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Commoner
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WILLIAH J. BRYAN, EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR.
Vol. 3. No. 2.
Lincoln, Nebraska, Jan. 30, 1903.
Whole No. 106.
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Our Sister Republicflexico
ift.Go
The Land
of
the Aztecs
Have you ever visited the land o the Aztecs?
If not you have' a treat In store' for you. And
r . , "- . even those who have been there
before find themselves unable to
resist the temptation to return
occasionally to enjoy again the
fasmnatinff beauty of the scen
ery and note' the progress which the young re
public to the south of us is making.
Having spent the holidays in Mexico I feel
that the reader will pardon me for devoting a
few columns to the subject-even more, he will
expect it. Nowhere in the world can the touris
find so much variety in so limited a territory and
no country offers to the American so much of
interest and of education at so spall an expense
The Aztec ruins alone would repay a visit ihey
furnish conclusive proof of a civilization far in
advance of that reached by the Indians farther
north. Relics are being dug up constantly.
Wo brought back to confound the re-publicans-an
Aztec god with gold and-SiLy.er.prna
ments; showing that both metals were appreciated
by the native Americans before the republican
party was organized. There is about sixteen times
as much silver as gold on the idol. While in the
hot country near Tierra Blancha we dug into a
mound and found numerous pieces of- .crockery
and parts of figures.
The Santa Fe railroad makes connections at
Milano, Tex., with the International, and that
road passing through Austin
and San Antonio connects with
the Mexican National at La
redo. The Mexican National is
, mniTi line to Mon
terey the most American' of the Mexican cities,
Bituatod'only 168 miles from the Rio Grande. Sal
tlllo the capital of Coahuila, one of the richest
of the mining states, San Luis Potosi, one of the
largest cities of the republic, Toluca, the progres
sive capital of the state of Mexico the state out
of which the federal district was carved these
are the main cities on this line between Monterey
and the City of Mexico. The trip from the border
to the capital traverses every variety of country
from plain to valley and mountain. Among the
principal large cities near the City of Mexico may
be named Guadalajara, in the west central por
tion, one of the prettiest cities to be found any
where; Aguas Callietes, named for the hot springs
there; Guanajuato, which is noted for hav
ing one of the oldest silver mines, one of the
handsomest theatres and the largest collection of
mummies to be -found on the continent, . and
Cuernavaca, just south of the City of Mexico, al
ways of interest to , tourists because of the pri
vate residence of Cortez, and now becoming fam
ous as a' health resort. Popocatapetl, one of tho
tallest peaks on this hemisphere, is seen to ad
vantage from the Cuernavaca road.
- - The ride from the City of Mexico' to. Vera
How On
May
Get There
r3dl
The Old
and
the New
Cruz over the Mexican railroad begins at an
elevation of 7,348 feet. The ride
up to Esperanza, 700 feet above,
is through the valley of Mexi
co, where the main crops are
wheat and corn. From tho car
window one can draw a contrast between the old
methods and the new, for some still use horses
to tramp out the wheat, while a few employ tho
American-made threshing machines. Here, too,
the old plow closely resembling the crooked stick
and drawn by oxen is fighting against tho inno
vation of the modern plow.
In this great valley the maguey plant is also
a conspicuous feature. Tho various fields are of
ten separated by rows of the maguey, and where
the fields are small tho picture presented Is an
exceedingly attractive one. Tho maguey fur
nishes a variety of products mescal, a kind of
alcoholic drink used in the lower altitudes, is
made from,the roots of this-plant, while pulque,
the life-blood of the plant, the great drink of tho
plateau, is 'drawn'f rom it at its maturity. -Pulque
looks like milk when diluted with water, and,
when fresh, smells like yeast. It is carried in pig
skins, and carloads of it find their way into the
City of Mexico every, morning. It will produce a
genuine case of intoxication, and the habit when
once formed is as hard to cure as the whisky
habit On New Year's day wo visited a hacienda
in the suburbs of the City of Mexico owned by
General John B. Frisby, an American, who went
to Mexico several years ago and who is now identi
fied with many large business enterprises. Our at
tention was called to a dog there which had ac
quired a taste for pulque. He goes to the field
twice a day and finds some maguey plant from
which pulque is being extracted (the period of
extraction covers several weeks) and gets his
dram, and then he" staggers back with red eyes and
sleeps off-the effect of the liquor. He has ceased
to be of value as a shepherd dog, but he is still
useful as a horrible example.
