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April 6,l124I told B-----of trip to Tecate arn she told me of

a funny adventure of her own.

A year or two ago she taught near there, and on the l6th

of SeptemberMexioan Independente Day, the school largely Mexican

was excused for the celebration at Tecate.

B. --wa. living on a; ranch at the tire and having no other

means of getting into town over to Tecate with an old farm

horse and buggy,

When she arrived, the Mexican official and school children

entreated her to join the parade, Finally tho, she was able to con-

vince them she preferred to watch and drove her old nag to, as she

thought, a propitious place.

The parade lined up and started - M11exican town and: govern-

ment officials children vvarious local dignitaries, also a company

of soldiers from Mexicali} with drlns and bugles.

At the sound of the 'ugle, B--said her old horse began to

switch his tail. At the sound of the drum he began to back. To

the rear of where she had driven was what was left of the prison.

A fewelmonths before, the rebels had come into Tecate and razed.the

jail. All that was left was the open dungeon.

The parade drew near, and at every crack of the drum the old

horee backed. B--had no wh~p and all she cild do was to hang to the

lines and look back at the dungeon.

Suddenly a vrild yell f rom the parade - andR she found her-

self sitting, right in the buggy in the bottom of the ungeon vith

the old horse hanging half up, half down.

With one surp - soldiers, children, officials, the entire

parade - dashed madly to the rescue an: :hauled horse, buggy and schoolmaxys out..

7i,,>S~e~a,

7"

Then the parade was re-organized and B-found herself riding

in it, in an automobile with the officials.

She said she turned and looked, a-d there at the end of the

parade, led by an autotnobile, his broken harness all tied up with

string, anEd his tail still switching, came the old horse and the

cuggy.

April 1 6.

I took Its my Mexican girls to McCabe tonight for a party. These

are "Amerioanizad" Mexcican girls, . _I donit quite like the result.

The group is quite different from the shy eyed little Mexican

girl straight from. the line.

Jennie, Noberta, Gregoria, Maria, all sing the latest jazz, roll

their socks, (WobertaT:s bright red garters are always showing) play

baseball, and jazz around loudly and pleasantly.

We played MWink" and it was amusing watching the consternation

of some of the Mexican boys, most of them just in this country a

fewv months. They are unused to such carefree manners.

Bartolo was nearly overcome with embarrassment when he was "itt

and had to wink at some of the muchachas.

Apalonio in his gay pink shirt and silver s~tudded. wrist band,

and RamoO in :his somehow acquired army coat with t-o gold stripes,

were equally embarrassed.. In fact, they were all rather overcome

by my imported feminine contingent.

Librada, who had come with her Mother 'and Ralph, - demure and.

polite, witLl her dainty white dress and her shy but flirtatious

-3-

glances, was somehow much more interesting. Librada came from Mexico

three months ago.

We went out to the school in one of the high school bus' to the

tune of Mexican songs, "Mexxicali Rose" "I lived. her in the Moonlight"

etc., Much noise and pleasantness and bouncing over the bad roads.

Out of the dust to the rear, we discovered we were trailed. After

we reached school, and the girls safely in, I went into the yard to

investigate. At least ±kkx six or eight of the E1 Centro Mexican boys

had followed us.

Two had been dtinkingand were rather ugly. It suddenly dawned on

me that I had some jealous and perhaps ugly swain on rmy hands.

After considerable palavering on my part out in the moonlight,

they f finally decided as a "favor" to me to go homee which they did

after much argFuing among, themselves in the middle of the road.

urinc,, the evening Jose, Rodolpho and Ramon, vho had broUght

their guitars and mandolins, played for us. Maria and Carlos danced

the "Jarove"l - games, dancing the Victrola, finally coffee and cakes,

Last a decidedly romantic serenade from the school steps as we drove

off.April 21.

Emilia told me that yesterday at the ballgame these was a renewal

of the f i ng1tine, between the colored and the Mexican, Some of the boys

it seems, even started for home to get their guns.

It was all hearsay, with the women in class, - none of them

having been at the game, but the disturbance must have been serious.

P---the colored principal of the Eastside School, so Josefina

said, spent roost of the morning talking? to the high school on the

subject,

Josefina and Elena say they cantt understand the sudden outbreak

which began last Friday at the Mexican and colored girls ball game.

The last two years conditions have been much better between the

races on the Eastaide. Josefina says that at the "old school"t scarce-

ly a day passed without the colored children beating up or throwing

rocks at the Mexicans.

The women believe that most bf the trouble comes from the

children and loafing half grown boys, who should be in school. The

Bastside is literally ful.- of children loafing around the streets,

playing ball, hauling wood., doing everything but go to school. Many

of them are the children of the transient Mexican workers, seemingly

never staying put in one spot for more than a few days at a time.

