Norwich bulletin. [volume] (Norwich, Conn.) 1895-2011, 1916-05-16
THE WAR PRIMER
BY National Geographic Society

Namquipa - Until General PERISH
ing's expeditionary force began to es-
tahliSh a camp at NamiQuipa, in the
state of Chihuahua, this little Next
can village of a few hundred inhabi-
tants had about as much prospect of
becoming known to the American pub
lie as Valley Forge had before George
Washington decided to make the
Pennsylvania hamlet the headquarters
of the Continental army during the
blacklist winter of the Revolutionary
War.
The National Geographic Society, in
a war geography bulletin, issued to-
day from it's headquarters in Wash
ington,> gives the following data about
the village which up to the present
that few maps Of Mexico record its
location:
'sNamiquipa. where General PERISH
ing began concentrating his forces
while General Oregon, of the Carran-
"a cabinet, and Major Generals Scott
and Funston, representing the Ameri-
can government, were in conference in
Ciudad Juarez, is village nesting
rear the border of the state of Sonora,
in the foothills of the Sierra Madres.
1t is situated on the banks of one of
the shallow tributaries of the Rio de
Santa Maria, sixty miles due west of
Aqua Nueva, the nearest station on
the mainline of the railroad between
Ell Paso and Chihuahua 1t is about
1870 miles south of Ell Paso, more than
seventy miles northwest of Chihuahua
City, and fully two hundred miles
northwest of Parral, the southerly
point reached by the advance cav
airy under Col. Dodd.
For the present at any rate the
American soldiers are not expected to
experience any discomfort from the
heat in this locality for the nights are
IIdIIal1U nnn1 nd 1iT1or f1.nc f1y
| during the spring months. Accounts
of the climate are SO glowing that one
almost expects to find a concealed ref
erence to some progressive summer
| and-winter resort hotel in that vicin-
| ity. One enthusiastic traveller asserts
that the salubrious air is conducive to
| longevity to a remarkable degree,
many of the Tarahumare Indians of
whom there are $4,000 in this region,
J living to be a hundred or more years
! of age. These Tarahumares, incident
ally. will present striking object les
sons of physical fitness for our SOL
| diers. They are among the hardest
people of the North American contin-
| ent, being able to endure almost I'M
deliverable hardshfps.
"By this time the American troops
probably have had occasion to test the
reputed virtues of the cebadi1la, or
sneeze- wort plant, the juice of whose
| spotted leaves is believed by the ma
| lives TO De an excellent an1lQOt6 Tor
| the venom of rattlesnakes, scorpions,
| tarantuIas, spiders, and many other
reptiles and insects which infest Chi
! hUahua. Snakes are said to give the
cebadilla a wide berth and the In
/ dams declare that a reptile will die in
/ commissions after having been irri-
i tated until it strikes at and bites the
/ leaves held before it. Another potent
/ factor in checking the ravages of pois-
onous pests is the chaparral cock, OF
| payaano, which dimes on a RATHER with
| as much relish as does the more ia
| nous secretary bird or serpent eagle
/ of South Africa A less useful but
fequally unusual bird of this region is
a species of giant woodpecker which
sometimes measures as much as tive
feet from the tip of its tail to its
beak.
TN the Batopilas district, far up in
the mountains behind MamiqIIipa
grows peculiar tree from which 8
very acceptable soap is made.
"The Santa Maria River, near the
headwaters of which the American
camp is located, runs almost due
norths emptying into Lake Santa Mar.
la, thirty miles below the Texas Dor.
der. The stream flows through terri.
tory rich in cinnabar, the ore from
which much of the mercury used il
Mexico's silver mining operations il
} obtained.''