M \Y 



'9°3-l 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



257 



PRIMITIVE MEANS OB rRANSPORTATION, 



learned here thai the former of the two mountains had been pur- 

 chased by the Standard Oil Co., who are to work the vast sul- 

 phur deposits in the crater above the snows. The second 

 volcano was exploited to us by a polite Mexican, who said that 

 the Aztec name meant " the lady of the snows," and pointed 

 out that the irregular peaks of this mountain, with their snowy 

 mantle, took on the figure of a woman lying on her back with 

 her arms folded. All the rest of the party said that the likeness 

 was perfect, and to save trouble I agreed with them, but it 

 really looked more like a couple of huge circus tents fresh 

 from the laundry. 



Shortly after this we reached the City of Mexico, took a 



carriage, drove to a hotel that was built in a hollow square, and 



that had tiled floors, stuccoed walls, and rooms with- 



rfExico out baths, unpacked our traps, sent out and bought 

 soap, and spent two hours in making alkaline solu- 

 tions from the various strata of dust that had settled upon our 

 editorial person. 



It was midday and hot, uncomfortably so in the sun, and just 

 here I want to speak of the climate of the city, and then dis- 

 miss the matter forever. It may be all that is claimed for it by 

 guidebooks and railway folders, at certain seasons, but it struck 

 me as far from perfect. At night it was so cool that a heavy 

 suit and a light overcoat were necessary, while in the middle of 

 the day one yearned for pajamas and sandals. When one gets 

 really chilly there seem to be but two places to get warm ; one 

 is the United States and the other the isthmus of Tehuantepec. 

 There doesn't exist a fireplace, a stove, or any sort of heating 

 apparatus in hotel or private house. Indeed the inhabitants ol 

 the city claim that such are unhealthy, and the result is that 

 every stranger courts pneumonia, unless exceedingly careful. 

 The city itself is beautiful, and has a chocolate colored po- 

 liceman at every corner, a polite little chap who appreciates 

 a tip or a good cigar, and who will do anything in reason for 

 the well behaved. 



I spent two days in the capital, and was very much impressed 

 with its beauties. For a description of the buildings, customs, 

 and places of interest, one need only turn to the many excel- 

 lent guidebooks on sale everywhere. There are two points, 

 however, which these publications do not touch upon. One is 

 the very sincere and deserved admiration which visitors of 

 every nation openly express for President Diaz, and another is 

 the fact that American moneymakers, in a great variety of 

 lines, are getting a very strong foothold in the city, to its 

 marked benefit and to theirs. 



Like any other tenderfoot. I had brought with me a lot ol 

 luggige which a closer view of conditions inthe7/>rr«j Caliente 

 shoved to be unnecessary. Most of this I left in the City of 



STARTING 

 SOUTH. 



Mexico, and started forth early one morning, clad 

 in a summersuit, flannel shirt, broad-brimmed hat, 

 with a Colt .38 strapped to my waist, and bear- 

 ing for luggage a small bag and a Mexican blanket. I found 

 the conditions on trains south of Mexico city radically different 

 from those to the north. There were, for example, first, second, 

 and third class cars, with no Pullmans. The first class car 

 might have been a baggage car lor all the luggage that the 

 passengers had, and it might have been a smoking car for 

 the way in which both sexes smoked cigarettes; indeed, it 

 might have been a barroom for the way that the train boy 

 served native cognac and beer. Mysealmate, a powerful Swede, 

 appreciated some of these Providences more than I did. As 

 he was interested in rubber planting, and particularly as he un- 

 derstood Spanish, we became quite friendly, and before I knew 

 it he was taking my tup right out of my hands. He verbally 

 hustled me through Mexico, and by this time would have had 

 me in Patagonia had I not put on the brakes. 



The first part of the journey from the city, the road ran 

 through enormous maguey plantations, from which Mexico's 

 national drink, the pulgue, is drawn. Then after miles of dusty 

 plain, the road (near Esperanza) runs close to the mountain side, 

 disclosing, some 4000 (eet below, the little native village of Mal- 

 trata. Zigzagging round the mountain, tunneling through pro- 

 jecting rocks, clinging to the edge of awful precipices, the train 

 curves and slides, until it finally gets down to the plain, and 

 the powerful double headed locomotive which held it back 

 stops with a veritable sigh of relief. 



Leaving Maltrata, the course still continues down hill, fol- 

 lowing the windings of a mountain stream some hundreds of 

 feet below, until we finally sight Orizaba, clothed in eternal 

 snow, lifting its head high above all surrounding peaks, and to 

 my mind far more beautiful and impressive than Popocatepetl 

 or its sister summit, over which tourists rave. After a brief 

 stop at the mountain hedged city ol Orizaba, we left the train 

 at Cordoba, where the Spanish of my traveling companion was 

 most helpful in securing accommodation at a little Mexican 

 hotel where we had a really good dinner and comfortable beds. 



In the morning we took an early train over the Vera Cruz 



and Pacific road for Achotal, its terminus. Although the run 



unsettled > s not a ' on g one . ' l takes from 6 o'clock in the 



country, morning till 1 the following morning to make it. 



That we were getting into an unsettled country was much 

 more apparent than ever before, the cars being guarded by 

 rurales (the native military police), and the passengers, both 

 Americans and Mexicans, having the free and easy demeanor 

 which characterized the early days of the Far West. The con- 

 ductors and train hands were Americans, as were many of the 







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MAGUEY PLANTATION NEAR MEXICO CITY. 



