Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1915-06-19

made highways for which Calffoyntx
is noted. We crossed the va1sew. a.
the Sweetwater and passed throues
numerous pretty little towns and
lemon groves until we cams To =
monument on a hill which marks tha
boundary between the o. s. and
Mexico We crossed the Tai Juaaa
river on large bridge aaa seon
found ourselves in the Mexican VII
iage, Tai Juana. As il by magic the
scene changed from the pretty weli
kept homes of California to the sordid
squalid Mexican town. The houses
were mostly broad shacks and itx
streets were wind swept and dusty.
The chief attractions were tina cnris
stores, which charge exorbitanS
prices for drawn work cigars, pattery.
etc., and regular old 40 dance
nall and gambling den which had tha
biggest crowd including tourists and
all. Roulette and faro were played
Tor high stakes and an American, ba
it to- his shame managed this place.
ana was raking in piles of money that
would make an ordinary Kansas bank
deposit look like thirty cents. Ameri-
can women gambled as eagerly assta
i feverishly as did the men and won or
lost with calmness that astonishes
the novice. Painted girls SANG and
danced with the abandon of Sonao Of
Rex Beach'S characters in his tales &C
the great north. Mexican naou In
yetve5 suits ana Sashes and veiloSk
women added bit of the picturesQRo
which was needed to make Sas reslfz1
that it was notAalI sort of. make be-
leiye. The town was crowded with
Tourists and wesall purchased soms
souvenir of our trip. On our return
our car stopped and we were informed
THAT We would have to go through
the u. S. custom house. We were
thoroughly searched and anytf2inx
over one dollar in value was f4xalSio
and duty levied. One man bought i
scarf for two dollars ana paid 50 conts
duty on it: He was told by the Gus
tom officers that 10 cents of it waa.
duty and 25 cents war tax Did you
ever hear of a war tax in time Of
peace under Republican administra-
tiona The man laughed SO. hard IL
became Infectious and we all joined
in. We proceeded home a 'rA6hoF
tired but jolly crowd. We hops McKi-
CO will not involve the u. S. i'm war.
f they will butcher each other up Il
Will be alright but it will be ere&t
pity to sacrifice American life for
those shiftless, treacherous, murder
GUS greasers, they certaihiy. srs ast
worth it.
Among our other sight seeing TRIPS, =
was over to North Island to the
United States Aviation school. We
crossed the bay In gasoline launch
sud found ourselves on the 0aly
government island in tf,e o.. S.. 8
wflere an aviation school Is mzlao
tsined. Curtiss' school is also locates
here, but is not under tho Unite<
States. @
Annapolis naval officers, noetly
iieutenants. come here and are trzine1
to dy for war purposes; the asropIaSs
aud tho hydopiane both beiag, taught.
The former rises to the air from Land
and later rises from water. Wo
witnessed number of flights. They
told US that no, one. has ever beoa
A1y ~ CU- -OI -hAIc0- 0lNAEol ul IElOy 6io
in trying. out the re.machinefy;each day
One fellow went SO high he disap-
peared from view altogether. Aiti@
tude tests of ten thousand feet are
made. The machines
are very different looking than any
we ever saw. The Curtiss people will
take one up for one dollar per minute
in other words fifteen dollars for fif-
teen minutes, not many people indulge.
Large shops are maintained on the is
land and expert mechanics are at
work all the time. One of the mach
ines is valued at six thousand dollars.
The island is under protection of u.
S. soldiers from Ft. Rosecraus, which
IS situated nearby on Point Iona.
One of the most interesting of our
trips was to Old Town where the
town of San Diego was originally
aid out. This is called one of the
most hallowed and historical spots in
aH California = where the brown
robed Franciscan Father, JunipeTa
Sierra, first planted the cross in 1769,
here also General Fremont first
planted the U. s. flag in l846. We