activity, so that El Paso is literally
surrounded by copper, silver, gold, quick-
silver, lead, iron and coal mines, some of
these being of enormous output; and all
being noted for their steady production.
El Paso acts as trade distributor to a
territory larger than the whole of France
or Germany. One hundred and thirty-
five wholesale houses representing sixty
staple lines, cover this enormous territory
of over a thousand miles square, supplying
El Paso Country Club.
The plant of the Southwestern Portland Cement Co., El Paso, Texas.
a population of 300,000, and the trade in
Mexico, as shown by the export records, is
increasing by leaps and bounds, so that
a number of the leading El Paso concerns
have established branch houses in. Mexico
and the whole trade territory is thoroughly
covered by their force of traveling sales-
men.
The great expanse of the tributary trade
territory in addition to its mines must be
supplied with agricultural implements,
wagons, harness, groceries, boots, shoes,
hats, dry goods, lumber, drugs, canned
goods, stoves and hundreds of other arti-
cles in wholesale quantities that are fur-
nished principally from the complete
stocks of the jobbers, the nearest competit-
tion being several hundred miles distant;
and Los Angeles, Denver, Kansas City,
Chicago and St. Louis are realizing this
fact, together with the favorable freight
rates they enjoy, and are establishing
branch houses here to be nearer the buyers
and to supply the rapidly increasing de-
mand for every line of merchandise.
With the semi-tropic climate and the
rich soil of the Bio Grande Valley, large
profits can be made growing all kinds of
garden truck. El Paso and the surround-
ing mining towns consume all that is pro-
duced at the present time. The Northern,
Eastern and Southern cities furnish a
market for early vegetables and for fruits
and alfalfa.
The Southwest is a big country, where
they do big things, and the Elephant Butte
dam, located in the Eio Grande Valley, is
no exception to this rule, being the most
enormous undertaking of this nature
within the memory of mankind. To say
that the United States Government is ac-
tively engaged at the present time in the
Plant of the Southwestern Portland Cement Company, El Paso, Texas.
EL PASO THE GATEWAY TO MEXICO.
131
preliminary work on what will be the
greatest dam on earth, creating the largest
artificial lake in the world and the most
extensive irrigation system of modern
times, is to state the simple facts.
A complete explanation of what this
will mean to the city of El Paso and the
surrounding country would require a
special volume. No part of North Amer-
ica produces such an abundance nor so
great a variety of crops as are made pos-
sible when the arid lands of the Southwest
are properly irrigated. This is partly due
to the great percentage of nitrogen found
in the soil, and the fact that this region
enjoys an average of 330 days of sun-
and some idea of the magnitude of the
work may he obtained from the following
figures: The engineers will go sixty-five
feet below the bed of the river in order to
reach solid rock for their foundation. The
dam will be 180 feet thick at bed rock
and 450 feet long. If all the cement re-
quired to construct this huge dam were
delivered in one shipment, it would re-
quire a freight train fifteen miles long
with every car packed to its full capacity.
The crest or top of the dam will be
twenty feet wide and 1400 feet long; its
extreme height being 275 feet. Concrete,
rock and huge iron bars will be used in its
construction.
The plant of the Southwestern Portland Cement Co., El Paso.
River in foreground.
Rio Grande
shine each year. Couple these conditions
with the rancher's ability to absolutely
control the water supply and you make
certain what would otherwise be in doubt.
You are absolutely assured a successful
harvest. A crop failure is as rare as a
killing frost in the tropics.
The Elephant Butte dam is located
twelve miles southwest of Engle, N". Mex.,
or about one hundred miles north of the
city of El Paso. Advantage has been
taken of the natural formation occurring
in the valley at this point, which creates
a natural wall from which the dam ex-
tends across the river bed. The cost of
the completed work will be $8,200,000,
It is because of the position of El Paso
that Mexico is interested in her develop-
ment, and El Paso has developed only as
Mexico has advanced or as the mining
country adjacent has developed. The
Mexican town of Ciudad Juarez lies right
across the border, and it is visited by
many tourists who do not desire to go
farther into Mexico. It is still one of the
older style of towns in Mexico, but, just
lately, that energetic and up-to-date man,
Governor Enrique Creel, who is now hold-
ing the position of Minister of Foreign
Affairs, sent a new man to Juarez to put
life into it. A new system of street pav-
ing and sewage disposal is in contempla-
132
OVERLAND MONTHLY.
tion, and the probability is that soon
Juarez will rival other cities of Mexico in
modernity. At present it is known as the
''race track town," and the capitalists,
headed by Colonel Wynne, of Kentucky,
and by Senor Terrazas, who has secured
a ninety-nine year franchise from the Gov-
ernment, propose to spend a million dol-
lars gold in improvements.
