Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-01-26
GOVERNMENT TAKES HAND
Investigation Begun Which Prom
ises to Do Some Good.
WOULD FIGHT ADMIRAL EVANS
Hailed as Fighting Bob," He Came
Near Being Challenged for a
Contest in Ring.
Foreign Correspondence OF The Star.

MEXICO CITY, January s. 1912.
Doubtless the time will come when
uexico's national theater the construc-
ton of which was commenced seven
wears ago. will be completed, but it may
be styled monument to graft.
Beautiful in it's outlines and contain
;ne rho best materials obtainable Mex
leans have long told strangers with JUS
tifiabIe pride that it was to be the most
magnificent playhouse on the American
continent, adding that its cost when
completed would be 10000 600 pesos. Now
the government is waiting for the reports
of its experts to know just what part OF
this sum has been wasted and what part
can no saved without altering the plans
of the architect.
The investigators turned up informa-
ton that has resulted in the arrest oil
the chief mason, who is charged with
having carried away enough building ma
terial to enable him to erect few pri-
vate residences for himself. He denies
the charge.
Within the first week Of the year the
investigators claim to have found proof
of frauds amounting TO 100000 pesos.
They allege that supposed SOLID cemen.
parts specified in the contracts have oeen
made with gravel cores and the con-
tractors paid $3.50, Mexican currency.
meter. when the material supplied cost
about $40 A division with those nlsner
nm" Is limited at. Carrara marble, which
figures largely in the construction OF the
building, appears to have been sold and
resold to the government
Building Now Sinking.
But there is another problem connected
with the theater that is worrying the gov
crnment officials more than that OF the
.:spected graft The building is sinking.
spite of the honest opinions of skilled
experienced engineers it appears
me one made a mistake in his calcu-
Iations
The building covers the greater part
of a block The subsoil of the capital
is the bed. of an ancient lake. At
a depth of six or eight feet water Is
encountered, and below nothing but mud
for q great depth. The engineers de-
structed of layers Of steel beams joined
in one great bed of cement. On this
steel and concrete base, sunk twenty Feet
or more below the surface, the structure
was that if it sank at all it would do so
uniformly. and that scores. possibly nun
dreds, of years would pass before the SUD-
sidence was perceptible.
The following figures just taken snow
how far from correct the calculation was:
The southeast corner has sunk tribe
more than half meter; the northwest
corner has gone down 1.OS2o meters: the
northeast corner has sunk O.S1S and the
southwest corner O.8SS meter. Every
earthquake has caused the. structure to
settle bit lower, and the Shock of June
lowered one part OF the building twenty
five millimeters.
A Commission Of engineers has now
20 he on on a.
ton and report the best method OF pre-
venting further damage
President Madero is a friend of the
poor. but not Of the poor mans
drink" Through one of his cabinet
posts he has promulgated an order that
hereafter dealers in pulque must close
their doors at pm. instead of Z o'clock.
and on Sundays and feast days the clos
ing, hour will be noon instead OF pm.
The tax on ''pulQue shops has also been
increased some 33 per cent.
Hailed as Fighting Bob
The late Rear Admiral Evans probably
never knew how near he came to being
challenged to prize fight during the
visit to Mexico which he made soon after
he was retired. He had. been heralded
as Fighting Bob and upon his advent
his exploits formed the one topic Of con-
yersation in sporting as we'll as In other
circles.
Among those who listened was local
aspirant for pugilistic honors who mas
since learned more OF the game In the
United States. His knowledge of AFFAIRS
was limited, and 1t did not occur to him
that the title of Fighting Bob could
have been earned outside the prize ring.
The talk aroused his jealousy, and finally
summoning all his courage he confided
to his friends that he had determined
to have it out with the foreigner as soon
as q bout could be arranged. The joke
was passed around the capital before
the defender Of Mexico's sporting honor
was let into it.
Two sisters and a brother OF Mexico
president expect to sail before the end
OF January from San Francisco FOR
Japan, from where they will visit before
their return via New York almost every
capital of Europe and Asia. Emilio Ma
dero who gained prominence during the
revolution by personally leading an army
of insurgents. has been named to present
to the mikado the thanks of this country
for Jarans participation i'm the centen-
NAL celebration i'm 1910. His sisters, who
accompany him. are the Misses Angela
and Mercedes. This commission had been
given to Porfirio Diaz, jr.
Bothered by crowds of job hunters, the
president has caused to be opened at the
department Of interior bureau to which
all applicants must go.