The Portland daily press., 1886-02-22

mas been drawn 10 our natural productions
and resources cannot fail to be of great adj
vantage to our State, for which we are all
under great obligation to our distinguished
commissioner. Respectfully yours.
FREDERICK RoBIE.
NEW ORLEANS, Feb 10, 1886.
MY DEAR GovERNoR.-Mr Ham and ar
rived at New Orleans last Friday, p. M, af-
ter a twenty DAYS absence, twelve of which
were spent in the Republic of Mexico and
eight of these twelve in Mexico City. We
went out by steamship from Morgan City
to Vera Cruz, and were four days on the
voyage to Vera Cruz, having very pleas
ant trip all the way, as the weather was
pleasant and the Gulf waters calm and quiet
all the way out We touched at Galveston
and had three hours in this, the chief COM
mercial city of Texas. On arriving at Vera
Cruz our ship dropped her anchors within
few hundred feet Of the historical fortress
and Castle of San Juan de Uloa and we were
soon taken on shore by boat, there not being
depth enough of water for ships to land at
the wharf. Vera Cruz is curious old Span
iSh city and is kept Scrupulously neat and
clean, though the yellow fever is a terror
here in summer. One day was spent in Vera
Cruz, and the next morning at six o'clock
we took the cars Of the Mexican Railway
for the City of Mexico, 63 miles distant,
and through a land Of wonders, for we
passed through nearly every kind OF climate,
scenery and production peculiar to Mexico.
The first forty or fifty miles is over a nearly
level and uninteresting country, and in the
stierrG c0lienti" or hot land and we then
entered the mountain region and commenced
our climb upwards. This mountain country
in the hot lands is perfect tangle of tropi-
cal vegetation, and here grow in all their
great luXuriance, the orange, lemon, banan-
ma, sugar cane, coffee, pineapple, tobacco, CO.
coanut and host Of other trees, plants and
fruits too numerous to mention.
The railroad itself is a marvel of engineer
ing skill, and the scenery along its line so
grand and beautiful that no language of
mine can properly describe it. From the hot
lands we pass onward and upward into the
stiegTd teBa9tadd,' or temperate climate,
and from thence onward and upward until
an altitude of between 1000 and 5000 feet
above the sea level is obtained, when we are
in the terra .tria, or cold land, and on the
great table land of Mexico-thence onward
over a nearly level plain, and at eight o'clock
in the evening we are in the historic City of
Mexico, and the land of the Montezumas.
Our railway train has brought along with us
full car load of armed Mexican soldiers as
a guard of protection, and at every station
armed soldiers in charge of an officer are pa
raded up and down the platform; and all
this has seemed very strange and novel, and
in striking contrast to the Maine railways.
Dark skinned natives of the Republic have
been in throngs to gaze upon us at every
station, and we fully realized that of the ten
millions of the population of Mexico, three
two-thirds of these cannot read and write,
never slept in bed and never wore stock
ing.
Through the day we had frequently seen
the snow capped SUBMITS Of Popocatapetl, k
lacahuatt and Orizaba mountains, nearly 49,
600 feet above the sea level and beside which
Mount Washington is a baby.
The City of Mexico to us was full of inter-
est, and visits to its churches, its museums,
art galleries and wonderful historic relics, as
well as to the castle and fortress of Chapul-
tepec, the canaland floating gardens, its gov
eminent palace and lots of other interesting
places fully occupied our time for the whole
eight days of our visit.
We had with us letters of introduction to
his EXcellency, Portirio Diaz, President of
the Mexican Republic, and at the proper
time'sent these letters up to him, and the
naXt day the President was pleased to send
an official to us at our hotel saying he would
be pleased to see us at his office in the pal
ace that forenoon at 109 o'clock. Mrs Ham
and went up promptly at the time appoint
ed and were presented to his Excellency who
shook us cordially by. the hand, and then
his Secretary of Public Works, and an inter
prefer and we two all sat down and had
pleasant talk together
The Mexican President does not speak
English and | cannot speak Spanish and so
all that either of us said had to be translated
by one who understood both languages. |
endeavored as clearly and lntelllgently as
could to explain to him the situation, climate,
soil and productions of our State of Maine
and the character of our people and of our
institutions to all of which he listened at
tentively and to which he replied courteous
ly. When the time came to leave he again
took me by the hand and / said to him that
hoped his administration would be blessed
with abundant success and that his people
might be prosperous and happy. He thanked
me for my kind wishes and said in conclu-
sion that he hoped might be able to take
home good report Of Mexico and her peo-
pie. President DiaZ is of mixed Indian and
Spanish blood the Indian element predomin-
ating He is dark skinned, small-featured
man, and L should judge is about five feet,
nine inches high and weighs about 175
| pounds. There is nothing striking in his
| features, which indicate sober, serious
man, with good deal of stick or hold on in
| him. He owes his present position largely
to the fact that he has been very lucky sol
| der.
had taken along with me from New Or
| leans full set of the Reports of the different
| officers and institutions of our State, as well
as a large variety of samples of manufactured
| articles, andialSo specimens of every kind of
| grain, peas beans, &c, and after ascertain
ing that the Mexican government would be
| very pleased to receive them, | presented
| them to the Minister of Public Works, Edu-
| cation &c, who thanked me in the name of
his government and assured me that they
would be the nucleus of museum to be
| founded for the reception of objects of inter
| est from other lands. had previously pre-
| pared some neat labels stating that the arti-
| Gle was from the exhibit of Maine at the
| New Orleans exposition with my name as
| commissioner, and one of these labels about
| 125 in alb was pasted on every book and arti-
| Gle presented to the Mexicans. think, my
dear Governor, that | succeeded in letting
the Mexicans know that there is such place
as Maine in the United States; and it is
some satisfaction to me to know that Maine
agricultural products, and specimens of
Maine manufactures as well as Maine Off
ciaI documents have been cheerfully and
thankfully received and safely. lodged in
Government Palace in the Mexican capital
on the very spot formerly the site OF the royal
residence of the great Montezuma More
than this / made personal present to Presl-
| dent Diaz of a Maine travelling extension
| case manufactured at Dover, containing pno-
| tographs of our Penobscot Indians, samples
| OF basket and birch work from the same
GTlDe, nice turned wood bucket made, at
narmlngton, filled 1gib spruce gum full OF
eile oaor OF our Maine trees, and with these
anu other things a few choice apples that
| grew on Ine farm where | was born in Lew
lStoh: his EXcellency pronounced the ap-
| pies nrsG rate, and thanked me kindly for
| them. 80 1t can be truly said that the Mexi-
can President has had a taste of Maine ap-
| pies ana knows them to be good ones.
| Our return home was by the all rail ronta
| via Ell Paso, and was full of interest. Int
cannot now further speak of it. Hope we
| shall see you here before the exposition
closes. The exposition is good one. but
| there are comDaratiyelV few visitors