Trost & Trost, to whom the Overland
Monthly is indebted for much of the in-
formation contained in these pages, are
the architects for many of the very finest
buildings in the Southwestern Metropolis.
They have shown a remarkable ability in
blending the beautiful and artistic with
the useful and practical in all of their
construction. El Paso owes a great deal
to these gentlemen.
Elsewhere, 1 have mentioned the South-
western Portland Cement Company of El
Paso. This is practically a Colorado and
California institution. The works cover
900 acres. Production, full capacity, of
about 400,000 barrels; it employs three
hundred men normally, and the trackage
in its yards is over two miles. It has a
plentiful supply of water from the Rio
Grande river, which the works front.
The energetic supervision of Mr. Mc-
Curdy has managed to take its product
clear into Mexico, and the high-grade ar-
ticle made by the Southwestern Portland
Cement Company has won out there, des-
pite the terrific duty.
Some day, Governments will learn the
fallacy of duties and will come to the con-
clusion that any tariff barrier is a barrier
to civilization, but, meanwhile, the man
of energy and the man of commerce must
run foul of these limitations to the growth
of mankind. It is most remarkable that
this product should have made any sort of
entry in Mexico, but the fact remains that
it has, and that the business over the bor-
der is growing. With the construction of
the Elephant Butte dam going in full
force, and the building of the Spreckels
road to San Diego, will come the boom of
this company. The management is a
careful, conscientious one, and bespeaks
success to the enterprise, in its every en-
deavor.
* * *
It would not be proper to mention El
Paso as the Gateway City to Mexico with-
out mentioning a factor that probably
more than any other has made for the
development and the growth of El Paso
and the southwest. That is the El Paso
and Southwestern system. The El Paso
and Southwestern Railroad was built into
El Paso from Bisbee in 1902, thereby con-
necting El Paso with the wonderfully rich
mineral countries of Southern Arizona
and Northern Sonora. The right of way
was purchased outright through the center
of the town of El Paso, and here is one
of the finest railroad yards in all the
world, while the shops are a model of
cleanliness and the most comfortable of
any the writer has ever seen as far as the
regard for the comfort of the workingmen
is concerned. Nothing could be better de-
vised by man.
The machine shops and the round house
are modern in every respect, and it does
all of its own car repairing and engine
overhauling. The system has built for its
own use and rental a seven story building
which is one of the most substantial in the
city, and when it is remembered that El
Paso is up to date and that its buildings
would grace any of the larger cities of
America, it is realized that this is an of-
fice building that would not be out of
place in New York.
The acreage owned by the El Paso
Southwestern system in El Paso amounts
to quite a large tract. Two hundred and
seventy-nine acres are used as railroad
yard and building room. The system has
$3,500,000 invested in El Paso. In the
year 1905 the El Paso and Northeastern
Railroad was added by purchase. This
road runs from El Paso to Dawson, N". M.
The E. P. & S. W. Railroad Co. is
owned by Phelps, Dodge & Co., who also
own the Copper Queen Mining Co., at
Bisbee, Arizona; Douglas Reduction
Works, at Douglas, Arizona; Nacozari
Railroad Co., running from Douglas to
Nacozari; Moctezuma Copper Co., Naco-
zari, Sonora, Mexico; Morenci-Southern
Railway, running from Guthrie, Arizona,
to Morenci; Detroit Copper Co., located
at Morenci, Ariz. ; Old Dominion Copper
Co., at Globe, Arizona; Stag Canon Fuel
Co., at Dawson, N. M., all of which great-
ly benefit El Paso.
The total number of employees in the
general offices in El Paso, 145 machine
I
134
OVERLAND MONTHLY.
shops and round house, 471, altogether in
all departments in El Paso, 831. The
pay rolMn El Paso is about $60,000 per
month.
The company owns the Alamogordo &
Sacramento E. E., which is the line where
the beautiful summer resort of Cloud-
croft is situated. This resort is common-
ly known as the "Eoof Garden of the
Southwest," and is a delightful spot in
the summer-time. Has an elevation of
8650 feet; 112 miles from El Paso.
