The intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1887-1891, 1889-02-23
A LETTER FROM MEXICO.

uluCI CetCCiiiCu III
seems to be clancy Free" wandering
ssto and fro" through the earth, with
all the romance of n t%roubadOr, TO lind
where owe may light his purple lamp
The gentleman. to whom the eplstle is
addressed, thinks as we dot may be
interesting to readers OF the lnielli-
gencer:
Dear Sir:-Thinking that you may
be interested in reading u lew lines
from me, relative to my experiences
since reaching the land of tue Mont
zumas, | take the liberty OF address,
ing you. | left Laredo on Friday, 18th
ult., evening, and crossing the Rio
Grande at that point, finally reached
Mexican soil, alter a very rainy trip
across Texas. AT New Laredo ION
the Mexican side OF the Iiver) all
baggage was examined by the customs
officials. 1t was exceedingly annoy ing
to have ones carefully packed trunk
thus ''rumaged," but at last, after
having the contents of my trunk
! thoroughly "dislocated" by the Off
! Gals, without their finding any dutlable
articles therein. l supposed all bother
in this connection was over, when to
my great chagrin the officer pulled
from the bottom of the trunk a small
sample of water pipe (silmiIar to that
which has been The means of go
copiously irrigating the streets of Lex
ington for the past three years. The
sample was wrapped in odd colored
paper, and to economize space, several
smaller sized samples of pipe were
slipped into the larger piece. When
the officer discovered this article, il
was very apparent, from his actions,
that he thought he had found a dy.
Mantle cartridge, a package of nitro
glycerine, or something OF an ex'
plosive nature. He dropped the pack.
age with a quickness of movement
surprising in z Mexican, letting it ia.
with a crash that attracted the atten
ton OF everyone in the room. Lie
then dashed about the building in tina
frantic fashion so natural 10 foreigner
and | was then talked at by b uozei
of the officers simultaneously. y
course I could not understand a wore
of their pure Castilian. They al
seemed lOath 10 touch the package o
pipe, so after they had talked them
selves out of breath, l unwrapped tn,
parcel and explained to them in I'M
best English what the article was, it
use etc. After a world of g%esticulatins
and pantomine, and endless misunder
STOOD questions on my part, and in
comprehensive replies on their part
l was permitted to keep possession o
my pipe samples and my baggage wa
marked .. 4.
On the "Pullman" ont OF Jared,
were a party of American min
owners. They had brought with then
a generous supply of "Old Tyler
| Kentucky and had evidently imbibe,
= frequently prior TO getting aboard tb
train. In consequence, noise wa
plentiful and sleep impossible unit
l nearly 2 o'clock in the morning, b
which lime John B%arleycorn ha
effectually quieted the party. To tb
great comfort of the balance OF tn
-, passengers. this party a'ighled abou
daybreak. All the rest of the Pullma
> passengers got off at Monterey, an
for quite a while | travelled PRACTICAL
9 in my private car.
At SaltIllo an old gentlemen and hi
two daughters got on the car. On
Q could tell at a glance that they wei
= Americans and as the daughters wer
T. quite attractive in appearance it
perhaps unnecessary to say that | use
my best efforts TO To agreeable to III
old gentleman; SO after mutually i,
o Producing ourselves, The old genilema
q evidently being satisfied with III
"a credentials, presented me L the girl:
as he always called d EN-.
: The country passed TIN ough duriu
the day differs but little from IN;
along The line OF the Santa Fe railway
New Mexico, and the ride would ba,
been quite tiresOme il there had II,
been greater attractions inside the C,
than out of it.
Ie The following morning at 10 o'clot
we arrived at the city OF Mexico, aft,
, u 40 hours ride from Laredo. II
y last 100 miles of the ride was throu.
!" the only real fine scenery Oh The emit
" trip.
Upon our arrival Il use the plur
,r for the reason that my acquaintan
:, with the old gentleman and 4
ID daughters had become SO intimate tb
d, IL was mutually agreed that we shou
d go to the same hotel, etc. Alter co
az siderable difficulty at the static
relative to the baggage, we reached q
v leading hotel, only TO find il crowd,
to Overlooking. The clerk at Ia
found miserable accommodations
IN us, with profuse promises of bett
]. ones later on. The whole performan
y. reminded me forclblv of the Made
house Clos Angeles) and its method
In the afternoon the old gentlem
a. above referred to went to q bull figl
er leaving me at liberty to take the you
:; ladies driving out to Maximillial
!, old palace. now used as the VIII:
l. House of Mexico. 1t being Sunds
j; the fete day of these people, the dri,
~ way was crowded with handsol
of teams and carriages, the latter &C
tanning well dressed and, frequent
fine looking occupants. The walks
OF either side of the drive were fill
with ~promenaders, bands of mu
were frequently met and altogett
er the scene was very novel and int
he esting. The following day, and
as days since then, have been chiefly {
cupied In wandering about the C
10, and doing that s%tereotyped kind
ed sightseeing that n must always
ny OH a first trip anywhere. The city
full of American tourists and busiu
-. men. Many OF the latter have local
" here p~ermenantly. ! was surpri,
co, upon my arrival here at the size of
city, 600 900 inhabitanls) at
magnitude of the buildings, and at
pss various evidences OF wealth amC
many OF the citizens. The city she
m every evidence OF becoming one of
great csnters OF the continent. L
10 new "lease of life" for the city :
nix un~questionably brought about by
a." successful completion of the vari
railway enterprises which now
This city in close connection with
in United States. There are at pres
ATE two all rail routes between Mex
City and the U. S, and there
shortly be a third liue. These 70
VI; are owned principally by Eng
in stockholders and are operated ain
exclusively by Americans or Eugli
men? The building of these re
ner will be of very great benefit to the
habitants of the immense territ
through which thew run.
IL means tor them, increased C
the Tort Of living. improved agricultI
ere implements. in fact advanced civil
ton. II seems 10 me that this coul
is a magnificent field of operation t
ates enterprising northern young man
is all expert in any particular brs
of science or industry, be he an
JUS gineer, a miner, an electrician
all shrewd Yankee manufacturer.
not | will leave here about the 18th
reaching Lexington about the 25th
With your permission ! subsC