Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1917-01-26


- wrote such graphic letters
home to King Philip, the Mex
lean west coast has lured the
restless pioneer. First it was the ad-
venturer, scattering his bones over the
trackless hills; then the gold hunter
and miner-and finally the farmer and
cowman, building up homes and for
tunes. 1t is one of the worlds garden
spots, this rich west coast; country
of singular charm, of striking contrasts
and varied opportunity. Nowhere on
earth is life more easy. AS one idler
cleverly phrased it, "YOu can kick your
breakfast off a tree, any morning in
the year."
Here, with the advent of peace, far
reaching progress must inevitably
dawn. Linked with California by rail
and sail, and with two hundred Ameri-
can millions already invested, the flu
ture of the west coast is peculiarly
tied up with that of the United States
"a question of big trade and mutual
human betterment, says a contributor
to the Los Angeles Times.
1t is a Kaleidoscope, colorful trip
the train ride from the border south,
into West Mexico. Scenic, startling
and full of bright, buoyant life it is,
after you have passed Guaymas and
plunged into the primitive Yaqui coun-
try.
F1ocks of screeching, squawking par
rots flap noisily overhead. Skulking
coyotes twist oddly away into the palo
verde thickets. In smoky, scattered
camps along the railway, Yaqui troops
-patrolling the line against their wild
brothers of the hills-are on duty.
You see them making sandals from
green cowhide, or cutting up a beef
into shreds and hanging the meat on
stunted mesquite trees to dry. From
their outposts comes the dull rattle Of
the tomtom. '"That Yaqui drum" one
Mexican officer told me, always gives
the enemy an earache."
At the crowded adobe stations,
where your train halts leisurely to load
beans, hides and Grated chickens, a
horde of -tattered, but bewitching
bright-smiling ninas come Shyly up,
peddIing tamales, oranges and odd ma
tive dulces.
American Influence Grows.
Not so long ago the Spanish impress
lay strong on the west cOast-a sur
vival of that romantic age when treas
ure-laden galleons sailed between
Acapulco and Manila. But now the
boats that drop anchor and unload at
Acapulco, Mazatlan and Guaymas
come from San Francisco-or Seattle.
And the trains that crawl down the
long coastline from the Arizona border
are loaded with American machinery,
and American miners, cattlemen and
farmers. Only of late has this been
true-the rail-head reaching Topic less
than ten years ago. But already YAM
kee customs, habits, influence and i'm
plements are making themselves felt I;
slowly, but hopefully.
Even certain reform waves, popular
I'm the United States of America, have
swept over the border and engulfed the
Mexicans. Licensed gambling on the
west coast is practically abolished.
Bull fights are giving way to baseball.
One day in Hermosillo / saw soldiers
carrying demijohns of tequila-the
once universal alcoholic drink-carry-
ing them into the street, and smashing
them in the gutter. Pungent smells
foated in the air. "What is it you
dor 1 asked a native sergeant. "El
Estado es seco" (the state is dry he
said, punching his bayonet into an
other demijohn. Prohibition had been
decreed. Today you can't legally buy
| a drink from Nogales to Mazatlan (nor
Illegally, either, without risk of pris-
on.) 1t is so in some other parts of the
republic. Order is better, drunken
brawls a thing of the past Tequila,
| the old curse of the land, is effective
| ly suppressed.
Life and Sports.
Daily life among foreign merchants
| and planters on this west coast is not
unlike that of the colonials in India
| China or the Philippines. Servants
are numerous and cheap. Fruits and
vegetables grow in abundance. No
| body hurries. Nervous breakdowns
| and worry" headaches are unheard
Of.