* * *
I have been amused by reading a book-
let, "An Incomplete Story," relating to
"Cloudcroft, the Eoof Garden of the
Southwest." The title is certainly allur-
ing, and to any one who has been to Cloud-
croft there is always the suggestion of a
smile in the "incomplete story." No one
gifted as might be, could ever write a
complete story of Cloudcroft. It seems
as if the Almighty had designed that
some time man, marooned in the wastes
of desert land of the Southwest, or en-
gaged in the work of redeeming the vast
mineral and agricultural areas of wealth
from grudging nature, should have
a rest spot that is in its way unique and
absolutely unequaled in all the world, so
beautiful as to be almost beyond descrip-
tion.
Cloudcroft is one of the achievements
of the El Paso Southwestern system. It
is the "roof garden" of the Southwest, but
it means more to El Paso than it does to
any other city in Texas, for it is the sum-
mer rest place of the wearied business-
man and the Paradise for children. It
seems to be especially adapted to the de-
velopment of the little ones, and every year
the number increases. Indeed, the fame
of Cloudcroft is such that it has drawn
people from all parts of the world. Such
has been the increase in demand for ac-
commodation at this resort that the com-
pany is now building a new hotel. This
will be of cement stucco on metal laths, to
cost when complete the sum of $100,000.
The hotel will have sixty rooms, and it
will be completed this year. Cloudcroft
will probably celebrate its biggest season
to date in 1911, when its new hotel will
be ready for occupancy.
At present the perfect accommodations
of the Lodge and the life at Cloudcroft
EL PASOTHE GATEWAY TO MEXICO.
135
allures one. The climate is perfect;
there are all kinds of games provided; the
roads are good, the bridle paths are famed,
the trees are beautifully green and the
ferns and brakes abound. There are wild
flowers everywhere. Truly, "Nature's
Roof Garden" is well stocked for the
pleasure of man. The El Paso South-
western Railroad issues a booklet that is
a revelation. T commend it to you. Write
for it.
* * *
The El Paso & Southwestern System,
the G. H. & S. A. and the A. T. & S. F.
all have large shops located at this point,
and the El Paso & Southwestern System
have their general offices in this city. The
Southern Pacific offers through travel
from coast to coast. The Santa Fe, E. P.
& S. W. and Rock Island cover all points
East and West, and the Texas & Pacific
and Galveston, Harrisburg & San Antonio
compete for traffic throughout the South-
western district, so that El Paso naturally
enjoys favorable freight rates in all direc-
tions. The National Lines of Mexico and
the Rio Grande, Sierra Madre & Pacific
railroad system complete the perfect cir-
cuit of rails, and no city in the country
can boast of better service or rates to all
points of the compass.
Fifteen million tons of freight were
handled by these eight railroads during
the past year, consisting of shipments of
ore, cattle, alfalfa, machinery, ranch and
agricultural supplies, and tremendous
stocks of general merchandise which are
first brought to El Paso and then distrib-
uted throughout its thousand miles square
of trade territory. This does not include
the enormous amount of through freight
from east and west, north and south that
must be handled at El Paso.
One of the mines near El Paso, Texas.
GENERAL FELIX DIAZ
BY PIERRE N. BERmGER
Viewed at a long distance, and through force of habit inherited from others as
superficial as ourselves, we have come to look upon Mexico in a false light. We
have looked upon Mexico as a small country, without energy or prospects. We
have taken the peon, who lounges along the railroad platform, as a characteristic
type by which we might judge the whole nation. The ragged beggar is an ideal for
every camera fiend. His rags and dirt appeal. The squalor at the way station is
a tourist's fact blabbed to the four winds by those who wax hilarious in the obvious.
Tradition and the goo-goo-eyed excursionists have placed Mexico in the category of
having but one man capable of sequential and orderly thought. We are always
looking at the great central figure and the others are all pygmied. The expatriate
in Los Angeles or New York expatiates to every willing listener to the effect that
all the old men are has-beens and grafters, and that all of the young men are de-
generates. There is something of the truth in all the sayings of the goo-goo-eyed
tourists, some value in the averments of the one who refuses to see anything but the
superficial, a little in the statements of the patriot who serves his country best by
staying as far away from it as he possibly can. The truth of the matter is that
the young men of Mexico are no more incapable than the young man of anywhere
else; that the men of affairs are just as worldly-wise and money-making; that the
politicians are perhaps more patriotic than anywhere else; the statesmen, young and
old, render more faithful service, and that the country will at a moment's notice
produce as many men as any that I know of fully capable and willing to handle
any question or -fulfill any duty that may be demanded of them. Felix Diaz is
one of the most capable men of Young Mexico. THE EDITOR.
