Weekly Chillicothe crisis., 1884-06-05
CHIHUAHUA.
An Unattractive Mexican City in Which
Many Americans Reside.
The First Stopping Placc-A 'Tough' Lot
Mexican Judicial Proceedings
UCatbplralr ~

Many Americans Reside.
The First Stopping Placc-A though" Lot
Mexican Judicial Proceedings-The
"Cathedral"
A special correspondent of the st.
Louis GlOJe-DemOcrdt, writing from
chihuahua, under date of May "a,
says: Mexico unfortunately puts her
worst foot foremost. That part of the
republic which touches the United
States is the least attractive, and vet
will be hereafter the first visited by
travellers. Chihuahua is the smallest
and poorest city on the railroad be-
tween the Rio Grande and the capital.
This is rather unfortunate, for strang-
ers making this their first stopping
place in the country will be apt to get
both unfavorable and erroneous i'm
prcssiOnS of Mexican life; the first i'm
pressions, as we all know, often cast
shadows over subsequent discoveries.
| remember to have seen letter in an
eastern paper, from member of the
railway engineer corps, which ran
something like this: "The country
about the city is dcsolatc and barren
in the extreme, and very little is
raised except vegetables and fruit.
The city was built from the proceeds
OF n silver mine near here, but, rs the
mine has been closed for years, | do
not see what the inhabitants live on
now There is no place to spend IN
evening except sitting on the plaza.
Board is $50 Il month and very poor.
Rooms are almost impossible to get"
There is more truth than poetry in this
picture. The lines, however, are
somewhat ovcrdrawn. There are sew
eral pleasant things about Chihuahua.
And the description referred to by no
means does justice TO Mexican cities as
Il class.
THE INHABITANTS.
chihuahua, like the cities about
which have written between this one
and Mexico, is on the continental
plateau, and has, in truth, unusually
barren surroundings. The agricul-
tural possibilities Of the state are
small. Mining and cattle-raising are
its principal industries. Up among
lnc mountains however behind the
city ut some distance, there are many
fertile spots. The greater part of the
lood lor the lnhaDliantS comes from
these isolated ranches or hacicndas.
Perhaps Chihuahuans live as well as
McNlcans IN general Considerable
ually preau must De required to Keep
lhem above ground Tor the population
Oh lle town Is between lo'OOO ana
ZO'oUo' Inc American inhabitants
number perhaps $40 or l,OOO. The
proportion OF "iringocs, at all
events, IS larger than IN any other
tGH!' uhlcSs II DC monterey Deyond
Sne iiloUh'olhS 10 tho eastward on lhe
McNicah halionaI rallroad' Inc tue
Vi american immigration OF course
icncUcu ,h'nu'iIu" IlTsl among thc
'o"i,S on 'Ie mexican central ana Il
GooH many pieces OF scaweed' broken
shelIS anu .le IKE nave Deeh stranded
mere 'nlli''hua' IN lact' is the only
Glty ON 'he llhe about whlch Americans
hau any exact knowledge before the
opening OF inc ROAD through TO Mex
.to' ne laSt SPlke was driven some
''' i''lIcH Souli ol Nllluahua, anu lie
nearest pace "l any account ON the
i'ht G9Nh Dclow ~, Is IacatecaS' about
o'o mics away "hile the road was
III course Oh construction the American
c"I"nE III 'hlllliall'ia was good deal
larger lhall IL Is now But from TINS
} on II Is IIkeIy 10 increase rather IMAM
decrease, ior unqueNtlonabIy there is
Uluch SILVER III lhe state, ana lhc
MINES are bound to attract capitalists,
us lhe hoveitlcs ol TINS hitherto un-
known lahd draw tourists.
, AMERICAN RoCGlls.
There is naturally some friction be-
, tween the old inhabitants and their
? new ncighbors. The blame, | regret
to say, must be laid almost wholly at
= the door of the newcomers. Amer
leans, or foreigners of any other ma
tionality, who behave themselves, obey
= the laws, adapt themselves to their
5 surrounding, and live quiet and peace
? able lives, meet with no difficulties OF
+ any sort, Perhaps ii is too much 10 say
b they are welcomed. The MeXicans, OF
Z. every class, would apparently prefer
: to have aliens remain ut home, There
: are some of intelligence who wish the
l. lrOt-hOrse hau never begun his daily
q trot this way from the American
:, frontier. But decent immigrants re-
l. ceiyc liberation and decent treatment
y Unfortunately, Il majority of the
= strangers are OF the indecent class
1t We all remember what pandemonium'
z the towns ION the 'front.' were whcr
c our Pacific railroads were building
e Not few settlements in our western
1t country are still aptly described a'
!, The devils own towns" When the
II railway boom struck Mexico hun
y dredS OF rough characters driftcd thi'
'e way, and vile whisky came with them
: In the language of an American of po
T. Sltion who has lived here for two ol
- three years, "A large proportion o
our countrymcn here are of the loves
class, and are refugees from justice
who either have been or ought to b,
+; in prison in the States, and many other
to are the vile characters who always fol
lie low railroads. But they all thinl
IS themselves better than the best elias
Of McXicans, and when punished TO
sn Their crimes make