North Carolina Newspapers

J. THE PROGRESSIVE FARMER: JULY 28, 1896. 1 I J ? f ? i ! ! t t (Continued from last week ) THE LAND OF THE NOONDAY SUN MEXICO IN MIDWINTER. (From Arena for June.) BY JUSTICE WALTER CLARK, LL, D. Returning to the main line at Acam baro, we proceed northward, crossing the Central at Celaya, the "candy" town, and passing through Dolores, whose parish priest, Hidalgo, began the war of indepeneence in 1810; then on past the town and hamlet, river and mountain, till we reach San Luis Pota si, three hundred and sixty-two miles from the capital. This is a city of orer seventy thousand inhabitants and is the capital of the Si;ate of that name It lies in midst of a great level fertile plain stretching away to mountains thai are filled with silver and gold. It has many interesting buildings, the State capitol, the cathedral, the library and museum with one hundred thou eand volumes, the State college, etc. has several factories, and the street car lines run out to the neighboring villages. On a Sunday afternoon I was strolling through the streets of this of nearly seventy-five thousand peo ple among whom I knew not a single human being, when on turning a CDr ner I heard music which at onca ar rested attention. It was a well known hymn of Charles Wesley which had come across the deep waters and many a vanished year to be anthemed be neath the shadow of cathedral towers on the great central plains of Mexico. Could the voic35 be? trr.csd, there I should surely find friends and coun trymen. As I proceeded the music floated out full and free, and, falling upon the q lick fading twilight, "moothed the raven down of darkness till it smiled." I found the band of worshipe; s and their beloved leader, a Methodist missionary, who is devoting his life to the work which he has found to his band in this great tiefd. Oaly when straying in a foreign land does one know the strong bord of sympa thy that lies in the accents of one's native tongue. The Protestant mis sions in Mexico are active and fairly successful. There is absolutely free dom of worship, and all religions are protected. Taere is no State chureh, in which respect, at least, Mexico is in advance of Ejgland, Scotland, France and many other countries. The Tampico branch of the Mexican Central crossing the line of the National here goes down to Tamco. It is claimed by many that the scenery in the eix thousand feet of decent to the tierra calient e over this line is more magnifi cent than batween tha capital and Vera Cruz. It i3 certainly very grand but it is entirely of a aifferent kind. The des ct to the coast is by terraces In the first forty seven miles we fall fifteen hundred feet. Farther on, at the mouth of the great Tamasopo Can on, you sefm to have gotten to the "jumping eft place," for you can see the rails as they begin to bend down ward. For seventeen miles you roll down by gravity, with every brake on to hold the train back, with the moun tains rising on both hands thousands of feet above you, and between them the canon opens a thousand feet below you. At one point is the "Devil's Backbone," a great veiue of rough granite extending up the mountain, and reminding one of the "Devil's Slide" in the Wahsatch Valley on the Union Pacific. After passing out of the canon and while descending the mountain, our track so turns and winds that at one point &'z tracks are seen. At the mouth of the canon is the strik ing succession of waterfalls known as El Saito del Abra. Along here are the coffee groves, then a little lower we reach the "hot lands," the tierra cali ente, and, roiling along the banks of the broad river Panuco, ar6 soon at the Tampico. This is in appearance the least inviting town in the Republic. It is dirty and untidy, many of the houses are of wood (a very rare thing in Mex ico), and rains are frequent. But six miles further down, at the mouth of the river, are the jetties, which have given the port already twenty six feet of water up to the wharves, and will give three or four feet more. This will make it the port of the country, for Vera Cruz cannot compete with this, and already a railroad is contem plated between the City of Mexico and Tampico. Near here I found an Amer ican who already, in January, was shipping tomatoes by the carload to Chicago and Cincinnati. From Tarn pico it is three hundred and twenty one miles over the Mexican and Gulf Rail way to Monterey. In building this railway