Newspaper Page Text
How Tourists !n Mexico Wrestle
With the Language.
A QUEER RESTAURANT ORDER
The Way an American Woman Shock¬
ed a Waiter With a Demand For a
Dish That the Cook Would Mot Pre¬
pare.
“It’s no wonder that men who go
from the States down to Mexico on
business do not get along better,” said
a returned New Yorker. “They don’t
study Spanish as they should. In the
clubs half of the stock stories are
about these half educated Americans.
“It was in a restaurant where only
Spanish Is spoken that a party of
American tourists assembled. There
were a woman and her two daughters
and, of course, the attendant and pa¬
tient papa with the wad.
“ ‘Let me order,’ said the mater. ‘I
want to use .my Spanish.' And she pro¬
ceeded to pull out a handy book of
conversation. ‘Let me see,’ scanning
the menu; ‘we want oysters, I’m sure.
A small fry for each would be just the
thing.’
“Running her fingers through the
leaves, she found that ‘chiquita’ means
•small’ and ‘frita’ means ‘fry.’ Perfect¬
ly simple. ‘Chiquita fritas’ would
mean ‘small fries.’ She held up her
fingers to Indicate four and said com¬
placently to the expectant and polite
waiter:
“ ‘Chiqultas fritas.’
“The waiter’s eyes bulged out, and
his Latin politeness got a shock. ‘Oh,
no, senora,’ he cried at he backed
away; ‘no ebiquitas fritas!’
“ ‘Why not?’ returned the patron.
‘Don’t you have ’em?’ for in her sur¬
prise she lmd fallen back on her ver
naeular. Then she remembered her
role and consulted her book.
“Nothing doing. No end of gesticu¬
lations on the part of the waiter.
“ ’Nice country where one can’t get
fried oysters,’ piped the woman, and
she added, ‘I wonder why?’
“ ‘You can get ’em, ma’am,’ said a
man's raucous voice at au adjoining
table. He continued: ‘You ordered
fried babies, and they don’t serve ’em
in this part of the republic. The
word “chiqultas” means babies, a
term of but you’re all O.
*•' Vas ttf 'he fritas. If ru had
• X^WUt5i'
have gone through ail right’
“And she ordered ’em. thoitfb she
looked daggers at the stranger, who
was a New Yorker and had lived In
Mexico for twenty years.
“It was the same sort of woman,”
continued the traveler, “who tried to
air her Spanish by asking the amount
of her bill after she had taken her
dinner in a restaurant in the City of
Mexico. With a bland smile she ad¬
dressed the head waiter with ‘Como
mucho?’ intending to ask how much.
“Now, the word 'eomo' not only
means ‘how,’ but also ‘I eat,’ so that
the woman had remarked to the wait¬
er, ‘I eat a good deal.’ This was as
much as to say that the dinner was so
good that she had eaten all or more
than she ought. In fact, it was a
compliment and such a compliment as
is highly appreciated In any Latin
country.
“With a deep bow the servitor ex¬
pressed his delight that his humble
viands should have found approbation
In the sight of the most excellent
senora. It was expressed in the
choice phrases that so readily lend
themselves on such occasions through
the Castilian tongue.
“But my lady didn’t understand a
word of the lingo. She meant busi¬
ness, and she repeated in a louder
tone: ‘Como mucho? Como muchoY’
She was sure of her correct Spanish,
but somehow she couldn’t get the wait¬
er to do anything but bow aud scrape
and smile.
“The puzzle was solved when the
proprietor, hearing the excited voices,
entered and learned that the lady
merely wanted to pay her bill. Had
she known that not ‘Como mucho?’
but ‘Que es la cuenta?’ (‘What Is the
account?’) is the correct expression she
would have been saved trouble and
mortification.
“Time and again United States con¬
suls have set forth in federal publica¬
tions the advantages of a real knowl¬
edge of Spanish to the business man.
The need is growing more emphatic
with every day, as our relations in
trade are growing with Mexico dally
But I guess that federal publications
don’t hit the people at large as a gen¬
eral rule.
“One of the easiest ways to learn a
foreign language Is to read good nov¬
els in that tongue. You get so inter¬
ested in the story that you just have to
go on to the end to learn whether the
hero and heroine come out all right.
“Students of Spanish don’t adopt
that method in New York, I guess, for
you can’t find any Spanish novels on
the secondhand bookstore tables up
or down or across the city. The only
specimens I have found have been
Spanish novels translated from the
French novels. It is strange, too fur
THE PELHAM JOURNAL, FRTDAY, NOV. 27 1908.
tnere are many excellent novels nowa¬
days by Spanish writers.
