The Detroit times., 1911-06-01
BY WILLIAM q. SHEPHERD.


the big things In the insurrecto war
have happened in the lobby OF the
marble Sheldon hotel at FL Paso.
Most OF the heroes live there. All
OF them plot there, standing about In
small groups, or sitting in the lobby
chairs, looking much like laxative
drummers.
Evening is the proper time for see
ing the war" in the hotel lobby.
In a rocking chair sits Col. Steever
OF our own fourth cavalry. He Is gos-
siping with Judge Carbajal, personal
representative of Diaz
A bevy of laughing women, dressed
in black, pass through the corridor.
AmouG them is Mrs. Madero. wife Of
the hberator. and two Of his younger
sisters. They are on their way to the
cafe for merry dinner. An elderly
man, with dark whiskers, carrying an
umbrella and wearing an alpaca coat
An old-fashioned business man
gets batch of kilograms from the
hotel clerk and takes the elevator for
his room. He Is Francisco Madero,
father OF the insurrecto leader
Here stands Michael Brennan, the
roofing salesman of Birmingham, Ala,
who took his vacation at this time
to get into the fight with the insur-
rectos, He used to sharp-shoot every
day and at night sneak through the
federal lines to the river, cross to FL
Paso. where he could get good
nights sleep at the Sheldon hotel aud
then hurry back, early in the morn
ling before the battle was renewed,
sneak through the lines again, at the
sssa "a ais s11fB get his g1rn and start
to work again.
Here's lank young Englishman of
30 They call him Forbes. His
clothes are magnifcently cut and
new, but torn. Everybody knows his
name isn't Forbes. He has one OF
the best suites in the hotel. During
the battle of Juarez he hired livery
horse, rode over into the insurrecto
trenches and got permission to fight
with them. He had a rifle which was
the wonder OF the entire army. 1t
cost $500 and he said he had killed
elephants and tigers In India with It.
They put him to shaFp-sheeting and
the insurrectos will tell you that this
young mysterious Englishman must
have killed at least thirty men, with
his deadly aim, during the three-day
battle.
You'll see ragged Americans in the
lobby crowd. They were insurrectos,
but, because of the stories oil AIaerf
can footing during the fight. they
have been dismissed from the Ma
dero army. They complain to every
one who will listen, particularly to
the newspaper men, that Madero
hasn't treated them fairly. Most of
them are jobless adventures, but any
Mexican insurrecto will tell you that
these fellows led the attack on Juarez
and fought best of all. They won't
tell you their right names.
Passing in and out among the
groups are the newspaper correspon-
dents from various corners Of the
world. Chances for American inter
vention appear to have created an in
terest In the Mexican situation in all
civilized countries. Mysterious suave
little Japs stand about. Mysterious
Germans, mysterious Italians, myster-
ious Englishmen, listening, talking,
but telling no one why they are here.
Half dozen United States secret
service men chat In a corner.
Through the lobby passes Mayor
Kelly OF FL Paso, who does not seem
to be able to recover from the aston
ishment which arose when FL Paso
suddenly became a center Of world
interest. With him Is the chief of
police, who has 20 men. In Texas
fashion they pass out to the barroom.
Men in khaki-ferce looking men
-Orozco, Blanco and Villa-insurrec.
to generals, clank through the corri-
dor to the stairway, scorning the elc-
vator. They are going to see Ma
dero, the elder.
Here In this lobby they gather
representatives Of all the clashing
interests, men from both sides, and
men who may be on sides that have
not as yet developed. Some OF them,
before this is through, may be dead
ly enemies. But they chat and Cos.
'lsip and exchange salutations, just
as IL they were merely guests at
some summer resort hotel.
Over at Juarez the insurrecto camp
is quiet. The evening fires are dying,
though II Is only 8 o'clock. Most OF
these insurreotos are farmers. The
life of a soldier is strange to them:
many OF them are afraid OF their own
guns. Here in Juarez Is the fighting
machine-oyer at FL Paso are It's