Bisbee daily review. [volume] (Bisbee, Ariz.) 1901-1971, 1907-11-10


length of the road every other day
/ Usually il makes no difference if il
starts an hour or so late. but If your
ship comes into Altata so there is not
| quite time to get the train, it moves
out strictly on time. and you must
wait on the sandy bar, infested by
| fleas and hogs for as hours. There
is the alternative of hiring a special
train for 100 pesos or an handcar for
less. ] knew a time when there was
| 2 fiesta at Navilata, which is a vii
| lage 20 miles from Culacan, down the
road. and a special train was run. ad-
vertised to return at a certain hour
But the gambling fraternity paid the
railroad company to start out on th-
return Is minutes ahead of time with
out notice, so the jewellers had moth
ing to do but spend the night and next
| day at Navilata, feasting, drinking
and gaming. Doubtless the specuIa-
ton paid.
That steel UNDERTAKING. for rolling
stock is no new thing is shown BY the
fact that both freight and passenger
cars of this road constructed in Eng
land in the SOS, have built-up Thar
| frames. The original equipment OF
cars and motive power is still in ac-
| tive service.
If one is going into the sierras pros
pecting or examining properties he
needs, first of all, a good moza, or ma
tive servant; one who knows the
roads and stopping places, the people
all along the route, costs in that part
of the country and can, if possible
speak a little English. But it will be
very hard to get a moZo with this lat
ter Accomplishment. 1t behooyes the
traveller to talk little Spanish, in
fact il is essential that he shall
Enough Spanish for finding ones way
about and for incipient bargaining can
be picked up easily. but it is another
matter to learn the language. There
are idioms and shades of meaning in
the Castillian Spanish that are very
hard to get, and that require years of
practice. 1t is remarkable that so
good Spanish is spoken down the west
coast, in fact all through Mexico; that
is, by the higher classes. II is trib-
ute to the colonizers OF old Spain and
shows what a remarkable lot of men
they were. For my part / have never
been able to agree to the constantly
recurring statement of the superiority
of the Anglo-Saxon race as coloniz-
ing power; the great southwest, both
sides the international line, still
shows the impress of Spain in Ian
guage, customs, laws, religion, struc-
lures and manner of life. What other
race has so indelibly affected a con
tinent that generations after its hand
is lifted the region is still an adum
bration of it's original?
Mules are better than horses, for
this part of Mexico at least. They
know more, will travel with less care,
feed on less and poorer provender,
are safer and less affected by changes.
but they cost more. This is but =
minor matter. the mere first cusl
should not be too much compared
With comfort, safety and speed A
good gated mule. we'll shaped and
sized, will cost from 100 to $50 pesos,
and should be an animal that will
maintain a running walk almost with
-
u fiii5 sed IS impossible
for man or animal, I have travelled as
much as so miles a day on such a
mule. and grought him to the end of
a journey of several hundred miles in
DCtLtI IOulltilOA tllsAl "ilCh We SldElto
poor animal. mule or horse, could
never have made the trip at all.
Animals can be hired or bought, pref
erably the latter; packmules can usu-
ally be hired of the moza. This man
viii attend to all bargaining along the
way. but in addition to his wages
there is a little graft he expects as
commission on every purchase. 1t is
ii 3 ~. - N,-f-~ -,
country where one has been before,
the mozo is not necessary, but even
there he saves time enough to pay foI
himself. On the trail the mozo is ex-
pected to do the work with the ami
mails, to be out soon enough in the
morning to finish his work and make
the start possible for as early an hour
as decided on, to saddle the mules and
load the pack animals, to settle with
the keeper of the fonda, or whoever
in the village should be paid, and to-
have general charge. II is advisable
that the traveller let his mozo 10 all
this work, even though it hustles him
to point where one pities him. Hell
not work too hard, and II he learns at
first that mis- employer knows ~aat IS
expected. he will be easier handled
ttIOuE0Oul Tie IMP i4ete-i- u ViAG "
sfres TO help, his assistance viii do
no harm.
The southern part of Sinaloa is
within the tropics, and the west coast
is not high; so it is hot. The custom
of a siesta is old and, like many other
ancient things. is good. Failure TO
follow it may mean fevers and gen
eral ailments. One should keep I'M
der shade during the heat q the day.
especially in the summer. My party
was on the trail three months and
none OF us had a sick dav. Water IS
usually good in the country though
in the cities one should look out for
it. IN the back regions there are no
sewers, OF course. therefore no drain
age OF filth into wells Pollution dries
up and blows away, or is eaten by the
domestic animals. Community village
wells are frequently sunk in rock and
walled with concrete from the ledge
to above surface.
Travelling is difficult in any part OF /
the region except the coasted plains. !
and or these no mineral may be look
ed for. Behind them the sierras rise
to heights of from 1000 to 5000 Eeet.
the slopes are steep, the canyons
-