Santa Fe daily New Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1885-1897, 1891-11-30
HERMOSA And CUCHILLO.
Live Camps and Their Thrifty and
Hospitable oople-Public Schools
in Sierra County,
a Beautiful Region and Its Mines-A
Chat with Hon. hmado Chaves,
superintendent of Public
Instruction..

Hon. Amado Chaves, superintendent
OF public instruction, has returned from
an official visit to the county of Sierra
| In conversation with a New MEXICAN
scribe he states that the public schools ir
that county are in t1ourishing condition
under the leadership of the wide awake
and progressive county superintendent
L. 7. Gould, Of Hillsborough. All the
districts have good school houses and the
schools now in operation are under the
management of modern teachers and the
progress that is being made is very salts
factory indeed. Mr.. Chaves took time to
visit the districts of Cuchillo Negro and
Hermosa. Of these two this is what he
has to say
eat CuChillo the people are well organ
lied, well employed and prosperous. Much
of this is due to the leading citizen of that
village, Hon. Ed. Fest, ex-representative
from that county. He is an old timer
possessing fine executive ability. Under
his leadership the people of Cuchillo have
built an excellent school house by private
contributions, supplied it with substantial
furniture and good bell. The school is
out of debt and is at present under the
control Of Mr.. Iben Stanley, good, ener-
getiC teacher who, besides being good
English scholar is thoroughly posted in
the Spanish language. He and his in
terestiny family have lived in this terri
tory for many years. The directors of
this district, Francisco Apodaca, Esprit
dion Tafoya and j. II. Apodaca, are men
of intelligence and worth and embued
with modern ideas.
"Alr. Fest is at present one of the proud
est men in the country owing to the fact
that his pet scheme is about completed
Some time ago he made up his mind to
out-do the rainmakers and to secure
good supply of water for the beautiful val
ley which he has selected for his home
For this purpose he organized all the citi
zens OF CuchilIo for the purpose of
constructing a reservoir and the same is
about completed BY this means the
farmers of Cuchillo will be able to supply
that whole section of country with ali
kinds of grain, fruits and vegetables.
There are no signs of hard times in this
place. The people are not waiting for some
thing to turn up, but have gone to work
in earnest TO improve their condition and
are now reaying the benefits Of their eff
forts"
Mr.. Chavos spent whole day at the
ininry pI IIarppnSa h,t of thio
place he hardly knows what to say how
ever, this is what he did say:
HERMosA."
cen la aldea siempre Sc goza,
Una vida seductora.
En- ell campo de la Hermosa
Yo me encontre una Sonora,
La Cual es la Mrs. ---
Joven, bella, hermosa encantadora."
Hermosa reminds him very much Of a |
bashfnl girl who has got a good thing and
wishes to keep it to herself. He says
that another camp half as rich would |
make lots OF noise and be widely adver-
tised all over the land. The location is
beautiful. The valley is
narrow in places, but where it broadens
out it is one of the widest, grandest and |
most picturesque that heaven ever
smiled upon. The residents are all busy,
and happy, and waste no time
in making noise about their camp as it is
the present fashion to do. Many of the
miners have very valuable cabinets which
it is to be hoped will be sent to the
Worlds fair; they can not well be sur
passed by any similar collection from
any other country. The district has
good substantial school house, built by
private contributions, well furnished and
equipped with all the modern appliances
and under the control of charming
teacher, Miss Elizabeth l.. Folsom, of
One of the principal contrib
utors to this building is Hon. Ed Fest,
whose ear marks can be seen in all the
and Improvements in that
whole section. The school directors of
Hermosa, Messrs. Peers, Robinson and
Rothwell, are prominent citizens OF Sierra
county, and they are evidently deter
mined to supply the children OF their dis
trict with all the means for good bus
ness education. Mr.. Peers or "Uncle
Ben," as he is endearingly called by all
the residents of the camp, has some very
NdludDlC SdlIlC iuuClCo III llIC bOlSbDOl'
hood of Hermosa.
He is remnant of the old time gentle !
man, affable, polite, accomplished and
polished. lie is graduate of the naval
academy and would make q good repre-
sentative of the United States at the court
Of st. Cloud. lie is quite young man !
yet, and his future in this territory will |
be bright Men of his
accomplishments and worth, although
they may wish to hide in the remotest
portions of the Mlmbres mountains will
eventually be found out by the people
and brought forward. Mrs. Rogers,
Mama Rogers" the first American lady
who ever came to the camp, is there yet
She is dear mother to all the boys and
IS beloved by every one. She is rich, fat,
handsome and forty. At present, how
ever, there are many refined, plucky
aides in camp and social life is most
pleasant.