Unofficial letters of an official's wife [by] Edith Moses.

UNOFFICIAL LETTERS OF

tions. The churches are never decked out in the
tawdry adornments we see in other countries, but
color and light are blended, and the effect is always
beautiful. Everywhere the Natividad was represented in miniature as in Europe, and here, as there,
attracted a crowd of round-eyed children carrying
small babies to view the wonder. Outside, the scene
was scarcely less brilliant, for hundreds of booths
lighted with candles filled the square, in which all
imaginable articles, toys, lamps, trays, and vases,
were gambled for or bought by the crowd. There
are other attractions for those who have ten centavos to spare-shooting galleries, picture galleries,
and one called the animatiscope. It came from
Paris, and was very good. The scenes were colored, and it was sometimes almost impossible to
believe the figures were only light reflections. One
incident occurred in this place which shows how
well known Governor Taft is to the common people.
The place was crowded with natives, who expressed
their emotions unabashed as the moving pictures
were thrown on the screen. One series depicted a
prize fight in a realistic manner, a thin, wiry champion taking off the honors against all comers until
an immense pugilist of the John Sullivan type entered the contest, and with a few well-directed blows
laid the thin man low. The moment the stout
pugilist was thrown on the screen an exclamation
ran all through the room, "El Gobernador Taft!
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