Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1921-10-14

!. ciety. Washington. D. Co
No region in all North America Is
more frequently mentioned or more
widely misunderstood, perhaps, as re-
CARDS places, routes, distances, and
the Customs Of the people. than the
Mexican border. The name itself
brings to mind blending of modern
Americanism and the romance of the
old frontiers. 1t. hints at turmoil and
intrigue. at wild night rides by cavalry
ratrelss Mt gun-runners and smugglers.
1t suggests, too, brown-faced, snappyr
eyed senoritas in red skirts and man
tillas. peddling tongue-blistering ia
males and mild dulces; of Mexican
women washing clothes, babies and
dishes in irregular bitches; OF burros,
hens and pigs foraging about the door
ways Of fiat-topped. squatty adobe
huts.sr
In many ways the social cleavage of
this border Is sharp and startling. 1t
cuts us off abruptly from another peo-
pie. showing an odd, interesting cross
Eettsjn Of diverse civilizations. f"
Nor are all the people along this
line either Yankees or Mexicans. Thou
sands of Chinese are settled there on
the Mexican side; and beside, them
are Turks and Japanese, and 20 Indian
tribes speaking 20 of the babel of
tongues beard in Mexico.
Thousands of settlers migrate to this
torderland each year. losing them
selves in the vast, hazy-blue stretches
Of its open country; but they are
Americans all, mostly from the. Middle
West and the South The hordes Of
Firms, Slavs and Neap0Iitans that pour
into our Atlantic ports never get this
far they stop in the manufacturing
centers Of the East. In Texas. and
California, OF course, native-born gen.
erations are found in the newer states
of Arizona and New Mexico most of
the residents (barring chfIdren) have
come from other states.
Rough and Difficult Trip.
Adventurous, colorful and full Of
contrasts as it Is, the 1,S0O-mile trip
along this crooked historic line Is
rough and difficult and has been made
by few people.
Some of the widest and least known
regions of our country are piled up
against this border. Ask any dough.
boy, of the many. many thousands who
have done 'hitch" on. the Mexican
border, what he thinks, for instance,
of Ajo or the Yuma sector.
From the gulf up to Ell Paso. along
The Texas frontier, the Rio Gran1e
forms the boundary between the
United States and Mexico; thence to
the Pacific the line is marked by stone
or iron monuments (saye short break
at the Colorado, so set that one is
supposed to be visible from the other
The Rio Grande part of this border
has caused both Uncle Sam and Mex
leo much work and mental anguish
During bad floods the line as formed
by the river squirras around In so as
tonishing and lively a manner that
what is Mexican soil one day may be
in Texas the next, and vice versa.
Then too, there Is the ever-recurrinl
problem Of dividing the waters of the
river for irrIgating purposes. Arount
such places as Laredo, Tex, this stu
alton affords many an acrimonious in
ternational argument.
No spot on the whole border affords
more of impressive grandeur than thu
region about the mouth of the Pecos
This yellow, turbulent stream roar
into the Rio Grande near the town o
Del Rio, foaming along the bottom o
d steep-walled canyon worn hundred
of feet deep In the solid rock.
Relic of Camel Experiment.
AT the old fort at Camp Verde, mort
Of Uvalde, In a relic of one of the ole
rest experiments ever made by our 60,
--ii-ernment. - Ii rs an Arab khan, La ruin
now, but In its time an exact replic
DOT III Hgetahgdhr hddSqfearsvansarie
built along such caravan trails as tina
from Bagdad to Teheran. This kha
q 4easzlMiy- tH1E H1tgS1a,sFhen Jefferso
Davis was secretary Of war and til
famous experiment was made wit
! esfrheIs.fcr army trtfRsportuk betwee
Texas pad ! California.
., As you follow the border west, oak
pines and underbrush decrease, aridit
increases, and cacti lift their thorn
hesklA -scqttla.. sgdhts ! sAd--theep al
pasured in large numbers; but. exec
for irrigated areas along the river, Il
country Is thinly settled and undevs
oped. Border counties like Brcwste
Preside and 81 Paso are Of amaziI
afsa larger than some # eur mi