Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-05-09
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RICH md LAX TOWN
People Of Durango Easily Salts
fled and Without Ambition.
GREAT PLACE FOR TRADE
Center Of Mining and Fertile Farm
ing District.
GREAT PLACE FOR TRADE
RECENT HoLD-uP BY AMERICANS
Big Profits to Be Made From Corn and
Beans-Hard to Get Land-Large
Estates Kept Uncultivated.
BY WILLIAM g. CURTIS.
Special Correspondence Of The Star and the Chicago
Record Herald

BY WILLIAM E. CURTIS.
Special Correspondence Of The Star and the Chicago
Record Herald
DURANGO. Mexico May 3. 1906.
Durango is rich old town. 1t is
rounded by resources of unlimited value,
mineral and agricultural but there seems
to be no disposition to develop them. The
town appears to be asleep. Perhaps 1t is
due to the lazy worm that affects the people
of certain sections OF our southern states.
Perhaps 1t il the climate. Perhaps the Du
rangeros easily satisfied and are con-
tented with what they've got But, what
ever the reason may be. there is evident
indifference In this community to the idle
wealth around 1t. II a few hundred ener
getic Americans could come down here they
might make fortunes. provided they did not
fall victims to the enervating atmosphere
and adopt the INDECENT habits of the people.
When was here ten years ago the most
interesting thing In town was a new theater.
which was being erected by the state upon
classic lines. 1t Is still being erected. The
work of construction has been going for
nearly half a century. and within the last
ten years to my certain knowledge several
courses Of handsomely dressed stone have
| been laid At the present rate Of progress
| the building will be ready for opening to-
sample Of the way things are done here.
| The only busy people I have seen are the
washerwomen. who occupy the municipal
wash houses, free public laundrieS that
| look like Grecian temples. with cold water
| running through sluicas in the stone floor
and little pools. to which the housewives
and professional laundresses can come and
| stay all day and wash as many clothes as
| they like. Everything is free. 1t Is only
necessary for them to furnish their own
soap. And these novel institutions are
great blessing. They enable the poor people
| of Durango to cultivate that virtue which
ranks next to Goodness. And, after scrub
bling all day. the tired laundresses can re-
| fresh themselves by plunge in the pool of
| cool, pure water before they return to their
homes. 1t would be a good idea IL some
phianthropists would establish a few public
laundries like those at Durango in the ten
ement-house districts of Chicago and in
those sections Of Washington where the col
ored people reside.
Important Trading Place.
Durango is an important trading place.
1t Is the center OF supplies for large
and rich mining district. but, although It
Is not far from our boundary line and
| train comes In from San Antonio every day.
| Americans do not take much part In COM
mercal affairs Most of the merchants
are Germans. There is an up-to-date
American grocery on the plaza which keeps
a line Of canned goods and provisions such
as the miners use and does a good busi-
ness. The telephone service Is in charge
of American. There is an American
sawmill and planning mill and there are
three American bars. The large retail
stores. however, are full OF goods from
Germany and are conducted by Germans
in the oldfashioned, conservative. Euro
pean way. They occupy the best business
houses in town and are on the busiest
corners, and the owners have made for
| tunes by charging high prices and praotic-
ing economy. Everybody tells me that
few up-to-date American stores would pay
big profits.
The leading hotel at Durango is kept
by an American with American cooking
and other ways of doing things. and 1t is
said to be the best hotel in Mexico, which.
| however is not much, I do not think
there is country in the world. unless 1t Is
the interior of China. where the hotels
are so uniformly bad as they are In Mexico,
but the manager Of the Rlcheleu Hotel
here says the trouble is with the servants.
7 think IL would be a good idea for Fred
Harvey to bring down a few carloads OF
pretty mattresses such as you find in all
of his hotels and restaurants on the Santa
Fe system and see what he can do toward
hotel reformation.
Hold-Up by Americans.
Mr. lie Roy, the painstaking and
thoughtful consul of the United States here,
tells me there are about 100 Americans in
Durango 500 in the surrounding mining
districts and about 1900 In the neighbor-
ing town of Torreon. Three of our most
enterprising fellow -countryTnen are hors du
combat, as one might say, and are likely
to be for the next few years unless their
time is reduced for good behavior. They
endeavored to Introduce one of the popular
American customs into Mexico and held UP
a train on the Mexican Central railway at
Berneullo TWO of them sneaked into the
express car at station and covered the
messenger with their guns. The third went
into second-class car, pretended to be
drunk and refused to pay his fare. The
conductor stopped the train to put him
off. This gave the men in the express car
an opportunity to get Off with their booty,
| their con1rade Joined them, and they took
| to the brush.
| Ingram, has been q bartender by trade.
| another, Mr. Whitaker. was formerly In
| the United States customs service on the
| border. having secured his appointment by
a civil service examination, The third, Mr..
| Parish, is a miner. These gentlemen d.
| vided about $4,000 in silver bullion belong
| ing to the Mapimi Mining Company. q
/ Mexican corporation under German man.
| agement, and then separated Mr.. Parish
| went back to the mines and resumed work
| as usual. although he was Immediately sus-
| pected and placed under surveillance. Mr..
| Ingram undertook to escape from the coun-
| try on foot. but couldn't find water and
| had to seek for 1t In a village. where he
| was arrested. Mr.. Whitaker stole horse
1
| rurale or mounted policeman who attempt
| ed to arrest him. He will be tried for MUIR
| der and for horse stealing when he finishes
| his ten years sentence for train robbery
| The Mexicans are quite generous. however,
| In their allowances A term Of imprison-
| ment Is counted from the day of arrest
! X the convict is not allowed to go out
4 on ball. and six months each year are
| deducted for good behavior. Therefore,
| these gentlemen viii have to serve only
| about four years instead OF ten. for which
| they were actually sentenced. It was the
| first train robbery that ever occurred in
Mexico.
Senator Stewart of Nevada used to have
/ big interest in the San Miguel Mine near
/ here, but somehow or other he lost 1t. Mrs.
| Bessie Stewart Hooker came down here
/ not long ago to try to recover some of her
fathers interests. but did not succeed.
Big Profits In Corn and Beans.
| 1t may be more prosaio and 1t does not
sound so business-like but there is more
| money in cuitivating corn and beans than
| In gold or silver or copper mining Corn
| or beans will pay better than coffee or
sugar or rubber and there is no risk. There
| is more money in corn and beans than in
| any other industry in Mexico except rails
| ing peppers. but they are troublesome and
risky. When farmers in this locality In