some of the cross ties, cut in the adjacent forest, were of ebony, as on the Tehuantepec Railroad some of them are mahogany. Monterey is only some one hundred and sixty eight miles from the Rio Grande, and has a colony of several thousand Americans. The appreciation in our standard of value amounts to a protective tariff in favor of Mexico of the difference between our currency and theirs of over ninety par cent. As a consequence, instead of shipping ores as formerly to the United States, largo smelters have been put up here, and are doing a fine business. The "Saddle Back" Mountain, the Bishop's Pdlace, and other places are redolent with memories of the fight ing days of half a century ago. It was here that Gan. Worth, instead of charging up the streets, with the frightful losses s istained by our other columns, hit upon the plan Marshal Lannes had adopted at the siege of Saragossa in 1810, and cut his way through house after houss to the cen Piazi, and thus compelled a surrender. Through a desire, to visit the battle field of Buena Vista, I turned brck southward and ran down to Saltillo, seventy five miles through a mo3t pic turesque euccession of mountain cliffs. Though the railroad runs near to the famous battlefield, there is no station there, and it was necessary to stop at Saltillo and go six miles out by p-ivate conveyance. The Mexican war began, as is well known, in a contest for the lit tie strip of land between the Nueces and the Rio Grand?, Mexico claiming the former river as a boundary, and the United States the latter. Texas declared her independence in 1535, and after several battles made it good by the victory of San Jacinto, in 183G, when Santa Anna, the President of Mexico, and commanding its armies, was captured. For ten years Texas was an independent nation, till she joined this country by treaty. The boundary question then became our quarrel. After winning the battles of Palo Alto and R saca de la Palma, on this side of thu Rio Grande, Gen. Tay lor boldly advanced into Mexico and captured Monterey with the Mexican army defending it. Ho then proceeded to Saltillo, some two hundred and fifty miles south of the Rio Grande, when he was deprived of all his army, ex cept less than five thousand volunteers, that they might be sent a3 re enforce ments to Gen. Scott, who was to land at Vera Cruz to march on the capital. Suddenly Gen. Taylor was notified that Santa Anna with some twenty two thousand men was advancing upon him! Toat general had conceived the soldier like idea of fulling upon Tay lor'd reduced army and after crushing it to hurry b;ick and meet Scott. Though he failed to crush Taylor, he in fi.c: got bick and fought Scott with the same troops at Cerro Gordo, be low Jcilapa, and among the cannon taken by U3 at Contreraa were two which had been captured from Taylor at Buena Vista. Oi hearing of the enemy's advance, Gan. Taylor, instead of waiting to bo besieged in Saltillo, moved forward to a mountain pass Angostura or 4 the narrows," which is tne Mexican name for the battle, while wo give it the name of Buena Visia, from a hacienda, or cluster of farm buildings, in the rear of our lines, which is still standing. Thus during our lata war nearly every battlefield had a d;ff orent name given it by the opposising sides, and Waterloo, which is known by that name to the Eiglish, is known as Mont St. Jean to tne French, and Li Bile Alliance to the Germans. The cccounts of battles, as well as their names, deperd much upon the standpoint from wbica they are viewed. Had there been any doubt of Gen. Taylor's splendid ability as a sol dier, hi3 choice of a battlefield stands to this day a proof that ho understood his profession. A deep "barranca" or gulley running through the middle of the narrow plain makes it impossible to pass from one side to the other. Oa the left (facing south), running well out into the plain, is a long, very steep ridgo, barring the passage except for a short distance between the end of the ridge and the "barranca." Tnis ridge was crowned with artillery, and breast works were thrown up. Here, if any where, his four thousand seven hun dred volunteers could hold in check Santa Anna's twenty two thousand. The conflict took place on Feb. 22 and 23, 1817. Tne only hope possible for the Mexicans was to break through our lines on the extreme left at the foot of the mountain, anb to take u 9 in the rear by a force passing through a gap some