ISTHMUS OF TEHUANTEPEC 
103 
There doesn’t exist a fireplace, a stove, or any sort of heating apparatus, 
in hotel or private house. Indeed, the inhabitants of the city claim that 
such are unhealthy, and the result is that every stranger courts pneu- 
monia, unless exceedingly careful. The city itself is beautiful, and has a 
chocolate-colored policeman 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 excellent 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 
LOOKING DOWN UPON MALTRATA FROM THE TRAIN 
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 of luggage, 
which a closer view of conditions in the Terra Calient e showed to be 
unnecessary. Most of this I left in the City of Mexico, and started forth 
early one morning, clad in a summer suit, flannel shirt, and broad-brimmed 
hat, with a Colt thirty-eight strapped to my waist, and bearing for lug- 
gage, a small bag and a Mexican blanket. I found the conditions on 
trains south of M'exico City radically different from those to the north. 