One grou-p of gypsies I talked to last fall, The mother told me

t4ey Were Greeks, had lived in Chicago eleven years, then suddenly

decided they wanted to see the United States, so1e started gps0kngin colored ribbons, and beads and bangles, The father worked sporadic-

ally in the fruit (had just been working in the walmts on the Coast)

and the family were on their way to Calexico for work in the cotton.

"Yes, she was goin- to put the children in school in Calexico it

A few days later I read in the papers of a growp of gypsies being

run out of C0L4io.r The description sxonded like my friends.

-5-

I asked. the women today if any of themlmhad been on the ranches

where there were Hind1us. All of them said u1yes, they are much better

than the japanese. " The Japanese, so Elena said., ewere "very harahtfto the Mexioan women. "They are good to their own wormen, but very

rude to the Mexican women. Sometimes they would not even say O'Good-

mornin- g't. X

"They always kept to themselves and. would. scarcely speak to Any

of the Mexicans."

The H-indus tho also keeping by themselves, seemed to meet with

greater approval.

They Iha no women and.liked to marry Mexican girls, and yes,

American girls too. They are very good. to their wives. They give

them many things, but they are Jealous."Elena said., "I used to know lots about the MHindus, but I forget.11

Elena has recently been deserted by her husband. "lie go off with

Catalina S.." Elena is stranded with three little children, the

youngest only three months old.

She has live. on the ranches most of her life, but in spite of

having to support herself from the time she was a little girl, was

able to finish the eighth grade. "I had to work and o-nly had. about

three months school in every year 11 so she told. me.

Now - when her babies are not sick - she t~res to come to night

school and afternoon sewing- class. As soon as her littlestJ baby is

old. enough she will g£o to wdrk again.

-6-Amilia rather spitefully told me "She no IvMrsW. . Her husband

have another wife inr Mexico,"

April 22.I sai-.r Estrella and 1MIaria Y ielsky today about the Eastside

distarbances. Maria was inclinec.n to take it lightly. She said, "I

have lived here ten years. It is nothing. I have seen them throw

stones and brtioks and glass. Notilnin, comes of it, Dontt you worry2S

Zstrella,,however, looked at it much more seriously. He will take

it up with the Meexican societies and, the older people. Me is in

favor of stopping &11 the ballgames Iemnpoxari4;y, at least

Because of the bad wind I had a very small night class, only

eleven. Sormehow we got on the subject of schooling in Mexico. One

7man had had eight years of schooling, the others as nearly as I can

remember

Emilia - one mornth: of schoolCarmel&. - two weeksJuan - two mont he%iofilo - 1 wrieekAdrian - 6 monthsYZ;nracia - 2 monthsMitlovia - noneJuan S. - 1 mZonth

All of the aboffe write fairly well and readRlittle, mostly self-

taught. "Where did you learn to write, "Oh, en Hi casa,5 is the in-

variable reply. I asked) the boys at MvtcCabe the age question, *th

the exception of one who had had two years, all the others had had.

one year or less. Four had had no schooling whatsoever.

B--- said that Saturday night they were greatly disturbed by

mach-L.nes out on the roads, The school --ndteacherhgetla sotha eiteisolated at the junction of four country roads. She said they courted

ten ox more cars oomoind in from all four roads, meetinndG and stopIping

and wTith lots of noise, and talk. The tec-~chers decide they were probably

-7-biringing liquor in frown Mexico over the Monlc,0nt Stinal road.

:; S>-,r~~~A'il 23,.tefugia brought a "tNfationaltI catal gU.e to school this afte noon.

Px.eviously aie had had a. maii order les but wxit in is difficult for

her .

We ordered three hats (f -romn the -oicturees quite oZr,,eousl- be-

flowered) two pairss of ttingttirharri lace curtain, fr Reftu-ials

neat little house, end six-. Union cuits, .he whole class was qTitebreathless with interest.

Ref ugia- widdcleaggd, stout anl pock-mark ed- has the 4indest heart

in the World. She is always takin- care of soeni one - always laugh-

ing.

Today she was coughinS and sneezing -"Tree daoys T uich,to ch

smokey tl she conf 4 ded.

Last summer she went :down in-to M1exico - Durango in Tepehuanez.When she returned she had a thin, ifrghtered eyed fiftee. year old

boy with her.

,"Yes, Adrian,' her go* son was going to live with her.

I found oult lthat the child wans an orphan, had. been workinE for

some family in Durango. She fOund. hime a rmsta abject little specimen -

gawunt, dressed, in rags and frequently beaten. The family ha had w,,orked

for paid. hirm ,2.O0 a month, and. he nad never -one to school.

Refugia, tho helping uport Manuelt aned her daughter, brought

Adrian back wvith her.

The: raged little alley cat is losin,: this frig-htened. loo and

getting fat. He comes toe night school as well as day, studying with

almost fanatical fevqr.; He seems to be retarded mentally however.

