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About The Oregon daily journal. (Portland, Or.) 1902-1972 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 18, 1910)
Tin: OREGON SUNDAY JOURNAL, PORTLAND, SUNDAY. MORNING, - DECEMBER 18. ,1910. THE WEST COAST OF MEXICO AND OPPORTUNITIES' IT OFFERS r WILL ERECT FIVE " By G. W. Burton. . OS ANGELES. Dec 17. "No ' more opportunity for ; fortune making!" Is the misleading cry of ' those who do not know opportun ity when they meet it face to Jace. or who would not embrace it if present ed to them duly certified and labelA. I have. seen the west developed for 60 year in the middle west and in the far west, and I make the assertion with due deliberation, and after, careful ob servation, that Illinois, Wisconsin, Min nesota and the other empires of the middle west presented no. Buch oppor tunities as I saw In September of this year- along th west coast of Mexico. tHretehes of" valleysxlO0O miles long on the west coast of Mexico. Prom Nogales to Guaymas the type of country does not differ , much from Arizona from , Yuma to Nogales. ' At Herraoslllo there Is fair beginning made In the culture f citrus fruits, and at several points the Kpmarkably fertile soils are being used by Chinese to grov garden truck, mostly for the. American market. ;. Tomatoes ripen "here percu nially,, and green corn the same. ; But below, Guaymas tho nature of , the country changes radically.. The forest growth Is magnificent at many places, and the woods, many jf the hard var ieties, will -pay well . for clenrlnr the Vor aa ih if7LrfVnnvth land'.for crops. - There are stretches of r did the Ilflc coast offer Hnythlngfi.,. ,,, ,,. that-in a few, years will yield large fortunes or some wise persons who can 'see-what possibilities are and have force . enough to convert them Into .reali ties. These seers 0? the material-world are.beie now and ere coming In Increas ing numebre. They all see a great fu ture for this country. , :' ' Mexico's Many Crops. -- Cerea,l crops -will 'grow up near .the Arctic circle on the Yukon and almost to the and of the continent at Cape Horn. These crops, wheat, corn, barley, etc., find all climates, continents and islands kindly to them. They do well along this coast of Mexico. The valley of the Altar is being used for cereal crops with success. But them crops are not what point to the west coast of Mexico as the land of promise for the next generation- All civilized countries are looking for land where cotton pro duction Is possible. Here it Is In these low lands just above tidewater from Mazatlan to Manzanlllo. This is better by many degrees' than a- speculation or possibility. IMs one of the few actu alities of the country I am writing of. Not only cotton" grows here, but there are wide areas being proved suitable for the crop, and the quality is' good, the fiber fine and the staple long. Rice is a successful rival of wTieat, and more human beings use the Chinese . cereal than, do the staple food of Europeans and Americans. This crop also does ex cellently all along the low- country be tween Guaymas and Masatlin and on to the southern boundaries of Mexico. Cot ton la the most prof itable crop the ground produces, and rice Is orie ,of the next Good tobacco is a plant not to be grown so widely as ;, wheat, barley or oats.' Some countries produce qualities of this plant that create a practical monopoly : for those-who own the small stretches of country where it grows. The west coast of Mexico has been used for to bacco culture . for years with success. But the growers have not been progres sive nor enterprising. They have taken such seed as they find at hand and go on generation after generation in 1 the same . way. ':. These moist . valleys . near th sea, with the rieh soil and warm cli mate, may be expected with the intro duction of new seed and more careful cultivation to produce tobacco of a pe culiar quality and much in demand. It would be well to try Cuban seed from the Vuelta Alaja 'region or Sumatra to make cigar ' wrappers worth more, per pound that wheat per bushel. t , - Opportunities Oalore. - Ob, no, the subject Is not exhausted There are other products which do well here for which the area is limited on the earth, Sugar cane is one of, the most paying of all in the world, i' It , grows almost wild in the rich soil, moist at mosphere and warm climate all along the west coast of Mexico. ? In the gulf state of America ' the cane has to be planted yearly, In this Mexican, coun try It grows spontaneously after, once being' established. A few years ago (not above five) a Texan went down to Tam plco, on the east -coast of Mexico. He took $1100 with him. I met a friend of his on the tram who toM me his friend had