The Springfield herald., 1913-05-09
UT of the land OF the "Greaser"
and into the domain of the de-
scendants OF Montezuma rode
a party of American civil and
mining engineers one day in

scendants OF Montezuma rode
a party of American civil and
mining engineers one day in
December.
From the Texas border the party
went by rail to Mexico City where
week was spent in seeing the sights of
the Mexican capital.
When the outfit of the party had
been assembled, and servants hired.
preparations were made to leave the
capital over narrow gauge railroad
to Puebla, in the state of the same
name.
Like many OF the prosperous Mexi-
can mining towns tucked away In the
mountains, the general public has
heard very little of Puebla except
through the dispatches of the war
correspondents" 1t is city of $4,000
Inhabitants. The shops cater to the
love of finery which has descended to
the natives from the Spanish don. Ev-
erywhere can be seen Americans.
most of whom are interested in some
mining venture in the nearby noun
tains.
On the way to Puebla the famous
Tehuacan Springs are passed and the
drinking water furnished tourists for
hundred miles along the railroad is
from the springs. No One seems to
know just why the water is healthful
but popular opinion says 1t is.
After leaving Puebla the party con-
tinued along the railroad to Ella
Once the center of onyx mining. this
little village has lost much of the snap
and enterprise that foreign adven-
turers gave 1t in the past. 1t is q
sleepy town now.
Oaxaca. home Of the Diaz family
and center Of innumerable revolutions,
was reached early one morning. When
within 10 miles or 80 of the city, run
ners from all of the hotels in Oaxaca
came on board and tried to book the
party for their respective houses.
At the train muscular poems took
charge Of luggage which was heavy
and numerous. These short, sturdy
natives had no difficulty in singing
trunk weighing ITS pounds onto a
strap which they supported by sand
around their foreheads. They carried
the trunks up the rough mountain trail
to the hotel which was perched on a
small peak overlooking the lowland.
They didn't stop when they had reach
Cd the crest, but continued to the Sec
ond floor of the hotel before taking the
trunks from their straps.
oaxaea and Vicinity.
oaxaca is the chief town of the state
of Oaxaca. 1t is now a city OF $4,000
persons. Juarez. revolutionist or sav.
ior-it depends upon your politics in
Mexico-lived there. 1t is about T.
900 feet above sea level. Americans
are numerous. as there are many silver
and gold mines in the vicinity. Just
south of Oaxaca are many plantations
that raise cotton, sugar cane and cof-
fee.
At Oaxaca the travellers left the rail-
road and climbed the mountain trail
to Miahuatlan. This town, situated
about 70 miles from Oaxaca. has an
electric lighting system.
The road kept getting rougher FL
nally it was necessary to forsake the
horses and hire OK carts. This plan
worked fine until, thoughtlessly, the
drivers were given some advance
wages. Too much pulque left the
party without drivers. SO an engineer
was drafted as OK driver. The next
day all of the drivers returned for
their Jobs, and were hired c. course.
The engineer crawled 40 miles up
the mountains to the crest where a
flne piece of timber land, $4,000 acres.
was situated. Part OF this timber.
which was all white pine, had been
operated for turpentine. The forsak-