Evening star., 1925-10-18
ALCOHOL AND JAZZ
TOWNS MAIN ASSET
Prominence of Tijuana, Be-
yond Mexican Border, Due
to u. S. 18th Amendment.

Tijuana, just over the border in
Mexico. south of California, large
part of which was destroyed recently
by fire, was built ION a desert and
the eighteenth amendment" accord
ing to a bulletin from the headquar-
ters here of the National Geographic
Society.
Tia Juana. as the name was first
written, means Aunt Jane'-some-
what too sedate a title for the town
Of recent years with its race tracks
gambling tables, alcohol and jazz, -
says the bulletin. $50 the tempo of
the pronunciation was automatically
stepped up to Tijuana
Alcohol Chief Commodity.
tia Juana, the sleepy and incon-
sequential existed before the eight
eenth amendment. 1t consisted of "A
shack or two in the midst Of q sandy
desert. But hectic Tijuana was as
truly a result of the famous addition
TO the Constitution of the United
States as II one of it's clauses had spe-
officially provided for the towns cree
| ton. Near the original shacks a com
plete Main street burst into being. 1t
has never been more than a few hun
dred yards long-born in the desert at
one end and dying in the desert at the
other-but 1t makes up in conCentra-
ton what it lacks in size. The build
ings are mostly one-story affairs of
wood many of them showing that
naive hypocrisy of the old West, the
false front, which gives to the near
sighted faint suggestion Of a second
story.
There has been little variety in the
hI1 Gj ir,Yo &C. of
thing close TO SO per cent OF the town s
structures are concerned with the dis
| tribution of alcoholic beverages. with
gambling. and now and then the pur-
veyins Of food, as side lines.
Racing Popular Pastime.
| Tijuana differs from Mexicali, op-
posite CaleXico, Aqua Prieta opposite
| Douglas, and Juarez opposite FL Pasc.
| The latter three and other Mexican
communities on the border have a
more or less thriving business life of
\ their own. The high concentration of
saloons in each case has been Superim-
posed on established communities
| But Tijuana is the simon pure oasis
! and sanctuary where American Wis
itors may forget prohibition and throw
sundry other American inhibitions to
| the winds. Repeal the eighteenth
I
would become a deserted village.
/ Tijuana proper, If one may use the
phrase. lies about half a mile inside
Mexican territory. Almost exactly on
the border is large race track and a
connected group of buildings housing
! bars, a restaurant and gaming rooms
! Seventeen miles north of the border
lies San Diego, Calf, the starting
point for most of those who visit the
Mexican oasis A railway connects
san Diego with the border, and during
the racing seasons in recent years
thousands to and from the track and
| its neighboring allurements.
| 100000, 900 Spent by Americans.
! Tijuana has been a thorn in the
| side of the more solid citizenry OF
| southern California including the mer-
! chants and bankers. 1t has been as
serted that more than $4,000. 900 is
! left in Tijuana annually by Ameri-
cans All of it does not find its way
/ into Mexican Golfers. however. PraC-
| tically all of the gambling concession
aires and saloon proprietors are Amer
leans. They must pay heavy fees to
! the government of the Mexican State
! of Lower California. Some of the pro
visions in this regard are a bit anus
! ing Each year the race track pro
| Drietors build a new Schoolhouse in
some Lower California town. What Is
! left after the fee payments and the
| patronage of education goes back to
| the United States in the pockets of the
| proprietors.'