Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1881-12-10
in THE FAR WEST.
A TRIP TO NEW MEXICO.
The Land of ssNana" and {" Billy the
kId.0

The Land of ssNana" and "Billy the
Kid"
Oaks Camp.
Our esteemed young fellow-citizen, MIR.
Eugene II. Finn, Of the firm Of Hess &
Finn, recently made trip to New Mexico,
from which he returned last Sunday, hav-
ing had an eventfui experience, and to a
representative Of the 1NTELLIGENCER, who
interviewed him the other day, he gave a
highly interesting and intelligent account
of his trip to section which few, if any
of our citizens have ever visited, though
it has been made famous by romantic
stories of men and things, which Mr.. Finn
seems to have had special opportunity to
test and verify for himself. In company
with some friends from Wilmington, Del,
and Topeka, Kan, who have mining in
terests in tho new and very promising
White Oaks camp region, he Travelled
hence, via St. Louis, Kansas city and To-
peka to Las Vegas, New Mexico, where
they stopped off for day. This is a Mexi-
can town of about II, 900 inhabitants. The
structures arc all adobes, or one-stOry mud
houses, with the exception of a two-story
hotel built of frame. The enterprise of
the place is entirely in the hands of such
Americans as are to be found there.
Travellers are told story of one of tho
walters which is calculated to make guests
observe due Difference to those who stand
behind their chairs in the dining room. A
commercial traveller incautiously called for
an egg, outside the prescribed bill of fare,
which he had already eaten through. The
African expostulated, and when the ex-
travagant guest retorted somewhat tartly
tho waiter pulled his revolver and shot
him dead in his chair. Finn and his party
found satisfaction within the four corners
of the bill of fare. That waiter has per.
mancnt situation. His affablo services
arc not to be lightly dispensed with by
an cnterprising landlord.
! A twelve hours ride took them from
Las Vegas to Socorro, and mile walk
from the railroad station landed them at
the leading hotel in this town of 3 900 ir-
habitants, at two o'clock in tho morning.
The floors Of the hostelry were earth and
its walls mud. Through dark and dirty
passage they were conducted into some
what illumincd but 10 less dirty " office"
where bank of mud made tho bar and a
few Pickering lights furnished the gamb-
ling tables. The "rooms to which the
guests were shown were very like cells
| located in a cellar. Those who were given
them were not expected to undTcsS, and
made their beds with their blankets.
Socorro is a silver mining region and has
about :, 900 people, who make up c!larac
teristic Mexican town, with adobe build
inss entirely. The manners of the place
were illustrated to the party by story
told by young man from the East, who
incautiously wore stovepipe hat on tho
| street soon after his arrival. lie was halted
! with an inquiry us to how much space
| there was between his head and the top of
bis hat; he replied few inches and
walked off. At thirty PAGES or SO his in
terrosator must have fired at him, as at
that distance the young man from the
East suddenly experienced the sensation of
having tho whole top of his hat blown off.
From Socorro Mr.. Finn started to drive,
! by tho stage route, following an old In
dian trail across the plains, to White Oaks
mining camp, 125 miles away, beyond the
Sierra Madrc mountains and across the
| Oscuro range. Only one Of his party had
been over the rOutc, and that was some years
before. Two others had started on ahead
| by private conveyance, and some miners
were following in the stage. The quartctte
! in the "buckboard had to cross the Rio
| Grande about half mile from Socorro. 1t
| is little wider than the Concstoga, and
turbid, sluggish stream. The big ferry
boat had been stolen and tho party expert
cnccd great difficulty in fording their
horses across, not succeeding in getting
them over for several hours. They drove
| to the Oscuro mountains, somc 40 miles,
by II p. M, and, having lost the trail,
were frightened at finding themselves in a
canyon, which they had reason to believe
was occupied by hostile Indians, then on
the warpath. They wrapped themselves
up in blankets and slept under the wagon.
That is, they tried to sleep. They thought
Of tho Indians, they heard the cayotes, and
| wished they were home.
In the morning they retraced their way
| and got back OH the stage route. The second
night they reached tho "Mountain Sta
tion," y cave in the side of the mountain,
in charge of 4 villainous looking ranch
mar, and while they slept on 4 bed of
bous shs the fall Of one of their blankets
into the fire and its burning gave zest to
their lodging experience. The next day
they drove across the lava bed, black
deposit, extending like river from the
crotor nco ovfinot un1oopo about E0O e.