Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1914-02-06
OWNS % MILLION ACRES
The Worlds Greatest Landlord 10
General Terassas of Mexico.

General Terassas OF Mexico.
The Duke Of Sutherland, who is said
to be the greatest landowner in Eng
land with his 1,35S,000 acres, has
scarcely room enough to turn around
on when his paltry holdings are COM
pared to those Of Gen. Luis Terassas
Of Chihuahua, Mexico. Take map Of
Kansas, draw a line down the center
of it north and south, and the eastern
half Of 1t will be about equal in area
the holdings Of Gen. Terassas. In one
body of land the general Is said to
have something like s million acres,
while the whole area he owns is said
to equal % million acres, or approx
mately 43,750 square miles. Probably
no other man in the world owns 80
much land.
Enrique Creel, son Of an American
father and Mexican mother, Is SON.
in-law Of General Terassas, and a self
mad man. In the process Of his maxi
ing he Is said to have accumulated a
fortune second only to that Of his
father-in-law, and his land holdings
comprise more thousands Of acres
than can be counted on ones fingers
and toes. The combined properties
comprise more than half the state Of
Chihuahua.
Except when revolutions are revolut-
ing, Terassas and Creel between them
practically own the state Of Chihuahua
and the city Of the same name. Just
now they don't own any Of 1t for prac-
tical purposes since neither Of them
dares put a finger across the boun-
dary for fear that one Of Villas sharp
shooters will shoot it off, But ordi-
narily Terassas Is the feudal lord Of
Chihuahua and Creel is his chancellor.
They own the banks, the breweries,
ly every other industry in the city and
the state. They own mines Of gold
and silver. and almost everything else.
On the huge ranches there roam un-
counted cattle, sheep and horses. One
estimate made some years ago, before
the rebels began to use the generals
ranches and stores as their commits
sary department, was that Terassas
thousand sheep and one hundred
thousand horses Working on the plan
Of exacting most Of the profit for him
self, the general operated his own
slaughter houses, where approximately
one hundred thousand sheep were
slaughtered each year.
On this ranch there used to be ap-
proximately two thousand employees.
There the general lived like a baron Of
old in a castle Of the typical Mexican
mission style Of architecture. His
town house, too, is a castle, and fur
nished as BELTS r. man whose wealth
can only be conjectured, but which is
estimated at anywhere from 200 mil
lion to 500 million dollars.
Between piling up money and man
aging his vast properties, General Ter
rassas found time, under most Of the
Diaz administration, to be governor Of
Chihuahua, and acting on the well es-
tablished Mexican principle Of keeping
good things in the family, he appoint
ed Enrique Creel, his son-in-law, the
acting governor to do the heavy work
General Terassas came honestly by
his title and the foundation Of his
wealth, for in the troublous days Of
the French invasion, and afterwards,
he fought hard and often, first against
the imperial forces and afterward
against the church party. In lieu Of
money paid for his services the gov
ernment paid him in land, and that
was the foundation Of the fortune and
the small empire which he now owns
The general is now "a years old, and
has lost the craving for excitement he
possessed in his earlier years. which is
one Of the reasons he hot-footed out
Of Chihuahua when the revolt started
for the more peaceful California,
where there is nothing more serious
than an occasional earthquake to dis
turb him.