Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-07-19
NOT BELLE GUINNESS
Woman in Mans Attire Travels
Through Mexico.
WAS SEEKING INVESTMENTS
Widow of Clergyman Mistaken for
Notorious Murderess.
EXAMINATION BY AUTHORITIES
Experiences on Trip Through
Strange, Unfrequented Country.
Battles in Mountain Stream.
Special Correspondence of The Star.


MEXICO CITY, Mexico. July Is. 1908
An American woman travelling through
the wilds of the state of Chiapas, Mex
leo. dressed in mans attire, and supposed
to be Mrs. Belle Guinness, the notorious
Indiana murderess. proves to have been
Mrs. X. NJ. Cameron. widow of minis
ter of Parkersburg. w. Va.
Mrs Cameron was the subject of diplo-
matte correspondence between United
States Ambassador David Thompson and
the State Department at Washington
Her appearance far in the interior OF
the state of Chiapas aroused the sus-
picion of local authorities. Her descrip-
ton was wired to the federal authorities
in the capital and then placed In the
hands of Mr. Thompson.
Mrs. Cameron was on an investment
seeking mission. Her daring bravery in
going alone where no American woman
had ever before been seen is the subject
of much comment in Mexico.
Recital of Experiences.
She has reached this city on her re-
turn journey to the United States. She
gave the following description of her trip
and experiences:
Il left Mexico City the evening of May
% and was gone five weeks. 1 slept on
the decks of four different vessels as
we'll as on canvas beds and on hard hide
beds. compared to which a board would
have been soft. During my journey l
ate and lived in dirt-f1oored bamboo
houses and spent one night in bodega.
where lizard a foot and half long.
one of the chameleon family, dropped
from the palm-thatched roof onto my
bed. 1 guess he was as badly scared as
L from the way he lit out.
1.-The journey of sixty-four miles on
mueba"k which l made would not have
been much If on a good road, but on an
Indian trail, where the trees, vines and
brush were scraping the animals sides
while they climbed half the time at an
angle of forty-five degrees, tell you it
was no picnic. The Indian boy of eight
cen years who was my guide got drunk
and for three miles rocked and swayed
until / thought he would fall off his mule.
was glad whenever an overhangfng limb
would give the fellow a swipe across the
face and waken him.
MY first days ride was twenty-four
miles. i was so tired and used up that
l was sick and could eat no supper. A
kind old Mexican woman bathed me all
over in aguardiente. Next morning, after
eating a breakfast of eggs. black coffee
and tortillas 1 was in the saddle again
at o'clock.
ZIP LILO 4AOu0Ld4A 0LACdus
AT noon of the second day we came to
beautiful mountain stream and l told
the boy that we would lunch and rest.
had my alcohol lamp along and made hot
coffee and had cold chicken, cold tor
tillas with salt, and dried prunes for des-
sert. After the meal 1 told the boy that
he could sleep, which he did in short Or
der.
''Then took off shoes and stockings and
bathed my feet. But that only made me
want to take bath. So 1 made a bath
ing suit out of two towels / had along.
Going around bend in the stream which
was fifty feet wide and eighteen inches
deep, with a smooth rock bottom, 1 can
truthfully say that l never enjoyed a
bath SO much in my life and 1 have been
to bathing resorts galore.
1.-The water was clear as crystal. Had
1t been muddy l should have feared alli-
gators. The only thing that disturbed me
was a crab which took a nibble at the
bottom of my foot, but was kicked loose
instantly.
Il know l violated the laws of hygiene
by going in bathing Immediately after
eating. But l felt good effect from 1t
and l stayed in an hour and half, al
though the water was 50 and the atmos-
phere o.
Il carried thermometer and found the
temperature from Frontera, state of Ia
basco. to Ell Encanto, In the state of
Chiapas. varied less than twenty degrees.
1t lowered between IS and 81, with Vera
Cruz 1872 in the shade.
Il visited four fincas, as they call the
rubber. coffee and henequen plantations,
and was treated royalty everywhere. espe-
cially at Aqua Clara and Ell Encanto.
The managers of these f1ncas are all Ger
man gentlemen, but white women are.
scarce.
AT Ell Encanto there are two beautiful
and accomplished Mexican ladies, the
mistress of the house and her sister.
They have a beautiful home, consisting
of one-story concrete house, surrounded
by twelve-foot porch From the porches
can be seen fine fat cattle In their pas
lures. through which runs the Ell Encan-
to river. in which the ladies and myself
enjoyed bathing every day.
Mistaken for Mrs. Guinness.
miles higher up into the mountains on
muleback to investigate the situation as
regards mahogany timber lands, finding
there was much excellent timber, but SO
situated in inaccessible places as to make
1t exceedingly difficult to get out and
transport to mills. 1t was there at Ell En-
canto that l had the experience of being
mistaken for Mrs. Guinness and was ex-
amined by jefe politico from Ell Salto
del Aqua.
II suppose that attention was first
called to me on account of the fact that
l was travelling alone and that 1 was an
American woman of about the same age
as the Indiana woman. 1 never knew
hiw much authority the jefe politico had
for the examination he put me through,
because 1t was not until l had started
back to Frontera that l discovered what
had been examined for. AS it was the
jeje politico from Salto del Aqua made
the trip of sixty-four miles to FL Encanto
and came to the headquarters of the finca.
where l was stopping. stating his bust
ness to the German proprietor. but not
mentioning the matter to me; so that 1t
was not until we had eaten dinner to-
gether that the matter was taken up
II had, however. some intuition that his
presence concerned myself. but all the in
formation l got was what l could draw
from the character of questions he asked
me. He wrote down all the answers, and
1t took us nearly three hours to finish
the questions. They covered my whole
history, my fathers history and my bust
ness. If I had been the deepest dyed
criminal I could have made satisfactory