miles further on near Sal tillo. Both attempts were made, and twice the battle seemed lost. Col. Bowies' Second Indiana, which was broken by the enemy's masses, in their flight ran squarely into the enemy's column, which having come through the pass, had taken us in reverse. One account says that it was the utter abandon of these fugiiivea in running into them, and which the Mexicans mistook for a most reckless charge, which put this flanking column in our rear to flight. However that may be, there was enough gallant fighting and blood&hed on both sides. The Ameri cans had the decided advantage in po anion, ana they held it by a close margin. Santa Anna hurried back to meet Gen. Scott coming up on the line from Vera Cruz. The fight at Buena Vista made Gen. Taylor President of the Uni ed States. He was a splendid soldier and a man of strong common eense, though his opponents called him 'an old frontier colonel," and it was said that in all his life he had never cast a ballot. The same battle made his second in command, Gen. Joseph H. Lane, later a candidate for Vice President, and gave to Col. Jtfferson Davis, Gen. Taylor's son in-law, the prestig? which carried him into the United States Senate, made him United States Secretary of War, and finally President of the Southern Confederacy ; while Gin. Taylor's remark to the cap tain of a battery, "Give them a little more grape. Captain Bragg," started a popularity which ultimated in putting the latter in command of the Confed erate army of the West, in which po sition his marked incapacity and de fects enabled him to damage the Con federacy more than any general that ever was opposed to him. These are a very few of the things effected by holding these few rods of ground, a re sult which long swung evenly in the balance, and which might have been changed by some accident of slight im port, for great events often depend on very small ones. The battle, which, from the numbers of Americans en gaged, would have been of small im portance a little over dczan years later, at the time created an immense sensa tion. Among the triumphal poetry written was that by Albert Pike, be ginning: "From the Rio Grande's waters to the icy lakes of Mane Let all exult, for we have met t lie enemy aiio! Beneath his stern old mountans w e've met lain in his pride. And rolled I'rsm Buena Vista back the battle's bloody tide." (Continued next iC3ek ) THE GOLD3UG TRAP. Correspondence of the Progressive Farmer. In one hundred and fifty Congres sional districts, there will be nominated as many Democrats for Congress who will vote every time against the un limited coinage of silver 16 to 1 or any other ratio. Tne leaders of the Demo cratic party invito the silver Demo crats and Populists in these districts to vote for the goldbugs and help elect a Congress that will defeat free and un limited coinage of silver. Tnis 13 the dish set before the Populists and silver Republicans, and they are invited to partake freely. Reader, now do you like the gold bug pili with a silver coating? Taank God the coating is so transparent that the deception is apparent, and none can be deceived. Nominate a Populist Presi dent straight and in every Congres sional district there will be a nominee for Congress who will advocate free and unlimited coinage of silver on the stump and vote for it in Congress as well as that'other greater reform, thus furnishing the money direct to the peo ple at cost, enabling them to transact their business on a cash basis, saving them four thousand million do.lars an nually. Never in the history of parties was there c oncocted such a dastartly scheme to disorganize the only party that is in earnest in its advocacy of re form. If the Democratic party was honest in the advocacy of the remono tizing of silver, they would nominate a candidate in every district advocating this uecessary reform. When the announcement of the nomination of Bryan on a silver plat form was received, the Democrats were jubilant and claimed the endorsement of all the Populists and silver R .'publi cans. Since we have pricked the bubble and exposed the inconsistency and hypoc racy of the thing they are not so san guine. We will expose the inconsis ter cy of thi3 move, and you may ex pect good news from the Ninth Con gressional district of North Carolina. James Mukdock. ALLIANCE EXPERIMENT STA TIONS. Correspondence of The Progressive Farmer. Method, N. C. Seeing a communication