The Washington herald., 1916-01-22

armed with rusty rifles of the early
Rutherford b. Hayes period, taller than
the little brown shrimps that stagger
under them, and are without a commits
sary department, depending on a horde
of women camp followers to steal food
for them and officered by squeally-voiced
little runts who strut along trailing huge
sabers.
How much help could be looked fo-
from such allies? And how many
American soldiers would consent to take
orders from a Haytian or Ecuadorian
general IL one happened to be the rank
ing officer? Any man who served at
Santiago and came In contact with Gar
cia's Cubans would answer that question
very emphatically.
When II gets safe for Americans to go
into Mexico again some shrewd Yankee
who has read this will go there with a
bag full of gold and make a fortune In
short order. This is the tip or oppor-
tunity or whatever you please to call it.
Mr.. Paul Hudson. owner of the Mexican
Herald, gave 1t to me.
Movie Men Are Poor.
In the prosperous Diaz days there were
great many wealthy families in the
City of Mexico. The Mexicsns' love of
jewels rivals that of Diamond Jim
Brady. and a result they owned won
derful collections OF precious stones.
Five years of revolution has made pau
pers of the wealthy families. and they
have pawned all this jewelry. The gems
are still there with the pawnbrokers, for
nobody has had the money to get them
out
For two or three years gold has been
almost unknown there and any one
who goes to those pswnbrokers with
gold in his hand can get some as
founding bargains.
Mr.. d. II. Campbell built the water
works at Tampico a number of years
ago. Having yellow fever was the re-
gular occupation of the majority of the
Inhabitants at that time. People died
so fast that they didn't bother to
keep accurate count. Campbell didn't
like it. So he asked Diaz IL he
couldn't clean the place up. Diaz gave
him full authority and he cleaned it
up good and pleanty.
Since then, Mr.. Campbell tells me,
there has not been a single case of
yellow fever in Tampico and 1t is to-
day one of the healthiest cities in the
world. / mention this to correct a
popular error. as most everybody sup
poses Tampico to be a sort of pest
hole.
Pawned Gems for Food.
more than $50 week salary believes
that IL he only had a few thousand
dollars he could go in the moving pic
ture business and make a fortune In
a year or so. There have been many
get-rich-quick stories printed about
the movie business and It is common
belief that all you have to do is to go
in it to make a million.
Let me undeceive about ninety per
cent of my gentle readers and re-
peat to them a tale of woe unfolded
to me by no less a person than Mr..
John r. Freuler. president Of the
Mutual Film Corporation. He said: 'Of
the $50 motion picture concerns
operating in the United States only
two are now paying dividends. The
public demand for expensive pictures
has for the time wiped out profIts,
yet every body thinks there are mil
lions in the movies. There are mil
lions in 1t, more than $500. 600, 900
capital invested and earning now al
most nothing. It's the fifth largest
industry in the United States"
Item-It may be the fifth industry
in capital invested, but 1t pays five
times as large salaries as any other
industry in the world. No wonder
there are no dividends.