Los Angeles herald., 1906-06-18
AUTOS CAPTURE
SOUTHERN PEOPLE
HoRSELESS CARS BLEND WITH
MEXICAN LIFE
Climate Of Tropical Country Is
Such That the Horse
Is an Uncertain
Quantity

Inc Deautlful environments and the
climatic conditions of Mexico are such
mat the automobile has blended itself
with life in the southern cline. The
Following vivid description Of the
progress of the horseless machine
among tropical scenes is taken from
the special automobile number of the
Mexican Herald:
1t is to be wondered whether there
was not some dim glimmer of the COM
ing of the horseless age I'm the mind
or the Empress Carlotta when she first
saw from the Chapultepec gardens
the beauty of the road which she later
mad laid out, straight away from the
gates of the castle park to the heart
of the city.
The Paseo de la Reforma Is one of
the most beautiful drives in America.
Tor horses and carriages, and a view
OF 1t in the afternoon, along toward
sunset. when 1t is cool and still light,
is one of the most enhancing pictures
in all Mexico, and has been, since the
empire down to today. But yet, along
It's edges are speedways, where auto
mobiles can travel over its spaces at
lightning speed. covering its beauties
IN short time and reaching the castle
in a moment.
The distance Is covered and the beau
ty is not lost, and the long straight
| stretch makes it an ideal course for a
ride within the city. The government
has provided magnificent roads here
for automobiles, and here they come in
Groves and long cavalcades, flying at
nigh speed, and gathering in the air
ana breezes, and making the enjoy
| ment of ride out the Paseo doubly
great.
Magnificent Roads
And until the drive is lined to the
castle gates with beautiful residences,
this quick transition from the city to
the castle must be much superior to
that in the slower horse-drawn car
riages, except. indeed, on feast DAYS
and Sundays. when the throng of pass
ing vehicles presents such an attrac-
| tive picture.
| Mexico is full of automobiles. One
| can stand on any corner of the Pa SEQ
almost any day and count the ma
chimes, as they go past with the min
utes. And on holidays and Sundays,
the number almost equals that of
horse-drawn vehicles. 1t is now well
on toward ten years since the automo-
pie was first made practical We
hlcle, and for more than seven of those
years the motor car has been popular,
and ever Increasingly so, in Mexico.
Arstocrats' "Motor"
1t is now being taken IN bv the
most conservative of the old Mexican
| families, and although it has not vet
! displaced the horse as the mark of
| gentility of those families. it has taken
its place, first through the enthusi-
asm and good favor of the younger
scions of those houses. and now. to a
great extent, with their heads.
/ Almost any day one can see an official
j OF the government or one of the old
| arlstoerats of the country riding the
| streets in his most approved type of
touring car, and in many cases himself
! at the wheel. for this his midday recre-
alton before dinner. There is hardly
one of the automobile houses of the
city which does not claim as a Gus
toner some of the highest classes of
| Mexicans
The foreigners are also we'll repre-
sented better, in fact, in proportion to
the size of the colonies than are the
Mexicans as yet. The automobile in
Mexico has the backing of the most
influential and highest people, and in
this way its future is, after a fashion,
| a thing assured.
When the automobile was first nut
on the market in disable FORM some
| twelve years ago. there was great deal
of talk and discussion as to the fate of
the horse in war with this travelling
| machine. Much was said pro and con
by men who could only foresee and had
nothing in the past upon which to base
| their Judgments. The vast and apid
development of the automobile gave
horsemen grave questionngs, and the
replacement of the horse for many pur-
poses was confidently expected.
Has Come to Stay
But the years have brought an adj
justment and the automobile. in most
lands, has made its own place as
pleasure carriage par excellence. but
Oh,
of the horse. The place of the horse as
motive power for drays has been taken
to only slight degree, and the en-
croachment seems to have been stopped
during the past two or three years.
Yet when one stops to look over the
situation here in Mexico one finds one
self wondering whether there is not
here room for a revival of the discus
sion of the fate of the horse in compe-
tition with the improved automobile
of today.
Conditions in Mexico as regards
horses are unique. Horses of good
breeding and those serviceable for most
purposes and long periods are very
expensive to purchase, a good horse
commanding from $500 at the bottom to
$4,000 at the top in price. The cost of
maintaining horses here is high. and
in addition the climate in Mexico is one
of the most deadly in the world for
horses, both imported and native bred.
The high altitude and rare air, COM
bined with the chill that is almost in
evitabe with the fall of night, make
pneumonia an ever present evil and
the danger of it excessive Other dis
eases, glanders, etc, are common, and
altogether. when one buys a horse, one
can never be sure of how long it will
live or what it's time of usefulness
will be.
The automobile has been improved
so much within the past few years
that its possibilities for town and
country travel are almost unlimited,
and even OH bad roads 1t is as reliable
and far more speedy than a horse I'M
der the same conditions. AS truck
and for heavy work, various types of
automobiles, notably the electric,
have been proven successes, although
their successive first cost and main
tainance makes them unpopular in
most countries.
Horses Come High
But here, with the high cost of horses
and maintenance, and the compare
lively short time of usefulness which