The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1917-01-04
Mexican Merchant Flees 10 the
United States, After ExCit-
ing Experiences.
FACES DEATH MANY TIMES
Turned Over to Firing Squad Because
Of Inability to Repair Automo-
bile Without Tools-AlI
Matter Of "Draq.D

. tfauug the chaotic conditions prevail
ing IN Mexico. is told by Senor Au-
gustin Morales. formerly q prosperous
manufacturer OF vegetable oils al
Morelia. Miehoaean. which adjoins
Mexico province. Morales has lust
Joined the Mexican refugee colony In
los Angeles with his wife and two
children.
There can be no hope OF peace in
Mexico until a strong hand seizes the
reins Of government and suppresses
q multitude Of great and petty chief
tains who are spreading ruin and de-
yastatioa, numbering and torturing a
helpless people with no other object
than sclf-aggrandizement and self en-.
richment," said Morales.
The OH business that 1 had In No
relia was handed down TO me by my
father. II had been in our family for
generations. But there came the rev.
olution. l was neither a AIaderista,
a Villista, a zapatista nor a Carran-
zisia. was, and am, a pacifst. And
50 I was made to face death again
and again.
Protests, Is jailed.
MY native state Of Michoacan is
one Of the districts which have SUI.
fered most by the revolutions. One
day there came marching into Pan
toia with an armed force OF men q
leader who called himself General
Pantoia. He Communicated every au.
toInohile In the city. l ventured to
protest humbly that ny machine was
needed in my business ana that, ow.
ing to the condition Of the country, !
could scarcely procure another. Pan.
toja sordered me thrown into Jail i'm.
mediately. and / was forthwith sen.
fenced to be hanged. But / had With
me an old schoolmate, Domingo -Sa-
mano, and he and Pantoja happened
to be friendly. SamanO obtained my
release, but he dared not ask the res
titution Of the automobile. l was be
ing led out To be executed when the
order to set me free arrived.
"One Of the conditions of my liber,
alton was that 1 order a number OF
tires for the machine. l did so, bet
traffic on the railways was interrupt.
ed at times and always uncertain.
Pantoja wearied of waiting for the
tires and, in order to expedite their
arrival, he had me thrown into Jail
again, and once more sentenced to be
hanged. / managed to send word Of
my plight to Samano on his ranch al
Pumandiro. and once more his inter.
cessiOn saved me. You see, senor. II
is all a matter of drag with those
people, but there are SO many Of them
that one cannot have friends whc
know them all, and il the end comes
one who brings ruin ana death.
Execution Ordered.
General Pant0ja was killed in a
battle shortly after that, but my trou.
bles were not yet over. There came
a General Sanchez one afternoon. He
called the 500 members Of the cham.
ber of commerce of Morelia together
and ordered US to give him 500OC
pesos before sundown. The banks had
been looted and we found it impos.
sihle to raise such large sum in 50
short a time. Sanchez ordered the ar
rest and execution by a firing squad
Of the last man Of us. But another
band of revolutionists was approach. /
Ing and Sanchez needed all his ammu.
milton. He left in such hurry that
we were forgotten and managed to
get out of JAIL
4 was resting in my home one eve.
ming when some revoluuonists called /
me out and showed me my old auto
mobile in front of the door. 1t was o
wreck. They ordered me to repair /
the mechanism Immediately. I looked (
in the tool box and found it empty. ]
explained to them that the trouble
might easily be righted with the nee.
essary tools, but that could not do II
with my bare hands. Less than an
hour later I was standing with my
back against a blank wall and before
me were a squad Of soldiers with rifles
and a man with a sword about to give
the order to fire, when friends ran up
with a pardon they had obtained by
providing the needed wrenches and
tightening a few loose bolts.
Sanchez, too, has been killed. but
there are others-these generals are
now all ignorant men, like the poll
icians, seeing only money and power,
md the people are those who suffer-