The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1888-03-08
Life in the Sister Republic.
DIFFICULTIES WHICH BESET TIE PROPERTY
OWNER. HOW ONE MAY JUMP" ANOTH-
Frs CLAIM. ORDERNAZAS DE MINERVA.
OEE FOR YICATAN.

correspondence OF the JOuIlltl-
SAN LUIS, Feb. -. Within the eleven thous-
and square miles comprising the State of Pot
osi, every variety of climate is found, for
though its southern borders extend into the
tropics. the elevation of all this section upon
the celebrated mesa central gives the valleys
til" temperature of northern Mays, while ice
anj snow may always be found in the high
lands.
Several mountain ranges cross the State,
mostly formed by spurs Of that great Cordil-
era called in South America the Andes. here
known a> the Sierra MadreS. and farther north
the Rockies. These magnificent Mother
mountains. nearly covering the eastern por-
ton of the Republic. form a natural bound
cry-linc between the States Of Tamaulipas and
san LUIS Poto>i. There are ranges of purple
foothills besides. and isolated peaks rearing
here and there their precpitouS cliffs, the 81
crra> Gordas c'fat mountains the >tupend-
Gus thitln known as the Sierra de san Luis, and
another IN the south whose name | have for
gotten. Between these heights lie some of the
hncst valleys in the world. ayriculturaly,
which, with the mineral riches ahoundins in
tile hills, make san Luis one of the weathie>t
States in Mexico. Every column If This paper
devoted to the task would he insufficient TO
describe all the metallic veins which cross Poto-
y III every direction. Internal rovolu-
tlonS. want of water. and. until lately. lack of
communication with the outer world. has cars-
ed some Of the richest of these lodeS to be
abandoned; but despite all disadvantages, many
OF them have been worked with unvarying
success, through more than two hundred
Years
Among the most famous are the mines of
papaga!o and Matchula in the Catoree foot
hiIl>-the real De Catorcu-ony l3 miles from,
san Luis city. The village has now only about
$4,000 inhabitants. but at one time. during the
Great bonanZa>. the population reached 10000.
No more interesting object in all Mexico will
be found than Catorcc mountain and the cclc-
brated town at it, foot. about which are clus-
tered traditions such As few >ilver-regions can
boast. During the French invasion a Mint
was established here, but since that time its
prosperity has been steadily decreasing.
Its first back->et occurred some ninety wears
ago. when ncighboring Indians swept down
and murdered all the settlers. The word
caf"rce means ''fourteen." and the town was
named after Il band of fourteen robbers, who
for nuiy Years We're the terror of the Vicin-
ace.
The once inconccivaby rich VEINS of this dis
trict are owned by few Spaniard> and Eng
i>hncn. Quite recently an enterprising Aneri-
can drove Il tunnel into one of the Old claims. and
it is -ad that some rich products of ore lave
been found.
The NOW railroads have given fresh impetus
to all enterprises. and many long-dc>ertcd
lo,lc>, is well as neWi, -di>coVereI ones, have
been "dcnounccd'' within the last two years
and are now in operation. According to the
laws of Mexico. anybody may '',lenounce" Il
NINE. OF other property not actually being
made Use of. and take peaceabc possession
thereof. whatever the owner may have to say
about it,
The entire text of LoS Orderaasas de Min
et{a is too lengthy for rcproducton.-bu in
order to show how uncertain is ones tenure
here unless constantly on the spot permit me
t. quote from the statutes, heynnin. with Art-
Gle s: If any one denounce> a mine as desert
ed in tn" manner hereinafter set forth. his de-
nounccment shall be admitted; the location of
the mine. the name of the last owncrif known,
and the names OF owner, of adjoining mines if
uccupicd-to all which persons proper notice
must he given if possible. If within ten day
time they do not present themselves, the de-
nounccment shall be made public during the
tire" following Sundays. There being no CON
tradirtion. the dcnounccr shall, within 60 days,
have cleared and put in working order some
part of the mine to the depth of 10 t0laS with
in the walls of the Ncin.'
Then through Narou> other Articles the law
goes on TO state that if these conditions are
complied with, ''PoSse>sion shall be given to
the denounrer against all oppoScrS. who shall
not be heard. they not having come forward
during the time above mentioned. Should the
former owner of the mine contest the denouncC-
mcnl tie time for public notice having passed,
he shall not be heard As to the possession Of the
mine, which the ,lenou.icer shall RETAIN.
