The Opelousas journal. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1868-1878, 1869-08-28


count-lsaac Y: Foaoler, Eel Post
master of New York, Heard From
What he has been Doing During til.
Past Nine Years.
from the New York SUM-
Ifperchance it should be in your for
tune to attend a public banquet, and
in the noisy revelry attending the con.
cluding hours of the feast, see the
good, generous wine flowing with wa.
ter" if you knew New York you would
naturally ask Whit young man is
next to be ruined by politicians 2"
Mr.. Isaac V. Fowler was, nine years
ago, postmaster of New York, and, ow-
ing to his inability to refund tie Gov.
ernment moneys detalcated from the
the post office, was compelled to throw
up his lucrative position and fly from
the county Since then little or nothing
has been heard about him. His many
friends will be glad to learn of his where.
abouts, and that the man, spite of the
shadow of his misfortune, shines out as
conspicuously in Mexico as it did in
New York.
The District of Tepico is the Eden
Of Mexico. 1t is bounded on the west
by the Pacific Ocean, and is separated
from the State of Jalisco, which claims
it, by an amphitheatre of rough noun
tains, the Alicas. 1t contains fifteen
thousand square miles of the most fer
tile land ON the face of the globe Eve
ry flower, fruit, vegetable, shrub, plant and
tree of every known zone can be grown
there No frost ever visits this region.
No fertilizer is required for the soil. Its
deposits of minerals are inexhaustible.
There are gold. silver, copper, iron and
coal fields. The Rio Lerina spreads
out into the majesty of a navi-
gable river as it winds its way
to the ocean. This beautiful territory is
ruled by Manuel Lczada. 1t is here
that Mr.. Fowler has made his home.
Leaving New York. the ex.postmas.
ter bent his footsteps in the direction of
Mexico. He had not been there long
before Messrs. Barron, Forbes & Co. So
licited him to 60 to Tepco, to take
charge of their cotton mandatory
there. Mr. Fowler accepted. At that
time it was extremely dangerous for any
foreigner to venture out among the bar
barian tribes of the interior of Mexico.
It is journey of 1900 miles from the
city of Mexico to Tepico, and every
league of the distance was infested by
murderous brigands and other outlaws.
Mr.. Fowler, attended by an escort
large enough to cope with the brigand
bands by whom he was likely to be at
tackled, made the journey in twenty
days, and arrived in the city Of Tepico in
September, 1860. He has resided there
ever since The cotton manufactory
he found in very poor con lition, but as all
the water necessary to run the mill was
accessible, his first measures were to
Improve the power and the place. New
machinery was ordered from New York.
and machinists were imported with it.
The mandatory buildings were enlarged
and improved. An elegant mansion
was constructed for Mr.. Fowler's use.
The grounds were tastefully laid out,
ornameuted with trees, plants and flow.
ers. The natives, instead of harboring
jealousy at his enterprise, industry and
taste, on the contrary, made him their
| exemplar.
Two years after Mr.. Fowler's arrival
in Tepico, the Indian monarch, Lozada,
who had heard of the innovations and
improvements springing up in the val
ley of Tepico, decended from his noun
tain home to crafty his curiosity. He
was delighted. In his opinion there was
no other man in the world like Mr..
Fowler. He prolonged bis visit, and
conversed with our former postmaster
about American manners, costoms. man.
ufactories, etc. The American citizen
and politician did not fail to impress
on the Indian mind our superior strength
and civilization. In a short time Mr.
Fowler had no stauncher friend than
Lozada, and that potentate has remained
bis friend ever since.
Although Tepico ia within the boun.
derry of the republic Of Mexico, yet it
has acknowledged no other authority
than that of Lozada for the last fifteen
years. 1t is true that several attempts
have been made to dethrone Lin, but
all have been unsuccessful. He has al
ready repulsed Eve large armies sent
against him. His mode of operation
has been to permit his enemies to pass
midway through a series Of narrow bar
rancas, and then surround them in the
defles, let his savages loose upon them,
and instruct them to spare no one. Ma
ture's barriers are his strongest bulwarks,
separating him, his territory, and his
people from the payment Of all rent and
taxes to the republic of Mexico He
levies no taxes upon his people. Theft
is punished with death, and there are
consequently few thieves.
The changes which have been wrought
in Tepico through the civilized and
humane influence of Mr.. Fowler are won
derful to contemplate; and more, be has
secured the regard and respect Of Loza-
da and his powerful people for the Uni
ted States and it's citizens. He encour-
ages Lozada to resist the encroachments
of the General Government. In another
year Isaac V. Fowler will say good-by
to his 1'epico friends, to Lozada, all of
the famed and once infamous district,
and return to New York city.
FANNY FERN thus gees for the ducks
of pretty men whom school girls die for:
"But you- conventional handsome
men of the barber's window. wax-fgure
head pattern; with a pet lock in the