The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1899-04-03
road denot

road depot ...................... 300, 00'
10 Americans General Ochoa is O. very
interesting personality, from the fact
that ne Is the owner Of mighty noun
tain. He is man on the sunset slope Of
llte He was born in the city of Guada-
lajara, capital of the state of Jaisco, or
January 1887, and was early ducated
as a civil engineer, being a graduate OF
the famous school of mines. In 1856
Ochoa, as lad almost joined the lead
ers Of the Ayutia revolution, Comonfort
and Degollado, serving on the corps of
engineers. Always a liberal at heart,
on principle he fought against the con-
servative and clerical parties. He
placed Puebla in a condition of defence,
and later, following the fortune Of the
republican party, at Vera Cruz was
wounded and captured, but succeeded
in making his escape, joining General
Diaz, who had also very cleverly es-
capped from the French in Pueba. He
participated in the dramatic defence of
! Mazatlan with a few Mexican troops
against the French man-of-war La Cor
deller, an action which was dramatized
in later years by Colonel Ireneo Paz
| Later Ochoa became governor of Sina-
loa, and went to San Francisco to raise
| a loan of ten million dollars for the re-
| publican cause. He assumed command
of the federal troops under President
Lerdo de Tejado, and was faithful to
, that president even when deposed by
General Diaz, escorting him in safety to
the coast on his flight toward New York.
When General Diaz assumed the presi-
dency he appointed Ochoa chief of the
engineering department in the war Of
flee, and he organized the department
and placed upon a practical working
basis the Mexican Military Academy of
Chapultepec The time tossed old vete-
ran lives in bachelor retirement in a
comfortable suite of rooms at the Itur-
bide, indulging in day dreams of the
conquest, by steel and steam, of the I'M
conquered peak of Popocatepetl.
Ignacio Reyes, of Amecameca, was the
first to make business of sulphur ex-
traction; he began work in 1886 Later
on Juan Mugica y Osorio put up ovens
at Tiamacas, and the industry was
taken up by General Ochoa. A royalty
used to be paid to the poems of twelv
cents per arroba, and they earned some
liiiSo PSoV u duy. Illc Gall cctluIl III llit
early days used to be about seven thou
sand arrobas, or one hundred and seven
ty-five thousand pounds a year. The
present owner has taken out in a single
year one million pounds The consump-
ton of sulphur in the republic during
1898 was calculated at one hundred thou
sand quintailes (hundredweight), and of
this fully nne-tenths was imported.
The sulphur product of Popocatepetl Is
practically limitless. The present ex-
traction has been practically suspended,
as it Is too costly when conducted ac-
cording to the old methods. Upon the
completion of the system contemplated
General Ochoa believes that he will be
able to mine the sulphur and pack it
and deliver to the market at one dollar
per hundredweight. implying very de-
clarable profit. The sulphur precipi
tates on Popocatepetl as it does at Act
ma. The fumes issue hot, and on strik-
ing the cold air they condense. They
are sublimmed on all sides of the crater
and on the floor below, and in quality /
the sulphur is almost pure, containing
no arsenic or iron The market price of
sulphur ranges from thlrty-fve to forty
dollars a ton, and sulphuric acid eight
cents a pound. Ice also used to be
brought down, and before railroad days /
used to bring twenty-five cents per |
pound, but now brings only thirty cents |
an arroba, or about cent a pound. 1t |
is manufactured in the City of Mexico, |
but if the Ochoa railway is constructed |
1t can profitably be shipped to Cuautia
and other cities in the Mexican tropics.
Aside from the commercial value of |
this vast possession General Ochoa Is
very proud of Popocatepetl on account
Of it's scenic magnificence, and here his
mind takes in the possibilities of the
peak as point for tourists to visit. At
present the ascent of Popocatepet re-
1uires an expenditure of fifteen to TWEEN
.y-five dollars, two or three days time
md an immense amount of exposure
md hardship. If the Ochoa railway is
quilt the trip from Mexico to the peak
md back again can be easily accom-
,lished in ten hours time. OF course,
he volcano under such practical condi-
ions would lose much of its charm.
People would miss the horseback ride
rom Ameca through the pine forests,
he picnic life at the halfway huts, the
ramp over logs and across mountain
brooks, and the long and steady climb
Turing the matchless morning hours.
However, while these minutiae would
erhaps be passed unnoticed the grand
st feature of the excursion, the peerless
lew from the summit. would reward {
he traveler-Mexican Herald. ,