Imperial Valley press., 1914-06-03
TRANSFERRING THE
MEXICAN REFUGEES
(BY WILLIAM G. SHEPHERD)

track two and half miles long; that
is it was railroad track until the
| Mexicans tore up the track and
the ties, leaving only the grading. 1t
runs through swamp and into a
tropical forest. Two trains, under
Lieutenant Richardson, of the 10th
infantry, run every day from Vera
Cruz out to the end of the gap in
the rails to carry American and 9TH
er "efugees from Mexico into the
American lines at Vera Cruz.
It's an interesting process. The
American train consists of Pull
man car, with four or five cars filled
with American sharpshooters, for, un-
der a flag of truce, the train runs
distance of two miles into the Mex
lean lines. One of the cars is fitted
with wireless apparatus. AS you pass
out of the American lines you see the
outpost American pickets, in the sand
hills some distance from the railroad
tracks. The train runs along for a
mile or so, and you first notice you
are inside the Mexican lines when you
sight Mexican soldiers standing along
side the track. Finally the train
comes to a stop within a few feet of
the gap in the rails. Lieutenant Rich
ardson alights with soldier who car
ries a huge Turkish towel, tied in
flag fashion to piece of bamboo. This
is the flag of truce. 1t will be a
historic old bit of flag some day, this
white Turkish towel, for under it's
!leavy folds no less than 1000 Amer
leans including O'Shaughnessy himself
have completed the last stage of their
flight from Mexico City. Americans
at the Mexican end of the gap two
and a half miles away, have spotted
its whiteness through their glasses
and, knowing that it was in the hands
of American soldiers, have felt the
fears and alarms of many weeks fall
away from them; the red, white and
blue flag, itself, could not have cheered
them more than their first glimpse
of the white Turkish towel. By the
way, the towel was taken away from
a man who, in the first days fighting
at Vera Cruz broke open a box in
the custom house, seeking loot, and
tried to get away with a huge bath
room accessory.
Lieutenant Richardson and the SOL
der carrying the flag of truce start
up the railroad grading and walk a
third of mile. to; where wooden
shanty stands beside the track, guard
I ed by Mexican sentinel A Mexican
soldier comes out of the shack with
another white flag. The Mexican flag
of truce appears ito have been made
out Of bed Sheet. Behind Lieuten-
ant Richardson, Mexicans, loaded down
with their personal belongings, strug-
gle. They are fugitives from, Vera
Cruz.
Perhaps among the Mexicans there
will be an adventuresome foreigner
or two, who wants to get back to
the capital The horde of travellers
pass the two white flags and the
moment they pass the Mexican flag
of truce, they are in the hands of the
Mexicans. All of the railroad tele-
graph lines have been cut and so there
is no way of knowing whether there
is Mexican train at the other end
of the gap. The only thing to do is
to wait. If it is there, it is at a
standstill in the heart of tropical
mosquito infested forest; there may be
Americans on it, though Lieutenant
Richardson has no way of knowing
and the only thing he can do is to
wait.
With field glass, you can look
over the heads of the Mexcans, to
the pathway through the forest. If
the Mexican train is there, you could
rot see it anyhow, for it stops at a
curve, out of sight, at the top of "A
grade. The heat rising from the hot
rails shimmers and makes it difficult
to see what is happening at the distant
end of the gap. But suddenly, some
one makes out a group of persons
like. tiny dots; soon you can see the
dust stirring, as they move along
the road bed. They have long. hot
walk before them; two and half
miles; in a broiling sun, loaded down
with as many of their belongings as
they can carry; they have deserted
their homes and farms and mines in
Mexico and what they're struggling
under now is all they have to show,
just at present, for their toll in Mex
leo.
In the meantime, while the refugees
are tramping toward the train, the SOL
q; L. tt.ai fal ff