Page:Travels in Mexico and life among the Mexicans.djvu/262

254 a tomb,—but because it is "the thing" to be there. Even clerks on scant salary, engineers who have come out on ventures, artists, correspondents of newspapers, railway contractors,—all may be found within the precincts of Iturbide, that they may write home to their poor relations, "I have dwelt in the abode of an emperor." Grand and gloomy, with a façade noteworthy for nothing except its long, protruding water-spouts, with an interior mainly attractive for its wide court, with dirty mozos or men-servants as chambermaids, bare floors, and gaunt bedsteads, there is nothing to attract one to Iturbide, except, perhaps, the drinks dispensed at its bar, which, like the climate, are delicious and vivifying. In describing one hotel, we describe all, for they are all built and managed after the same plan. The cafés, which are conducted apart even if in the same building, are excellent.

Illustrating the departure in a modified way from the architecture of older Mexico, such houses as that of the millionaire Escandon is a fine specimen, though even this structure exemplifies the manner in which the Mexican utilizes his dwelling place, as the lower floors are occupied by stables and the offices of the Mexican railway. Near this abode of wealth is a peculiar, though effective, tile-covered block, which glistens in the sun like the porcelain domes of Vera Cruz. Historic and beautiful buildings abound near this centre, for only a stone's throw away is the great pile built long ago by the Franciscans, a conventual structure which they lost when their property was secularized, and which is now owned and used by two Christian religious corporations. The missionary work instituted here by the Rev. Dr. Butler is now successfully carried out by his son, and this Methodist rallying place for Protestants is in a flourishing condition. Halls and cloisters, once the resort of unctuous, holy monks, are now filled with active workers in the good cause, and with the material for the lively propagation of the Gospel. The most attractive portion is that facing the Calle de San Francisco, and owned by the Episcopal Church.

A little way distant, a few streets to the south, is another convent, likewise to be put to a use more in accordance