The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1936-04-09

for The Times goes where he plesses,
when he pleases, in search Of odd stories
about this and that
VICTORIA, Mexico. April g.
v This is the account of the sec
ond day on the drive from Texas to
Mexico City. We are, you remem-
Der, going slowly. Today's drive
was only los miles. You might
want to do twice as much. The
highway was paved, and level, all
of today.
We left Monterrey at Q in the
morning. The dust of the day be-
fore was gone. The air was clear,
and it was bit chilly. I kept my
coat on.
You drive south between noun
tain ridges, in wide level valley,
past the Monterrey golf course, and
soon you are in farming land.
The whole thing strikes you as
queer. Here is rolling farm country.
Truck garden country. Everything
is green. The fields are alive with
wa h4AACAls ~ 10 4lkC lllG
States than Mexico. 1t is more like
Japan than either of them.
You could never believe Mexicans
were lazy if you drove through here.
The soil is black and fertile and
every field is fresh with turned soil
or growing vegetables.
TINE people live in rather nice
l. houses; stone, or succeed adobe.
Some of them are astounding-a
Hollywood Spanish bungalow right
out here on farm in Mexico.
This goes on for so miles, until
you come to Montemoreles. You
have to leave the main road half a
mile to see it. This is Mexico's
orange capital.
Montemoreles is the most peace
full town have ever been in. The
main street and the plaza are shad-
ed with orange trees. The whole
town is as silent as the grave, but
not like the grave. 1t is fresh and
soft, like spring, and there is an easy
quiet in the air. You feel you could
sit here and do nothing the rest of
your life, and still be fresh as an
orange blossom, instead of growing
dry and stale. 1 recommend Mon
temoreles to you.
For lunch you stop at Linares.
This town has bad write-ups in the
guide books. I don't know why. It
is accused of being desultory, indif-
ferent, backward. I don't think so.
It's jealous of MontemoreleS, and is
trying to extend the orange center
down there.
r AFTER we stepped out into
- the patio, back of the hotel, to
look at the flowers. 1t was there we
met Magdalene Granada. His
friends call him Mag"
Mag is carpenter He is dark,
and wears overalls and needs a
shave. He appeared in the doorway
and said in English, Mice patio,
| isn't it?"
Surprised, we said yes 1t was.
Then we engaged Mag in converse
ton, he being the only linguist in
Linares, apparently. His isn't any
Oxonian English, but you can un-
derstand him.
Mag, it seems, lived a long time
in Austin, Tex. He has five chill
dren, all born in Texas. When the
depression caught Mag, his wife
wanted to come back to her native
Linares, so back they came.
They have been here three years
now. Mag is homesick for Texas.
He likes to talk English to people.
A FTER Linares, the country
N changes. It's getting more
tropical Stone houses are no more.
They're mostly matched now. Whole
villages of them. Houses such as
as you see in pictures of South At
frica. I didn't know they had them
in Mexico.
The land is poor. The people are
poor. They aren't living in luxury.
Not even in comfort-although
can not in honesty judge what is
comfort for any one but myself.
Around o'clock, IL miles north
of Victoria, we crossed the modern
bridge over the Publication River,
and turned off to the Hacienda
Santa Engracia.
It's IL miles off the main high
way, over bunny dirt lane. We
stayed all night there. It's one
phase of old Mexico that you won't
see much longer The great plan
tation, with its thousands of acres;
its own matched village of thou
sand poems; its great old casa
grande, or manor house, its history
of centuries in the same Spanish
family.
Changing times have become hard
times for the great landowners Ha-
icenda Engracia is being turned into
guest ranch" Once 200, 900 acres,
it is now $4,000, and hardly sup
ports itself.