written that 'he had an offer , of $100,000 for his Holdings. No oppor tunities left in the worldt - The west j oast of ' Mexico beckons wjth both hands and calls with a hundred voices to ! ability, perseverance, industry and am-1 bltlon to coma and srather th riehaa nw her soils which will make fortunes in! nair a lifetime. ;. r , ;,.: . Here we have' spoken of four of the best paying crops the soil of the earth yield which are possible only in small areas of the surface of our globe. What fruit Is there known that does not flour ish In these same valleys t All along the road we found fairly good apples of native growth, and peaches whtch al though not of good quality nor fair size. indicate that' they may be cultivated ' with success.- AU required is to .pro-', euro. good stock and then apply modern! methods of treatment to the orchards. At fiermosillo there are enough orange : groves to prove ,tbat these, fruits will do well. They grow all along as far as Mazatlan, and over the divide at Guada lajara are grown excellent oranges. At HermosiUo there are some 600 to 1000 acres set to oranges. I .had ample op portunity to see how poorly the groves are cultivated. In many of thera the grass stood thick and' as high as the herds - of cattle would let- it grow. In ! others the plowing had been only half i don and the weeds almost covered the: ground. These groves reminded me - of ! the "worst kept orchards of the most' careful growers, in southern California 30 years, ago. The Old . trees are all seedlings and the natives still plant these uncertain and often unprofitable kinds of "trees. U FronV. Nogales to Mar satlan we coul d not find a lemon except ing ; on the Follman ; dining car.', and these came from Los Angeles. ; Because the lime grows wild. But in spite of this, at hotels we had to beg continually for a lime at meals. The natives appear to have little notion of the comfort and safeguard to health the free use of this fruit gives In warm climates. They often wondered to see us squeese one or two in cold tea, and more to see. us put -a lime in hot coffee instead of sugar. This long strip of country, 1000 miles with valleys as wide as the San Joaquin or the Willamette,' will produce One oranges and lemons on the low levels, as fine apples, peaches and other deciduous fruits along the mountain sides, - and to these may be added the banana.' which' Will yield fruit inl0 months from planting, which increases its output year after year without-replanting, the most ' abundant producer of food known to man, yielding many tlmeja the tonnage of wheat and several times more than potatoes.. The cost of production is from 8 to 10 cents a bunch, and the United States imports as many as 65.000,000 bunches some years. When the banana trust 4s dealt with properly . . . more attractive when, the, " Argonauts came than does this empire In embryo lying along the Pacific coast from Nogales to Mazatlan, to MantanlUo and ; . " on .to; Salina ,Crus.- ;-';.- ; ' V Premature attempts at ' development ' , have tended -fo prejudice some against this stretch of virgin country so rich in undeveloped resources, When the Santa Fe." railroad people began to bind the . east with the Pacific coast with a new line of rails there was a construction company doing the building: -The more miles built the larger the profits for i the constructors, ; whose thought did not', always ' take : i the interests of the stockholders. .So some.of these en ' terprlaing pioneers went off of the main j line of the new road and constructed a I road from Nogales ,'to . Guaymas. There was no population, no-industries, ; no ' business, and the road, which had to ? turn all it got all over to the Southern 1 Pacific, never paid for the axle greese. On somewhat parallel lines the Southern Pacific, which wished to secure .all routes to the coast, built a road from , , Needles to Mojavev The Santa'Fe enter prise meant two rival roads through a stretch of country where ; little local business existed. : The two could not live on through business, , In the great - magnitude of railroading of those early days (30 years ago) there 'came a time when C P. Huntington had pressing . need for a cool $1,000,000 cash in a moment The Santa Fe wanteO ; the Needles-Mojave branch,'; and the deal was made, each Bide getting what it wished ' In early days in Ildbbs there was a land operator in'tM western, part of - the territory who one spring after an unusual rainfall was. 