Arizona sentinel and Yuma weekly examiner., 1914-05-07
WAR IN MEXICO HAS
 A NUMEROUS SIDE.

in Mexico for his paper, has written a book of his experiences and observa- tions in the southern republic, "The Real Mexico" just issued by Mcbride, Mast & Go. Here is what he thinks of the army of General Huerta:
 In Vera Cruz as well as in the cap ital the press gang had been busy seizing men off the streets to be sol
 diers, so that the army might be brought up to something like its nor nal strength. It is because he, is obliged to resort to such a method of recruiting that General Huerta has failed to make his position good He showed his unfitness to govern by not
 realizing that he could do nothing with out a real army. It would have paid him to let the revolutionists alone for six months while he trained a certain number of troops with the help of American or European in- structors and sergeants. Then he could have wiped out the rebel forces in one or two engagements, and the rest would have melted away. Let me give an example of what happens now.
 On Sunday at the beginning of November-to be accurate, the second of the month-I was watching General Velasco's brigade entrain at Saltillo for Torreon. I asked the general If he meant to start that day. No. not that day. Very shortly, perhaps to- morrow. It made no difference that the troops were in their cars and vans They were accustomed to live in trains. Their wives are taken along, too, to act as army service corps They would never be in any hurry to start. They enjoy the lazy side of soldering, but they dislike fighting as much as they dislike work.
 Torreon, the prosperous center of the cotton growing district, was taken by the revolutionists in September after denying for a week that it had fallen, the war office admitted the truth, but said it would be retaken in few days. For month or so noth- ing happened. Then it was announced that "a blow would be struck" Gen eral Velasco would start at once and the rebels would be driven out of Torreon. The government had been urged to act vigorously, because in the cotton district a record crop was in need of being picked They re- sponded- by putting new tax on cot ton ito meet the cost of warlike op- eratioIs," and by doing-nothing.
 For six weeks after I saw General Velascos brigade in it's five trains. Torreon remained in the hands of the rebels. The forces which were to re. take it advanced and retreated, march ed this way and marched that. Gen eral Velasco was frequently reported to be not with his command but in Saltillo. Not until December 10 was Torreon retaken, and then only be- cause the rebels had drawn off andl left the garrison very weak.
 l have mentioned before the absen- ce of any fire discipline Large nun. bers of men do not even raise their rifles to the shoulder. They fire from the hip-into the air. They scarcely ever charge. They are never put through tactical exercises. Some of | the regiments which are kept in the capital, such as the Twenty-ninth. upo which the government confidently leans, have a few non-commissionedI officers who understand their duties. l Among the company officers there are i some who know every thing is wrong. | They do their best with their own men, but what are they among so | many who neither know nor care?
 The Mexican idea of making a sol l Her IS to cram him into a uniform | slVe rifle and let him fight as best | le can. Even if the men were willing to serve this plan would be disastrous. seeing that most of them are Indians rom the fields, very low in the intel lectual scale. But when we consider that soldering is looked down upon as ! ilsgraceful, that the federal ranks are recruited by the press gang, and hat many criminals are turned out of prison into the army, we see at once what a tragic farce the civil war in Mexico is.
 After the evacuation of Torreon by he federals General Munguia was Tied by court of inquiry. The in .ention was to shoot him. This was lis defense: How could I meet the ebels in the open?" he asked 'They fight in loose formation I was oblig- d to keep my troops together. If I lid not, they would melt away. Deser- ion is the idea uppermost in almost every SO1djnr'c mind AooiD bou,