Refugia does considerable outside sewing, and "Carlota" the

dress forml, is an important niember of the fa ily She generally

stands in the corner of the front room resplendent in sonrte one's

nen gqEarment.

It is a pet surmise of nine that one reason the :exicans are

all so poor - is that they are always taking in their poor relations,'

often children. They care for them as tenderly as their own.

It *as cool this afternoon so I drove out to YcCabe in uest of

some of the night school boys.

At Yukawa' s ranch we fo-and Joe M1ardueno, Santiago, antd his little

fifteen year old sister, workingz in the strawberries". Heronia 'r

under her big hat an1 lau-hed when she saw us, She have on my pants"

explained Santiago.

She was adorable in her torn boy's shirt and faded khaki "pants" -

as she laughed with us, not quite sure whether to be embarrassed or not.

I told he al Aerican girls took their brother's Parts nowa and

then.

The fields are so ;- icOulaately cultivated and neat. Most of the

Japanese heredo not keep their homes nearly as well as thefy keep their

fields.

Yukawa an. his wife are interesting, They owan their own ranch,

with'its well built bungalow and acres of strawberries. Common

talk has it, that he has made and lost four fortunes mostly in cotton

in Mexico. They have lived in this country for years' very highly

thought of, and seem to have found a definiIte place in the community.

Mrs. Yukawa told us they had already made enough frorn their straw-

berries this year to buy a long coveted piano.

One of thGiir American neighbors will giV6 the three daughters

lessons.

B--told me that when she and: her sister ta ht at the old Dcate

school the Yukawals were the kindest of neighbors. There seems to be

a deep and genuine friendship between them all._April 2.

For some reason or other my Mexican girls got on the subject of

inter-racial matriages this afternoon. They told me that' in Dexicali

many of the Mexican cilssa to the wealthy Chinese merchants and

restaurant owners.

"Yes, the Chinese made v(ery good husbandsB - but the Mexicans

always feel badly when their people erry into the darker races."

Curftus statement from a peon Mexican!

They also spoke of some Amerxican woman married to a Hindu here

in the Valley. They all seemed to know her.April 20o.

W'e drove to Mexicali for supper tonight and consumed yards of

noodles at the 1tCasa Blancat.

The Chinese in the restaurants often know more Spoanish than

English. 'We had to ask for "pan y monte quillOa pero "No tiftp,

Instead we got little round Chinese ca ies with mysterious black

insides, whicoked six most suspiciously.

The A. B.W. the big gambling concession is quite dead. Only

the bar, the slot machines,, remain of all the former glory roulette,

craps - poker- ecarte - and Black Jack.

Down the street from, the Owl a radio was broadcasting a program.

Slides of views in Mexico were also being thrown on a large screen

on the same roof.

The crowds - M,1exican - colored - Chinese and American, stood

in the aust of the street watching and listening.

-10-

On a second story balcony,a colored girl,with a megaphone,sang, and wiggled and invited the crowd up to the cabaret.

A number of the men accepted the invitation - one of them

falling into the sewer excavation as he went.

We toostarted u p the narrow steps, In back of Us was one of

the entertainers, a colored boy of eighteen or so. His face was

elaborately powdered and his cheeks rouged high and bright.

Tables and a dance floor and crowds of colored folk was the

tout ensemble. We looked in but did. not stay, It looked alien) even

to me.

Camilla's Thimble

One day last week Camila brought her thimble to school. It was

a little thimble frost Mexico, about half the size of ours, The border

delicately wrought with figures. "It is of silver," she told me," the

many little marks were made by my baby's teeth.u

Camila is twenty-six, the second wife of a Portuguese shop owner.

In addition to Mr.M. and. the store, she also acquired three half grown

Portuguese st ep children, Antonio, Manuel and Annie,

Camila has the heaviness which comes so early wuith the Latin

women. Her skin is voCry fair and her hair dark and smooth, The thing

about her though that started me was her eyes, wide-set tawny colored

eyes, fringed deep with long black lashes.

One afternoon Camila arrived long before the others in the cl&ss,

She sat down at the table and askea me f'Qr a pencil, A few minutes

later I sat down to talk with her, and she handed me the paper shehad been writing on. "That;'she said., "was my husband's name." On the

paper was written "Bernie J.JM" My name"she saide~is not Camila It

is Enriquita J." Then bit by b:it and slowly to think it out, came

an interestri- story, told me in a maze of broken EBn.lish and Spanish.Her father was an American who care from Kentucky. From things she

told me later he had -evideently worked in the mines at Sani Jose, near

Tepic, Mexico. The father from Kentucky, she went on to tay, was

always f fighting. "Mucho combat, a11 the time". In one of these

combatos he was stabbed and. died.

