St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-11-26
Boss Shepherd and His Cele-
brated Mine Objects OF
American Interest.
The Telephone, and How
Quickly It Mastered the
Spanish Tongue.
Sunday Under a Mexican Sun
and the Way 1t Is
Spent.
Special Letter to the Globe.

Chicago and were put to bed by col
ored porter from Virginia the sensation.
was not at all new; in fact, was eX-
tremely disappointing to one who was
longing to tackle something novel and.
foreign. and who was anxious for an
opportunity to air his knowledge OF
Spanish. However, when the sunlight
first broke upon US in the morning we
were made to realize fully that we were
no longer travelling under the stars and
stripes Of our native country. The herds
of cattle, sheep and many-colored goats
emerging. from the corral of distant
hacienda. watched after by swarthy
Mexican cowboys. dressed in their pc
culiar costumes. the struggling adobe
village which we had just passed,
and which seemed to be as full
of MeXicanS as a hive is OF bees,
together with the general surroundings
were prima facie evidence that we were
in another and a foreign land. After
running something over 200 miles
what seemed a high table land-the
lofty crags buttressing it on either
halid, with few cuts, hills or steep
grades-we rolled intothe historical and
handsomely built city of Chihuahua.
| There are some 10000 souls in this COM
pactly built town, who, in some ways,
have departed from the manners ana
customs of generations gone by, While
| to others they cling with bulldog tenae-
| itv. In the matter of building they
| seem to have made permanent de
parture from the adobe style of archi-
lecture, though, of course, the large
| majority of their houses are constructed
| of that peculiar building material. Sub
| tantial structures they are, too, that look
| as though they would be here when Ca
briel blows his trumpet. In fact, the,
writer sees no reason Why they should
decay any sooner than the. neighborlng
| mountains, so Solidly are they bnllt.'
| The walls are from three to four feet
thick, made of double mud, and covered
| with several inches of plaster, which,
| when it all hardens, if it has been prop
| erly mixed, becomes at about the same
| consistency as stone, and does not dis
| integrate like the latter, by long eX-
posture to the elements. The fact that
| there are houses here. and at other
! places, which were erected 800 years
ago, and at present in good enough re-
| pair to be used for residence or bust
| ness purposes, bears the writer out in
| his belief as to the durability of the
adobe structure. The most magnifi-
| cent building by far in Chihuahua, and
| one of the handsOmest in the republic.
is the famous cathedral, which was only
finished few years ago, though 1T was
| begun some 200 years before John
| Hancock attached his name to the
Declaration of independence. The Cath
Ollie church established novel building
! fund by levying a special tax on the
| output of the rich Santa Eulalia silver
| mine, located near the city, which was
| then owned and operated by the Jesu-
| it's, and out of the money thus collected
| by arbitrary law or demand, the cathe-
| dral was erected at an enormous cost.
| The building is a very fine one, and
would be noticeable in any Eastern
CITY. The Eulalia mine is now. owned
by Boston capitalists, who have found
| it a profitable investment, as paying
| dirt is stin found. There are other very
rich Silver mines near here which have
been worked successfully for genera
tions, and acres of the old Stag piled up
hundreds of feet high, which was thrown
out in reducing the ore, can yet be seen.
Boss Shepherds famous BatopilaS
mines are located west of chihuahua,
and the former political boss makes his
Headquarters here when in Mexico. But
having remained away from his native
land long enough to satisfy the laws
) demand, he is now hObnobbing with
his old chumS at Washington and
New York. A gentleman who is we'll
posted on his money matters says that it
| is great error to suppose that Shepherd
came here with much money. My in
formant says he only had about $4,000,
but was very fortunate. in purchasing
an unusually rich silver mine. out of
which he has since made q large fort
une.
BOSS SHEPHERDS REPUTATION.
Whatever his reputation in the states
may be, Shepherd stands well i'll Mex
| leo, and is deemed a valuable citizen,
! and his political experience and ac-
| knowledged shrewdneSs have been of
much value to him and his new friends,
| as he has had ample opportunity to ep-
! ploy his peculiar adroitness in dealing
| with the Mexican diplomats. The
American element in this city is rather
| i'm the aseendant,and the better classes of
| Mexicans encourage immigration from
| our country, but as far as | can learn
| the middle class and the peon element
| have no time for the 'sgringo,'
and look upon him as an
| intruder aud legitimate prey. Chi
hauhua has good street car system,
| which is we'll patronized at654 cents a
ride. There is also a telephone COM
| pany here. doing business through this
| and the adjoining state of Durango. A
good story is told about the antipathy
of the natives to the telephone when
it first arrived. They positively re-
fused to have anything to do
| with the machine, which they
| decided in their own minds was
| American. and could not talk Spanish
| anyhow. and refused to grant the char
| ter. After being assured that the in
st,uments would talk Spanish the com
pany was allowed to put in its plant.
| and great was the establishment of the
| Mexicans when, after experimenting.
| they discovered the little machines.
| which had only been in Mexico few
! days, could talk Spanish as well as any
| of them. Now overa hundred private
| families have telephones in their houses,
| which, out of a population of 10000, lis
larger proportion than use them in st.
| Paul, and the manager told me thatsince
| they had discovered it would save some
walking (for they are Just as lazy as we
| are in that reSpect), they kept the
'heIlo' girl busy. The ordinary labor
| ing classes of Mexico are very simple
minded, and seem to have no ideas.of
analogy, and certainly do not take read
| lily to our modern mechanical contriy-
ances. A contractor on the railroad sent
lot of wheelbarrows down in the coun
try to he used in removing a large body
of earth. A day or two later he went
down to inspect the grading and found
the MeXicans using the barrows in a
way that would have made an Irishman
die with laughter.
They would fill the wheelbarrows
| and walk off with the load, as if much
] pleased with the new labor-saving ma
| chimes. However. all their heavy loads
are carried OH their heads, which. in a
measure, may account for the foolish