El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-05-21


he sat up very late but he was always
up at the usual hour next morning AND
trailing off through the narrow, wind
ing streets, chased by a sentry, too early
for his staff officers to be up and
about. But he was safe even if he was
| recognized. There were no lurking as
sassins IN wait. All Mexico loved its
patriot president and no French spy
could get through the Gordon Of guards
surrounding the little village on the
south
RePuISed Repeatedly.
Several times the old general rallied
his troops and started south to meet
the advancing army, but each time he
was driven back and forced to take up
his residence again on the very north
ernmOSt point in the country. Finally
the expected aid came from the United
States; cannon, rifles and ammunition,
as good as when shipped from the fac
| tory, but condemned and sold in New
| Mexico i'm such a quantity that only an
| army would put in a bid, and then sold
| so cheaply that almost any general sup
! ply dealer could have paid the price,
| were secured and the march was taken
| up for the last time. With American
| weapons and ammunition, men well
! provisioned and in fighting trim, many
| Americans in the ranks OF the fighters.
the old general and his army began the
| advance that never ended until
| Quaretaro fell and Macmillan became
prisoner and the empire went to pieces.
Americans In Army.
! Many Americans who Iater became
! among the foremost citizens of Mexico
! were in this army and remained in the
country after being mustered out. AL
ward ". Sapp was one of these. Mr..
| Sapp returned to Juarez where he
| courted and married one of the Senorita
| AIirandas, who had been the child com
panions Of the aged president. Mrs.
| Sapp has died since then and her sister,
| Mrs. Ugarte, is the only member of the
| Miranda family now living. She has in
| herited the house at % Ugarte street,
and its contents and, although she has
been offered goOdly price for the fur
| niture, especially the bedstead upon
| which the president once slept, she has
| steadfastly refused to sell and prefers
to keep the historic old house and it's
! contents intact. Mr.. Sapp, when he
| comes Up from his present home at
Villa Ahumada, always visits with his
! sisterinlaw and takes as much pride as
! she in the furnishings and their historic
| connection. The man who lived there
| as a refugee was his chief, his com
| mander, and every soldier of Juarez
! loved him. The man who lived there was
| also his dead wife's girlhood friend who
! loved her as he would have loved his
own little girl so fan away in Wash
| ingtOn If she had been with him, so the
| old house is sacred also to Mr.. Sapp, rs
and as active as most men of 40.
The Interior of Juarez's Room
With the exception OF a few modern
chairs, everything in the front room of
the house at % Ugarte street shows age,
great age. First the eye may catch a
painting of some obscure saint made no
" q SnS iSh n Ia
ago. This picture seen through the
canopy frame OF the bed In the illustra-
ton on page one is that of president
Lerdo, and at the left is a painting of
postmaster Ugarte, whose widow still
lives in the old house Of old things
Directly back of the bed stands
time worn chest of drawers, made &C
cording 70 the memory of Sonora Ugarte
by a visiting American carpenter who
stayed for time in JuareZ, how long
ago her memory is not certain. On the
bureau stands a clock of French manu-
facture. 1t has remained motionless in
its glass case for 80 years or more. It
kept the time when Benito JIarez oc-
cupied the room. Its motionless hands
complete the picture of antiquity.
A Contrast.
The contrast between the stay of Gen.
Juarez in thel little border city 45 years
ago and the Visit there only last year of
Gen. Porfirio Diaz. the present ruler Of
the nation was great. Juarez came tired.
dirty. riding upon on Gid wornout mule
and rode into the city unrecognized and
Unheralded, at the head Of a few thOus-
and defeated and thoroughly discour
aged, half starving troops. Attended only
by few aides attired in tattered cloth
ing and. foOtsOre from long forced
marches. the president of the republic
wendell his way through the narrow,
Il nj tO Of bic frio
Don. Guadalupe Miranda, where he slept
on a little single bedstead and was
thankful for the substantial meal Of
beans and chile left over from the fam
lily supper.
Visit of Diaz.
DiaZ came in a special train, built
especially for the comfort of the chief |
executive of the nation, attended by
dozens of uniformed aides and officers |
and secretaries, preceded by five or
six of the best bands in Mexico, hand |
somely uniformed troopers, the pick of |
the Mexican service, scores and scores |
of secret service men and cabinet Of |
ficers, and was received by salvos of |
shouts and saluteS; brass throated can
non roared whistles blew and bells |
rang as the chieftain stepped upon the |
soil of the city. For weeks carpenters |
and decorators had been building a |
special banquet hall for him and re- (
decorating the custom house so that he |
might not miss the comforts of Chapul- i
tepec; even the Chapultepec silver serv- |
ice was brought under special guard !
for the presidential usage and many OF |
the handsome paintings in the Mexican |
National palace were taken down and |
brought to JuareZ that they might de- |
light the eye of the president and his /
guest. Triumphal arches and columns |
were erected and electric lights were /
strung Ior miles along the thorough
fares he would traverse. Streets were |
paved for him to drive upon and SOL |
dierS lined the entire distance wherever
he drove. 1t was the second time |
JuareZ had been the temporary capital F.,
of Mexico and the contrast was great