New Britain herald., 1916-04-05

Washington, D. C., April 5.-Some erican punitive expedition has been
 encountering in it's work of pursuing 1 Pancho Villa is conveyed in a state i ment prepared by the National Geo. graphic society, with Headquarters in l this city, and given to the press to- 1 day This statement Is as follows: Anyone who has travelled over the 1 highlands of Mexico cannot help feel l ing a very. deep sympathy for the 1 men who have been entrusted with the 1 work of capturing Pancho Villa and l his fellow bandits.
 When 1t is recalled that even in an ordinarily comfortable Pullman car
 the alkali dust creeps in through in-
 visible cracks and gives the traveller
 the appearance of having been work
 ing around threshing machine all | day long, it may well be imagined
 what hardships soldiers must meet
 who nave to travel on forced marches 1 across such a region. The shifting
 waves of heat which hover above the
 land create curious mirages Although 1 the distance between Fl Paso and Casa 1 Crandes is only 150 miles, Casa Grandes is approximately one mile l higher than El PaSo.
 The desert region of Chihuahua 1 possesses a vegetation nearly every ! species of which is supplied with l thorns or spines There is an almost l endless variety of cacti, ranging from i tiny plants no larger than 8 finger to the giant pitahaya, pushing it's tall
 stem to a height of fifty feet. Then
 there are the mesduits, the tornilla, ~, s,II 1o1 with spikes as is to repel invasion. Under conditions like these the
 cavalry arm of our military service is
 practically indispensable; indeed it is about the only kind of military force that can be used to advantage. No other part of the American army has had so much work to do in the past aS the cavalry, and the present expedi- tion proves that in spite of all that the war in Europe may seem to have taught, the American people will al ways thrust their cavalry when emer- gencics come
 "A great variety Of insects and rep l tiles including lizards, horned toads, tarantulas and rattlesnakes, abound Tn the desert. ConspiciOus among the birds of the region is the chaparral cock which attacks and eats rattle
  ert has it's own remedy for snake bites. It is a plant called the sneeze wort. The juice of it's leaves contain strong a elkaloid which serves as an anttdote for snake poison. Snakes have a bit ter dislike of it, and it is a trick of the Indians to irritate them into biting it, with the result that they quickly die In convulsions.
 "One of the interesting products of this region is the Chihuahua dog, wbi c;, resembles the sleeve dog of China and the chin koro dog of Jap an. They are som mctimes called but
 tes.flv dogs" Usually they weight from
 one to three pounds, and are often no
 larger than a large rat Pure bred
 specimens are distinguished by de- prcssion about the size of a pea in the foreh cad and by the possession of five
 nails on each foot. Before the tour
 iet tide set into Mexico these dogs could be bought for B. Now they of
 ten sell for hundreds and even thou sands Of dollars Many an American
 traveller has brought tiny canine al
 1eged to be a Chihuahua dog only to have it afterwards develop into large and lusty cur.
 "When one gets cut of the desert
 region of Chihuahua and into the Sier-
 ra Madre mountains there is found a
 winter that is like May or October in
 New England and summer that is
 delightful Game in these mountains
 is plentiful. In tho northern sierra Madre liNc the Tarahumarc Indians. perhaps the best examples of physical