El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-02-08

, pulled root and all from the ground.
There IS no manure. and the sun, the
I air and the ground furnish all the
plant food. As to fruits, we nave ali
I those OF the tropics and temperate
zones. and that every month / have
/ had straw berries in Mexico at Christ
mas. and even now they are brought
/ to trains by peddlers and sold at a few
cents a basket sugar cane IS grown
farther south, and tobacco IS a favor
I lite crop with the natives Altogether
the soil and meat products which Mex
{ leo is now producing annually amount
| to something like S2O0.O0O,O0O- This is
more than comes from the mines / am
| told that the livestock industry is
/ growing. and that Mexico is about our
only hope for cheap meats In these
days Of high prices.
The Mines Of Mexico.
Every enc knows of the Mexican
mines. They have been producing mil
lions ever since COrtez robbed the
| treasures of the MOnUezumas and thev
are now turning out nearly SSO,OO0,OOO
worth Of minerals every u months. In
this I include only gold. silver. copper
and lead. But Mexico also has noun
tains of iron; it has coal fields which
have hardly been touched, and II has
the greatest OIL 1leLds now DelhS oPeT,--
ated in any part OF the world OF all
these things 1 Will write in the future
Railroads and Electric Plants.
The Mexico of 1913, although now in
the turmoil of a revolution, is inclOsed
in a network Of modern civilization. 1t
1 is one Of the chief railroad countries OF
the earth. and its trunk lines If
stretched end to end would reach more
than half way around the globe. 1t
has about 10000 miles in operation and
there are over a thousand miles more
J that the disorder which has reigned
during the last two years has stopped
the building of railroads. This is true
only of certain sections. The National
railways have considerable track IN
/ der construction and I saw men eXca-
waiting all along the line for new
tracks on my way TO Monterey
q As to electric Plants. the water pow
ers Of the country are being gradually
harnessed, and with others the falls
of Juanacatlan. the NIAGARA Of Mex
leo. are generating electricity. Riding
south over the plateau ] saw the steel
posts Of high power transportation
lines running. for miles through the
desert: and am told that this branch
of industry is on she edge o. It's be-
ginning.
In this connection come ths new fac
tories which are springinE. up over the
republic The steel plant here is now
paying dividends. and there are other
steel works Of smaller size. Cotton
mills have been constructed in many
parts of the republic. and there are
now 142 such factories in operation.
There are many large shelters in the
chief mining districts. and oil refin-
cries will be erected in the new petro-
leUm fields along the gulf coast.
am told that almost all the cities
are growing. and I find that the cOun-
try is a far different Mexico from that
which I first visited. now more than
20 wears ago.
Just now foreign investment is at a
standstin on account of the revolution
airy troubles. but before they broke out.
consul general Hanna tells me. the
trains passing through Monterey were
full Of Americans on their way south
TO the various sections Many Of them
expected to raise coffee. cacao. fruit
and other things along the gulf coast
and others We're to engage in the oil
development that IS going on between
TampicO and VeracruZ.
The people here are sanguine that
the conditions Will improve within a
verv short time, and they predict that
q large immigration from our country
viii follow.
Frank C. Carpenter.