Any one may seek and denounce or register
mines or veins, not only in public hut also in
private lands, paving for the land he may
occupy and the damage that Immediately fol-
lows. according to the appraiSal> of umpireS.
The same shall hold good for denouncing sites
or water-ri%hts. for purposes of erecting
machncry to form establishments for the
treatment Of ores.
Since it is well-known that the wcalthaSt
landowners of Mexico spend most of their
lives abroad, seldom even visiting their vast
estates-which, in many instances. comprise
thousands of acre>-thc wonder is that the
needy cf all lands do not flock in and ''de-
nounre," right and left for Il iving Probably
more of it would be done by Americans now
in the country. were it not for the fact that Il
foreigner has no rights here which anybody
feels bound to respect. The laws of this Re
public Were obviously framed for wealthy
MeNican>. and are administered to suit them
selves, regardless of the bkind-foded goddess.
As anybody can see, these Orflern0u@ns admit
all manner of unfair play in the hands Of ull-
>crupulou> lawyers. Money is the "open
sesame" to all things here. the poor man stand
ing no more chance for justice as opposed to Il
rich one. than an American can hope to profit,
in any ease. by laws that were never made for
him.
But there are two sides to every question,
and this denounciny business is no exception to
the rule. MeNlcans are so indoent, both by
nature and habit, that enterprises of all sorts
would lanTlll>h were there no greater incentive
to eXertion than mere money-yetting bevond
present needs.
Besides the gold and silver, there is much
lead. cinnabar. antimony. copper, salt images
tral, and some coal in the State Of Poto>i.
About 80 miles from San Luis city are some
wonderful marble quarrieS, from which I'M
broken slabs two met lpNu have lppn "
1racted. Near the surface the marble is >treaked
with grayi>h veins. but lower down it is black
as jet. very bard, and capable of being polished
to the lu>tre and brilliancy of mirror. The
owner of the quarries-Senor Don Juan Baean-
agra--has also Il quarry of very valuable
aIaba>ter, and is developing both by the addi-
ton of new machinery.
Among the other cities of the State that are
worthy of mention are Cedral. nine miles north
OF Matchuia with many smeting-NorkS and
the varying population of mining town. rang
ing between 1000 and l5,000 Charra> is an
other mining center, Oh the main highway be-
tween the frontier and the Capital. with a
population of 10000. III anado showed some
thing over l5, 900 AT the last census. Rio Verde
Santa Maria del Rio. Cindad del Nalle, san
Francisco. Macteguma, Guadacazar, Ccrrtos,
salinas. llidalgo, Tancanhuity, and TamaZun-
chale. are all villages of Importance. Yet the
greater portion of this fair land is wholly un.
occupied, waiting to yield its mineral and
agricultural wealth to some more energetic
race than that which now possesses it.
Travelling northwarl from san Luis PotoSi
the next city of importance is SaltIo. capital
of the State Of Coahuila, with a population of
/ ZOO. The old town is famous for its manu-
facturc> of zerdpes and Il coarse cotton cloth
called Mdntd. 1t lies on the slope of hill
and has two buildings worthy Il visit-thC
church and the bull-ring. About seven miles
beyond is the hamlet of Buena Vista. famous
for the battle fought there Deb. 23l, 1870
between the forces of Generals TAYLOR an,
Santa Anna. The result of that battle was
largely due to the almost impregnabe position
selected by Taylor in the Angostura pass,
where Santa Anna could use neither his artil-
lery nor cavalry, nor derive much benefit from
the grea. numerical superiority of his infantry
At al! events five thousand Americans sent ten
thousand McXcans flying southwark, SO thor.
| oughly whipped that the whole northern Prov.
ince remained in possession of Uncle Sam
Aqua Nueva (''new water'), the village in
the approach of Santa Anna, lies at the upper
end of Il lovely valley. called La Encantada-
1.-The Enchanted Vale"
About 215 miles north of San Luis is Mon
terey in the State of Nueva Ieon-the most
important and by all odds the most beautiful
city of Northern Mexico. The intervening
country is remarkably dry and sterile. wei
described by recent traveller as dusty, mo-
notonous, covered with cacti, aloes and Yucca
yucca, aloes and cacti." 1t is exclusively givcr
up to vast, scantil: cultivated haciendas, witt
infrequent towns and ranchoes. In the main
it is wretched and thnly-popuIated region
SO dry that wells and water-tanks are object.
| of as much solicitudc as an oasis in the deser,
| and give their names to the hamlcts that Sprin.
H., around them.
| Not great way from Monterey-1S mile.
of ssf fI,a f.,r ~.