . . . giving maximum stopping-power with up to 25% leu driver effort MODERN - MODE INTERIORS - With *up holstery and appointments of outstand ing quality, in beautiful two-tone color harmonies . . . and with extra generous MORE POWERFUL JUMBO-DRUM BRAKES (with Dvbl-U Hvtl* it brake llnlngth largest brakes in low-price field . . . with both brake shoes on each wheel fortnancc. So powerful and efficient that Valve-in Hcad design is the trend-leader of the industry! Take one look at the following features? and then visit our showroom and see Chevrolet for 195 1 in all its sterling quality ? and you'll know it's America's largest and finest low-priced far. Better ice it ?today/ $0' SAFETY-SIGHT INSTRUMENT PANEL? Safer, more efficient . . . with over hanging upper crown to eliminate re flections in windshield from instrument lights . . . and plain, easy-to-read instruments directly in front of driver. IMPROVED CENTER-POINT STEERING Imnd Cmtor-PwHJ D?/0fi)? Making steer ing even easier at low speeds and while parking . . . just as Chevrolet's famous Action Ride is comfortable beyond comparison price range. MORI Plow BOY^Hf V*OL*Tf THAN P&'l: ft?. ?' --/ C01VARD CHEVROLET C0HPAN1 I ? ? \ ? 1^! IB # Iff "TrrnfffVr IT IBrTTiiTiM ii7rrlTTiTrfii1rTri<n?fTrr n win J rTrifrTTTi
Watauga Democrat (Boone, N.C.)
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Feb. 8, 1951, edition 1
7
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