in The Pro gressive Farmer from Dr. Battle, Di rector of the Experiment Station, con cerning the Alliance in North Carolina, and requesting to hear from individual Alliancemen, I thought I would ex press my opinion though The Progres sive Farmer also. Dr. Battle eeems to want to encour age the farmers and Alliancemen to come in close contact with the Station and to know more of its workings, and to get the benefit that they ought to get from it, but don't know how to reach ihem. I can tell him. I think he ought to go among them more. How many common farmers have ever seen Dr. Battle on their farms, or have ever seen him at all, for that matter? I'll wager not many. Is the work of the Station so confining that he has not time to go among the farmers any more than he does.? If it is, I think he ought to have an assistant, so that he would have some time to go among the farm ers and get acquainted with them. I know that some of the farmers have got a mighty poor opinion of doctors and professors, but they are not all so. I know of some who would be glad to have Dr. Battle or any of the professors connected with the Station to visit their little farms and tell or show them something about farming that would be of benefit to them, and heip them to make their farms more attractive and enable them to cultivate their land in a better manner, mating more to the acre, thus giving them more time for piddling, as we call it, helping our wives to clean up about the yard atd setting out flowers, fruit trees and such like. Some of us have not got time to make a respectable garden. , We just plow it; our wives and children have the balance of the work to do, or it goes undone. I presume that Dr. Battle and all the professors in connection with the Sta tion are Alliancemen? if they are not, they ought to be. Anything that con cerns the farmers as much as the Ex periment Station does, and if it does the farmers as much good as it ought to, the officers of it mustcome in close contact with the farmers, and there is no better way, to my thinking, than for the officers to join the farmers' or gan'zation. Dr. Battle wants the names of Alli ancemen so that he can send them such bulletins as are issued by the Station. There has been names sent in by the Alliance lecturers, and not many of them ever received more than one bul letin, some of them not one; but I reckon some one else is to blame for that, not Dr. Battle, as I don't suppose he has anything to do with mailing bulletins. But who is to blame? Hoping these remarks may not seem harsh to Dr. Battle or any of his assist ants, I remain a well wisher to the Sta tion and all of its workings and work ers. J. R. Medlin. (OFFICIAL) NATIONAL ALLIANCE DEMANDS. Adopted at Washington, D. C, February 6, 1896. Whereas, The Declaration of Inde pendence, as a basis for a R 'publican form of Government that might be progressive and perpetual, states: "That all men are created equal; that they are endowed with certain in alienable right? ; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happi ness; that to secure these rights, gov ernments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the governed." We hold, therefore, that to restore and preserve these rights under a Republican form of government, pri vate monopolies of public necessities? for speculative pu-posos, whether of the means of production, distribution or exchange, should be prohibited, aud whenever any such public necessity or utility becomes a monopoly in private hands, the people of the municipality, 3tate or union, as the case may be. shall appropriate the same by right of eminent domain, paying a just value therefor, and operate them for, and in the interest of, the whole people. finance. We demand a national currency, safe, sound and flox.ble; issued by the general government only ; a full legal tender for oil debts and receivable for all dues, and an equitable and efficient means of distribution of this currency, directly to the people, at the minimum of expense and without the interven tion of banking corporations and in sufficient volume to transact tho busi nes of the country on a cash basis. (a) We demand the free and unlim ited coinage of silver and gold at the legal ratio of 1G to 1. (b) W e demand a graduated income tax. (c) That our national legislation shall be so framed in the future as not to build ud one industry at theexperse of another. (d) We believe that