El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1915-01-09

The bodega was started in 1886 and
it has since its beginning made enough
wine to drown a good size city and
enough to give large goblet to every
man, woman and child upon earth.
Reached by Car Line.
The Tomba bodega lies on the edge
Of Mendoza and I was able to reach it
by street car. q It is close to the great
vineyards belonging to the establish
ment, and standing upon IL the vines
seem to reach to the horizon on all
sides except that facing the city. The
buildings are low, but they have enor-
nous cellars under ground and their
floor space cavers acres. The grapes
come. in by the carload and pass
through crushing machines. The pulp
is then put through four-inch pipes to
the fermenting watts.
The machinery is moved by electri-
city and the barrels in which the wine
is shipped are manufactured on the
premises. As I went out I passed an
automobile, especially constructed for
the carrying of wine from the farm to
the factory. This machine held 1000
quarts also saw them loading the cars
and carts with. barrels of wine which
are to be sent over the country. Al
together there were several hundreds
of men employed on the work.
Mendoza Old But New Looking.
Mendoza is one of the pretGeSt cities
I have seen in South America and 1t is
as appearance go. This is so notWith-
standing it is one of the Oldest cities
of the continent It was founded rs
years before Boston and was thriving
municipal organization before New
York was begun.
It had already lived about 300 years
when it was destroyed by an earth
quake. This was in 1881 The cOnvul-
sion occurred while large number of
the people were in the churches, and
more than 10000 persisted in the ruins
of the falling buildings. The city Of to-
day is largely built from the materials
taken from the ruins, but 1t has been
extended and grown until it Is many
times its old size. A few years after the
earthquake it had only 5000 population,
and as late as 1895 its number was only
$4,000. 1t has now $4,000 and is rapidly
growing.
Mendoza is situated under the shadow
of the Andes and on the edge OF the
great plain that extends eastward to-
ward the Atlantic. The distance to
the mouth of the Rio de Ia Plata at
Buenos Aires is as far as from New
York to Cleveland, and the plain
reaches for hundreds of miles to the
north and south.
Beyond the valley in which the city
lies the country is covered with scrub
and is largely desert. The land is
worth nothing without it can have
water, but water will make everything
blossom like the rose, and the water
of the Mendoza river makes the town
look like a forest in the midst Of a
great garden OF vineyards
Water Runs Through the Streets.
There is water running down the
streets, and every one of them is lined
with pOplars and other shade trees. I
The city has five large plazas, filled
with palms and other tropical veget-
which you have a fine view Of the
Andes, and it has the plaza of San
Martin, another park This stands right
in the heart of the city. The latter park
consists of sunken beds in the shape
of triangles, with tiled walks running
through them and tiled walks around !
the outside These walks are raised
several feet above the beds of gardens, (
and they form the promenade of the
town during the evening.
Buildings Are Low.
The buildings of Mendoza are nearly I
all of one story. They are made So on !
account of the earthquake, but they
are large and their Outsides are deco I
rated. The principal theater cost |
$4,000. The town has fine educational I
facilities, and it is noted for its col /
leges and normal schools. It has also /
q kindergarten, which stands in the /
midst of a park, with the Andes for a |
panorama
The city is lighted by electricity and !
its electric trains have numbers on the |
top of each car, indicating the route |
where it goes. It has fine stores in the /
chief business section, but the smaller /
make you think of the |
shops of southern Europe. Many of /
them are open at the front the walls |
of the building being used as a show |
case. The outside of a hat store will |
be covered with hats and a great tin |
hat with an incandescent light globe |
hanging from the bottom of it will |
form the sign over the front and only |
door.
Many of the hat stores are not I
more than five or six feet wide, but l
the walls viii have as much more 1
space for the hats Some of the stores |
have signs consisting of pictures. For \
instance, a barber shop will have over /
the door a painting of a barber at work 4
and a toy shop will have a sign rep (
resenting children looking at doll 4
babies, Noah's arks and miniature auto 1
mobiles. In the pictures the children are |
shown buying these toys.
All Vegetables Are Large.
During my stay I went to the mar 4
ket. 1t was filled with vegetables and /
had all the fruits we have in the sum (
mer. I saw Bermuda onions five inches /
in diameter, green peas as big as mar (
bles, tomatoes of large size and also
roasting ears and lima beans. 7 saw
grapes in punches as big as my head,