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

AN OFFICIAL'S WIFE

thatched with grass bleached by time to a soft dark
gray. The main building and a small ell were raised
some ten feet above the ground. The upper floor
of the house contained one large irregularly shaped
room, where we were entertained, and a smaller
space screened off as a bedroom, for the parents of
the family. The ell contained one room, which
served as a storeroom and a kitchen. The furniture
consisted of bamboo beds, a few willow chairs, a
rough table, and one wardrobe. The space under the
house was used as a storeroom for rice and camotes,
a stable for horses, and a sleeping place for the retainers of the family. Mateo Carifio has a large
family of sons and daughters. One or two of the
daughters are married. His son, the presidente,
was dressed in a white suit, hat, and shoes, the insignia of his office. This official garb is not the
least of the trials which accompany the honor of
being a presidente. The office carries with it not
only a burden of responsibility, but of expense, for
every presidente must give a number of feasts during his term of office, costing several hundred pesos.
The office sometimes ruins the man financially, and
he is therefore not obliged to serve more than two
terms. When he returns to private life he passes
the coat and trousers, hat and shoes, as symbols of
his office, to the next incumbent, and joyfully returns to a " gee string "; on public occasions, however, he may don a shirt. During the day we
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