The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1911-04-22

Army could 60 down TO Mexico ana
capture the whole revolution. both
sides Of It, with their tambourines."
is the humble opinion Of Leon A.
Watts, who has recently returned af-
ter a years stay across the border.
Born on one of the widest Of from
tiers, his early life spent punching
cattle and repelling night attacks OF
cow-stealing 'greasers." Watts is a
typical American soldier Of fortune,
says Robert z. Pinkerton. in the Mil
waukee Free Press. And, what with
campaigning through Cuba with the
Rough Riders, service in the Philip
pines, and breaking horses for the
United States Army at Fort Riley,
Kan, his life-story reads like a Rich
ard Harding Davis novel" But Watts
was educated at the University Of
Texas. and is only an adventuner by
avOcatOn, his real calling being thar
Of engineer. This. however. he re
CARDS as more dangerous than fight
ing, more dangerous than any he has
witnessed in Mexico, at any rate. He
relates:
The battles are a joke. / saw one
where they fought all day. fired 5000
rounds. and the official count Of the
score was eleven killed.
3 If the insurgents win one or two
, decisive battles, It is all OF with Diaz
Except the rurales and the federal
artillery. none Of the federal troops
are loyal In Mexico, you know. the
,convicts compose the standing army
They have to corral them at night and
stand guard over them. instead Of put
ting them on guard duty.
In Mexico when a man goes On a
tear and shoots up a place, or com
mits some crime. he goes into the
army by force. The army, as a re-
suit, is willing to turn against Diaz
any time. and it viii whenever the
insurgents get the upper hand
The rurales, however. are a good
body Of fighting men; in fact, they are
the highest paid soldiers in the world;
getting $50 gold per month when
there is no fighting and S275 per day
when they are in active service.
Originally the rurales were an or
ganization Of bandits. about 5000
strong. They did so much damage.
and resisted capture so well, that Diaz
took them over as his personal body
guard as the best means OF getting
rid of them
They are wonderfully good horse
men, and wear the gaudiest uniforms
you ever saw, but they can't shoot
no one in Mexico can shoot They
wear $1,000 worth Of gold braid on
their clothes and a ton OF silver on
their sombreros. They look gaudy
and warlike. but the Salvation Army
could start them running.
They always speak down there Of
their affection for Americans. says
Watts, but a"Hingo" wants TO watch
out after dark. He says in part:
The Mexicans treat you fine to your
face-they are the finest people on
earth-but move one eye around 20
the back Of your head after dark. and
always sleep with one eye and Ons
ear open.
An American living in Mexico today
wants to have timber trigger finger
and when once he does unlimber his
artillery. he wants to let his six-shOot-
er get the hiccOughs.
They have less use for Americans
than the border citizen has for "greas-
ers."
I've been a target all my life. from
the time I began punching cattle on
the Rio Grande, where was born
and am ready to 90 back 10 Mexico
any time.
The whole trouble, he recalls. was
caused by a Mexican's attempt to kid
nap a white woman down in Texas
near the Rio Grande:
A bunch Of Texas cOw-punchers
strung him up and burned his body
That started a bunch Of Mexican stu
dents in Mexico City, who tore down
a few American flags and showed how
they felt toward citizens Of the Unit
ed States. Then, Of course, the Fed
eraI Government had to step in ana
stop them to show that the Govern
ment had no hard feelings toward
their country. That gave the insuE-
gents their chance, and the revolution
has been going ever since.
But 10 a white man, the Reyoln-
ton is a joke"-for they don't know
how TO fight Their battles Sound
big enough" and they burn 80 much
H. 4