“Of course an Instructor Is needed
to obtain the correct pronunciation, but
on visiting Mexico with a good, ready
knowledge of the language you can
soon acquire the needed pronunciation.
In fact, you have to do it In order to
get along."—New York Sun.
The Widow’s Might.
She—So your friend Singleton has
voluntarily joined the ranks of the
benedicts, has he? He—Not exactly;
he was drafted A widow married
him.—Chicago News.
In the face of a man you may see
the secret of his life.—Hearth and
Home.
" ROYAL RAGE.
A Story of Emperor William II. and
His Mother.
In a character sketch of Emperor
William II. in the American Magazine
Octave Mirbeau tells an interesting
story of the kaiser’s relations with his
royal mother. The incident was re¬
lated by Prince Bismarck one night
when he had been drinking too much.
“And no one,” remarks M. Mirbeau,
“was more brutally sincere than Bis¬
marck was under the Influence of
wine.” Here is a part of the story:
“The relations between William and
his mother, the Empress Frederick,
became at last so bitter that William
placed spies about her, even in the
bedroom of his invalid father.
“Through one of these spies William
learned of the existence of a journal
which his father had kept for some
years. Frederick had a taste for writ¬
ing, and the fact that there was cold¬
ness between him and his son led Wil¬
liam to fear that this secret journal
might contain some criticism of his
conduct.
“The empress, however, was clever
enough to conceal the diary before her
husband’s death. Eluding the surveil¬
lance of her son, she sent the papers to
her mother. Queen Victoria, or to her
brother, then Prince of Wales, I don’t
remember which.
“Hardly had his father drawn his
last breath when William over the
dead body performed his first official
act.
“It was to demand of his widowed
mother the journal, which be termed a
‘memorial.’
“The empress feigned ignorance.
William insisted. He spoke as
giving bis mother the order to obey.
She persisted in declaring that
knew nothing of the papers.
“ ‘Well,’ lie commanded, purple
; W.r»t|i ‘you will rentaitt
arriving
hours after this, found the palace sur¬
rounded by squadrons of armed cav¬
alry.
“The emperor, whom he found still
exalted, told the old chancellor how he
had met the disobedience of his moth¬
er.
“ ‘And she need not expect pity or
consideration until she has obeyed me,’
he declared. ‘You understand that,
Mr. Chancellor? Until she has obeyed
me!’
“The pupil had gone much too far.
Bismarck saw at once that the buf¬
foonery continued might mar the
whole of William’s reign. Later in
life, he said, he used to wonder how
he kept from laughing in his sover¬
eign’s face.
“What he did was to receive Wil¬
liam’s news with deferential silence
and later, when the emperor was
calmer, show him that his course was
sure to meet with general disapproval.
There was a way, he thought, of pro¬
ceeding much more vigorously and at
the same time efficaciously. Why not
rather cut down the Income of the
empress, suspend her appanages?
“ ‘I know her majesty,’ said the good
Bismarck. ‘She has pride. Forced ar¬
rest she can brave out, accepting it as
a sort of martyrdom, but the money,
sire, the money! Who can resist mon¬
ey?’
“Further, he laid tactful stress upon
the probable representations of Eng¬
land. ‘Is it really the moment, sire?’
"The kaiser, becoming api>easod, lis¬
tened lo Bismarck’s counsel. The ar¬
rest of the empress was removed. The
officers led their cavalry back to quar¬
ters. and William turned his attention
to the details of his father's obse¬
quies. which he wished to be most
fastidious.”
The Garrote.
The garrote is a thing that no man
of nervous temperament should look
at Once seen it never can be forgot¬
ten. Just to think of it months after¬
ward brings up a choking sensation
which makes one long to tear away
his collar and breathe the free air as
deeply as he can. It rests upon a
raised platform, an ordinary straight
backed chair, with thin iron clasps on
the elbows and legs of the chair. These
are for the arms and ankles of the
condemned criminal. At the top of
the back of the chair is a band of
iron, one end of which swings out so
as to admit of a neck being inserted.
This band snaps around in place, and
all is ready. A twirl of a crank in
back and as the band crushes the neck
back a pin pierces the medulla ob¬
longata.—New York Suu.
New Presses, New mud Attractive Type
. Have been added to 0111‘ ‘eqliipment W and enables us to do
better work than ever. will be pleased to show
, w you samples and figure attentiq, Wlthgrou at any time. A11 mail
‘ orders given prompt
,
4
a 3 THE PELI-IAm JOURNAL.
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