El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1914-02-14
Will History Repeat Itself At the Battle
of Torreon? Massacre of Chinese Recalled
F T0RREON fans before the con-
quering aIms of ca. Flaneigeo

r F TORREON falls before the con
quering arms of Gen. francisco
Villa, VIII history repeat itself
WlI Gen. Nlctoriano Huerta, provisional
president of Mexico, resign?
These two questions Just now are over
shadowing everything else III the MeXi-
can revolution.
It was on May Is, 1911, that Torreor
Was captured by the AladerO rebels, FOL
lowing which occurred a horrible mas
sacre Of Chinese residents, several hun
dred of them being slaughtered by the
vanguard of the attacking forces. I'M
mediatelY following the battle and the
suppression OF the rlOtOus disorder at
tending the fall of the city, and as soon
as the news was officially confirmed at
Mexico City. president POrnrio Dlaz de-
cided to leave Mexico.
On the morning of the 18th of May,
1911 the following message was re-
ceiyed by Gen. Emilio MaderO. in com
mand of the revolutionary forces at
Torreon:
Monterrey. n. L. 10 de Mayo 1911.
Gen. Emilio Madero. TOrreon:
Armisticio terminara Lunes once noche
mana Presidente Diaz hoy presentO hoy 81
renuucia. PanchO vendra Mexico arregi az
con de Ia Barra nuevO cabiuete siguiendo
CSigned5 Ernesto Madero.
Monday night at II. treaties of peace. win
be signed today, OF tomorrow. President
Dlaz presented his resignation today; P4nchO
goes to Mexico to arrange with de IN E.a1ra
new cabinet. succeeding as extra official
commissioner
Torreon Ideal Military Base.
A glance at the topography Of the
country and the resources Of IOrreon
VIII enable one to understand its lmpOr-
lance as a military base OF great
strategical advantage. A general IN
preston prevails that the fall OF TOrreon
viii sound the knell of the present fed
eral government; that such an event
would be followed by the resignation OF
Gen. NictOrianO Huerta. Gen. Nenustl-
anO Carranza and Gen. Francisco Villa
regard TOrreon as the key to the sltua-
ton. Earlier in the revolution 1t was
the intention of Gen. Carranza to make
TOTreOn the capital OF Coahuila
Important Railroad Center.
Torreon is a railroad center, located
in what is known as the "Laguna" or
lake country, which lies partly in Goa
hula and partly in Durango. 1t is a
country of wonderful prOductiveness,
wltered by the annual overflow Of the
Nazas river. Vast crops of cotton, corn,
alfalfa various fruits and vegetables
are grown, and the cotton plant, as IN
Egypt, becomes a perennial, and does
not have to be planted Oftener. than
once in 10 wears. It is reported that
upwards of $4,000 bales of last seasons
crop is awaiting shipment, and that
Gen Huerta Is exceedingly anxious to
prevent this valuable property from tall
ing into the hands of the revolutiOnists.
City Has Many Industries.
Torreon is also an industrial center of
great wealth and Importance The city
possesses an efficient electric street rail-
way system. connecting 1t with the near
by towns OF Gomez PalaclO and villa
Lerdo. There is located at TOrreOn a
smelter of immense capacity, the larges'
guayule rubber plant in the world, the
largest soap factory in the republic, an
uDtOdate rastrO and packing plant, an
iron foundry, a bronze foundry with
facilities Tor casting cannon, cotton
mills. Touring mills, q big steam laun- F!
dry. i've banks, several hotels. two hos
pitals and a magnificent public market. /
At Gomez Palacio are other mills, IN /
Guiding a well equipped shoe factory. 1
and near at hand is DinImita, the dyna. I
mite mandatory of the republic, the /
product Of which has figured largely {
IN many of the sanguinaTy battles of
the revolution. TorreOn, in proportion
70 Its size, has the largest foreign COLONY /
OF any city in Mexico, made up Of Chi
nese, Americans, Germans, English, /
French and other natiOnalities.
The MaderO family owned large in
berests at IOrreOn, and many of It's in
habItants had personal reasons for hold !
ing Francisco ]. AIaderO in the highest /
esteem and affection. The city stands 1
almost on the state line about midway 1
between FL Paso and Mexico CITY. but a 1
short II hours from Monterey and Sal /
tlllO, the capital of COahuila. and six j
hours from the CITY of Durango. the I
capital of the state of Durango, famous /
Tor Its surprisingly rich mines. prOdue-
INC copper, gold and silver; its noun
tain Of iron. a wonderful natural curios-
lty, which it IS estimated contains over
600.00O,00O tons of 81 percent pure iron.
The iron mountain is called GEL Cerro
de MercadO.'
COahuila Third Largest State.
The state of COahuila is the third !
largest OF the Mexican union. and one /
OF the most fertile. The state of Texas
was formerly part of COahuila. In
1850 the congress de Ia union declared !
Coahuiia free and sovereign state of |
the AleMcan republic. The canita1- Sal
tillo meaning Little FaIls(. near where
was fought the bloody battle of Buena
lsta- between the Mexicans under Gen.
Antonio Lopez de Santa Ana and tbp
americans a under Gen. cold Hickory"
TAYLOR
Saltillo. known legally as 'Leona Vi
carlo, is beautifully located. 1t was
settled by the Spanish adventurers IN
Ioio, VINO transferred number of Tlas-
calan families to the region. where
many of their descendants are found to
this day.
TorreOn an Objective Point.
AJ the beginning Of the revolution.
soon. after the tragic death of senior
Aqulles Serbian, the federal Government
and the chiefs Of the revolution began