Smyrna times., 1936-03-19
MEXICAN PORT
TAKES ON LIFE
Acapulco Is Called MexicO'S
"Trip Van Wrinkle
Port"
BIG LINERS PLY THERE

Washington.-Gateway for count
less galleons from the Orient 300
years ago, but almost ignored in
modern times, Mexico's Rip van
Wrinkle port, Acapulco, now is wax
ing to renewed activity. The largest
liners plying between New York
and California plan to call there
this year to drop tourists for Mex
leo City.
Conveniently located below the
elbow bend of Mexico's Pacific coast
in the state of Guerrero, sleepy
Acapulco has one of the finest nat
ural harbors in the wOrld,'' says the
National Geographic society. Yet
it has drowsed away a couple of
centuries as a quiet little tropical
town simmering in the sun, in the
bowl of great mountains that drop
almost sheer into Acapulco bay.
1.-THE town is a crescent of pas
tel-eolored adobe cubicles, topped
by tiny patches of red tiled roofs,
and occasional green coconut palms
A few buildings, taller or broader.
stand out from the mass of one
storied dwellings-church town hall
and Jail, covered market building.
and a sprinkling of consulates and
hotels. Little cotton mills, and
soap and oil factories, operated in
termittently, show that Acapulco
once had industrial ambitions. The
narrow winding streets are rarely
crowded. Heat makes the air sticky,
like hot fiy-paper,' but visitors en-
dure the climate to enjoy the
towns tropical beauty.
choked in Progress.
Behind it rise the steep, cactus
covered Sierra Madres, which have
throttled Acapulco's progress like
fingers. There is no railroad to
the interior, and less perfect har-
bors, such as Mazatlan and Man
zanillo, have doomed because each
has this advantage. So Acapulco
has dreamed, When the railroad
reaches here > and meanwhile
lapsed into long siesta.
"Cortes used its magnificent har-
Dor in 1913. sending two brigan-
tines on a voyage of exploration
into the Gulf of California. But
they reported no harbor equal TO
Acapulco's oval bay, nearly two
miles wide. A hilly half-mile-wide
peninsula between bay and ocean
forms a natural breakwater, offer
ing about four square miles Of
placid, almost land-locked shelter
within earshot of Pacific breakers
pounding against the rocky head
lands outside.
''By 1850, trade at the port sup
ported a little village, which the
Spanish fortified with the grim gray
fort of San Diego, still glowering
above one tip of the town.
1.-The Aztec name for the settle
ment-Acapulco, place where the
reeds abound'-was borne on trade
winds around the world. Galleons
from the Far East brought fragrant
cargoes of gums and spice, of dark
cotton prints and rice from India,
rich brOcaded silks from Japan,
exquisite porcelains from China.
Occasional slavers discharged car
goes of negroes to work nearby
plantations, and legend claims that
one brought kidnapped princess,
whose popularity is commemorated
in the national Mexican girls fiesta
dress, the China Poblana costume
of green-bordered red skirt, loose
white embroidered blouse, and gay
shawl.
Export of silver bullion and spe-
Gle from Acapulco originated the
strange custom, still existing, of
calling pesos, often made in China
and stamped 'Republica de Mexico,
Mexican dollars
Sacked by Pirates.
"From Acapulco goods from the
Orient journeyed inland over the
tortuous rocky Canine Real a
brigand-infested mountain trail to
Mexico, d. F., and thence to Vera
Cruz for reshipment to Spain. Trans
port was by strings of burros, or
by slow OK carts with thick solid
wooden discs for wheels. Buc-
cancers heard of Acapulco's wealth,
and inevitably the town was sacked
by pirates and its ships captured
when leaving the harbor.
There are only two seasons in
Acapulco, both hot-steaming rainy
summer and long parched winter.
To 'air-condition' the town, an ar
tificial cut was made through the
hills of the peninsula shielding it
from the sea, and this 'Abra de
San Nicolas admits cooling west
erly sea breezes. Many homes are
built facing the west.
"A few years ago modern high
way was completed from Acapulco
to Mexico, d. f., nearly 300 miles
away and a mile and half above
sea level. Vacationists can sail to
Acapulco, motor via picturesque
Tasco and Cuernavaca to Mexico,
d. f., and return to the United