Imperial Valley press., 1915-11-03


population of 5,OO0-"G 900, counting the
Chinks," one man said-the unpleasant
side, and the civil and military side.
which has all the pomp and splendor
of town times the size.
The dove of peace cannot Justly be
said to be perching on the Mexicali
flagpole. but it is fluttering mighty
close. with only disquieting possibin-
ties of an attack from the Carranza
forces to prevent it from actually set
tling down.
on the face of 1t, the town Is no bet
ter prepared to withstand a siege now
than il was months or year ago.
but if one goes a short distance be
meath the surface and can get some
official or soldier to talk il Is only
a matter of "A few moments discussion
TO dispel preconceptions.
Mayor A. w. swanson, Leroy Holt.
head OF string of banks all over the
valley; Henry Burke, city engineer; II.
A. f. Thenberg, civil engineer who has
done much of the improvement work
in MeXieali, and mere newspaper
ginks, made tour of inspection over
MeXicali yesterday afternoon under the
guidance of A. Leon Grajeda, secretary
TO Judge Guajardo. judge of the court
of the first instance of MeXicali, and
a member of Governor Cantu's civil
staff.
The soldiers barracks. which Senior
Gra1eda said had never before been
thrown open to foreigners was acces-
sible for the occasion. nice-looking
Mexican youth with brass plate
haa inc h. cor
about his neck and signifying that he
was the officer of the day conducted
the exposition in the seat of MexicaIfs
military forces.
The building which quarters the sol
diers is an anomaly. Outside IL re-
sembles a decadent "dobe" building.
part of which in the course of time
has crumbled and been replaced with
red brick and part that has been r.
paired with similar adove. But inside
the appearance presents contradfc-
ton to the exterior. Electric lights.
improvements which replace the old
system of sanitation with modern
plumbing methods are being carried
busily forward by a score of soldiers.
The job ST soldier in the MexicaH
post is no sinecure The men rise at
at ut night their labors cease. They
are employed at every conceivable sort
of work. AT present score of them
have turned cement workers, another
detachment is manufacturing adobe
bricks and others are employed in
loading and unloading supplies Drill
ing is regarded as an important reuui-
site at the military headquarters and
the thrpnph
drills each day by an exacting Off
Ger.
The barracks are the fixed homes of
the soldiers and Colonel Cantu is trent
ing them as such by installing shower
baths. place for the men to perform
their washing, modelled out of solid
concrete. even to the corrugated por-
tons of the basins which form the
washboards.
The structure is typically Spanish in
largely similar to the
obsolete types of building one sees In
old Mexican communities The quar-
ters of the soldiers flank an open court
and the single entrance to the build
ing sentries stand, Stiffly alert with
rifles held clumsily in their hands.
Their uniforms may not conform to
the standards required in the United
States army, but in spite of the appar-
ent lack Of the men to appear dressed
up" they have certain military ap-
pearance, heightened perhaps by the
belt of cartridges slung over one ahoul-
der and passing under the arm.
The cartridges are bright-possibly
from the carload of ammunition which
Colonel Cantu shipped into MeXfcali be
fore the United Sattes declared an
embargo on arms into Mexican terri
tory other than that controlled by Car
rama. The cartridges are divided into
clips of to fit the well-kept rifle
that each soldier carries.
The guns are not of an obsolete
type. Rather, they are of the modern
type bolt action weapon adopted by
this government. TO each gun is af-
fixed n bayonet and the soldiers doing
day duty are compelled To have this
part of their accoutrement i'm the ac-
customed place.
Adjoining the barracks are the small
sheds which house the artillery, and
stones throw away are the corrals in
which are kept the horses and mules
that belong to the military post
From this point Senior Grajeda point
ed out the $1,000 bridge which crosses
New river. The car paused for mo-
ment at the summit of the approach
when the Mexican official waved his
hands and urged the driver to proceed
without delay
"The approaches from both sides, and
the bridge, are honeycombed with
mines" he said. Il wouldn't have an
accident happen for the world
There is a popularity about MeXicali
that the casual observer may not note.
.Official taste runs to green paint when
it comes to decorating the exterior of
their houses.
Governor Cantu's house is painted
green, as Is the home Of the official