Then the mother evidently had a hard time. She cooked for

11muchowAmericanos" in Mazatlan. Camila and. her sister did sewing.

Camila had one month in school. At ffourteen Camila married. "Bernie"

an American, working in the offices of the railroad company. She

demonstrated. using a typewriter to show me what he did,

Bernie was fromlColorado, b:ue wed and blond, "just like you".

lie call me "Yankee" but evidently wanted to be a Spanish Cavalero.

He called himself Bernardo and always insi ted. on speakinE Spanish.That is why Camila speaks so little English in spite of all the

"American friends" she talks so proudly of.

They had two children, N~y-mgy jmnito"l blue eyed and. blond.

Both babies died when they were a few months old.,

Then Bernie died, after "'Mucho,Mucho blood." touchingsr heer mouth

and nose, as she told me. "Twenty-four hours and he die"l.

Then Enriquela grief stricken, left Matatlan, and under an

assumed name came to BJ.l Centro, Last summer she married M

She said to me, "many times when I no come to school, I not

sick, I stay at home and. cry and cry, All the time I think of

Bernie and. my babies."

-12-

____:_ April 28

Talked. with W. today, the promoter of the Mexicali fights. He told

me, that Pablo Chee, the Chinese roprieto of the Imeria' Cabaret,had an American wife,,"out of Friscou. "What-kind was she?" Well, not

a sport," He also told me that miozt of the wealthy Chinese in

lexicali had white sweethearts.

Another Mexican disturbance at the ballgame yesterday. This time

Jovitats brother, got cracked cn the head with a gun, wielded by one

of the colored men. The darkey said. he thoui,Ithe Mexicans were going

to gang him.

May 1,My darling old Guadalupe *ame t night school on Tuesday. He

was all wrinkled smiles at being back again. In his hands he had a

basket of the hugest strawberries and little red. tomatoes all neatly

packed and covered with soft crepe paper. I knovir he had scoured the

fields.

I was so glad to see my old. darling and lhe was so Slad to see

me. He has invited Josef ina and me to come out to the ranch on the

'Cinco Detfayo".May 41

The manifestations of summer are with us . Coatless men, cork

helmets and damp garments when one sits or leans too long. It has

been over 100f or several days.Y. .UJyema guided in by onFeof5hlie colored boys came this afternoon.

In his arms he had a tray of sixteen or eighteen baskets of the loveliest'

berries, "A present for you" he said., in his qcaaint, careful English.

Almost timidly he came in and he and. Thomas and. I had a visit. Vyema

has something wistful about him, and yet with it, such an engaging

humorous twinkle. From his interested, yet timid glances, I somehow

surmised. he had, never been in an American home befOre. lie sayd he is

going to Sacramento to work until November.

At six as I was baking biscuit three of the Mexican girls came

to see me, Had they ever eaten strawberry shortcake? No, but they

had heard cf it, so I made four big dishes of short-catke, with hot

biscuit from the oven.

Josef ina came to knowt if I d£id.nit want to go to Mexicali

for the speeches instead of to the ranch. Her father was going

down and said. he woulLd look out for us.

HIowever, Guadalupe expects us so we will go to Seeley instead.

Papa Pedro gets borracho every now and then, when he goes to Mexicali

so perhaps itts just as well.

It has been a day of adventure. First and foremost I went down

to the court for Josef ia, Refugia came out to the gate and said,

ItCome, and see Cruz" baby." We went out to Cruz' hot little frame

house to see himn, just three days old, and Cruz up. uIt is too hot

to stay in bed," she told me.

Amastacio, the little blackhaire. mitpis the first class

spring baby.

Mty classes here are not as prolific as they were in Needles.

As I remember, there were 13 or 14 spring babies in school last year

for me to play with. I lost track of them towards May,

Refugia said, "I was the doctor, he come too quick".

Then I was taken back t'o her house to see the newv Nottingham

curtains and the mail order hats, which ha' arrilved. I clean my

house,then I put up the curtains" she told me as she pOut them back

in the trunk.

Everything in her house is spotless a;nd well ord-ered. She is an

energetic and a capable womrnh. A sort of neAghborhood backbone.

Refu,uia wes iust finishing a grey dotted swiss for Elmira,for the fiesta. I promised Elvira a oherry colored ribbon I had

at home fox the dress.

Josef:ina't green was finished and: Manuelats pongee was in the

process of completion,

I went over to hurry Josef ina into the green dress.

The Corral's big adobe house was soo cool and dark. I sat in one

' f the deep windows, near the organ that the restt hal loaned Elvira.

A window at the end of the room, looks into Pedro C---open air pool

hall,thence into the street.

"Don Junitos" garden across the street is gay with hollyhock

agd blue delphinum.

The "'Sociedadt next door to Don Juanitos, was gaily arched with

green boughs and red, green and white decorations.

