Imperial Valley press., 1908-03-28

1lmeS, WHO WfOte the SKeJCn or w.. F Holt recently reprinted in The Press, went down to Magdalena Bay to meet the battIeships and he wrote a story of the trip that is a delight to those who know what good news paper work Is and joy to every appreciative reader. Carr did a job that would make a skyscraper reputa- tion for a New York reporter. A characteristic bit is this description of the little Mexican town.
 Magdalena, where we went ashore, Is the south end of a Boston pipe dream. Some capitalists, who had read sea stories about the riches of the south seas, got what is known as the Hale concession from the Mexi- can government.
 A respectable rattlesnake couldn't support family on it. At the south ern end, where the concession curls around Magdalena, the promoters built a little toy town, which lay there drowsing in the sun until Sullivan burst in about six weeks ago and told them about the fleet
 They didn't care much about the fleet, but Sullivan gave them a shove along about three centuries into the living present.
 We met Sullivan. He is a cyclone. An ex-Philippine soldier, Sullivan got 8 grand hunch in connection with the arrival of the fleet He loaded up a ship full of booze and cigars, and sailed for Magdalena.
 As soon as he got inside the harbor Sullivan ran afoul of the magnate of Magdalena bay William J. Heney, nephew of the imitation graft prose- cutor of San Francisco, is the mag nate of Magdalena. He is about as agreeable as his uncle.
 He refused to get up and receive the officers of the fleet who called, but lay in bed all day and peeved. Oh, what blow to the fleet!
 When Sullivan got ashore, Heney wouldn't give him any drinking water and wouldn't let him sleep in any of the houses. There isn't any water in Magdalena; they have to bring it forty miles across the bay.
 ! Not daunted, u Sullivan borrowed enough water to keep alive from the Mexicans, and camped out with his booze on the beach until a wandering warship came in few days ago for target practice. The sailors gave him some targets, and he made house of them.
 s Then came a Mexican gunboat, and forbade him to sell booze. So Sul- Nvan has to take it out studying the population.
 F Tn this metropolis" says the blythe Sullivan, there are thirty-nine men and twenty-nine women and about 1000 kids, also burro and two cows And, so help me, Pm not going to leave the place until I find out how they live. Since I have been here, not 8 single person has done anything like work. Honest, they won't even FISH, although the harbor'S sloppy with fish, s, 8
 Sullivan has set out to educate the Mexican officials in being up to date; when they get stiff-necked and tie Spanish red tape around things, Sulli- van comes putting in "Aw nix, Tony, for all this naughty talk. Come on! Gee, be accommodating" And Tony comes. If Sullivan stays in Mazda lena he will have the place about four laps ahead of the calendar,
 The One Boiled Shirt.
 Next to Sullivan, the most important individual in the town is the man who owns the boiled shirt.
 No one knows how or where he. came by it. He's big, solemn Mexican.
 Every time ship comes into the harbor, he goes into his house and puts on the boiled shirt and stiff collar and stalks about with majestic mien. When the ship goes away, he takes of the shirt and rests until another ship comes. No ships ever stayed so long as this fleet will. Unless Ramon, the shirt wearer, has two boiled fronts, there are hideous complications ahead.
 A large part of the population of the village seems to be policemen. They wear immense sombreros with large silver G on the side. If they were American policemen one would imag- inc that G stood for Graft.
 All the sailors from the armada who come ashore want to buy the sombre- ros from the policemen. This so alarms the policemen that they run into the houses when they see sailor and peek cautiously out crack of the door. There is sort of head policeman who struts about in gor- geous uniform and plays chess with the postmaster.
 There is a certain pathos clinging 4O fhfS IittIo town At tha Water's