A part of the Frisby ranch has been con
verted into a dairy very successfully conducted
by a man from Missouri who has imported into
tho country a large number of Jersey, Holstein
and Brown Swiss "cows. The dairy is a model of
cleanliness and has proved profitable to its own
ers. But I digress. After leaving Esperanza tho
descent to Vera Cruz on the Gulf, 112 miles dis
tant, Is begun. During tho
first seventeen miles of this
trip the descent to Maltrata is
about 2,500 feet and tho scenery
beautiful beyond description.
From Maltrata to Orizaba tho distance is only
.thirteen miles, but the descent is something over
1,500 feet From Orizaba tho descent Is a little
more gradual, the fall of 1,300 feet being distri
buted over sixteen miles. At. Cordova one sees
tropical' vegetation in-all its luxuriance-granges
Scenery
- Beyond
Compare
pine-apples, bananas, coffee, all at ono time, and in
the distanco the snow-clad summit of Orizaba
which rises nearly 17,370 feet above the level o
tho ocean.
From Cordova a now line called tho Vera
Cruz and Pacific, or as it is sometimes known, tho
Mason line, is just being completed to the isthmus.
A branch from Tierra Blanca to Vera Cruz makes
this a trans-continental lino, and tho improve
ment of the harbor at Vera Cruz will probably
give it a considerable portion of tho business
across the isthmus. It also opens up fertile su
gar, rice and grazing lands In southern Mexico.
West of the village of Tierra Blanca, just
across tho Amapa river, in tho state of Oaxaca,
wo visited a rubber tree plantation. It was pro
jected by Alfred .Bishop Mason, a Chicago busi
ness man, but the work of development has fallen
to his nephews, Raymond Willis and James Trow
bridge, tho former a graduate of tho Boston
Polytechnic and tho latter of Yale. These young
men began about thrco years ago the clearing of
about four hundred 'acres of tropical forest," so
dense that it was difficult to secure any accurata
idea of tho lay of tho 'land. They now have
about 300,000 rubber trees growing, tho oldest
two and a half years old. It will bo four or fivo
years before tho plantation begins to yield a re
turn, but there Is at this time every promise of
" success. If the experiment realizes tho hopes of
tho young men they will deserve the reward that
they will secure, for they will not only make a
fortune out of mother earth, but they will show
others what can be accomplished In tho develojp
ment of this industry and thus become public
benefactors. This well illustrates the difference be
tween wealth created by tho establishment of
some new industry and wealth absorbed by trad
ing or speculation.
For two years Willis and Trowbridge lived in
a hut thatched with palm leaves, but last spring
they began tho erection of a
commodious stone house, with
wide and airy porches, and
to this newly completed resi
dence tho former has re
cently brought his bride, a Wellesley graduate,
to preside over this new center of American
civilization.
Near Hacienda Yale, "as this new plantation
Is called, Is a low wooded mountain range where,
as I was assured by Mr. Julio Tardos, who has
cattle ranch near, parrots, monkeys and even tig
ers can be found in their native haunts. But thii
I can only report from hearsay, for I did not have
time to hunt parrots or monkeys and was not
disposed to infringe upon the patent of those who
jlnd relief from the cares of state In the pursuit
of the larger and more ferocious wild animals.
Tho history of Mexico reads like a noveL
"Prescott's description of its conquest by Cortez
could hardly be credited but for the confirmation
- which one -finds on every hand. Tho toilsome
Where
Wild Gams
Abounds
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