A general air of hot sun and ust, gay color - a;d the spirit

of fiesta among the pink shirted sombreroed boys beginning to gather

on the street,

Josefina was not sure whether the ranch was two or five miles

from Seeley. All wie knew was that it was a Japanese ranch (name

unknown) it was on a road over a canal, and. one turned to the right

and went a quarter of a mile over a little bridge.

Anyway- after several misadventures we found it anid rove in

under' the trees.

Guadalunoe anLd Maria ard the. Rosales boys were all there to meet

us. We 'picked our strawberry boxes and 'out the. Under the tree in

back of Guadalupes and MLarials tent,4nd sat -

-15-The Japanese owners of the ranch, curious about the Mexican

Visitors, joined sand. talked.,

After the men had gone back to the strawberry and tomato fields

Tia, Jesusita brought out a big dishpan from. her little tenrax which

she sat on a box before us. From it,, latest of chili and meat, frijoles,cheese, tortillas, and. late coffee.

Everything she had was ours, She dressed me up in her apron so

that I would not spatter ch.ll from my tortilla "spoon".

She was dying for hex smoke and said to Josef ima in Spanish,

"let's make La M4aestrita smoke".

Incidentally the little Tia rolls her cigarettes as cleve-rly as

any boy.

One day in school she told me she wanted to smoke. I told her

the boys were not allowed to smoke in the school, but if she wanted

to go back of the building as they did, and smoke it was all right

..ith me.

I had a peculiar experience at night school. "JJD.Smith" the

Argentinian from Buenos Aires occasioned it.

For weeks he has been leaving aG ressed Xlove lett er on the table.Generally in English, once in Spanish. We f ind therm after school.

I have ignom ed them. The class had a writt en lesson and when I return-

ed to the room, and the other handed me their wor, Smith hand me a

closely written sheet,

-2.6-I feOlt the skin prinkle up and down and my face when I

realized what it was. I read it slowly to gain time, then looked

him as cooly in the eye as possible ard remarkeed ."What' t hi1s? The

words to a Spanish song?" He did not answer, retuLrning my look

with one even more cool. I looked at it aglainA, and said, "This

looks like a love letter, I can help you boys with your business

letters, but am not very good, at helping with love letters." Ralph

wias by this time looking at it over my shoulder. I handed it to

him, and Smith grabbed it and tore it up. The following is one of

his many letters:

-Miss Rosita four months makes away and I could notfor-get you, my Love grows grows and ggrows' every day.I suppose it is time to prove my Love, nobody butyou know my feelings. - Do ;not be cruel anI answerme as soon as it is possible.:Miss Rosita since I knew you I loved you I do notknow why 'ut fro-m this day forwad I do not do butto thing(k)."

Aftel! I got back to tovn. D.-,and I went down to the

big Mexican dance for a few minutes. The hall vas wonderfully

deco-ated -with green, white and red decorations, An orchestra

from Ifiexicali played on the stage, and the big. crowd danced

decorously around while the mothers and older women and the

children sat on the side lines. Out doors in the yard the women

were serving Enchiladoes, Tamales, Massa and coffee. Mexican

parties are always very formal. The dancing deoorous,- thIe girls

chaperoned by all their elderly female relatives, generally with

arms full of sleeping babies.

wed.May 7,

iNo letters tonight and :my admirer, the piank. of politeness.

T- I gave the class past tense verbs to use in written sentences.

One of the words was "gave". JD.wrotetty teacher gave me a good

lesson."

-17-I asked the class where theyfirst heard of the United

States. Smith replied, "Why, from my father - he came from there,

He told me many things, - that it was a prett-y good country and

th t once could get rich."lHe lived in Mexico ten years before coming hero.

J.D,'.Is Smith Story.

"I was born in Bueno~ Ayres,Argen,4ina. My oaCCuption

(ambit o) when I was a little bcoy was Ito be a grate boy, My

ambition was to help my father and my 'mother to be rich and now my

ambitionn is to be a lawyer. My occupation no'w7 is farmer, lb't I am

tryin-g to be a grate man as soon as I can the f;rst thing what I

want to lern nowe is to know how to drive any kind of an engine.)

(Copied from a class composition which he wanted returned.,)

Story of Aleyandto Campos

I was born in U.Sof A. My occupation was a blacksmith

in Tuscon, Ariz. all my life, I am seventeen years old and I am a

Mexican boy. My father was born in TOS of A. to, anu he i a

Mexican fellow too.

When I was a little boy my ambUtion was to be a carpenter

and to be a blacksmith or to be a hunter.

Omy, I think of lots of things when I was a lit+tl;e boy,

The end of my story.

Sunday, May 11.

it has been a desperately hot week, and hard to do any-

thing, even to scribble in my little book. Today though, a cool

breeze and I feel better.

