New Britain herald., 1927-02-07

NdHleS or IeXlCan states most
 difficult for Americans and their
 approximate accommodations are:
 Chihuahua, che-wah' -wah; Goa
 huila, ko-a-wee'la: Zacatecas.
 sa-ka-ta kas; Jalisco, ha-lees'-
 ko: Michoacan, me-cho-a-kan':
 Guerrero, gayr-ray'-ro; Oaxaca,
 wa -ha'- -kah: Guaraiuato, gwa-
 na-hwa'-to; Queretaro. kay
 -tah-ro; Tlaxcala, tlas-kah'-
 lah.
 Washington. D. C.. Feb. 7.-Dis- patches from Mexico have been sprinkled with names of the United States of Mexico; Jalisco. Durango, Tabasco and others.
 Mexico has 2S states. Does the average American know whether Chiapas is on the Pacific or Allan tic coats; whether Nayarit is In the north, central or south in Mexico: if Aguascalientes is a large state or a small one; or If Campeche is in the east or west in Mexico?
 "'Name the two territories of Mexico is a question on which many Americans, who can name the 4S American state capitals and the Canadian provinces, would fail." says a bulletin of the National Geogra- phic society from its headquarters in Washington, D. c.
 Her Two Territories
 Lower California, dry, arid. mountainous and sparsely populated. is one Mexican territory not yet granted status of a state. Fifteen hundred miles away from Lower California lies Mexicos other terri tory. Quintana Roo. farthest south and farthest east.
 Tt is common to think of Mexi- co as a great horn sprouting south from southwest United States. The position of the two Mexican terri tories punctures this geographic myth. Mexico is not thin nation. It is just as wide as it is long. While its westernmost city is Tiajuana, over the international line from San Diego. California, the outermost point of the Yucatan Peninsula lies as far east as Indianapolis.
 Doesn't Equal Our Smallest or
 Largest
 "The United States has one small CT state than Mexico's smallest. Rhode Island is 300 square miles smaller than Tlaxcala. which lies 50 miles east of Mexico City. Colima, a state on the Pacific coast of Mexico directly west of the capital, measures less than Delaware. But the largest state of Mexico, Chihuahua. across the border from New Mexico. is much smaller than the American giant, Texas. It approximates Ore- son or Illinois and Indiana taken to- gether.
 "The States of Mexico were orig finally laid out to coincide roughly with the areas occupied by the h. dian tribes which the Spaniards con- ouered. Then the conquerors appor- toned the districts among them selves. Thus Hernando Cortes was 'Maroues del Valle' of Oaxaca. As Marques he laid waste the Zapotec Indians chief town, built a new city on the same site and named 1t Ante- quera, after a town of Spain near Malaga. When Mexico won it's inde- pendence from Spain, the city re- stunned its old Zapotec name, Huax- iacac (modified in Spanish to Oax- aca) and the state took the same title. This is a story repeated with variations many times in Mexico. Practically all the states have re- stunned their Indian names. There are exceptions such as the States or Vera Cruz, San Luis Potost Guana- iuato and Nuevo Leon.
 Low States and High" States
 Although the ancient Aztecs. Ia- potecs and Mayas are responsible for the boundaries of modern states or Mexico, the borders often outline definite geographic units. There Is classification handy for Mexican states which our republic cannot use 10 advantage. In Mexico there are now states, high states and higher states. The low states are the east ern seaboard units from north to south, Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon. Vera Cruz and Tabasco. The Yuca- tan peninsula group of Capeche, Yu- catan and Quintana Roo also hugs sea level. Pacific coastal states are, for the most part, low states too, but not so low as east coast states; Sim aloa, Nayarit, Colima, Michoacan, Guerrero, Oaxaca and Chiapas. Then come the high states, that Is, those which are 5000 feet above sea level,