The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1904-03-11

gauge railway runs along the lagoon. then
through sandy marsh covered with brush
and locust trees. not far back from the
seashore. Colima is the capital Of the State
of the same name, with population which
1 should guess TO be 15O0o. 1t is a town OF
one-stOry buildings. with a series OF two
story portals or arcades fronting the plaza.
The government building is very neat. The
cathedral next door TO IL Is very ugly. IL is
a yellowfront huddled structure. with a
yellow dome, and is of three stories. appar-
emily a temptation TO the earthquakes, or
defiance OF them. The town has a large
garden or park, which is more extensive
than the plaza. 1t Is not pretentious, yet
is very we'll kept.
The local administration is good. The
saloons are closed at O'Clock in the even
ing, and sanitary regulations are enforced.
NO rice cultivation is allowed within six
miles of the town, because the rice fields
breed mosquitoes and mosquitoes breed
malaria.
Colma gets its name from the volcano.
This is the most prominent object / had
seen IL from the sea and had watched the
white, curling vapor. Unlike some fea-
lures OF nature, the volcano does not lessen
In grandeur on drawing nearer 10 IT, Riding
across the country on mules from Colima
TO Tuxpan, where the broken railway con-
nection is resumed. L had the privilege Of
seeing an eruption, a sight common enough
TO the people who live in the neighbour hood
but not always Vouchsafed to the traveller
who cannot wait the violent models Of the
volcano.
The Mexican Central Railway extension,
which ultimately is TO reach Colima by
means OF great tunnel and viaducts, has
stopped temporarily at Tuxpan, an Indian
town nifty miles away. i caught the train
there Tor Guadalajara, and at Guadalajara
took a Pullman for the City OF Mexico.
Fully half the passengers in the sleeperS
were Americans, and the talk was chiefly
OF mines, ranches and railways.
MEXICO CITY.
Mexico City is changing so gradually
that its own jewellers. possibly. do not ap-
preciate the transformation. Yet some OF
the old Spanish buildings, with their enor-
nous thick walls, have had to come down,
and the newer structures are really chang
ing the architecture of the city.
The skeletons OF structural steel meet the
eye at a dozen turns. The new postofice
building is almost finished. and IL is purely
Italian in its aspect. The buildings which
the insurance companies and other private
concerns are putting up not quite SO
ornate, but they manage TO combine some
of the old Spanish solidity with the steel
framework. Out in the residence districts
the ancient architecture Is disappearing al
most entirely, and 1 have even heard COM
plant that the plans OF American city
dwellings are followed too closely for the
climatic conditions. The asphalt pavement
has been extended from the business dis
trict far out TO most of the suburbs.
/ took a little time TO inquire about social
or sociological prospects and spent some
hours in strolling about the sections OF the
city which house the poorer classes. In the
United States these quarters would be
called the squalid sections. 1t appeared TO
me that among the poems or working classes
there was less of the pulque drunkenness
visible than during my stay in Mexico two
years ago. Pulque Is the liquor made from
the cactus plant II produces a sodden, sOt-
fish condition. Ii has been the curse of the
poems.
On my observation to one OF the men who
are interested I'm these sociological Ques-
lions that there really seemed 20 be less
drunkenness among the poor he told me il
was not merely a seeming. but a fact. Rigid
measures have been taken by the govern
ment and the municipality 10 curb the
pulque appetite both by limiting the number
of places in which the stuff is sold and by
shortening the hours during which IL may
be sold. These measures already are bear
ing results though they are carried out in
the face of bitter opposition.
American interests in Mexico as repre-
sented by the individual American are ex-
| banding steadily. The American colony in
| the city not only has increased. but there
| are more Americans scattered over the
country. Some of the mining enterprises
are undergoing that period when fresh as
! sessments have TO be made on the stock
| holders but the mines generally are pay
\ ing pretty well. The Americans who have
| gone into coffee and other forms of tropi-
| cal agriculture am certain from all the
! testimony given me, are making marked
/ General business, / was told in some OF
the banks and the big commercial houses,
is dull without being seriously depressed.
/ Foreign capital is awaiting the adoption
/ of Mexico's proposed new financial policy.
| Some OF the recommendations Of the DIFF
ferent commissions who have studied the
subject favor gong Immediately 10 the
| gold basis, but others hold that this Is not
| practicable. They advise the gradual pro-
/ cess The situation seems 10 be that the
method itself is not so important as that a
| definite policy be promulgated by the gov
/ eminent, so that the uncertainty may be
| ended Mr.. Limantour. the secretary OF
| the treasury, has managed Mexican
| finances so well that there is universal
confidence he will promulgate a policy
| which viii be a practical one.