Friday - the shadeless windows, the flies and the spell of

-is-

garbage both outside and within, - nearly finished me. I determined

then and. there to continue classes only one week; oroxe,The cant eloupe season opens this week - shipments are ex-

pected to begin about the fifteenth. The first tras an the buyers

are beginning; to flock into tile Valley.

The canteloupes seem to be the biggest and busiest season

with hundreds of itinerant workers in the Valley.

ThursdayMay 15.

Tonight was the last -night in our Rl Centro night school,

Ve played games, had lemonade and. cakes and then I gave the much

admixed yellow and black promotion cars. They all seemed sad at

school stopping.

Many wlho had been out of school because of wiork were back

for the last meeting.

Be;eginnin- about the first of Iayl our classes tho still

large, beganA to show signs of the, spring slump in irreIgular arnd

spasmodic attendatce.

Just before the cantaloupe season the labor market seems

to become very fluctuating and unstable. Many complain of no work

and will be here and. there restlessly fromt day to day in different

parts of the Valley.

Benny told me of saing to Calipatria for work, Teofilo is

now nineteen miles out in th;-- cDntry. Arcadio is in town for a day

then going out on some ranch "very far", an:'I' so on;

When the cantaloupe shipments start moving regularly then

the gypsy-Ing will stop.

-19-

I noticed the same thing between the "llettucen and"straw-

berry"t season, My night school fluctGations seem to be an excellent

iniex of the crops as they come.

Arcadio told me a friend of his ha piked '100 orates of

melons that day at 140 a crate.

The f first 12 melons shipped f rom Brawley to San Francisco

sold for ten dollars.

This year's crop will be the biggest the Val"ey has ever

4,nown. I heard. - or3 read - that 30,000 acres are out in cantalcupes

this year.

Friday, May 17.

It is 10:6 in the shade and I am on imy porch tryrn- to

catch a breeze.

Went to a number of places today, Camila and Anita sicklittle

"'writh fever". Santos itttla brother "with fever".

IMIrs. Garlarsa looked ready to die. $he was stretched. out

on tihe floor of the porch while MrsMorales also sitt inz orn the

floor, kept her company.

The little wood stove in Ithe kitchen was smoking merrily

in tl;ne breeze, that was blowin-> in at the back door, Mrs. Miorales

was evidently getti-ng dinner for Josefa.-

Josefa is so emaciated and seemed so3 weak. Yes, her husband

was working and she had had the doctor an]. muchae- gracias senorita.

I took Mrs. Hiernandes promotion card to her - and she wvas

delighted with the surprize of it.

.20-

Petra kz1 her 13 year: old is sportinga badly banged up

cheek and a bloodshot eye.

The colored irls and the Mexicarns fozaht on the school

rounds and Petra ca lit a rock unexpectedly.

The colored girlt' mother is payiz';' for the doctor!

.±gk-txat~x~ia.95Last Wednessdynight at M1cCabe my nineteen year old sheik

Ramon, brought his guitar.

The last twenty minutes we sat on the school porch in the

moonlight and sang.

I taught the boys the wo'ds of %rfooVg'Iffiht Ladies" which

delighted themr. After they left. "Sweet dreams, Ladies, Sweet dreams,

Ladies", came floating back to s9 froM alil the cross roads, and from

beyond the canal.

Ramon by the way iss; writing beautifully now and reading

everything, he can lay hands on, He tells me he studies hard at home,

Tl,-ee ik-'~.nths azgo he could only write his name, and that laboriously

and imperfectly

Sunday, lay 18.

In the classes at McCabe, wie have Swiss9i, Mexican, Japanese,

Portuguese, - and. ty lone Argentianf swain.

The texlcans predf minate by fax.

The reaction of the Swiss to the Mexicans amuses mize, They

keep themselves very carefully awaay with a stolid air of mingled

superiority and suspicion. They;r seemn almost in fear of the Miex-icans,

yet watch as though they were some speciLe of dangerous but interest

ins' bUG

-21-

Joe Abernacheoy says:- ttl don't like dem Yexicalns, le is

ainost double the size of an: of them in his big sardliness, but

most carefully nLaiits in the school yard until Z.ost of there have

cone before starting home inL i-s irattley oldfOxd, I believe he

is in mortal dread of having to pick some of them Wu some day.

The Swiss seem hneav737".fter the liht g:racicusnese andquick response of my Latin friends,

So many ofL' the Mexicans work on Japanese isafla, ranches,

t=x Vt -in my classes there is ntot that feeling of complete

lie iny betw een then as there seems to b betweer 'the Us and

T,>eximcan.

Many of the Japanese ranchers speak Spanish bef :a)re they

hoc-wI english. M.:any times I haave heard them en-clai oertai-n4 things

in Sp:niah to the M,1exican boys.