'able to dispose of a section to a tenderfoot from New England. In crowing, over his suecees the1 Kansan told a friend in confidence that In making the deed he bad slipped ' In a second section and the buyer did - - not find out- the deception . played on him. ' .The Santa Fe .took- similar ad vantage of the Southern Pacific and slipped in to the rival road the Nogales r . Guaymas branch. , r'f , ' Harrlman's Hand Been. , . T Los Angeles had a premature real state boom in the years 1885 to 1887. ' It came only ten years too soon, and . otherwise, as we-all see now, was all right1 : Time passed and 'the branch of the Southern Pacific from Nogales to Guaymas attracted the attention of - the late E. H. Harrimafl. Instead of being deterred by the small business the road did, he proceeded to extend it to Mazat 'lad, to Acaponeto, to Teplc and finally to a junction with the national system of Mexico at Guadalajara. The road la now about complete to the Santiago river, Hitbe,' largest stream on the i west ' coast of Mexico, and will soon be pushed en up this stream to Guadalajara. . - From. Nogales. to,. Yago, where the road now ends, is almost 900 miles, twice as far' as from Los Angeles to San Francisco, broadly speaking. When Guadalajara is reached the line will be almost as 'long as" one reaching . from end to end of the state ,of California, ' That Is the first impressive fact that fixes, Itself In the mind At Nogales the elevation is -nearly 4000 feet above sea level,' at Guaymas at the level ,ot -the tidewater, but between, almost -all the way the level is from 800 feet up. From Guaymas to Maiatlan the rood runs along a section of 'country from tero to ' 26 feet above tidewater. ' It . ' continues low - to the Santiago . river. The line . of tho railroad crosses no less than 17 streams of more or less volume between Nogales and Tago. When ' I 1 passed through the rainy season was nearly at an end, and all these streams from the . Altar to the Santiago, were , I waa told that a few weeks after the p rains ended these streams ; would be dry arroys and that there was not wa ter enough in sight to do much irri gating at the season when crops grow best . It was conceded that the condi tions " would be much more favorable If the rains came in the spring Instead of in the fall. , This no doubt Is true. , - . But we of southern California . have : seen ' a great deal done with a small amount of water. pI believe , the .same will be seen in. these valleys between Nogales and the Santiago river.; Bear valley dam and other enterprises have : made small - rainfall accomplish, .won ders to-wlt , Red lands. For almost a 1 thousand miles these valleys reach from . the mountains on the east to near the coast on the west They are 'broad, , ' w Ith good soil,., and , the. growth ! upon them in a wild state, argues that culti vation may ; do more than t some see. ) ' . American companies have gone in. al- ' .ready and are doing much to show what , is possible; T along the Nav- 1 ( - ajo river is the one in which most seems to be actually-doneV ;It looks to me as " if skillful engineers can find places Mn the mountains where these Streams ( rise to Impound water : for-; irrigation which will cover a large amount of land, . ' las Vm of . Water. ;,'L " A miner's inch of water In' the low , coast country will do as much as six in ' southern California. The elevation is 1 . -: nothing; ! the evaporatJoh almost noth ing and the soil for the most part, has . . consistency enough ' to hold ; moisture well where careful cultivation is done. Nature unaided by human skill has cov ered' this land with a wonderful vege i ,able growth.,; All is wild here, but one night travel far to ,find the numeroaa v Oerds of domestic cattle, horses, mules .nd donkeys that ; f Ul the woods and ' fatten on ; the natural growth. Wild game abounds. Anttered deer stand in ' the edge of the woods a few feet from the rushing train and look with calm wonder at the strange thing. The wild doves fill the air in thr flight as the train hastens past The growth is all semi-troplcHt and the bright flowers that light up the dense Jungle present i beautiful spectacle to the eye. . . :? , " ) Here all Is possibility, and scareery any actualities present . themselves to the eye. The, towns one passes along are almost all primitive tho houses constructed ; of. sunburnt bricks or adobes. Attention has been turned for the meet part to cattle raising and the production of horses, mules and donkeys. These grow almost as naturally as the vegetable growth, and multiply as the Jungle with its great wealth of brilliant bloom. . So It was in the early days tn .M-Calforniar-Ri verslda-was aBp-eo-' ral,. and, Redlands was grased over as ' these Mexican valleys are now., It cost ; much moneyj effort and skill to convert . the arid plains of southern California Into orange groves whoso annual crops. Hupport in luxury large, populous towns. , It will cost much Iohs to bring about b( srreat a transformation In these j '-MA' . V ..k t - -.;;;-::.