The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1913-11-13
MEXICO AND
THE MEX|CANS
Will Give the United States an I'M
mense Amount of Trouble if
We have q War

Editor Star: | have seen in our
home papers some statements about
Mexico which | think are giving
your readers a wrong impression re-
garding the country and its inhabi-
tants. A number of years ago l had
an opportunity to obtain some
knowledge at first hand of Mexico
during prolonged stay at the cap
ital which / visited not as a tourist
who sees only the best hotels and
travels along beaten paths, but as
student desirous of information. Be-
ing able to speak the Spanish Ian
guage fairly we'll, | boarded with a
Mexican family and saw and heard
many strange and novel things. Dur
ing the time of my stay | even had
the good fortune, if | may call it
such, to witness a small revolt at the
capital city, very unusual occur
renee during the Diaz regime. Diaz,
it is true, was not president at the
time, but had put one of his hench-
men, Manuel Gonzales, into the
known to himself My first impress
sion of the country | received in
VeracruZ. We were quarantined and
had to anchor outside the harbor
two old Indians living on the island
guarding dilapidated graveyard
where great number of French
soldiers were buried These had
died of wounds and diseases during
the occupation of Mexico by the
French. 4 very suggestive fact in
the light of present events.
The trip from Veracruz to the
capital is wonderfully interesting.
The railroad, a marvel Of the en-
gineering art, ascends in a few hours
5000 feet from the seashore to the
central plateau right to the foot Of
b big Orizaba mountain, whose enor-
nous cone-shaped, snow-clad sum
nit. 1900 feet high. can be seen
far out at sea. All the country tra-
versed by the railroad is of course
~ery mountainous. At one place one
can see a piece Of track a thousand
feet below, which was traversed by
the train an hour before. \ few
bOulders rolled down the mountain
side or dynamite cartridge explod-
cd under bridge would put the
railroad out Of commission for many
days. To lead an army through
these narrow valleys or up the steer
mountains and keep the commnnica
tions open to the sea would be ar
enormous strategical feat and nc
Sunday school picnic for our soldier
and sailor boys, should the Mexican:
put up any fight at all, which the!
certainly will do. The Mexican
army is largely underestimated
Quoting General Grant does not de
scribe present conditions, now tina
the methods of warfare have chang
ed so completely 1t may be true
that the general saw poorly equippe.
~svalrymen on small, scrawny, half
starved horses, at that very remote
time in the 40's. The Mexican horse
men of today rank among the best il
the world and their mounts are o
good quality, the very best for fel
service. They are not large bu
wiry and enduring, need but lfttl
attention ana are we'll adapted I
the country and climate. Havin
been discharged from active servic
in the German army only a shor
time before. | had an eye for thing
military and must say that l ma
never seen finer troop than tn
Mexican 'Rurales. To be a poo
horseman lowers you in the esteer
OF the Mexicans and they even hav
an extra word of contempt in thei
language for such man. The thou