Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-04-08

| the lakes II is dificuit to ascertain the
| mortality In most OF the towns down here,
because deaths are not always reported and
| the records are not always carefully kept,
But here. where most Of the population Is
employed by the railroad company 1t Is
comparatively easy to obtain exact statis-
TICS Every case OF illness and death comes
sicians.
You don't see much OF the population
uom the car windows. Most OF the towns
are little way back from the railroad. and
the casual traveller cannot form much of an
Idea OF them from the little groups Of
matched cabins around the depots and
freight houses. Most of the land is owned
In large estates BY non-residents and COM
paratively little is under cultivation Large
herds OF cattle are roaming free over those
portions that have not been plowed, and
from these herds the owners receive the
larger part OF their income Most of the
cattle are shipped to Cuba
occasionally the road runs through a SUI
gar plantation, several of them owned by
americans, and there are two or three coll
onies or our fellow-countrymen located at
favorable points along the line The soil
and climate are particularly adapted TO
corn, Gomez, sugar cane, rice and eacao,
ana the forests are filled with great va
rlety or useful timber, cabinet woods dye
woods, gums. resins. vanilla beans, medic
inal plants of infinite variety and almost
everything else that grows. The isthmus
- Wen watered, the rainfall is almost as
great as mat at Panama, and the railroad
crosses dozen or more large streams
whlch, with their tributaries drain the
foothills of the mountains.
Small and Ancient Towns.
There are no large or important towns.
out many small ones of ten thousand in
hapitants and less, which date back long
oeiore the conquest and are inhabited by
the descendants OF the aborigines MANY
OF Whom still adhere to their original lam
suase, costumes and habits. and indeed
occupy homes that have descended from,
generation to generation for centuries Ma
inche the guide. interpreter. mistress and
afterWarG the wife of CorteZ was born at
Jaltlpan. the third town station from
Coatzacoalcos, and the house in which she
HVeo when the Spaniards came is still
pointed out to strangers. She met Cortez
while he was on his way from Vera Cruz
TO the City of Mexico. Her people and
other coast tribes were at war with the
Aztecs in the Interior. Montezuma and the
other Aztec emperors never exercised any
authority over them. but thew sent I'M
lot OF soldiers to help the Spaniards and
Mallnche evidently went with them and
attracted the attention Of the leader of the
gence
There was formerly a trail across the
lsthmus and many forty-niners went to
california by this route. Commodore VAN
NSG plkt put ii SIern-Wneel steamer
CoatzacoaIcos river, which ran up about
10 miles to the town of Suchil near the
station OF Santa Lucretia on the Tehuan-
tepec railway, and from there he made g
stage road across the mountains to a point
near Salina Cruz on the Pacific coast The
steamer and the stages made the Journey In
thirty-six to forty hours At several places
the old trail can still be traced but 1t is
pretty well overgrown with jungle. Hun
dreds of excited god-hunters attempted
to cross on foot and the bones of many of
them are buried in the deep soil OF the
isthmus There are two living relics two
venerable Americans who became infatu-
ated with the country and returned here to
live permanently after unsuccessful pros
pecting on the Sacramento.
One of them Mr. Woolwch Is the most
important resident of the town of Tehuan-
tepec, and the other Is Jim Bailey, who
lives in the little Indian town of San Juan
Guichicovi near Mogone station, about
twenty miles from Rinson Antonio in the
mountains. He drove stage on the Tehuan-
tepec route for Commodore Vanderbilt un-
til the Panama railroad was built and
travel was diverted that way. Then he
settled down here, married an indian
woman and has raised a large family OF
grown-up, well-to-do sons and daughters,
and it is said that his grandchildren are
too many to count. Mr.. Bailey Is the
richest man in his section He has a
large hacienda and store and has done
good deal of contracting.
influences Of Guichicovi.
The little mountain town in which he lives
is unique and the people are very exclusive.
They have a language of their own, entirely
distinct and different from that of the In
dams around them, and It Is spoken no
where else in Mexico. They have the same
appearance and customs the Tehuana
tribe which occupy this territory, but can
not talk with them. Only few nave ever
learned the Tehuana language, and they
seem to have a prejudice against learning
II When they have anything to say to
outsiders they use Spanish, and their trans
actions with the rest of the world are con-
Quoted In that tongue. They are exceed
ingly clannish, and will not intermarry or
admit other Indians to their town or sell
them land When strangers go to Guichi-
cow they are received Hospitality but are
not permitted to remain permanently. Jim
Bailey Is the only foreigner who mas ever
been welcome or has married in the tribe.
He is a tall Kentuckian, nearly eighty years
old and still retains his vigor and his blue
grass accent, although he has not left the
isthmus for nearly fifty years.
There is a popular impression that the
town of Guichicovi stands upon a valuable
deposit of copper and the surface indica-
lions seem to justify it, but the people will
not work IL themselves or allow prospectorS
lin the neighborhood. There are extensive
mica deposits their land, also, which
have never been worked or even thoroughly
examined. They are all Industrious, intelli-
gent farmers, and raise large quantities of
corn beans and other staples which they
carry on pack mules for sale at the railway
stations. They are contented with their
present condition. They have no desire for
wealth or improvements and ask only to be
let alone.
ANNAPOLIS NOTES.