-,: ,. it1... Street scene at Mexico City, wbere reyolntlonary mobfi attacked troopS. .The picture show's federal "cavalry inarching. J From a photo taken ! 1 r" , during recent disturbances, , , - 1 ' the people of the United States may have bananas at S cents a dozen and will consume 100,000,000 bunches a year. Pacts and Statlsties. ..' These are not drvutma ilhinhinnn. m of other variety. Facts prov all ' I nave said. The Southern Pacific com pany of Mexico has printed a folder which furnishes the facts. The valley la 925 miles long and five 'to 80 wide. In 670 miles tho road crosses 17 rivers, Alon? soma og thn Kmnll ctnm good land is only a few hundred acTes; un omer larger- ones mere are more than 1.000.000 sroa In mu Itr r crop is always to be had without irri- fcauon, uiree to eignt with. The road transnorted In th ig m.. - , " . , .w ucauj 7,000,000 ' pounds 1 of ' beans of various Kinua, a,wv,uvv pounas or iresn vege tables, mostly tomatoes; over 7,000,000 pounds of oranges and 400,000 of pther fruits; ores, 12,000,000 pounds, and bul lion 62,000,000 pounds; sugar, 4,300,000 nounds: alnnhnl 1 Kin nan- .Mi - i niwt - " . -- -f" u ) H " v,,uuu pounds, f Celery and cantaloupes, aspar- aua ana omer or tne nner vegetables are being successfully produced. mobi or tne oranges go to Canada, where they pay no - doty. The fresh veeetablns m mmiMv in thn rtttt O .. j v . . . . V W ,1 1 CT. States, many of the tomatoes' reaching Los Angeles. , So important do the Ca nadians regard the country that they have put on a, line of steamers which touch at almost every port on the west - - - . . -ru- ' j . v mw half a dosen lines of steamers making regular visits to., these porta, ; and all doing a satisfactory business' with prom ise of more' in the near future. ; 'An en terprising' company of Chinese ts oper ating a line of steamers ': under - sanc tion of their government to bring Chi nese laborers to Mexico to take part in the development going on. The man ager, an old time San Franciscan, told me at Mazatan that Mexico could eas ily find use for 250,000 Chinese coolies under the conditions that now exist He is of "the opinion that , development will be so rapid during the next twen ty years that the company he repre sents will never be-able . to meet the demand for rough labor. . v Things 1 are Just' waking : up In thla part of -the world and beginning to make -a forward movement Knowl edge of the conditions, conviction as to the opportunities to be found here, are spreading much mors, rapidly s , than most of us realize. I met down along the coast all the way from Nogales to below Mazatlan Americana from Texas, from- California; 'from Oregon and Washington. Some of thse were 1 eld erly men who felt "convinced that if they secured, a large slice of these lands, whatever kind they might be, but especially the hardwood forests, and let thera He 1 for few years, their children would be rich. 4 There . were men here, from British Columbia; look ing for investments. I did not moot person who was sorry be came or felt at all disappointed In what he , found. On the contrary they were all enthusi asUo as to the certain future of this new .country. It is an empire in the raw. 5 it needs ' money , and muscle to bring -out the riches of the soll.J It neds new capital and new ways of dg ing things. The needed influences are coming' and will -come more, rapidly. The line to Guaymas built over twenty years ago lay dormant until four years ago. More has been done in four years than in forty; more will be done in a year than In twenty, of the past. These raw possibilities wilt .be ; rapidly con verted - into ripe actualities, and they will, make fortunes for a very 'great number of people. , -: ' . ; '. Surely , there are ' drawbacks, and I shall speak plainly of these in a future letter.' But, they , are' not insuperable. Although I met men of over four far northern latitudes at different points along the valleys, they were learning to dress and eat after the way of the natives, and were well although not quite comfortable. I would not advise elderly persons to try these low, moist, semi-tropical lands. I am too old ? to be tempted myself But if I were under '40 I would make a' minion in western Mexico In the i next twenty years. . - Indiana Raising Pecans. " Mt "Vernon. Ind., bee. 17, Indiana's claim to being .one of the banner states in the rtlsihg of pecans was well sup- ponea oy extensive ana high-class ex Dibits - shown here today at the second annnal : state pecan show. A leading feature of the exhibition was the col lection , of native, pecans which repre sented Indiana at the recent convention of the National Nut Growers' associa tion at