Mexico weekly ledger., 1918-02-28
DETROIT SUFFEREDFROM'
BIG COAL SHORTAGE
ne Rev Prank HAEgsrd Formerly Of
This CITY. Writes from Great
Michigan Industrial Center
SOME PEOPLE BURNED %.
THEIR FURNITURE
Wealthy Have Carried Home Poor
Coal in the Tonneaus Of Their
Handsome Motor Cars

The many MexoO friends Of the
Rev. Frank Haggard. viii enjoy the
following entertaining and ncwsy let
ter from him to the management Of
the Ledger;
Col R. N. White, Mexico. No
DETROIT, Mich. Feb %. 1918 -
Dear Mr.. White; ! an still up here
trying to make Detroit a better place
TO live A., but ] have moved. The leo
pard may not be able to change his
spots. but I can change mine, 50 please
charge my address on your Ledger list
from s2l Avery Avenue to 1859
Brooklyn Ave.
We have had a winter in Detroit
that beats anything the grey-bearded
old settlers can recall, even when they
scratch deep under their frowzy locks.
Coal has been scarcer than hens
teeth at times and not much more
plentiful at any time. Schools and
business places have been compelled
to take frequent and long continued
holidays to save enough coal 10 keep
the inhabitants from turning to i~eicles.
All winter long we have been sitting
on the ragged edge slow death from
freezing and letting our feet hang
over. Aristoerats have carried home
bushel lots Of pOor-mine-run in the
tonneau Of their richly appointed au-
tomobiles and poor housewives have
carried their share in a dishpan or
sent a small boy with a sled. After
pleading in vain for relief some peo-
Pie have burned their furniture to
save the lives of their children.
Added to the high cost of coal IS
the price of shoe leather worn away
trying to locate a little. The old
fashion full-size cord of wood, such as
used to sell for $3.50 at the southwest
corner of the public square in Mexico
is bringing S24 here now and people
are s~crambling for it.
If this is war, the temperature
dnesn't remind US of what Sherman
said about it, when he undertook to
describe its horrors in one word.
But Detroit is still a busy prosper
Gus city inspite of all the hardships
her people are going through. We are
spreading out on the right hand and
on the left. Everything is big here,
including our criminal record. "Tell
it not in Gath, publish it not in the
streets Of Askelon; lest the daughters
Of the Phillistines rejoice, lest the
daughters Of the uncireumcised tri-
umph," but just between us, we have
a record for unbridled and unpunish-
ed crime that would make San Fran
cisco jealous. The woody West in
its palmiest days was like an after
noon tea compared with Detroit after
sunset. 1t is as much as your life is
worth to venture to the corner gro
Gerry after dark, looking for a half
pound Of sugar with that twenty
cents you saved from buying your last
bushel Of coal. Some ambitious
young foot-pad viii cave in the crown
Of your derby and leave the rest to
the undertaken. One Of these fellows
shot our butcher the other day, but as
he left no street number, we have moi
had ar opportunity to thank him, as
yet.
Yes, Detroit seems just now to BIZ
hopelessly and habitually criminal
But if everything here were just as il
ought to be and all the people begar
l 20 show symptoms of angelic behavior
would perhaps soon be out of a jol
: and might have to come back to Mex
! leo and run for office or go into tn,
: real estate business.
/ see by reading your welcom,
4 weekly visitor that Mexico contin
ues to be the center of many very i'm
p%crtant things. From horses she ha.
! turned to hogs and is now the hog cen
ter Of the universe. Well, prett,
much everything just now seems to b
revolving around the hog and the ar
t. mics march on pork and beans. Mich
. igan furnishes the beans When | real
> about hogs selling down there 70
$25O0 each and other hogs valued a
{ $4,000, / begin to understand WHY
we can't have bacon for breakfast AM
WHY the fellow shot the butcher
=, He thought he had found a wors
, hold-up man than himself and h
didn't want too much competition
. II / had a pig as valuable as that Z,
bed him on feathers, hire a specia
nurse and fortify the pig pen with al
/ Austrian howitzer. H. P. Wardel
: needn't sit up nights worrying abou
"baconlcss day" Every day will b.
b~aconless day by and by.
And they are junking the electric
line, and, that, too, before some Of u!
r ever got a ride on It. / saw the frs
, rails spiked down on that line ant
then | dreamed of the day when grea.
whizzing electric cars would be shoot
ing through Mexico so fast that a fel
; low wouldn't dare to cross the street
without a police escort and an acct
dental policy, and now my dream il
Just junk. So are many Of my othel
young dreams. 1t is too bad but
suppose there is no help for it.
Having had Mexico stamped deer
on the inwards Of my young impress.
sionable soul, | will always be a Mex.
icoan. There is no place like home
SO there can be no place like Mexico.
The thought Of it brings back all the
pleasant past with a mighty rush Of
feeling. To think about it excites