San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1923-09-16

To the land,
To the land.
Where the oranges grow,
There let US go,
There let us go.
This little poem / remember from
my boyhood, but it was not the land
where the oranges grow but the land
where the cactus grows, Mexico, that
Mrs. Joske and / travelled to. Although
oranges are also grown in Mexico, the
cactus is most prevailing. The cactus
in Mexico grows most profuselv and
between San Luis Potosi and Mexico
City it is beautiful sight, and to me
grand sight, to ssee those thousands
and thousands Of, acres Of cactus. They
are wonderful.
The cactus is a very interesting
plant. Botanists and scientists have
investigated that plant and though
there are great many species of this
plant, they continue to find new spe-
cies. It is indeed a very interesting
plant and there is no country in the
world where it is found in such Won
derful state and in so many different
species, as are found in Mexico. There
is nothing like this anywhere else in
the world, and to me it was very in
teresting and enjoyed it.
Previous to this trip I had not been
in the City Of Mexico since President
Diaz' regime before the revolution, and
on my trip now found a great
many changes, great many improve
ments, and though have been through
a great many ancient cities in the
world, there is no city that interested
me as much as the City of Mexico.
The ancient, yes, the prehistoric, the
modern, the beautiful, the bizarre, the
ugly are all so closely mingled. The
Indian with his big sombrero and his
many, colored blankets around his
shoulders, the Mexican woman in her
all of them either barefooted or SAN
so contrasting to the Caucasian that
you find in Mexico-all of this lent
and gave coloring that you don't find
anywhere else in the world
Mexico City is located in the valley
of Mexico, beautifully surrounded by
very high mountains and on clear
day you see the two volcanic noun
tains. One of them is Ell Popoca-
tepetl, the highest mountain on this
continent, $1,000 feet above sea level.
Both these volcanic mountains have
been dead or rather inactive since the
memory of man. They occasionally
do let out smoke.
selEqHss s-sysSr l. ~ we. .-Sssrs'.
All of the mountains surrounding
Mexico City are of volcanic origin and
the valley is of lava formation. In
fact under the City of Mexico is
lake and that lake is covered by
lava. A person can imagine what ter
rifle volcanic eruption must have taken
place and how long and often these
volcanic mountains must have been in
action, to have formed the crust of
the lake on which Mexico City is built.
The surroundings of Mexico are
beautiful and there are many places
of interest to visit, but I do not want
to speak of Mexico City and its loca-
tlOT, hui VI us WOHucTlul ClliudJS
which is an all-year-round climate,
never cold and never hot Il believe
the thermometer averages between 70
and 80 in the daytime), but do want
to speak about the population of
Mexico. Mexico, the republic of Mex
leo, has a population of 100000
people and 100000 or more are
Indians. The City of Mexico with its
suburbs has about 100000 popula-
ton of which not more than 10000
are of the Caucasian race; and then
there are the medistos, who are
descendants of mixed Indian and Cau-
casian blood and who form separate
population, but there are not so many.
In the main business part of the
city the Caucasian race is somewhat
in evidence, but otherwise over the
city the Indian is the most prevailing.
To me, when looking on and seeing the
different people on the street, it looks
like the Caucasian, the white man, is
just on a visit, he is not permanent
resident, for the Indian outnumbers
him so greatly.
On my previous visit to Mexico,
President Diaz' regime existed. He
was President of Mexico 81 years, but
would rather say that he was Die
tator, for his will was supreme. But
President Diaz had very good sense
and good judgment; he surrounded
himself with capable men and some Of
them were extraordinarily able. Dur
ing President Diaz' regime the Re
public, if it could have been called
such then, was respected by other
nations, and the world, the commercial
world, had full confidence in this gov
eminent. Other people may differ