The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1914-06-07
CONTINUED from Last Sunday.
October 18th, 1918.

/. October 18th, 1913.
En- route to Vera Cruz
We left Mexico City At seven o'clock
this morning, the brewery machinery
man and I, he bound for Orizaba and
/ for Vera Cruz.
For several hours we assembled val
leys until about noon, we reached the
city of Esperanza, said to be eight
thousand feet above the sea. 1t looked
all of that to me. had a feeling that
was on the roof of the world.
It was very cold, and the air looked
. Cor seemed) thin and blue. It was
blowing gale, and the thin white
reach.
Mountains were in sight to the north
and south Of us. but hey looked com
paratively low, possibly on account OF
our own elevation.
We saw some wheat fields, but evil
IDENTIFY there are wide stretches that
have but little water A many of the
-, oIs the Mexicans (rren women and
children would come running with
Jars and Standard Oil tin cans and
fairy fight for the drip from our
locomotive cylinder cocks. The sight
made me thirsty and made me realize
what a blessing our fifty Or sixty
il nhes annual rainfall is.
We had a good dinner Al Esperan-
"a (but for the bitter Cold), and
LllS4- we tOIIlItteLtCIl 70 CCctcilN
We made a drop Of three thousand
feet in twenty miles, ard a drop Of six
thousand feet in fifty-e eight miles The
brakes were grinding beneath US al
most the whole time.
The scenery was grand, away be-
ycnd my descriptive powers. We
passed throueh fourteen tunnels, cut
through spurs Of the mountains,
Energing from a black and roaring
turrel i was most startling 20 find
S7IT-I.1lv-eS SliT rocky ClIrI,
VT. the earth, on one side of the train,
hunGTt d5 If feet below Us.
At one place we had the civ Of
Naltrata in sight for thirty minutes
Il lying in a dark valley two thousand
feet below us from where we first
saw ia collection of little square
c.3bcs twenty miles aWaT,-whlle we
crawled from one n1ountain-slde
Ground on to another.
This is said to be the finest scenery
in America, not excluding our own
Yellowstone Park.
Today many Of the high mountain
tops are in the clouds and two or
three times our train drove into stray
clouds.
In two hours we dropped from over
coats and wheat fields down to SHIRT
sleeves and bananas, coffee sugar
cane, figs, etc.
This ride through the mountains.
and the succeeding drop, will stay
with me as one Of my most wonderful
experiences Eut for its vividness /
might label il as a dreau-so crowd
ed is it with extremes and contradic-
tions and grandeur.
Climbing up had not affected me
as it did the others. but climbing down
did It made me feel as though I had
The brewery machinery man said |
was as pale as a ghost and FUSED
around me a good deal.
We haven't had a view Of Mount
flY n
tain and snow-capred the year around
It can be seen on clear days at Vera
Cruz, eighty miles distant. Neither did
we see the volcanoes on account OF the
clouds
ton of seventy thousand.
The land rereabouts, as i IS in the
Mexico City vaney( is cultivated
wherever possible and IS cnt uP mo
extremely small fields. Churches are
large and numerous hut the houses OF
tie poor people are little nuts Com
Portable looking houses are few ana
far between.
This was the first railroad in Next
co and is an English concern. About
half of the locomotives are English
built. The crosstles are steel PIaIeS'
cut and stamped in such way as 10
compress the earth underneath. me
telegraph poles are iron pipe me
. fuel is the patert English fueL-coal
dust pressed into large bricks.
They were +hirty-fjve wears building
this road and it cost S125,o00 sold per
mile I should say that that was
Quick work. ana dirt cheap, IN the
light of the following story:
TIE English promoters back in the
Turtles got q concession to build rail-
road from Mexico City to Vera Cruz"
Probably Mexico City was mentioned.
first by the promoters as species on
flattery to the countrv's capital city,
bu; maybe the wiley MeEjcans with
Knowledge aforethoGEht i~si@tod upon
1t Anyhow when the Englishnen
commenced to lay track at Vera Cruz
the Mexican government stopped them.
SAYING Gin Mexican, doubtless), NO