the money of the country should be kept as much as possible in the hands of the people, and hence we demand that all National aud State revenues shall be limited to the necessary expenses of the govern ment economically and honestly ad ministered. (e) We demand that postal savings banks be established by the govern ment for the safe deposit of savings of the people, and to facilitate ex change () We are unalterably opposed to the if sue, by the United States, of in terest bearing bonds, and demand the payment of all coin obligations of the United States, as provided by existing laws, in either gold or silver coin, at the option of the government and not at the option of the creditor. TRANSPORTATION. (a) The government shall purchase or construct and operate a sufficient mileage of railroads to effectually con trol all rates of transportation on a just and equitable basis. (b) The telpgraph and telephone, like the postoflice system, being a ne cessity for the transmission of intelli gence, should be owned and operated by the government in the interest of the people. LAND. We demand that no land Rball be held by corporations for speculative purposes or by railroads in excess of their needs as carriers, and all lands now owned by aliers should be re claimed by the government and held for actual settlers ordy. EXECTION OF UNITED STATES SENATORS. We demand the election of United States Senators by a direct vote of the people. That each State shall be di vided into two districts of nearly equal voting population, and that Senators from each shall be elected by the people of the district. DISTRICT LEGISLATION. Relying upon the good, common sense of the American people, and be lieving that a majority of them, when uninfluenced by party prejudice, will vote right on all questions submitted to them on their merit; and, further, to effectually annihilate the pernicious lobby m legislation, we demand direct legislation by means of the initiative and referendum. R. A. 80UTHWORTH. Sec'y-Treas. N. F. A, and I. U. Ma TO : W. H. & R. S. TUCKER k CO. Raleigh, 1ST. O. We desire thus to formally advise that our Dree? Mating Depart ment is now readv to accent orders for Mid Summer Dresses ani Waists for going away to Mountain or Sea Shore, or other Summer Kesorts. We believe it is acknowledged that this Department, under tho supervision of Mr. Chas. K. Shaw, Manager, and Mrs. E. M. Cau tborne, Designer, makes Gowns second to none in America, as to correctness of design, a ylish arrangement and comfort in wearing. We respectfully solicit your immediate orders, so as to have time allowed us to properly prepare designs, etc. W. H. & R. S. TUCKER & CO. Q J But you should watch how our prices move our goods. ROYALL & BORDEN. We are now opening dailv new goods in every department. New suit sideboards, chairs, lounges, book cass, pictures desks, sates and carpets, mat ting, stoves Everything rew except our prices, eame as always. Cheapest house in Raleigh. Look and price for yourselves. Open at Jiglit. Koyall & 3Borden9 Leaders of Low Prices, Raleigh., jST. C. r A -few m PRIZES vox Tim rAtiT TWO Kssex and Red Jersey Tigs. Best Strain Registered Jersey Cattle. Royally ! : Celts and Fillies, fine as split silk. You Get Pedigreed Stock if You Buy of'us. 13 YER YTHING GUARANTEED AS REPRESENTED. Adores OCCONEECHEE FARM, DURHAM, N. C. F3ftiui SsuDulied on Ynfti'-Roxad Contracts trith ' Occoneeciiee Ciilt-Ka-,;" p;;; USEFUL BOOKS. THE SECRETARY-TREASURER HAS SEVERAL USEFUL BOOK THA? SHOULD BE IN EVERY SUB-LODGE. THE NAMES AND PRICES ARE AS FOLLOWS : Secretary's Roll Book nicoly arranged, new kind 25 ccnU, Record of Membership i 2 " Secretary '8 Receipt Book, for dues, with sub '. . . v., " Secretary's Warrant Book, with stub.'. 10 " Treasurer's Receipt Book, with stub 10 u Secretary's Account Book 3.5 " Treasurer's Account Book 15 11 Minute Book, new kind , 25 " Working Bulletins, State Constitutions, Rituals, National Constitutions, Application Blanks, Dimit Blanks, (per dosen), it a 11 (i tt (in pads) Withdrawal Cards, Delegate Credentials, Fraternally, (I ti 8ec'y "We axe G-iTrlrxgr Hiem .."waI Do you want a copy of that great book !Hjlt)OXs by the well H 1 A 1 . Author of "The Golden Gems Here is the Every Saturday at 4 o'clock p. m. to the person who sends us the largest list of subscribers during that week The book is handsomely bound EVERY HOME! 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