Evening star., 1915-11-26
Hid Under Coal and
Escaped Bandits.


under the coal in the engine tender, but
came through safely under the coal and
brought the story to Ell Paso.
There are good profits on cattle
bought In the interior, even when they
are paid for in gold" as American
money is called locally. little silver
goes long way a few miles from the
border. The principal item in the cost
is the export duty. which is levied by
the faction holding the line at the
point where the cattle are crossed to
the United States. Sometimes the duty
is levied twice. when the buyers deal
ings carry him through country held by
more than one party. Thus the tax
may amount to as much as SIS a head.
but with Mexican cattle bringing $40
and $45 in the United States, the game
Is still worth playing.
A third way Of making money out of
Mexican live stock is quite unattend-
ed by personal risktThis Is the buying
of cattle from the revolutionary fac
tions themselves. The large scale of
such business limits it almost entirely
to big American dealers and commits
sion houses. They buy in lots that run
into tens of thousands of dollars, The
up their bank accounts. The cattle are
generally conf1scated from the cattle
barons of northern Mexico There is
one such man who was probably the
largest single cattle owner In the
world. His holdings were estimated at
100000 head. As a matter of fact, he
didn't know how many cows he had,
and nobody else did. His saddle horses
alone ran into the thousands
Since war began his cattle have been
principal source of revenue for one
of the factions. At first they were sold
outright. and the owner got nothing.
They were even killed for the sake of
their hides. when it was easier to ex-
port hides than cattle. But this par
ticular owner is well known and in
iuential figure in the southwestern
United States. He is prominent mem
Der of New Mexican and Texan cattle
against the purchase of his cattle by
American buyers Now an arrange
ment has been made by which it gets
about third of the sale price of each
it is a good deal more satisfa ctory than
to get nothing at all
The nat currency Of the various
parties Is favorite field for the specu-
lator. Carranza
Speculation Rife money has gone
in EIo+ Monav up since his gov
III TlaI Aoney' ernment was rec
ognized. and a good deal of it was
closed out at a profit. It is being
bought today in expectation of fur
ther rises. The Carranza government
In Mexico City itself has had to sup
press false rumors that this issue was
to be taken up at very low figure.
Such rumors are started by men who
want to force down the quotations and
buy cheap.
Even less scrupulous men have made
fortunes by counterfeiting fat money
This is much easier than initiating any
standard national currency. because
the Mexican scrip is merely printed
not engraved-and generally very poor
ly printed at that. Moreover, counter
feiting the currency of a faction not
recognized by the American govern
ment can be carried on without much
fear of molestation, because it is not
legal offense.
On his side the Mexican citizen thus
exploited occasionally turns around
and makes a few dollars out of his
American neighbor. He does this by
turning bandit and catching some
American to hold for ransom. These
bandits rarely or never violate the in
ternational boundary. They lie in wait
just over the line until some cattle
man is careless enough to Cross over