The Ely miner., 1911-09-22

Il" 1t the lure of easy money and
swinging hammocks, and
there is a popular feeling that fortunes
wait for the hustling American who
ventures into the land Of the Monte
Eumas.
Americans look upon the Mexican as
an untutored and childlike individuai
who cannot compete with Yankee
shrewdness. Sooner or later the ad-
yeuturous financier of the northern re-
public ventures across the line into
the southern republic and invests In
a banana plantation, dye wood con-
cession or a mine of ineffable rich
ness
Fleeing the ''gringo" has become
an established business In those arid
lands that lie to the west and the
south of the Rio Grande del Norte. A
stream of good American dollars Is
poured across the line into the land
of tomorrow" The Mexican has taken
a leaf from the book Of the dead and
gone boomers of the old boom towns
of the prairies. The recent insurrec-
tion has stimulated business of this
sort, but it has been well established
for the last decade.
Fakers Looking for Victims.
You can buy anything you may hap
pen to desire among these transient
promoters of the resources of Old
Mexico They have aped the advertis-
ing Of the legitimate concerns that are
honestly endeavoring to open up cer-
tain rich sections Of the backward re-
public. The fact that many colonists
have made money in the new lands
has made business good for the faker
and the swindler who have followed in
the steps of the honest promoter.
Many of the plausible tongued gen.
tlemen who come up out Of Old Mex
leo to sell plantations are Americans.
sun tanned. saturnine men, with a
gift of tongues. The great majority of
them, however, are gentlemen with
saddle colored compilations and Cas-
lillian accents. They let 1t be known
that for reasons not unconnected with
the disturbed conditions of their home
land they must sell. Their descriptions
of their very great plantations roll
from practiced tongues.
They will sell you anything from a
sugar beet plantation to salt mine or
gold mine. They prefer to deal in
those lost mines," of which all trace
vanished before the revolution Of
1885, Some old Indian in their group
of family retainers has, so the story
goes, recently rediscoyered this place
of fabulous richness. The plausible
gentleman cannot return, and work
this mine. He will be thrown into
Jail or he will be prosecuted by his
political enemies. Alas, he needs
money now, at once. He must sell,
and he usually does sell. The gold
brick has always been a weakness of
the American.
Banana plantations are one of the
main standbys of the dark skinned
promoter. He always has many pic
lures. They are photographs of beau
tiful banana groves, with himself
standing well in the foreground. Big
punches of tie fruit are dropping over
his shoulder, and around him are a
number of white clad halfbreeds, to
whom he refers as his "peons"
His language rises to iridescent
heights as he describes the $50 grand
hacienda" and the vast acres that sur
round mis- home. His tongue fairly
drips gold as he describes the fertile
land, the glorious climate and the
certainty Of fortune to the lucky
man who grasps the providential op-
portunity.
These gentlemen with the smooth
and versatile manners invade Amer
ican cities. They work very cautious.
ly and very quietly among the sort
OF people. who dream of getting rich
over night by some lucky speculative
turn. They stop at the little out OF
the way hotels and tell tale of perse
cution that accounts for their secre.
tive movements.
4 Talk for the Investor.
AS q rule the swarthy coloring, the
Castilian accent and the photographs
of the plantations, concessions, rubber
groves and banana forests are all that
the promoter needs In order to con
vince his victims.
"Ah. but see, senor," he exclaims
"here Is the station of the railway
that is located quite near the haci
enda." AS he talks he rifles through
bunch of Mexican photographs, Sc
1ecting one now and then with much to
edify his listener.
You will see thai there Is uansporta
tion for the minerals, the fruits and
the dry stuffs from the plantation
Then, too. senior. the labor is the
cheapest. Dc you see IN this picture
the mozos who work for me? All, but
they are contented folk, who will
work and work hard II properly han
died. 1t is the Senior American who
would know how to handle these pa
tient workers. Dangerous? Not at all
and very temperate"
IN tfe southwest they cut their eye
teeth on such tales and pictures Ions
since. The business of marketing i'm
aginary banana plantations and arid
wastes of sand for sugar beet fields
has languished there for years. 1t has
forced the promoter to penetrate far