8 
he had a standing challenge to quote 
more scripture than any man in the 
United States, barring ministers. He 
said he had no part or interest in the 
rebellion, was simply looking through 
the country to see if there was any- 
thing not nailed down, when he was 
arrested as “among those present,” 
“Back to the waving corn for me,” 
said the Irishman. 
It’s a great game, this war game, 
and the border is thick with men, who 
while not cowards, know they would 
not last long enough for a court mar- 
tial to get to them, if they went 
across the river. 
They have all been over there, all 
had a hand in the framing and the 
fighting—so the residents tell you. 
They pointed out to me a young fel- 
low, not over 25 years old, who they 
said had been one ot the prime mov- 
ers in Sonora. He looked like a 
ranchman’s son, dressed with a grey 
flannel shirt, and laced boots. I wait- 
ed my chance and spoke to him. So 
long as the conversation was confined 
to stock conditions in Texas, the 
chances for rain and how sheep were 
doing, he was courteous and_ enter- 
taining, but the minute I pushed the 
talk around to Mexican troubles he 
closed up like a telephone booth, and 
there was nothing doing. 
They tell me that anyone who 
knows anything about the war game 
can come down here, cross over and 
get a following in about fifteen min- 
utes. A private in the standing army, 
who knows the drill work, can get a 
soto stalk and line up a bunch of men 
who are dying to die for their coun- 
try. And they say about as soon as 
they can do the “present arms’ there 
comes from some mysterious source 
some Standard Oil guns. If he can 
hold the fellows together, that is, 
pasture them where there is some 
chance of pillage and forage, and add 
to his numbers, then he is considered 
as a factor in the situation. If he 
can’t, then he is soon done for by the 
federals. If he isn’t killed in battle, 
he is given a splendid chance to be 
assassinated later—a casual shot in 
the back, the kind Madero got. 
It’s a great old scrap—viewed from 
the safe American side of the muddy 
Rio Grande, but I can’t help but think 
if the Americans would have kept out 
of it, it would have been settled long 
ago. Mexico is a gold mine and the 
Yankee knows it—Pancho doesn’t. 
There are rich mines down there. 
There are great expanses of grazing 
land. You can buy the land for 7s 
cents an acre, and you can get the 
mines by simply claiming (and de- 
fending) them, The trouble now is 
title. A man may have a valuable 
NORTH SHORE BREEZE 
property today. All he has to do is to 
forget he has it for a few years (no 
taxes) and he will wake up some 
morning and find he has fallen heir 
to something, that an aunt in Detroit 
has died and_left him all there was to 
leave. But in Mexico today you are 
a millionaire and tomorrow you are 
hunting a meal ticket. It all depends 
on which way the wind blows. They 
say the national election, October 26, 
will settle things, but it won’t—that’s 
my guess. 
Porfiria Diaz ruled these black peo- 
ple with a hand of iron for many 
years. He played the game to the 
limit, but didn’t or couldn’t read the 
sign language. De la Barre followed 
him for a day, and then that patriot, 
Francisco Madero, stepped into the 
shoes of the tyrant. Given half a 
chance, they tell me, Madero would 
have made good. The majority was 
with him, and he had plans to give the 
acres of Mexico back to the Mexicans 
and give them a chance to live con- 
tented. 
But Huerta double crossed and be- 
trayed him. He did it through the 
help of Felix Diaz, the man he now 
fears, and a nephew of the old ruler. 
Madero was shot in the back, assas- 
sinated, and here’s betting Huerta 
will shuffle off just about the same 
finish a little later this fall. He dare 
not run for president; he dare not 
loosen his present hold. It’s a short 
end either way he plays it. 
It’s a great game, to watch from 
along the side lines, and it is a wise 
man who can tell how it will end. 
Two big business factions are scrap- 
ping for it. Wall Street knows more 
about the situation than the men in 
the ranks. The Mexicans are the 
checkers. they are fighting for some- 
thing. There is nothing to lose and 
there is a hope for freedom. ‘They 
are becoming enlightened. ‘They are 
no longer peons and pelows. Just how 
they will work it out, you and T don’t 
know, but certain it is they will keep 
on making trouble until they get 
what they want. or what they are en- 
titled to. October 26 may settle 
things for a period, but they will 
never stay settled until they are set- 
tled right. 
The common Mexican is very much 
like his cousin, the Indian. They will 
not work steadily and will not work 
at all unless necessity compels it. I 
do not mean the Spaniard when I say 
Mexican—I mean the half Indian 
Greaser. You can never make Amer- 
icans of these fellows or teach them 
American ways. 
Given a few acres of land, from 
which they can make a Mexican liv- 
ing, with very little work, and they 
are the most contented, 
people on earth. Denied this way of 
existence, then they are a bad lot and 
ripe for anything that bobs up. 
Many of the so-called peon class 
live on a lower level than American 
hogs. Frijole beans, many times 
without the least seasoning but Chili 
pepper, is their breakfast, dinner and 
supper, and if one of them gets a 
piece of pork as big as his fist, he 
thinks he has a banquet. His coffee 
is the beans from the mesquite tree, 
roasted. 
With a common class requiring so 
little for contentment, it 
strange that there need be a rebellion 
in Mexico. 
But Mexico is too close to the Uni- 
ted States. 
Yacut CHAMPIONS oF THE NortH 
SHORE 
Farly last spring by an agreement 
between B. S. Permar of the Boston 
Yacht club and the regatta commit- 
tee of the Corinhian, Eastern, Boston 
and Manchester Yacht club, the races 
at Marblehead counted during the 
TQ13 season for the North Shore 
championship, Thus all the open races 
of these four clubs with the except- 
ion of the mid-summer series of the 
Corinthian Yacht club and the Hull 
series of the Boston Yacht club have 
figured for the championships of 
Class P, Bar Harbor 31-footers, Bos- 
ton Y. C., Second Rating class, Mar- 
blehead 17-footers, Corinthian 1 5- 
footers and the sonder boats. 
All the races, except that of June 
one 2! stil 
care-free _ 
Lt a at ating INS a , 
seems | 
17, which was sailed off Point Aller- 
ton and the Y. R. A. open race of the 
Manchester Y. C. of July 5, were 
contested off Marblehead. In the 
open regatta of the Manchester Y. 
C. only the results in the smaller 
classes counted, as the marks for tke 
course sailed by the P. boats and the 
Bar Harbor 31-footers were out of 
place and the race was thrown out. 
Just what will be awarded to the 
owners of the yachts winning the 
championships of the various classes 
has not been determined by Mr. Per- 
mar, but at an early date he will have 
a conference with the chairman of 
the regatta committee of the four 
clubs, when it will be decided what 
form the championship souvenir will 
take. 
The winners of these champion- 
ships are: Class P, Italia; Bar Har- 
bar 31-foot class, Leenane; Boston Y. 
C. second rating class, Radiant, son- 
der class, Ellen; Marblehead 17-foot 
class, Asteria; Corinthian Y. C. 15- 
foot class, Half Moon. 
