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Show 158 LEADING FACTS OF NEW MEXICAN HISTORY which in less time than is consumed in the relation, the cigarrito would be manufactured.'°° Obedience to their parents and respect for their elders were prominent features of Mexican character, A son, no matter what his age or position, would never smoke in the presence of his father, until permission, unsought by the son, had first been granted by the parent. A native New Mexican of the old school never lights his cigarrito in the presence of another without saying ‘‘Con su licencia, Sefior.’’ Gambling was, in the earlier days, a vice quite common to all classes of society. It was licensed and protected by the laws of the country, and, in most circles, the keepTHE VICE OF GAMBLING ing of a gambling house was not considered a disreputable occupation. These resorts were frequented by rich and poor, high and low. In all the larger towns public gambling houses were to be found, where large sums were wagered and lost or won. The love of gambling was a distinguishing propensity of the people. The dignity of station was not proof against the fascinations of this exciting vice.1° In relating his experiences in New Mexico, as also his observations in the northern provinces of the republic a quarter of a century prior to the advent of American authority, the historian of the period, Dr. Gregg, says: _ 106 Gregg, Commerce of the Prairies, i, 243-244 , says: ‘‘Of all the petty vices practised by the New Mexican s, the vicio inocente of smoking among ladies, is the most intolerable; and yet it is a habit of which the loveliest and the most refined equally partake. ‘The puro or cigarro is seen in the mouths of all; it is handed round in the parlor, and introdu ced at the dinner table, even in the ball-room it is present ed to ladies as regularly as any other species of refreshment; and in the dance the sefiorita may often be whirling round with a lighted cigarri seen to in her mouth. The belles of the Southern cities are very frequently furnished with tenazit as de oro, little golden tongs, to hold the cigar with, so as to prevent their delicate fingers from being polluted either with the scent or stain of .’’ 107 Gregg, Commerce of the Prairies, i, p. 239: tobacco **It prevaue the lowly hut, as well as in the glittering saloon; nor is the sanctity of the aa nor the dignity of station sufficie proof against the fascinations of this exciting vice. No one considers it a ntdegrad ation to be seen frequenting 4 monte bank; the governor himself and his lady, the grave magistr and the Pare dignity, the gay caballero and the titled sefiora may all be ate seen staking ead Pm ag €ir a omestic upon the turn and the ragged Ttortune at the same of a card; while pauper, all press shrine. the humbler ranchero, the with equal avidity to cm There are other games at cards practiced éna es te cohusivelypeople, depending upon skill; but that of el monte, being of chance, seemsmore to possess an all-abs orbing attraction, difcult to be conceived by the uninitiated spectator. ’’ MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE PEOPLE 159 “Among the multitude of games which seem to constitute the real business of life in New Mexico, that of chuza evidently presents the most attractions to ladies; and they generally lay very heavy wagers upon the result. It is played with three little balls, and bears some faint resemblance to what is called roulette. “Bull-baiting and cock-fighting, about which so much has been said by every traveler in Mexico, are also very popular amusements in the North, and generally lead to the same AMUSEMENTS AND excesses and the same results as gaming. The GAMES cock-pit rarely fails to be crowded on Sundays and other feast-days; on which occasion the church, the ball-room, the gambling house and the cock-pit look like so many opposition establishments; for nothing 1s more common than to see people going from one place to another by era fits, just as devotional feeling or love of pleasure happens to promp them. “One of the most attractive sports of the rancheros and the peasantry and that which, more than any other, calls for the eM, ase of skill and dexterity, is that called correr el patie, URAC > generally on St. John’s day. A common cock or hen 1s tied by =e feet to some swinging limb of a tree, so as to be barely within ; reach of a man on horseback; or the fowl is buried alive in a a pit in the ground, leaving only the head above the AURA Y either case, the racers, passing at full speed, grapple the en pa the fowl, which, being well greased, generally slips out 0 7 fingers. As soon as some one, more dexterous than the ae im hae Succeeding in tearing it loose, he claps spurs to his ee. deavors to escape with the prize. He is hotly pursued, oo . by the whole sporting crew, and the first who overtakes him ho 10 get possession of the fowl, when a strife ensues, during : rs if Should the holder ve the poor chicken is torn into atoms. Bends ea a if it carries he pursuers, his outstrip to able be trophy “ar spectators and presents it to his mistress, who takes 1 ee af /andango, which usually follows, as a testimony of the prov her lover. : ion, ns the vaqueros, and even amc ong a persons of distinct , and ing ced pre the an . ©0l€o (tailing) is a much nobler exercise tha. 18 also Pea, reserved for days of festivity. For _ sees the most untractable ox or bull is turned loose upon a leve t being When all the parties who propose to join in the amusemen 7 etl tha The inate already mounted, start off in pursuit of him. aa der, as soon as he gets near enough to the bull, seizes him es al, and with a sudden mancuver, whirls him iamtipriel 2 ae his breaking of risk little no to — “€ plain 'orse stumble or be tripped by the legs of the falling bul . |