The Dallas weekly herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1885, 1884-07-24
Tl'NPiN.
TRUTH ABOUT A BGLlGo CRY
Just what II l. ani what u 4, Noi-A
Port with rrodigious fo-slhili'
ties that Perhaps win
~. Perfected, Etc,

DALLAS, July -. Editor HERALD. F.
In tho HERALD of the 18th Inst, Is copied
from the Mexican correspondence of the
Cleveland (Ohio) Herald the writer's
allusion to TuNpan, some of which are
lust, while others are 81 far from the
truth-though doubtless Internationally
SO that ask Ia reply To them, lie shys'
1.-THE little port of TuNpan and It's onyi-
rons, which are lust now being brought
into prominence by the projected Eng
fish railroad, are well worth II visit-hnl
comparatively few Of the multitudcs OF
tourists in Mexico ever get there. II
lies on the east coast OF Vera Cruz,
about ten miles above the Gulf of
Mexico, on the TuNpan river. Be-
ing In the very heart OF the dan
gcrous TERRA calicntc, with n long
stretch of desert wastes and robbcr-in-
fCstCu roads between, about the only
way to reach IL in safety j. 10 proceed 10y
steamer northward from the port oi
Vera Cruz or southwark from Tampico.
At the mouth of the TnNpan liver
passengers, freight aud mail arc trans
icrrod 10 small sriling vessel for the
remainder of the journey. But no one can
disemhark only in good weather. IL
frequently happens that when north
crs' preclude The possibility of Landing,
passengers are carried by, though sorcly
against their will, and put ashore nj
rampico, Matamoros or Vera cruz
Elsewhere the writer speaks cor
rertly of the TuNpan river and
the fine harbor il affords when once
across the bar into il. For twelve to
fifteen miles IL has II depth of fifty feet
and an average width OF one-iourth to
one-third of n mile. ! resided there sew
cral years and explored ut different
times the whole surrounding country.
Instead of "being in the very heart of
the dangerous TERRA coliente,with long
stretch of desert wastes and robbcr-
infested roads between" there Is not in
Il hundred miles of TuXpan, coastwisc
or interior, excepting blight marshes
Immediately on the coast, mile square
OF desert waste, but the richest body OF
valley, hilly and mountainous soil ]
have ever seen. have the written tcs-
timony of honorable American residents
besides my own knowledge from 1860 20
1870, that robberies and murders were
unknown within Il hundred miles of
Tuypan, and Il more kindly hearted,
hospitable and trusting people no where
exists. Never having been dcmoraliz"d
by participation in the internecine
strifcs of the larger portion OF the coun-
try, they remain primitive, honest and
gentle people, very largely unmiNed de-
sccndants of the Aztecan tribes.
Vera Cruz on the south and Tampico
on the. north are well known rs yellow
fever ports, the former by far the worst.
But TuXpan. between the two, is the
port of large country in which the OIL
shoots of the Sierra Madre range
continue by succession of deserts
to the sea shore, rendering it one
of the best drained countries in the
world, densely covered by forests, for
Bidding the generation of malaria by
the heat OF the sun, and alternately
famed almost daily by the most re-
freShing breeZes from the gulf and the
exhilarating counter current descending
from attitudes of ten TO thirteen thou
sand feet on the SUBMITS of the Sierras.
The writer's reference to the facilities
of navigation and the difficulty of land
ing passengers at tho TuXpan river are
so very erroneous rs to suggest their
origin in the very sensitive and jealous
port of Vera Cruz. In reply I quote
published in tho April-May num-
Der, 1869, of De Bows New
Orleans Review, commencing
on page 1852. In that article it is said:
"That in the absence of good harbors on
the gulf coast of Mexico, TuNpan has
the great advantage of Cape Rojo to tho
north, southeasterly from which arc stu.
ated the small islands of Blanquilla and
Lobos, which eflectually break off the
much-dreaded northers OF that coast and
afford secure anchorage in storms. Here
it was that Gen. Scott rendezvOued his
fleet and army in the heavy blows pre-
c"ding his attack on Vera Cruz in Janu-
ary and February, 1917, and here British,
French, Spanish and American men-of-
war, rs well as merchantmen, have ever
found safe refuge against northers. A
little further down, nearly parallel with
the coast, and six to ten miles from
it, are found the three banks or islets
known as Tanguijo, En- Medic and Tux
pan, breaking Off the casterly gales.
The two latter, opening as exescents
towards the main shore, afford perfectly
secure ravens for the largest vessels in
heavy gales. The latter lies in front of
the TuXpan river, and greatly protects
the anchorage of its mouth from the
east, while Cape R0jo, Blanquilla and
Lobos break the sea from the north.
Throughout this interior space of six to
eight miles in width, by twenty-five in
length, there is good holding ground,
and nowhere less than ten fathoms of
water. (Sce Blunt's American Coast
Pilot and the Marine Charts.")
Every word in the preceding eX-
tract is true. The bar at the mouth
of the river, like that at Tampico, can
easily be decpened ana kept so, TO ADMIT
the largest vessels into as safe harbors
as exist anywhere. But the idea Of
steamers passing TuXpan in storms, to
land passengers off Tampico or Mata-
moros, in the open sea, without the
shadow of protection, is too absurd to
require refutation. j. ii. Is.
KNOWING THAT
CHTI pTNF