The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-07-03
OUR TROOPS ARE
 TO BE STATIONED
 CLOSE TO BORDER
In Nogales, Arizona, Mexi:: cans Are ,on One Side,
 Americans on Other.
NEXT SECOND CITY
 IN SONORA STATE

1AOt Lays duu OO1u N1SAUo
 There, Also Rattlesnakes
 and Centipedes.
 That the city of Nogales, Arizona. and Sonora, the second largest city in the state of Sonora, Mexico, and the destination of the Connecticut troops, who departed from the state camp at Mantle, Tuesday, is quite the finest place on the border line be-
 tween the United States and Mexico that the soldier boys could go to, was
 the opinion expressed by Francis Ahern. of Hartford, who has large
 mining interests in Mexico, and who
 returned from the country some time
 ago after lengthy stay. Situated
 over 5000 feet above sea level, No
 gales, one-half of which is in the
 United States and the other half in
 Mexico, stands on hill, he said "a sentinel city guarding one of the most accessible and popular gateways of
 Mexico.'
 The boundary line passes through the center of one of the principal streets of Nogales. One section of the town is known as Nogales, Ari- | zona, and the other section is known as Nogales, Sonora. While the Ameri- can side of the town is entirely popu- lated by Americans, the section of the k town situated in the state of Sonora is entirely inhabited by Mexicans. The Mexicans in their half are divided about half and half in their attitude toward the political situation. How, ever, as similar to all other Mexicans, their policy seems to change with the successes of their various leaders. Ac- cording to MT. Ahern, if Villa wins a large battle a great many of the peo- pie immediately side with villa, and if Carranza follows later with a vic- tory the people change right over to his side. They are strong for climb- ing into the band wagon.
 The town of Nogales is at the pres ent time and has been in the recent past, one of the finest and most pro- gressive cities in Mexico, according to Mr. Ahern. He said the banks have had unlimited opportunities for increasing their wealth because of the fact that the banks in the interior of Mexico hav6 been forced to close. At the present time practically all the business of the state of Sonora is done through the banks located in the town
 of Nogales. One can get into the town, and buy almost anything that they can obtain in any little flourishing American city of today, was the statement of MT. Ahern. Prosperous stores and es- tablishments are found on every stree. and American-made goods of all kinds are obtainable. It is possible to secure an abundance of excellent food. and one finds all the facilities essential to prosperous little town in this. Telephones, telegraphs, cleo tric lights. water supply. sewers and scores of various other modern neces- sites are found. While bull-fghting has been abol- ished since the entrance of Carranza and his reign over Mexico, one finds fighting in full sway in the town of Nogales, according to MT. Ahern.
 People desirous of seeking something | a bit American can proceed up to the | end of the town and witness an ex- cellent baseball game, this pastime be- I ing quite in vogue.
 The state of Sonora, Mexico, in
 which one-half of the town of Mo- gales is situated, is the richest section l in minerals and cattle-raising in that country. Situated near the west coast 1 of the country 1t is cut off from the rest by a high mountain range. There are only two known passes in 1 this mountain range, and, according l to- MT. Ahern, if the United States l cleaned up this state and guarded | these two passes they would have the place at their disposal.
 MT. Ahern was of the opinion that
 the Yaqui Indians. of whom there are about 4,0OO in the state of Sonora,
 the most trouble. The Yaqui In- l dians of Mexico are divided into two l tribes, one known as the wild Yaquis
 and the others as the peaceful band. While the Yaquis are not considered very good marksmen by MT. Ahern | they seem to have an abundance of
 ammunition. They occupy noun
 tain known as the "Yaqui Strong hold" located about 250 miles from
 Nogales and about 50 miles from Hell
 mosillo, the capital of the state of Sonora It is the method of the Ya- qui Indians to travel over the valleys
 in bands ranging in number from 50 I to 200, spreading devastation wher- I ever they go.
 Although it has never been exactly
 known where the Yaqui Indians se- 4 cured their great supply of guns and l ammunition, MT. Ahern said that al the time the revolutions broke out the
 Indians left their stronghold in great masses and joined the different fac tions. It has been supposed that the Indians stole from these different fac
 tions and carried their plunder away 1 to the mountains. Several machine and field guns were in the assortment
 of prizes they secured.
 The other Indian branch, of which I there are about 4,000s in the state o1 Sonora alone, are very peaceful lot and do not bother their neighbors
 However. if they, themselves, are
 bothered, especially by the bad Ya-
 quis, they are dead shots and are ca
 pable of trailing the murderers wher
 the trail is many hours old.
 MT. Ahern says there are severa
 things in Mexico that the troops vii
 have to look out for. The water es.
 pecially in the state of Sonora, is
 strongly mineralized, and causes dys entery when used for drinking pur.