Palatka daily news. [volume] (Palatka, Fla.) 1919-1994, 1921-09-03
WAR PRICES DIED
HARD IN TAMPICO
Money Came Easily in Mexico's
Oil Metropolis and Was Spent
With Lavish Hand.
EVERYTHING WENT SKY HIGH
Prosperity Continued After Most other
Communities Were Experiencing
Setback-City Is Now Under
going REIMBURSEMENT.

WashingtOn.-"Am who saw
prices skyrOcket at home and VINO sd"
themselves and their neighbors nearly
lose their sense of money values
would have felt thoroughly at home IN
Tampico. the great Mexican Oil town.
during the last few years, says
bulletin issued from the Washington
Headquarters of the National Geo
graphic society.
This was the port to which Uhiteu
States gunbOats were sent receh'S
when the closing down of American
oil wells and retineries because VI
heavy Mexican taxes threw thousands
of men out of work, and disorders
were feared.
FIoated to Prosperity on Oil.
"Tampico, long a port of no great
Importance, has had u mushroom
growth in the last fifteen years, con-
tinues the bulletin, Its population III
crpasing from less than 1000 III I"Oo
10 we'll over lOO,V0O today. And the
explanation for this great stride lot
ward can be given in one Woru-oll:
The biggest 'guSher' the world mas
ever known was drilled near Iamplco
in 1908, and scores Of other huGe
streams of oil have been opened up III
the same vicinity since. Hundreds OF
millions of gallons of oil have passed
through Tampico, and the town mas
been the financial and business head
quarters for fields many miles away
"MODey flowed easily into the pOck
cts of large number of American
managers and technical workers Wh(
were brought in, and into the hands OF
Mexican landowners, merchants ant
day laborers. The World war ralset
the demand for liquid fuel to unhear'
of heights and 1t seemed that everyone
in Tampico was becoming wealthy
Conditions closely paralleled those II
the oil towns of the United States
Silk shirts were not the vogue tina
they were among the lOungerS alohi
every American Main street, but II
their way Tamplcans became equal
as pTOUCltlll SptuuVlS' AiSAS w. "
tie inclination to count the change
The cost Of all articles Of food and al
parel rose tremendously. Kent
scared until ordinary accommodation
for Americans could not be obtaine
for much under 500 to $3oo pc
month.
''Because the after-the-war mdu
tries of the world required p@Eoleul
no less than did the navies OF the ngh
ing nations during the war, Tampico
prosperity continued after most oth'
communities whose business We
luIckened by the war were eXper
encing a setback. Now, belatedIy' II
city is undergoing the readjuStmel
that came to the rest of the world
Has More Freight Than Vera Cruz
although Tampico owes its Pre-
perity predominantlX to oil, 1t hi
other factors that contribute to It's IL
portance. Thanks to a railroad fro
Monterey, connecting with the mimi
region of nOrth-cpntral Mexico, ana
excellent harbor improvements II
town is an important port of enl
and export. 1t has surpassed Ne
Cruz in the bulk OF commodities ma
died, though the latter city prohah
is the port of entry for products
greater aggregate value.
"The city of Tumpico is not dlre'
~ on the seacouSt, but is situated
IIsnr1tn riNrtr Wh1