Page:Face to Face With the Mexicans.djvu/139

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FROM BORDER TO CAPITAL ALONG THE MEXICAN CENTRAL.
133

"NOTICE TO TRAVELERS.

"Persons who wish to lodge in this méson will subject themselves to the following rules:

"1st. The house is opened at 5 o'clock a. m., and closed at 10 p. m. Only in urgent cases will these hours be altered.

"2d. Feed for animals will be supplied at reasonable prices, but outside animals will not be received.

"3d. The prices for rooms are—for single rooms three reals per day, for double rooms four reals (fifty cents) per day. For each room, guests are entitled to two animals; all in excess of two will be charged three and a quarter cents per head per day for each animal. This charge is for standing room only, feed being extra.

"Carriages, wagons, and other vehicles will be charged one real per day, each.

"4th. The owner of this establishment is not responsible for objects lost from the rooms of travelers, or animals, or anything else, unless directly delivered to the care of the manager or left in the house."

The rooms at three reals per day were in front, and those for four, in the rear, near the horses.

The patio of this méson had numerous posts in the ground, which I was assured were placed there for theatrical purposes. In the center of the open square was the only public hall of the town, and at the end, quite near the horses, a stage had been constructed with movable scenery, having its sills lashed to the floor by maguey ropes. On gala nights a canvas is stretched over the poles, as a cover; and with numerous lights, and the customary decorations, a brilliant effect is produced.

With many regrets my two weeks' delightful sojourn at the hospit-

TOP OF KITCHEN CHIMNEY IN SANTA ROSALIA.