The Norfolk weekly news-journal., 1911-04-14
SIDE LIGHTS ON OLD MEXICO
AND ON HER NEW REVOLUTION

t.'u lo llpt t-UEt Ht sea- titi iuls uulll
they shall have paid for them In full"
An amusing incident happened in
Guadalaiara not long ago. Two ciu.
2ens Of that place whose estates ad-
joined were constantly engaged in a
wordy war one OF them was a chick
en- fancier, and the other prided him.
self on his vegetable garden.
A vagrant chicken which had wan
dered beyond the precincts of the fan
ciers chicken run invaded the vege.
table garden of his neighbor. The
chicken enjoyed itself hugely among
the lettuce and tender sprouts of the
garden until discovered by the pro.
prietor, who Immediately called in the
services OF a gendarme.
The officer of the law thereupon ar
rested the chicken and hailed II before
the comisario of the district, who en-.
tered on tie police blotter a charge
against the fowl and incarcerated it in
the Jail. Notification was then sent 10
the owner Of the chicken setting forth
the tale OF Its depredations and inform
ing him he might release his fowl and
reclaim it by the payment OF $40. The
chicken is still in durance vile.
A man was Knocked down by troll
ley car recently and was Immediately
arrested for iniuring the car, as in fall
ing the buttons of his coat scratched
the vanished surface of the vehicle.
The City Of Mexico is possibly the
best policed metropolis in the world,
but It's officers, while vigilant, take
every instruction given them in q lit.
eral sense They will arrest anybody
or anything that violates a city ordi.
nance.
a., A short time ago there was q col.
lision between two automobiles, one OF
the machines being so badly damaged
that it had to be left at the place
where the accident occurred. The per.
sons occupying the machine were
promptly bundled into the auto which
was able to proceed, and the entire
| party went TO the police station.
| But that did not excuse the broken
car. 1t was formally arrested on the
| spot and an officer detailed to see that
it did not get up and limp back to its
| garage. By some chance the broken
automobile was forgotten for two days,
ut the end of which time the police
captain discovered that he was shy one
Gendarme. Investigation discovered
the gendarme asleep in the machine.
| where he had camped out ever since
! charged with its care. And it is very
cold up on this Mexican plateau at
| night as the City OF Mexico is mO.e
| 'han mile above sea level.
Fires are few and far between in the
| City OF Mexico, as most OF the build
! ings are built either of stone or adobe
with walls two feet or more in thick
ness. The fire department is there
| fore elementary in character, and who
II turns out on parade 1t resembles a
dog and pony circus. The engine is
! about the size of 4 teakettle and is
| Spiritedly dragged around by a little
! long cared burro
There was a fire in photograph
gallery not long ago, and the depart
ment was called out The gallery was
situated on the third floor, and the to-
tally inadequate engine was unable to
get stream that high. When the
! fire company arrived at the scene the
| iefe in charge lined all of his men up
along the sidewalk and carefully call.
ed the roll before they We're permitted
to get busy with the fire. The fire,
of course, took every advantage Of
this opportunity, and by the time the
| firemen got on the job it was beyond
control
Among the fire fighting equipment
was small extension ladder and it
| required fifteen minutes to erect it.
and then no one seemed to care to
ascend it, and they cannot be blamed
in view of what happened afterward.
Finally, some five minutes after the
ladder had been set in place, one
brave soul essayed the ascent, and
lust as he reached the top Of the lad
der il collapsed and slid together.
| This landed the daring fireman op-
posite the second story balcony.
He stepped off on the balcony into
safety and was rewarded with thun.
der OF "bravOsw from the spectators
below. Tipping his hat in apprecia
ton Of the applause, he stood there,
the admired OF all beholders, while
/ his companions in arms below cheer.
ed as wildly as the rest. Having
faithfully performed their duty, they
watched the fire burn itself out and
then called policeman and arrested
it, also the proprietor because in Mex
eco II fire occurs in your establish
ment you must tell the authorities all
about il. give your real name and be
glad TO escape with life sentence.
Raising Toads For Market.