El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-05-06

Few little towns on the map In
Mexico have enjoyed as much publlclty
In recent DAYS as EscdlOn. from W1lcn
late i'm March the rebels were driven by
the federsis IS far back as Eellano,
eleven miles distant, where on the
high hills the rebels became 1mbued
with new life and defeated she onrush-
ing government troops
EscalOn IS not much OF a town Tor
any mans presence and much less an
army The town is located in the cen
ter Of a desert from which the sand
rises in whirlWinds TO a height Of
sometimes zoo feet and then falNs and
sweeps over the country for miles,
turning day into night for the moment
and after that remaining Cd Inn for per
haps a few minutes and tnen exercising
itself into another whirlwind. BuE
these sand Whirls and sand storms are
not looked upon by the ordinary peace
1ul population Of EscalOn as handl-
cap, for most Of the regular inha bitants
are workers and look upon these Pc
culiar gyraIiOns OF nature as matter
Of course and 20 and come accordingly
A pretty good excuse for the village
and its three hundred souls Is the fact
that it is the terminal point of the
Mexican Northern railroad which 0p-
crates 10 the mining town Of Sierra
Mojada, a distance of one hundred and
twenty-five kilOmeters- and, besides,
the company operates its railroad shops
in the town. Also there are several
large ranches a few miles out and on
one OF these. the Remedies, there is a
large salt mine, but IL has not been
operated in recent years A short
distance south Of the Remedies is Sit
uated the GARLIC salt mine, which en-
plOys about thirty or forty hands.
most Of whom live in EScalOn. This
property supplies the greater part OF
northern Mexico with salt
six days in the week, provided no
saints days come these Industrious
EscalOniaus labor, sunday being given
over TO worship IN the old adobe
church. itself q relic of former and
better days before the advent of the
railroad, when the town was big
trading point.
In those days money was plentiful
and prosperity rampant But in 1888.
came the engineers Of the Mexican
Central railroad Six months later,
the first locomotive with a train of
came came through. Then a good part
Of the owners Of transfer teams were
compelled TO sell, because almost
everything coming from TOrreOn and
Jimenez was being shipped over the
railroad
About two years later. work on the
Remedies salt mine was abandoned
and. though the number employed
there was not large. II was looked
upon by the storekeepers as severe
blow 10 the town Finally the last
straw broke the cameTs back, when
in 1887 a New Yorker by the name OF
TOWne. owner OF q large silver mine al
Sierra MOjada- decided il would be bet
ter TO build a railroad from EscalOn
gut TO his property, so he sent q
young engineer named V p Stafford,
who by the way is the present
manager of the road. out 10 survey the
ground and make a report, Stafford
reported faTOrably on the route and
IN 1888 the project was completed and
other mines In the district began ship
ping their ore over the road. and the
livelihood of the mule and burrO
freighters was gone.
But the town is again in the lime
light and this time is making real his
tory IT was in Escalon that the rebels
were stopped on their way TO TorreOn
by the federaIs along about March 26,
the tederals driving them back 10 be-
tween RellsnO and CorralitOs when the
rebels rallied and in turn drove the
1ederals off the map The village has
all kinds OF structures constructed IN
all manners Of shapes and sizes But
one thing the ereclers agreed on ana
that was adobe, ali, with the exception
OF two being built of that material
one Of the two exceptions is the mod
ern bungalow. erected by Mr. SaLIOrd,
me manager OF the Mexican northern
railroad, who is now adjOurnlng In the
States FOR his health"
This bungalow stands as a mansion
In q desert, with its eight rooms ana
bath and large wide veranda, and Is
punt OF wood throughout except Tor
the plaster on the walls and ceilings
The house is deliberately furnished, in
Guiding a music room with an elegant
grand piano with player attachment
and several string instruments; also
billiard room.
After the battle near COrralitos. Col
Jose Flores AlatOrre. the leader Of the
rebels. trOOped into town with his men
and naturally his secretary. Capt Is
peron, looked about for an available
dwelling place for his chief Neigh
oors who did not like the Idea Of haT-
ing their houses made headquarters Tor
q revolutionary army on the march,