Norwich bulletin., 1916-04-27
THE WAR PRIMER By National Geographic Society

Parral, Mexico, which recently was the scene of tragic happenings in con nection with the arrival there of Gen eral Pershing's punitive expeditionary force, is in the heart of the fabulous ly rich gold and silver mines district of the southern republic, mines which were among the first discovered by the spanish conquerorS and which began pouring their stream of wealth into the cOfferS of the monarchS of Aragon and Castillo as early as 1547. This town, which has a population of less than 10000, has been the center of Francisco Villas operations for sev- eral years. It's historical and com mercial importance are set forth con- cisely in bulletin issued today by the | National Geographic society whose headquarters is in Washington, which says:
 Situated on the banks of the semi | dry Parral river, at the foot of the Si- i erra de la Cruz, Parral's whole his | tory centers below ground, in the mar | velously rich Veta Colorado (red vein) which runs from north to south through the Parral mining district, m | cluding Minas Nuevas, and Santa Bar bara.
 AS early as 1900, before he first per- manent English settlement in the Init ed States. there were seven thousand miners employed ir this district, bring | ing from the depths of the earth the
 
 | splendor, for time, the opulent court | of the then most powerful monarchy | in Europe. From that day up to the present Parral has continued to en- rich the world from its seemingly in exhaustible store of silver and gold, the only interruption having been caused by rebellion of the oppressed natives who on one occasion flooded all the mines of the district and then de- serted the city by the thousands. richness Q i'm tion is shown by the fact that Ameri- can mining companies find it profit able today to smelt the tailings or ref } use of the old Spanish works. } One of tho S155t interesting incl dents in the early history of Parral
 centers about a time stained church
 known as La Iglesia de la Virgen de , Rayo, the favorite place of worship
 among the Indians of the district. Ir 169O a devout native began the con- 5 struction of the church, paying his helpers with ingots of pure gold whict
 he produced mysteriously once a week
 During the twenty years required tC built the structure the pious Indian F baffed the spies commissioned to dis. : cover the source of the treasure, but ] when his work was finished the Span. ism commander summoned the miner
 before him and demanded that the To.
 cation of the mine be disclosed. Wher n | the Indian refused to tell, he was tor. a tured to death, carrying with him tt ? the grave the secret which two hun. dred years of searth have failed to re 5 veal.
 "One of the sights of Parral is tn,
 palace of a multi millionaire min, f owner, once a humble peon. In thi V house, which is shut in by adobe hut . and narrow streets, there are bil : drawing rooms and museums with lux | urious carpets, over which the own | CTS fighting cocks are allowed to roan l at will, it is said. Twenty pianos ar, t among the most highly prized posses f sions of this simple, public-spirited ma tive, the source of whose wealth is L. < Palmilla Qittle palm) silver minG t which he discovered many years ago. "Parra1 was not always the chic
 city of this mining district. In 1850 tn
 nearby town of Santa Barbara was tn seat of government for a vast regio . equal to one-third the aera of tn a United States today, exclusive of Alas = ka- The country over which 1t hel sway embraced the territory now com . prisingF Chihuahua, Goahuila, Sonora q Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Califor niasand Colorado.