Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1903-03-28
TRAVELS IN OLD MEXICO.
Frank Armitage Tells of Natural
Beauties of the Country.
STORY OF ENTHUSIAST.
Milwaukeean Took His Camera with Him
and Brought Home Interesting Pho
tographs of Scenery.

Yes, have just returned from coun-
try where they are not worrying over SO,
$12 and $50 coal. No, no; not there. be-
cause where | was flowers We're in bloom
and beauty and fragrance were on all
sides, and such fragrance as is wholly
unknown to us in the North. Birds of
rare and beautiful piumage sailed about
and plants and trees of luxuriant foliage
large and graceful in their growth, We're
visible on all ST 'es. 1t was old Mexico
away down in the heart of that remark
able country-a country in which you
cah grow anything; "a country old and
yet crude, and with immense possibilities
for Development
Thus spoke Frank Armitagc of Mil
waukee He had just returned from
SIX weeks, pleasure trip through the dense
part of Mexico. He carried Il camera
with him and secured some magnificent
swinging pictures during the trip, includ-
ing mountain scenery. Il typical old Mex
ican town, fine view of a city III the
valley, taken from train far above it
III the mountains, and other views giving
some idea of the towns and people of
the country 10 the south. Continuing
upon his descriptive narrative, Mr.. Ar
mitage said:
The old Mexico-the tropical Mexico
lis not seen until you leave the City of
Mexico and proceed far east and south,
and then, to Northern eyes at least, there
Is spread before YOU panorama such as
you never dreamed of. At Esperanza,
on the Mexican railway, y0u strike the
edge of the tropics and the mountains
and while they are putting two engines
on your train for rountain climbing you
look beyond and around you and see the
great mountains, with snow-capped Ori-
zaba IN the distance and clouds lowering
about.
Then you begin the ascent and watch
the river and valley below Soon you
are high enough to be Just below the
|clouds; little later you are in and among
them, and everybody retireS to the inside
of the train to get away from the damp,
chill atmosphere Then we travel above
the clouds, and looking far down through
the occasional rift in the yapor a grand
view is brought forth. No camera can
begin to do it justice, and you involun-
tarily wish that you had u thousand eyes
to take it all in. Buildings and towns,
far below, look like little white dots amid
the bright green; rivers appear TO be
long slender threads, while plantations
with their different hued crops, blocked
out on the plateaus, look like great check
erboardS.
Later you take another road, on
thirteen hours. The conductor comes
through and shouts. Twenty minutes for
dinner at the Chinaman's bOx-car on
right of the track But, conductor,
never can get dinner in less than half an
hour says a well-dressed lady. All
right madam; forty-tive minutes for din
ner in the box car, calls out the obliging
conductor.
'.Iust here let me state that an i'm
mense amount of railroad work will be
done there in the next five years, and
rich sections of country now reached
only by horseback travel will become
more valuable because OF railroad con-
nection. And the greater part of these
improvements will be made by American
capital.
''To give you an idea of some of the
plantations: l rode n miles on one plan
tation. 1t was 80 miles long. And what
hospitality is shown down there. The
senior must know my house and stables
are his, was the frequent assurance of
the host AT one place where | stopped
it was stated by a friend that | was