The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1936-04-10
Vagabond
from
Indiana
APRIL 10, 1886
ERNIE PYLE

EDITORS NOTE-This rowing report,r
for The Times goes where he plea,.,.
when he pIeases, in search of odd stories
about this and that.
WALES, Mexico, April 10
Y We're getting deep into Mexico
now. Nearly 500 miles from the
border.
This is the third day of our leis-
urely trip over the new Pan-Amer-
lean Highway to Mexico City. We
came 100 miles today. The road
was perfect all the way Qevel and
macadam- paved with the exception
of about 20 miles.
1t was nearly IL when we got
through lounging ana looking
around the old Hacienda Engracia,
and headed out for the main high
way. 1t was hot, and my coat came
off. 1t took As minutes to get back
to the paved road, and then it was
just "a miles to Victoria.
We needed gas. When we pulled
up, a Louisiana car was there
ahead of us. The driver came over
and rather pathetically asked if
spoke Spanish. I assured him the
only Spanish word 1 knew was
manana, and wasn't sure what
that meant.
He said he wanted his oil changed
and couldn't make the garage man
understand. He still hadn't under
stood when we left. Later in the
day the Louisiana car passed us
Full of good Mexican oil, hope. e.
THIS language business annoys
l. me. You can get by without
knowing Spanish, but you miss so
much Many of the tourists take
a down-the- nose attitude that there
is something queer about people in
Mexico who can't speak English. 1
wonder how many garage owners in
Iowa could speak Spanish to a Mex
lean tourist?
The guidebooks all have handy"
Spanish phrases. They tell you how
to ask directions and so on. You
get so you can ask them all right,
and make yourself understood. But
you can't understand the answer.
The good old international Ian
guage of yelling and pointing usu-
ally gets results.
VICTORIA is swell little city.
Y Utterly Mexican in appearance
plaza, straight succeed buildings
flush with the sidewalk; homes,
stores, offices all looking alike, ex-
cept out on the edge of town, where
you get the matched houses. Streets
white and sunbaked. And anybody
who says these Mexican towns are
not clean is wrong.
It's rs miles from Victoria to
Limon. You knock this off in no
time, over excellent macadam. At
Limon you hit the first completely
raw road of the trip.
Here you have 20 miles of rock
gravel; rocks from the size of your
fist to as big as your head. The road
is baked hard as flint, and is full of
holes. Speed 20 to 40 miles an hour.
This stretch is uncomfortable and
annoying, but wide and level.
At the end of the stretch you run
onto several big road crews, working
with trucks and steam rollers and
all modern equipment, surfacing the
road. It's new macadam the rest
of the way to Wales.
THIRTY miles before Wales we
Il saw a truck pulled out to the
side of the road The driver waved
us down. We stopped. He spelled
off a handful of Spanish.
mo tengo," was my reply. I
thought I was saying 81 do not
understand" When 1 looked in the
book this evening, I found I had
said Il have not" But what's the
difference? I suspected the boy
wanted to ride somewhere for help.
I made signs, and that's what he
wanted, so he climbed in. We hauled
him for 20 miles mot able to say
a word to each other, unless I
wanted to keep repeating Il have
not" which 1 didn't.
He got out at big road con-
struction gang, and said Thank
you," in English.
WALES is a boom town now.
Y Hotels and tourist courts are
spinging into life. There is much
hammering and plastering. A lot
of people are going to get rich in
Wales.
We drove seven miles beyond
Wales, for the night, to Ell Banito
tourist camp, which had been rec
commended.
All along the road, from Texas to
Mexico City, the tourists gather
at night in the few stopping places
and question each other.
The first question is, Are you 60
ing down or back?" If you're going
down, you're not so much. II you're
going back, you have the center of
the stage. Everybody wants to
know what the bad stretch" far
Their south is like.