The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1936-04-13

EDITORS NOTE-This rowing reporter
for The Times goes where he pIesses.
when he pieases. in search Of odd stories
about this and that.
MEXICO CITY, April 1S.-well,
INI that's behind us. We have
crossed the horror stretch of the
new American Highway-the so
miles from Tamazunchale to Jacsla.
1t was, I believe, the most fantastic
experience of my life.
We took five hours for the so
miles. 1t was five hours of I'm
worldliness. I came out in a weird
state of mind-a feeling that had
been far away from this earth we
know, back into the ages, back al
most into mysticism.
For five hours we rode on wheels
in the sky. We circled mountain
peaks. We drove in a world of.
clouds-above them, between them,
through them.
Once we we're scared. Several
times we were nervous. But the
road is completely passable, if you're
careful.
1t was raining when we left
Tamazunchale at $3.50 a.. m. Not
hard but drippy and dark. We
started climbing Immediately. For
10 miles the mountains are not bad.
WYE were. I'll admit, tense.
w Waiting for-and sort of
holding back from-the first sight of
what has been called the most
dramatic road on the American
continent.
1t kept raining. Finally, We
stopped. Mountains were all around
us-above, below, on every side. In
the far valleys below, puffs of
clouds floated along-snow-white
against the dark green forests.
Above, some of the peaks stood
mistily silhouetted against the wet
sky; others were lost entirely in
solid clouds.
We started on, slowly The road
surface got worse. For almost the
whole so miles the road had been
blasted out of the mountain side,
and it is merely ledge. There are
spots where the wall below is abb
solutely sheer, and you'd drop half
a mile.
In one place there had been a
slide the day before. Hundreds of
tons of dirt and rock tumbled down
onto the road Traffic had been held
up three hours.
When we arrived, the men had it
cleared enough on the outside to let
us drive over But it still made a
hump, and it slanted toward the
cliff edge. and it was slick. There
was just about four feet between
the outside track and the edge. l
went over in low gear, a foot at
time. muscles and nerves as tight
as piano wires. We made it.
TINE road is 80 feet wide (three
4 cars could run abreast) except
in a few places where they are
working on it. The curves are
Steeply and beautifully banked. The
whole thing is a magnificent piece
of engineering.
There is no guard-railing along
the edges. But they will wall the
whole distance after it's surfaced.
When we were well above a
mile high, we saw the clouds
closing in on us. Suddenly, we
drove through a white wall, and
there we were, inside the clouds.
1t was pure ghostland. I could
barely see the radiator. I couldn't
see the edge of the road. I went
into low gear.
TT was cold rolled up the VIM
i dow. My head felt tight. 1 had
to take deep breaths to get any
air.
have spoken before of how the
country along the new highway re-
minds you of other parts of the
world.
The grim people, the mountains,
the clouds. the cold thin air, the
great height. all combine in your
consciousness into a shape of being
lost in the Himalayan land of lamas
and ageless things.
At the end of five hours we dro-e
out of the clouds onto smooth
gravel. The worst was over. We
went down into the little town OF
Jacala, and then up again on the
other side, and then through more
mountains (really worse than be-
force, but this part is freshly paved
and it doesn't seem so bad. Anoth-'
er 90 miles and you are out of
them.
The rest of the ride to Mexico
City dts hundred niles is an
anti-climax, but a soothing lotion,
too. You can relax and quit star
ing. It's over high, level lakeland.
It's really as interesting as the rest
of the trip, but you're still in the
Tibet daze" when you drive into
Mexico City.