Old Yabu, for instance, -ho sputters quite hopelessly over

this English, has quite an extensive vocabulary in S>arnish.,

tften when I amE drilling on the lesson, he will absent-

mind&ly answer in Spanislh to the great delight of every one and

to h:i3 owrn gili-nog confusion.

Arcadio says the wants practice in English, but that his

Japanese, boss always talks to him in Soanish,

peakin0 of Joe Abernachy reminds me of what he said to

I'---,evidently inj reference [to:cOur wild chase i. my oar the nitht

XI tI' Meoticans stole his trucc.

He asked how': many teachers'lived at the 'teacherage",

thinkingIE lived there too. B---told him four, to w Jlohfoe replied:

UI guess you are two tame ones, arnd tvwo zilciones, yes?"

The father of one of the children, a Swiss, arrived at

t vhe,ICabe school recently in a great state of excitement. He had

been paying cf ,his Mexican ranch hands, wrhen they demanded more.

He naturally refused, awnd one of them pulled a knife on. him. Perhaps

thin& iX ;e that account for Joe's leery glances That is the first

instance m` Uts kind that iA hearS Cof though.

How closely attitudes are related to economic position!

Persftally I find the greatest delight in all my contacts with the

Mexican groups. There has always been a simple friendliness and

graci;usness that appealed to me strongly. In fact, I am getting

to tIhe point where I amr almost more at home xadth brown faces than

with white.Tuesday, M y 20.

Some of the Hindu stories told me Iby JT then he was in

business in the Valley, have lbeenn coning back to mne,

Many of the Hindu glrolprwers wefe in the habit of coming

into his drugstore, and he became well acquainted with them.

One day ene cf them - a man he knew well - came into the

store took J---aside and told h`ir he viams i:ln i o ve wi h a Dlex1ican

girl. She did not return his adorat-ion an3.r wold not J. ,,,ive him

somehin to wyin her love?

J.,. is Irish and saw an opportunity for fun, He went be-

hind the prescription counter and filled a sug-,!ar wafer prescription

charggng M"'-.Xindnu two dollars. :The,\he forgot the entire episode.

Two weeks late: the Hindu came into the store. With him,

J. sad was one of the most'beautiful Mexican oirls he had ever

-234-:seen. She was dressed. bealatifau"ly and elaborately in the height

of fashion.

He brought her up to J., and in the w~Tay said to

him,, "This is my wife!"

J. said he was flaberg-asted.

The word was evidently passed along as a result of this

success. J,..said. hle was beseiged. by Iiind-v swain':\

One of them came to him to get sormlething, thEat could be puatin ctflee. Fo:r this he w-as given- a bottle of water and charged five

dollars!

I o'ot tknowii how &uccesful these later episodes wexe,

He also told me of a white girl =ooin-. to the 17alley and

marrying one of the wealthy Hndru cotton growenr=" nice little

thing - poor,'

Five days late-r she was rescued. f rorm th-e Hindu's house where

3heahad. been used and abused bv the EHindu an. five of his friends,

J...said he knew that story to be true because he had seen

the girl afternsods.

Stories like this seem to gko the rtunds year after year.

Ihave been interested this year in the way the "-public

op inton" I have come in contact With, has tried to keepl me from the

Hindu: groups, (The-re are relatively fewi in the Valley now. A church

missionary survey a few mnoths ago, put the f>Gure at1a3,)

The comment has always been the same, "Let them alone,

dont-# have anything to do with them. If yCu do, take a Uhite man

with iou."

Personally, I believe that isolated episodes such as

II are apt to happen among any large grouys.of socially isolated

"womanless" men.

Talked. with Swanson this morning Asked hime about the

American girls married to the Hindu, the on e Elena sXoke of.

Swanson says he knows all about the case, having tried

to prevent the marriage in the first place. -The Jiri quoted Otolloto hili, I believe.

Just a f ew days aco the Hindu,had oome to him to see how

the maxriage could be annulled. Said his wife wsF running around

with obher Hindu boys and white mireen, They have a child of six, I

believe,

While I was waiting ±mx to talk to Swanson, R, and two

Hindus came up to the Court. R. ..t-Ad Yme that one of the Tindus

had bou7ght a new car from him recently,

A Hindu neighbor had gotten angry at the maria and. had -done

to hishome the night before with an ax to kill him. -Nnaturally 1Ur.

Hindu did not venture out, so the gentleman w;ith the ax proceeded

to chop up the new car.

RH. arn one of his saleMen, went out: and 'arrested'" the

ax welder and lodged him in the jail.

Wednesday 7ay-2#Another of s babies is recovering from, pneumonia,

and she had asked m.e to come and help her about something for the

new dress.

1 went over thn.is morning to finJ. her packingA"You know,

Miss Z. . amL going back to the ranch," "Your father's ranch?"

