Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1916-04-29
THE MEXICAN PAY
IS FIFTY CENTS ADAY
Easter Sunday is the Border Town
Of the War Zone Marked by
Movie" Show.
"FLIERS" COME "HICH. +"
But Uncle Sam Must Have hem---An
Easy Mark When He Goes
A-Shopping.
7peeial To The Evening Capital hy Jean
'abel o'Neiu. Columbus. y. NJ.
Apru "a. 1916.

an the border citizens / have reached
since the wire arrived Easter~Sunday
saying the Army would not be with
drawn from Mexico For the situation
Is understood in Texas and in his
state, as it is impossible for even the
most thoughtful TO understand when
there is q geographical difference of
hundreds of miles between the thinker
and the International boundry.
There are probably $4,000, 000 men IN
Mexico who. in times of peace are
capable of making so cents day
American currency Now those men.
. under the present conditions in Mexico
/ can easily steal a horse and a machete
and join one of the three hundred
. bands now wandering through the un-
fortunate land Of the Montezumas
seeking who they may ,levour." IL
will surprise the public generally to
hear the number of bandit bands is so
great. but on the authority of Harry
II. Dunn a former editor of a Mexico
City newspaper these figures are given
Let a would-be bandit succeed in
getting horse and catching up with
be cordially welcomed and in the first
raid of hacienda or village. he will
probably get a saddle ALI the liquor he
can drink, the the other diversions of
the moment that goes with war at the
expense of some unluclIy daughter or
wife of some countryman. Possibly If
in luck he will acquire ammunition
and rife There is much ammunition
in Mexico now. thanks to the recently
lifted embargo. He is thus equipped
for war with adventure dear to the
savage heart. 1t is the easier way OF
getting a living to seize il than TO work
for it. The moral or immoral, effect
is easy to guess.
And il is against this condition that
the working people of this part of the
UnitcdStates have to be prepared They
think they have as much right to the
promises OF the Constitution Of rho
United States down here on the edge
of the United States as have their
brothers nearer tic Federal City The
question is have they. and if not why
A very interesting question which may
be askol at the polls in the near future
We have Just passed through Easter.
tide, but the day was practically un-
marked. except by a capacity house to
the movie show that was showing the
Preparedness Play" which so stirred
the people last winter. The pictur-
esque motor truck trains are all over
the border today. and now we are be-
ainnig &c strain our eyes in the direc-
ton of an occasional puff Of dust to the
south, hoping some of the "empties"
are returning for more of the good
things which must seem so desirable
by the time the far-away depot is
reached.
This is a most business-like camp.
for the bulk Of arriving and departing
food stuffs, munitions and army sup
plies generally is enormous Yet
there is no tie-up anywhere. Some
sick and wounded men come in here
and are fixed up and retained If the
trouble is slight and sent on TO FL
Paso, or further, if needful Each day
a few 90 from us on stretchers. but
il is all so quiet. so free from fuss. the
sick men are so carefully lifted into
the trains after their short trip in the
ambulance from the little base hospital
They usually have a smile on their
lips. Their, is a friendly old dog who
with the rest of the citizens and the
newspaper representatives. meet the
two daily trains. The great event Of
the day is the arrival of the east aud
west lliers.
This old dog evidently loves the
khaki. think his master has left
him behind. for he sometimes walls at
my door the long night through He
is so deeply interested in every stretch
er as it rests with, its pathetic burden
on the ground, that | usually try to be
,lnobtrusively near to prevent his kiss
ing the sick man goodby; Lazarus may
have been comforted by the affection OF
dogs. but the American soldier is not
so anxious for sympathy
The only thing at which the carp
ing critic can grumble is the American
attitude over the dead. IT is probably
rather the fault of the head than the
heart. for the bravest are supposed to
be the tenderest, and surely no one be.
lieves the boys of the service lack
courage. | have noticed at Fort Bliss
in the streets of FL Paso and at our
station here an absolute lack of reyer-
ence. lack of thought at the passage
of a coffin bearing a dead soldier
We feel rather superior to the friv-
olous Frenchman. yet ! have never
seen a funeral pass in the streets ofthe
gay capital that / did not note every
one in sight lift hat or bow head or
make the sign of the cross" the mos:
speedy motorist viii risk loss of con
troll Of his machine to lift his hat. the
hoy running 10 school will pause to let
| the funeral pass. The friends OF the
dead walk behind the procession aIsl
all who are Catholic will pray for the
repose of the soldier who died for the
| common good.
These soldiers and citizens who are
| in the service of the Government now
| are Of the very same class as the one
who loves most according TO the stand
ard set by the Savior of tn world.
who declared greater love hath no
man than this that a man lay down his
life for a friend" These boys of the
| service are laying down their lives for
| strangers and doing 1t cheerfully Ii
| uaanaS "a small matter n ask a 1sssfa