The Eureka sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1902-current, 1914-05-02
THE ROADS TO MEXICO CITY
CourtrY Is Rough and Mountain
ous and the Railroad Could
Easily Be Disabled

= In view Of the probable cary sd-
xauce Of American troops 70 the OE
Of Mexico. the following description
Of the roads and conditions TO De
met with viii prove interesting
The article Is from the Salt LAKE
Herald:
Capturing Mexico City would not
be such an easy matter a many o
Iieve. After the United States lands
troops and marines al Vera Cr1z
. there would still Be much ro1gn
country to he trzversd before the
capital Of Mexico would Be reached
Two railroads connect Vera Cruz
with Mexico City. One i narrow
gauge. which winds through the
mountains for $50 miles before get
hing to its destination and the other
Is a standard gauge road owned BY
English capital. II Is known Is the
Vera Cruz Short Line End places the
seaport within 269 zhles Of the capi-
tai. Salt Lake men who have rail-
roaded in Mexico say that il prob
ably would be impossible TO reach
the capital by rail alone, as the coun-
try is so rough that a small body Of
Mexicans could easily put the rail-
roads out Of commission in a short
time.
The dispatches report that the
plans Of attack include the seizure
Of the Mexican railway from Vera
Cruz to a point 20 miles inland, in
Guiding a high t~restle, which Is re-
garded as a strategic point. The
trestle is between Tejeria and La
Purga and is built over a dry ravine
at a height of almost 100 feet above
the bed Of the creek. which in the
Spring contains water, and the re-
mainder Of the year is dry. From
the trestle the road starts to climb
the mountains and from Tejeria to
Esperanto, a distance Of $50 miles.
| the railroad ascends to an altitude
of over 10000 feet. From Esper-
ANA to Mexico City, a distance of
100 miles, the country is a table land.
From Esperanto TO Vera Cruz the
tropical vegetation completely covers
the wagon roads and trails in many
instances. and is so thick that foot
travel would necessarily be slow.
Trains over the Mexican railway
require II hours and 20 minutes to
make the trip between Vera Cruz
and Mexico City. By the narrow
gauge line between Vera Cruz and
Mexico City it takes @ hours to
make the trip.
There is no direct line between
Tampico and Mexico City. The road
running west from Tampico goes 10
Aguas C~alientes. a distance of Ais
miles, and then strikes south from
Aguas Calientes, a distance of 1854
miles, to Mexico City. From Tam.
pico to Mexico City is 779 miles. The
ordinary running time is 80 hours.
This road is owned by the National
Railways of Mexico, in which the
Southern Pacific has the controlling
interest. For several months a part
Of the road has been in the posses.
sion of the rebels west of Tampico,
but recently they left the road in the
possession of the federals while they
went to Torreon to aid Villa in his at.
tack upon that place. The road i:
said to be in bad condition and Salt
Lake railroad men who have beer
over the line say it would take AZ
hours to make the trip now under
favorable conditions. 1t does not
have the heavy grades to climb that
the narrow gauge and the short line
do, running out of Vera Cruz. The
wagon roads and trails along this
route are more open than the road:
from Vera Cruz to Mexico City.
From the west coast the railroad
runs from Manzanillo to Mexico City,
a distance of 602 miles. and il takes