"No, I am g-oing back to my husband. T don't want to, but feel it

my duty because of the children, e has to think of duty, you

know., i

She has had a hard pull all winter living aarouno from

relative to relative, with practically no money and five babies

sickl., most of the time. I suppose it has been forced upon her.

I am wondering if the questionable Catalina is on the

ranch too.

Elena has urged my coming out to see her, GreringGQegoriaoshe knows the way."

Elena is coathetic to mn, She wants and loves an education

and nice things around her, Instead she is continually finding

herself in crowded, dirty places - with sick babies, flies, and

smels - a cranky older sister, - or an incompetent old father

to cook for.

Life is a good deal cf aI Mess for her.

I tell her to get ll rhe can, when she can, from the

schools. That even a little, when she can get it is something gained.

The little she has had this year inr sewiincg aid coommxerzcial arithmetic

have given her newi interest.

The pretty blue dress She rcasde in school wa-s not only the

first new thing, she had had in months, bxt was the first dress she

hadG ver made, She was so proud' of it,

-25

In spite of her big robustness, she is rather helpless in

practical things. Cooking is hard. for her, and even her babies seem

to overpower her at times,

She thinks a lot in a simple but direct way and we talk

of "oh, so many things" as Alayandrc would say.

Thursday. ;ay 24

I spent the afternoon in Brawley. In the Brawley streets

for the first timeI noticed numbers of Filipinos. One group of five

in a gay new car paid special attention to us, but quite politely.

The summer tom-cattilng3, has begun in the Valley. Many of

the wbite women have already left, a-ff7id the men are foot-loose and

fanoyfree once more.

I took B.., down thru the Mexican section. The Mexican

fami-lies there are more permanent than here. The adobe and frame

house are neatly fenced. Trees shade the snug,,led up Qluster of

houses and flowers ,,row In the Zardens.We sto--ed the baker and bought some of his Mexican bread.

B--was interested in the big tray carried as expeditiously on his

head as a hat, She wondered wha-t he was j;oing to do with it,

until' she noticed the littl-le folding,3 stand and watched him set it up.

As usual he haa the sugEared cakes, anlI<> other fancies,

covered with a big White cloth, edged heavily with elbborate crochet.

Went to see MIrsM. today. She told ie the cause of her

sister's great misffortune, as she calls it. Three years before, in

Glend&le a man they thought was Amo'rican had come to the little

Japanese woman's house where she was alone with the children. Ee

-27-

had killed her little son, attacked her, (she was carrying' another

childtt the t ime) and then left he:c for dead with her head almost

cut oien. She lived, but for twro years couid niot speak even her

ow-in lInguage. She comes reguLarly to m-y classes now. Tt is pathetic

watch#n her struggle to retain ever a word. We all believe it m1y

help Wardes her ultimate recovery.

Sunday, May

Hd.d supper on the S....ranch near :zags Brawley. All of

the men have many M^exicans and Ja~panese in their enrnoye. Nearly

90 onthat one ranch alone.

J., says "The Swiss are the filthiest people I have run

across.

S.. .,-old several/ nte&rstinS groups, When the Correa'&

came keow Mexico and purchased "The California Development Co.n

ranch (believe that is the name) they brought several entire

groups offfamilies wit> them, the men to work in the fields, the

women in the house.

Tho the groups have now scattered froml the original hme

ranch,ihey sttilt clint< together irn various littLe clusters in the

vicinity of Brawley.S..says they are the best groups of Mexican labor in the

Valley He was able this spring to get one s _:hroup to come to

his Alace during the lettuce season.

S. said, "Teach them and they are no longer good. for

ranch work."

After this comxment he w tel varies men

speak;4mg excellent English, who refusedd, tho Mexioansa tG eat at the

"Mlexecan table" .

Also spoke of twtol excelb nt truck driver, fron Los

Ange~, who he did not employ because he knew they would. wvant to

eat t the "white table".

The Meexican labor on these big company ranches is 6>enerally

hand.X through either a genera'. contact padrone, or a "picking

boss" Lorenzo Oza at Acacia isSUC9h.

The boss' handle the entire labor gang - dao07v their own

hi#rig and. fIring.

They spoke of one such padrone who though only having

sixty or seventy dollars coming to him, came off with $500. "Don't

know how he does it, but probably fires the -men fori some sli9b ht

excuse, and takes their bonus.'

Tuesday, May 27.

This afternoon the Colored. Sisters had their last class

meetSag. I wrent out of the room, and. as I did so, heard. sounds of

scuf ffling and. running,- around.

WVhen I came in there were innumerable Sittle bundles all

overhe table. The mysterious little packages proved. to be hand-

kerohiefs of every color and nationality, powder puffs, pictures,

and a pair of wicked looking orange a-d.Ld black garters, - a fare-

well shower,