Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1918-02-14

is about eighteen inches thick. An
attempt was made here some time
ago TO sink deep well for artesian
water. They went. through nine
teen hundred feet of dirt to bed
rock and found nothing but salt
water. At twentyfour hundred feet
the drill became fast and they have
never been able to eXtrioate it. II
is said by oil experts that this sec
ton of the country is underlined
with petroleum. This is a very level
country with a slope of about IL
inches to the mile. South and south
east. and TO some extent north, are
ridges forty TO eighty rods wide and
occasionally one mile long, which
look like they have been forced up
ward by pressure from below Some
of them are twenty feet high in a
few places l have seen with clear
cut sides nearly perpendicular. The
southern oil fields 1t is claimed show
this kind of formation.
The weather has been very nice
and pleasant most of the time. The
last of December and first of jan
uary it was cold enough to freeze a
little ice ir a tub of water in our
yard, enough to slightly damage
some of the products of truck farms
such as tomatoes, lettuce and young
cabbage newly set out. Large cab
bage was not hurt much. The leaves
on many citrous trees were killed
but the trees are not hurt much the
owners claim. Some trees are full
of oranges yet and don't appear to
be injured. Some days ago | was
out in the cane growing district.
Growing cane and making sugar is
quite a large industry in this valley.
A large mill is located here and cane
is hauled in wagons and by rail all
over this valley. Seven dollars per
ton is the price, delivered at the
mills. 1t yields from thirty to eighty
tons per acre so l am informed. -
There are a great many Mexicans
in this valley, being largely laborers
and most of them are loyal Amer
lean citizens. Many of them are in
the towns of the valley and some
are quite wealthy. In the county
north of this they control the cleo
tions and all county officers are Mex
leans. There are quite a number of
Roman Catholic refugees here from
Mexico who do not dare to go back
| have talked with several German
Roman Catholics who have been ex-
PEELED from that country, and they
are all bitter against the Carranza
government and are against the U.
S. in the war with Germany. l have
heard threats of a necktie party for
some of them. People here tell me
the revolution in Mexico was started
by Madero to overthrow the power
of the Roman Catholic church. They
tell me the government of Mexico
had been ruled by the Pope of Rome
for four hundred years and Madero
was murdered by the Catholic party
l am informed that Carranza has
banished the Bishop of Mexico and
all the priests and Nuns from the
country, confiscated their property
and is establishing free schools to
educate the young generation free
from church bias. Ninety per cent
of the Mexicans can neither read nor
write. One of the refugees is a
physician and in an article he rec
emily circulated through one of the
CITY papers lie ueUOuuCeu the pres
ent Mexican government and praised
former President Diaz to the skies.
The people here on whole are very
loyal. bought Liberty bonds and on
tributed largely to the Red Cross and
Y. M. C. A. The ladies are very en-
ergetic knitting and doing other Red
Cross work. | pow principally put
in my time loafing at the army post
seeing the soldiers drill. talking with
them and listening to the band
music They have a fine govern
ment roller skating rink. l, how
erev, have not tried to learn the art
They also have boxing and wrcstl-
ing bouts. also catching a creased
pig on roller skates. II is some job
At night ! take in the moving pic
ture shows. In fact, | am having
a very pleasant time, including go
ing to church on Sundays.
Yours very truly,
John c. Bonwell.
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