The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1913-02-21
Victor Tenney Relates
Mexican Travel Story
From MONDAYS Daily.

The Free Press the story told by A.
c. Westermayer of his experiences
in Mexico, recalled the time when
he made trip of over seventeen
hundred miles through that country
To Free Press representative Mr..
Tenney related several interesting
details of his journey.
81 started from Jurez," said Mr..
Tenney, Just across the line from
Ell Paso Texas. From there | went
via the Mexico Central railroad to
the City of Mexico, where the fight
ing is now being carried on. ! re-
member distinctly the Zokolo, or pub
lie square, of which Mr. Westermayer
spoke and the public buildings on
each side of it. On one side is the
plaza, where, in times of peace con-
certs are given. The MeXicans are
a music loving people and their fas-
tidiouS taste for music brings some
of the best talent to them. / went
from Mexico City to Pueblo on the
Mexican Southern and from there to
Ohaka by way of the Queens Own
railroad. This is an old narrow
guage line and the locomotives used
are about half size and still use
wood for fuel From there l went
to the Isthmus of Tuhuantepec, to
the Port of Mexico where | embark
ed on a steamer for Galveston.
Cause of the lnsurrection.
"The cause of the present insur-
rection is simply the fact that the
natives have been so downtrodden
that they are unable TO live through
it. They have been misled by the
false promises of the president and
although Mexico is a republic. they
really have no voice in electing the
president. The chief executive is
elected by an electoral college for
six years. and the ruling president
controls the electoral college. The
president usually stays in office I'M
til he is deposed by a rebellion. The
poems receive so scanty a wage for
their labors on the estates of the
royalty that they are almost starv-
ing most of the time. All the land
is owned by the ruling class. When
president is elected he makes enor-
nous land grants to his favorite gen.
erals. In going from JureZ to Mex
leo City 7 rode for over half a day
on a fairly good train across the
estate of one man. The fiendish
liquor which the natives drink is al
so responsible in large measure for
the tea pot" instructions. 1t is
worse than our forty rod" whiskey.
Besides the pulque which they make,
they have another devilish kind of
booze called mescal which is made
from the juice of the cactus. The
cactus is buried in the sand and al
lowed to decay. Then the fermented
juice is squeezed out and when
peon gets a few drinks of it he be-
comes a veritable demon incarnate.
Tortured Diaz Brother.
when Diaz was president he was
strongly allied with the Masonic
lodge. His brother, who was also
a Mason once went to Pueblo and
was there kidnapped by some of
Diaz' enemies. They took the broth
er up in the mountains, tied him
hand and foot and proceeded. very
methodically to skin his feet. This
done they let him go. When Diaz
heard of this atrocity he sent a regi-
ment of the rurales to Pueblo and
every one of the men who had any
thing to do with the torture of his
brother was killed in cold blood
In travelling by train through
| Mexico one can see here and there
ancient hacendas, the homes of the
rich planters and also ruins of old
castles and citadels. Some of these
are extremely beautiful. But the
majority of the people are very poor
and live in matched huts. The con-
ditions existing in the native settle
ments are disgustingly unsanitary.
In some Of the villages the streets
are followed out in the middle in
stead of being raised as ours are,
and the hollow in the street is the
public sewage system. The meth
DDS of agriculture are very elemental.
Dress Is Scanty.
The dress of these poems is very
scanty indeed. They wear short
trousers, an abbreviated shirt, sandals
on their feet and enormous sombrer.
os, made from the fibre of the cen
fury plant. on their heads. The SOM
breros have a lead weight in the
crown to keep them from blowing
away.
/ They are extremely dark complex
Toned and have straight black hair.
Slave-like conditions which exist have
made the disposition of the native
/ Mexican surly and treacherous, but
when he is treated with a reasonable
| degree of consideration he is a peace
| loving easy going person. He has
no desire for war and murder. but
has been driven to it by the tyranny
of the ruling class.
Mexico is a land of many fruits
] tasted over a hundred kinds of
fruits there that / had never before
heard of. Some agriculture is car
ried on, but in very primative
manner. Wooden plows drawn by
oxen are still used. The climate of
southern Mexico is the finest in the
world. Everything, believe, that
can be grown anywhere, can be
raised there. One has but to go up
or down a mountain to find tenn
perature suited to the kind Of prod
uct he desires to raise.
Before leaving the Port of Mex
leo | felt my first earthquake shock.
1t was over hundred miles away
and entirely wiped out one village,
destroying over thousand people.
BY placing my ear close to the
ground | could feel kind of rolling
motion not unlike to the motion of
a ship. When | left the Port of