The Washington herald., 1916-06-29
SEEN AND HEARD
BY GEORGE MINER

Gen. Felix Diaz has been almost much a
mystery during the last four or five months
has the whereabouts of Villa during the last
four FIVE weeks.
Villas whereabouts l don't know, nor do
believe anybody in the country knows definitely
The United States army certainly doesn't know
nor has it since week after the Columbus af-
fair. Some persons who should know what
they are talking about assert that Mr. Car
knows exactly where Villa is and makes
no practical use of that knowledge so far as
capturing the. bandit is concerned. Then per-
sons confidently assure me that Villa is at pres
cnt hiding in the mountains of Western Mexico
This is probably true. At any rate, it is the
most likely guess That Villa is down south
with Zapata is almost impossible The stories
that he is in Lower California are almost silly
That would be about the last place in the wo4d
he would go. He could not very we'll get there
and he would have an almost impossible chance
to get out. Lower Broadway would be a safer
place for him than Lower California
However, | am straying. | do know where
Felix Diaz is. He is in Mexico H is in Mon
terey and perfectly harmless so far injurng
the present Mexican government goes. His
spurs have melted and his wings are clipped
All this would-be President of Mexico now
wants is to get out of it. He struggled for
nearly year to get in there and il will proba-
bly, take him some months to escape.
| last saw Felix Diaz in New York last jan
uary in the boarding house in which he lived
at 2Io West Twenty-second street He then
told me, and looked me straight in the eye
when he said it, that he had no intention of vio-
lating the hospitality OF the Unitcd States when
he was political refugee by starting anything
against Carranza that would cmbarrass this
country. In other words, that he would not
lead out filibustering expedition
OF course l didn't believe him. After a
long experience in Mexico | know better than
to believe any Mexican, not excepting the
nephew of the famous Don Porfrio or even
Don Porhro himself SO | was not at all sur
prised, a month or so later. when | was in
Mexico, to hear all sorts OF rumors as to Felz
Daz's whereabouts and activities He was rumor-
cd to be forming expedition in Cuba to
descend Yucatan, to be formulating a big
movement in New Orleans, to have been in
Honduras and about 10 move on Mexico's
southern border and even to have landed in
Mexico, below Vera Cruz with several hun
drcd followers and large chests of gold, with
which he was Turing over all Carranza's south
ern army.
All OF those rumors were false
However, Diaz had been busy and did leave
New York with the express purpose OF captur-
ing his native land. Somebody gave him about
$4,000. 1t did not come from Lmantour in
Paris who took $2o,ooo.ooo in gold out of Mex
leo when he scooted Iimantour knew the nephew
of his old boss thoroughly OF old and l don't
believe he would finance him to the extent OF
$50 His $4,000 came from people right here
in New York, who were mad enough at Mexi-
can conditions to stake that much for revenge.
Felix Diaz then went to New Orleans and
organized his little party. Then to Cuba and
put them aboard a fishing boat-along with
several boxes of arms and ammunition. So then
they gayly set sail across the Gulf to invade the
land of the Montezumas.
When they were close to lhe Mexican coast
"norther' struck them and they were ship
wrecked and cast away on an inhospitable stretch
of sand north of Tampico. The party was
grabbed and taken up to Monterey. They were
dirty and unkempt. Diaz had two weeks beard
and nobody could possibly have recognized the
former dandy of Mexico City They declared
they were Cuban fishermen who had been
wrecked
The Carranza authorities put them all in
Jail for while and after two or three weeks,
as they had nothing against them, Diaz and his
tllbustcrS were turned. loose That was about
a month ago.
They arc still loose, but they might as well
be in jail If they suspected the dirty. penni-
less, Cuban fisherman, who is now bumrinp
around Monterey and getting food as best he
Can, was Gen; Felix Diaz, who twice had a
chance to be President of Mexico, he would
be shot within an hour
As nobody in Mexico is at all likely to read
this, | have no hesitation in writing it. If he
does get executed l shall not feel guilty. Far
be 1t from me to try to get him killed He
has been punished quite enough for that lie he
told me.