Imperial Valley press., 1936-09-20


American Highway open, tourists
in increasing numbers are driving
through from the Texas border
to Mexico City by automobile.
Points of interest along the route
to the Mexican capital, and in and
around the famous city. are legion.
The great new highway begins at
Laredo, Texas. running almost di-
rectly south through mountain
ranges and over desert land to
Mexico City. 1900 feet above the
sea.
Joseph Henry Jackson in his
book Mexican Interlude," re-
Gently released by the Macmillan
Company. publishers of New York,
describes his recent trip to Mexico
over this route in part as follows:
The introduction to any new
country, as all travellers know. is
ordinarily the most irritating part
of the whole journey. Be it bor-
der crossing or a landing from the
steamer, it comes always to the
same thing; port of entry any
where means the customs to be
gone through.
'I don't know, Of course, about
other Mexican border crossings,
but at Nuevo Laredo the tourist
who has been through the GUS
toms mill in other countries has
a pleasant surprise coming. I had
more than the usual detail to take
care of, since I was taking in a
German camera and had to reg
ister it with the American GUS
toms so that when I left Mexico
| would have evidence that I
hadn't bought it in Mexico, where
tariff on such articles is far less
than in the United States. Never
theless, in spite of this, l was
through the whole business and
on my way in half an hour. I met
uniform courtesy. and the fact
that l knew very little Spanish
made no difference. American Of
ficialdom could do with some les
sons from these fscdleS on how to
treat foreigners. There is a sys-
tenn, of course.
"On the bridge, as you approach
the Mexican end, you are met by
o voluble gentleman (there are
dozens of them and all spout
words like geysers) who takes
complete charge of you. There is
no trouble about choosing your
man; they have their own system
of rotation, and the man next in
line simply settles down on you
like cloud. The thing to do, we
had been told, is to put yourself
in his hands; that's what he is
there for, and he knows his busi-
ness. You are glad enough to let
him assume the burden, too, for
the system is a triumph of COM
plexity, a magnificent confusion
through which no one unfamiliar
with its ramifications could begin
to find a way.
n didn't % thew he would apS Irsa' not be e al, ae
lowed to hold the job. Mine spoke
a very particular English. He was
the embodiment of politeness. He
offered his most sincere regrets
when ten minutes later harried
little fat man in uniform far too
tight for him forgot one of the
rubber stamps on the triplicate
copy of my declaration and I had
to go back for it. But he knew
his slang. too. When got through
with my longest task, which was
the filling out of the blanks on my
camera and extra lenses for the
American officers whose suspi-
cions about the whole affair were
barely concealed, I went so far
as to say, What business. The
little inspector looked at me and
shook his head. You he said, are
telling me?' And we left it at that.
Then he really got to work.
Out of thin air he produced two
sweating porters to haul the bag
gage out of the car and put it
back after inspection. He led me
to the Office where the tourist
cards are issued. Each entrant
must have one; the fee is one
American dollar, which permits
you to tour Mexico at will for
thirty days. He translated for me,
ran me expertly through the
health Office where bored doctor
looked me over to be sure l would
live until l got out of the country
again, shooed away the beggars,
vendors of serdpes and pink candy,
and little boys who insisted on
shining my shoes even when l was
signing papers. When the furry
was all over, he told me what to
give the porters; the appropriate
fee is a toston, which is fifty CEN
tavos, half peso or fourteen
cents American, for each suitcase
they have handled. This is approx
innate, of course; l had six bags
and l gave them two pesos, which
satisfied them completely.
Il was all slowed shipshape and
ready to start when a ten-year-old
boy put his foot on the running