The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1909-09-10

Leaving Mexico City and travelling
eastward on the great plateau OF
Mexico some $50 miles to Esperanza
you reach an elevation of 5000 feet
Here begins the descent toward the
coast, and while you are lunching, the
train takes on an engine which, when
you see it, makes you begin to ex'
pect something, and you are not dis
appointed. This engine Is marvel
Gus piece of machinery built in Eng
land especially for this road. 1t is
double engine with four cylinders
and two smokestacks, one at either
end. One huge frame holds all the ma
chinery. The engineer stands in the
middle and operates both engines
with one lever
A few moments after leaving Es'
peranza, one of the most beautiful
landscapes on earth spreads out be-
fore you. On the right, the mountains
rise up in gigantic columns of basaltic
rock, on the left one looks down 4,OOO
feet upon the vale of La Jolla (the
GEM with it's tropical vegetation, and
beyond, to the fertile fields OF Nal
trata.
Your train clings to the side of the
mountain; revines and gorges in their
wild and awful grandeur meet the gaze
at every turn. You cross bridges ap-
parently stuck into the mountainside.
One, Gel Infernillo," carries you
across a veritable caldron 1000 feet
below. Here and there one catches
a glimpse of shaded glens where ex-
quisite ferns and flowers of dazzling
brilliancy grow beside the tinkling
streams and the brown trunks of fall
len trees are covered with brilliant
parasitic flowers.
Winding in and out of tunnels, the
train crawls like a serpent along the
steep mountain passes until, after a
three hours ride, the first stop is
made at Maltrata, which, from the
top of the mountain, looks, with its
cultivated fields, like a checker-board.
Here you find yourself on the border
of the temperate zone, and a different
class of people entirely are the In
dams who swarm about the train, Of
fering for sale mangoes, zapotes,
chirimoyas and all kinds of tropical
fruits and flowers.
Leaving Maltrata, the train rumbles
on through the mountains. Every time
the whistle blows, the echo thunders
and reverberates like the charge of
heavy artillery. Reaching the town
of Orizaba about five o'clock, you are
at the edge of the "tierra caliente."
Orizaba is a quaint old Spanish city
of some $4,000 inhabitants, nesting in
the foothills that form the eastern
slope of the great volcano from which
it takes it's name. Orizaba, the an
cient Citlatepetl Of the Aztecs, the
Star mountain, it's crystal cone spark
ling like a star, may be seen more
than 100 miles at sea, and it is the
first glimpse the traveller by sea has
of this land of romance. 1t was called
by the Spaniards who first landed at
Vera Cruz, La Estrella del Mar"
The city of Orizaba is one of the
oldest in Mixeco, and retains it's old
Spanish atmosphere almost more than
any other town in the republic. The
houses are mostly adobe, though some
are of stone, and all the windows are
covered by iron bars like cages. which
stand out over the narrow sidewalks.
Often the interiors are very beautiful.
Many people of wealth make this their
home, for it is the center of the great
coffee, sugar and tobacco country.
There are several interesting
churches here. The Cathedral, which
occupies square in the center of the
city, has several oil paintings of un-