Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1909-03-09

In some respects Torreon is the most
remarkable place in Mexico.
1t is now city of nearly 10000 inhabi-
tants. Seven years ago it scarcely had
1O,OOO people within its limits.
1t is at the crossing of two great trunk
lines of railway-one running from the
City of Mexico to FL Paso, Tex, and the
other running from Durango, Mexico, TO
Eagle Pass, Texas Besides these main
lines there are several shorter and less
important roads entering Torreon.
This most modern and progressive of
Mexican cities is the metropolis of what
is called 1.-THE Laguna District" which
is a very rich and we'll irrigated area,
more than a hundred miles long, in
which the most wonderful crops of cot
ton are both grown and manufactured.
1 have been told that one mans crop in
this district last year yielded him half
million of dollars in gold.
Besides this cotton crop of the La
guna District" most of which is manu-
featured in Torreon, the city is the CEN
tire of great mining industries, by which
much copper, lead and silver, as we'll as
some gold are taken from the surround
ing mountains Cotton factories and
smelters stand close together here.
There is also a huge factory in which
a carload of soap is turned out every
hour. The company is capitalized at
s., 100000 gold and has another plant at
Durango.
Besides all these immense enterprises
there are many smaller plants such as
furnaces, foundries, brass-bed factories,
mattress factories, etc.
Such an aggregation of industries ere
ates a demand for banks, and no city Oh
like size with Torreon in the Western
world has as much banking capital m
vested in it. The "Banco de La Lagund
alone advertises paid up capital OF 81
/ 800, coo gold, ard there are many others
| A wealthy Chinese merchant mas just
| erected very handsome building on the
| first floor of which he has opened q
bank for the accommodation OF his couh-
trymen living in and around Torreon.
There is an electric car line which con-
meets the city with the neighboring towns
of Lerdo and Gomez Palacio, and a
| company composed of Chinese has under
construction another electric line Tor lhe
convenience of their section of the city
But of all the industries in Torreon
the rubber plant is the most interesting,
Growing wild throughout the state OF
Coahuila is plant called guayule whlch
was ngNconsidered worse than worthless
But a few years ago it was found to
Weld when macerated and properly treat
| cd a gum like that of the rubber tree. "A
| large establishment was at once set up N
| Torreon, perfectly equipped with machln-
| cry, for the manufacturing of rubber
from the plant and it is now turning ou'
large quantities of this valuable product.
! 1t is quite an extensive enterprise, and
it is conducted with the utmost reserve,
not to say secretiveness. The quantity OF
the output is unknown to all except the
managers and the price obtained for 1t Is
also unknown. The process of its manu-
/ facture is not proclaimed, and few people
are admitted into the establishment. An
exception was made in the case of certain
members of our party all of whom being
preachers it was perhaps supposed that
they would lack either the motive or the
ability to do harm to the concern by
such knowledge as they might obtain by
passing visit.
One risks little in saying that this IN
dustry pays it's owners quite as well as
do the silver mines their owners. A little
botanical knowledge has turned worth
less shrub, growing on the bare hills and
plains of Coahuila, into treasure rich as
the heart of it's mountains. Yet some
practical men, so called are accustomed
to deprecate scientific studies and to speak