MonUccllo, Fla. ' FRANK M. KELLY TO .; , RUN FOR CITY, COUNCIL Frank M. Kelly,' an east side business man, says he will be a candidate for councilman from - the Eighth - ward Though the -election la yet ' several months away, Kelly is out for the Democratic nomination in his ward. "I had not intended being a candi date," he said, "until I saw in the news papers that Councilman Kubli had Voted to pay the Portland Railway, Light & Power1 1 eoropa-ny 122,000, f which , Mayor juane saia was not aue and in which opinion the . people concurred. ' I will make my campaign before the people as their candidate and expect to win. There win be no doubt of it if Mr. Kubll is given the Republican nomina tion." , . " A Million . , A mlRion cigars to choose from, and every one of the 'million, a dandy. Come and choose: -Ilavanas and domestics t the best in the world. Slg. Sichel & Co., latra ana wasnington. or 82 Third Company Plans an Unuaunliy Expensive Structure cn Twenty-first Street. ' At a meeting of the American Realty company last week' a resolution was adopted to Improve at once he quartpr block at Twenty-first and , johnsoa streets with a fine five story and base ment apartment house to cost between J100.00O and $160,00. ' Differing from most of the larger apartment houses 1n Portland, the projected building. will be arranged Into four and five room apart ments; all of tb roorts to be Unusually large. - ; A feature of the design Is the tact that ; every room will have an outside exposure which entailed a difficult plee of architecture in so large a structure. The building is to be finished largely In hardwood and marble with tile floors in the corridors and vestibule. The company also owns -a quarter block at Nineteenth and Bverett streots on which it plans to build next year a one story, apartment bouse patterned af ter the magnificent buildings of that class in the finer-residence sections of New York. This company is modeled on the plan of the large realty, operate companies in the large eastern cities aot like-them will confine its activities to buying,, selling and Improving city prop erty.- :v 'A:,-,.- '' r?,: - Tyler Scovel,: formerly of the Amer ican, Realty company of New York. Is now in charge of the Investors depart ment - - ' , ? - ...- ',, :.'. ,. ' The trustees of the local company are the following well known men; Samuel ConneU J. M. Letter. A H. Devers, L C, Sanf ord, D. A. Patullo, It Daniel, R. A. Booth, H. M. Adams, S. B. Barker, Ci. F. Johnson, W. W. Cotton, Gav Ixm bard, D. W. Campbell, T. W. B. London, f ' ,rhysidan Narscs Patients. (Speeial DisjHitch. to Tfct Jonrnal.) Sirverton, Or., Dee. .17. -Dr. Wrfeht man is now nursing the remain mg casc-i of smallpox at the Herr honm ,Two of the nurses have contracted the disesi, and his action of assuming this position is caused by the fact that, by introduc ing other nurses the scourge might be prolonged and the danger of spreading increased. ; The 'stand he has taken Is meeting the approval of. all physicians m this community. fef sw&m W- -Mnsmas . nw ! This Prescription ' Knocks Rheumatism The only logical treatment for rheu matism is through , the blood. A pre scription, which has ' recently proved wonderfully effective in hospital work Is the following: Any druggist has the Ingredients or wITI quickly get them for Lyou. Any ione can mix them. "One ounce compound syrup of Sarsaparilla; one - ounce Toris compound; half pint first class whiskey (or sherry wine If jt Is preferred)." These to be mixed arid used in tablespoon doses before each meal and at beqtlm. This cured thou sands here lust winter., It relieves Im mediately, v - HlfhenYoii Think of Xrnas Vou Think of Home The Yuletide sea son bears many happy remem brances. It's a time of cheerfulness and thanks grvingfT" Appreciation is shown in "some' way "or" -another. Call and look over our splendid ar ray of cozy suggestions. ' , , " , ' Suggestions of Quality and Utilily India Siooi From the Hoihe of Good Furniture An artistic upholstered India stool made of solid oak. Unitte in design, - A tasty gift for Christ mas. Only $1.75 Turkish Chair Luxurious " Turkish chairs made of best leather. Ranging in prices from $27.50 Up , Large, complete assortment of articles in every llne-rSpeclal prices lor the Holiday season R Rocker of Quality Large complete line to select from at'Xmas , sale prices. - ' ., 1 $7.50 to $85.00 Just the Gift for Comfort ", 1 1 -' This handsorne Morris chair is the" right ? prescntior the homcv Built of good heavy finish, v Upholstered sprmg seat ' All for fef j A s .-' r - : - ......... 4 iH. ' -7-1 '" , ONE YEAR AHEAD OF COMPETITORS M, ....l..... .1 IM II. HI ,1 I I. II III III I .1 . . ' Second and Uotrlson OF GOOD FunKmj:;r v..