The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1897-05-08

day old is not considered good. The
prime article tastes as one would fansy
a combination of buttermilk and yeast
might taste. / heard of none of our
party who cared to do more than
sample it, The natives. however,
drink it freely, and although many are
, wretched victims of drinking It to eX-
cess, for it will intoXicate, we were told
that it is quite common for persons to
drink a quart regularly with a meal.
Maguey plantations are cultivated on
a large scale the fiber of the plant be-
| ing also utilized for many purposes.
| TeQuila ana mesCal are Installations
| from different varieties of the maguey,
| the heart Of the plant being roasted
| before it is distilled. These liquors are
! heavy and for the NEST part vile. 1t is
| said that very small quantity of mes
| cal has been known to cause IL large
| sized revolution in days gone by.
Ours was happy party, with our
| feet once more on American soil, even
| though still 1000 miles from home in
| distant Texas. The writer here re-
! called the fact that little more than
| twenty-SiX years ago he rode into
the State capital of the Lone Star
state on the first railroad train that
| entered the city and for some time
afterward there was no rail commun-
! ication between Texas and 1.-The
| states" as the North and East were
| commonly spoken of. AT that time
| there was no railroad to Mexico nor
| was there one in the country, and in
many respects the land beyond the
| Rio Grande was as way back" as the
| ,f b, N
was comparatively an unknown Coun-
! try to the outside world. The rail-
! roads have done great things for
| Texas in a quarter of a century as
! they have for all of our great West,
! and to them also, is mainly due the
/ wonderful development of MeXiCO's
! marvellous resources. Her forty diff
ferent railroad lines, with 1000 miles
/ of track, must certainly be rGCllOned
/ as mighty factor in promoting the
! changed conditions there. That the
genius and rare executive ability Of
/ President Diaz, who will have served
/ period Of twenty years when he
! completes his present term, have also
/ been essentially potent in the ad-
vancement of our neighboring repub-
| lie, is generally understood, and his
/ record as a soldier and statesman
: justly entities him to the honor Of
being called the creator of Modern
Mexico The wife of the president is a
lady of rare beauty and accomplish
ments. She was educated in America
and speaks English and French as flu
emily as her native tongue.
THE FUTURE.
A recent writer has well said that
Mexico and her ruler are to be cOngrat-
ulated upon having Il government
which governs and contemporaneous-
ly, people which has learned to he
ruled. The brigand is an unpleasant
memory and one may now travel safely
anywhere. There is no hamlet of a
hundred Indians that is without it's
free public schools, and free night
schools are provided for the working
classes. These are conducted on
! uniform system, being under the direct
| charge Of the general government.
There are normal schools in every
state endowed by the government be-
sides many industrial and technical
schools, also private schools of high
standing. Teaching of religion in the
free schools is prohibited, and in no
country are church and state so abso-
lutclY divorced, Notwithstanding the
president is a Roman Catholic and the
( people practically a unit in that faith.
In every public school above the prim-
Z airy grade, every private school. train
ing school and college the study Of
. English is compulsory. Diaz is said
to have remarked, in discussing this
feature of their schools, that he expects
to give the next generation of MeXiCanS
two idiomatic languages.
The patriots Of the American revo-
luton who led the way in the struggle
for government by the people were
doubtless the chief inspiration Of SIM
liar movements i'm Mexico, Central and
! South America, and although the mix
ed races descended from the Spaniards
and ahorigines have made slow prog
ress in working out the problems of self
| government, there has been some adj
vance; and the rapid strides now being
made by our Mexican neighburs, with
their population of thirteen millions,
must have a favorable influence upon
the republics to the south of them,
whose population is perhaps sixty mill
lions more. Some years before Cortez
made his first conquest of the land Of
the A7tccs, another bold Spaniard, Bal
boa, had landed on the isthmus to the
southwark. AS ne first looked out upon
the waters of the great Pacific from
the green clad hills of Panama, It is
said that the explorer hurried down to
the sea, and kncsling in the surf, dedi-
Gated the American continents, i'm the
name of God and his king, to Christian
ity and civilization forever. Let us
hope that Balboa's benediction may
he more fully realized I'm the not dis
tant future,