El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1901-03-02

Col. l.. &. Friend, one OF the best
known mining men of Sonora. Mexico,
is in the city.
Col. Friends headquarters are at
Ures, the old capital of the state. so
miles up the Sonora river from Her
mosillo, the present capital.
1.-The Yaqui Indian war;" said Col.
Friend to a Herald reporter, yester-
day. has dwindled down until there is
nothing but skirmishing and little of
this. AS a matter of fact there have
been no very large battles for year
or more The Indians confine their
operations to raiding and swooping
down on small unprotected bodies of
troops. which are detached from the
main body.
Col. Friend does not think that there
were ever more than 500 Yaqui war
riors in the field, although there
we're probably several thousand per-
sons. including men, women and child
rem who were regarded as hoStiles by
the government, and treated as such.
The recent distribution of troops at
Tres and Arispe has no significance,
whatever. said Col. Friend. There
was nothing whatever in the wild stor-
les that were started and no fear of
a rebellion. as stated in the United
States Only 300 troops were sent to
Ures and $50 to Arispe, which is fur
Their up the river. The strength of the
garrison at Hermosillo is only three or
four hundred men, which makes it evil
dent that no trouble was feared. There
was some reports of fighting, but when
sifted down, the fight was found to
have been merely a drunken brawl.
Col. Friend considers Sonora the
most favored mineral country in the
world and regards Greene's copper
mines as the most valuable on the con-
tinent. The Greene Consolidate COM
pany, he says, actually owns mountains
of copper, worth untold millions. The
large gold, silver and copper mines to
the south of Ures he also considers OF
inestimable value. At these camps
there are some five or six hundred
and following their vocations in the ut
most security.
The Yaoui. Indians. he says, have
never molested Americans, regarding
them as friends. There were, it is true.
few Americans murdered when the
outbreak occurred two years ago, but
it was never known whether they were
killed by Indians or outlaws. He
doubts if the Indians had anything to
do with the killings.
a large military force is still main
tanned in Sonora and the state is prac-
tically under martial law. but that
makes no apparent difference to Amer
leans, whose lives and property are
perfectly secure.
The exaggerated stories of battles
between the Indians and Mexican
troops that have been sent out from
Austin. Texas. and Arizona points.
says Col. Friend. have done much to
injure the country and keep capital
from seeking investment in the mines
o. Sonora. IN spite of this. however.
the state has prospered.
Henry X. Sheldon, Jr.. the son of the
proprietor of the Sheldon hotel, ar
rived in Ell PaSO last night direct from
his home in New York. In reply to
the enquiry as to the object of this
visit Mr.. Sheldon said:
Il am just taking a vacation and as
/ am very fond of Ell Paso decided to
come down here. Yes. 1 may say that
one of the objects of my trip is to have
look at the hotel. 1t was not finish
ed when l was here before and we
wanted to see how everything is run
ning-though one thing don't seem to
be running" jerking his head with a
smile toward the elevator. You see.
my father has not been in the best of
health. 1t is nothing serious but he it
not equal to such Iong trip so 1 have
come in his stead"
lei Paso has been attracting a good
deal of attention in the east of late.
The decision of the Rock Island rail-
road company to build in here was and
is great thing for Ell Paso for it
created a good deal of comment. Trav
cling over the road from New York
here one also hears considerable talk
of the city. and Judging from what
know and from what / have heard. Ell
PasO is entering upon an era of much
prosperity and development.
Mexico is developing remarkably
fast" said John McComb of Durango
last night to Herald reporter. And
in most instances it can be traced to
American and foreign capital. l do
not know much about the commercial
or industrial side of the matter except
in a general way, but anyone who trav-
els through Mexico can readily see that
everything is in a prosperous cOndi-
ton and that the foreign element have
their full share of the business. The
tendency of this influx of American
money and enterprise has materially
resulted in an increased valuation of
country. Take for in
stance my business-the lumber bust
ness. When / went to Mexico about
five years ago l Scured good timber
land at 80 cents an acre. Mexican mon
ey / bought over a million and half