NO MAN" IS MORE in the public It is a most interesting study to look
eye in Mexico than General into the rapid advancement of this man.
Felix Diaz. No man in Mex- He has not achieved his honors without
ico attends more strictly to the having to work for them, for the sin of
duties of his office than this man of forty nepotism may never be laid at Porfirio
years of age. He is much younger than Diaz' door. Whatever relative of his has
mt men at thirty, and he is as indefati- received honors, has had to earn them
gable as his uncle, the President. He is through strenuous endeavor and not be-
a serious, painstaking man. He is de- cause of the relationship,
voted might and main to the task that is General Felix Diaz was born in Oaxaca,
immediately before him. His eyes are like State of Oaxaca, on the eighth of Febru-
two twin jet gimlets, and they pierce you ary, 1868. He is the son of the General
and see your thoughts before you have of the same name whose military career
given them shape, and fashion your words and patriotic conduct belong to Mexican
before you have given them tongue. He is history.
a man born to rule. The same modesty His school days up to the age of four-
that is so characteristic of all of the Diaz teen, were passed in his native town, en-
men whom I have met, coupled with the tering thereafter the Military College of
same ambition and monumental ability, is Chapultepec, where he graduated as a
manifest in General Felix Diaz. military engineer. Two years after his
GENERAL FELIX DIAZ.
137
entrance in that college, he stood at the
head of his class, and subsequently became
a petty officer. In December of 1888 he
received his commission of Lieutenant of
Engineers, and in the year 1892 he ac-
quired that of Captain. The rank of
Major in the cavalry was bestowed upon
him on account of meritorious conduct,
and on the 2X& of July, 1902, he became
Lieutenant-Colonel. In recognition of
his further services, in the month of
March, 1909, he was awarded the rank
of Brigadier-General.
He has belonged to the commission ap-
pointed to establish the geographical map
of the States of Veracruz, San Luis Po-
tosi and Tamaulipas, which had charge
also of the land grants in favor of the
'Papantla Indians in the State of Vera-
cruz. He has also acted as technical in-
spector of the Mexico and Cuernavaca
Railway, and is to-day inspector of the
national lines of Mexico. From 1902 to
1904 he took charge of the Mexican Con-
sulate General in the Republic of Chili. On
the 21st day of May, 1904, he became In-
spector-General of the Police Department
of the Federal District, a post which he
still holds. On various occasions he has
been elected member of Congress, presid-
ing over the same during a number of
sessions.
He also belongs to the Staff of the Presi-
dent of the Republic. He has had the
honor of belonging to several scientific
societies, and at present he is President
of the Military Association of Chapulte-
pec.
Street and park scene near U. S. Customs House, El Paso. Southwestern Rail-
way building across the park; Orndorff Hotel on corner.
NOTE. A beautifully illustrated article by Gustave Frohman on "America's
Oberammergau," was unavoidably crowded out of this issue. It will appear in the
August number.
Gateway of a Southern home, Mexico.
Old stone sails, remarkable structure in old Mexico. In the foreground is a cen-
tury plant in bloom. The dome of the chapel of the Holy Well, left center.
Photo by Sumner Matson.
Patio of San Angel Inn, near City of Mexico. Photo by Sumner Matson.
Please Mention Overland Monthly When Writing Advertisers.
xvll
PEARS
nKFCHLESSf OKTHE CMPLDaC3M
^. - S*. V*
"A U righto ucund."
bpecmlly drawn v Jt?r Messrs. Pears 1 by Mr. Walter Crane.
xvlii
Please Mention Overland Monthly When Writing Advertisers.
who has WASHING and
CLEANING to do uses
\Y/14V > Because PE AR-
W 1 LINEisScientifie
Soap The directions teach the
Scientific Way of using Soap the
Way and the Soap that do away
with the Rubbing and thus relieve
Women of the most objectionable
of all Household Work and pro-
long the life of the things Washed.
GENTEEL WOMEN APPRECI-
ATE PEARLINE DELICATE
FABRICS DEMAND PEARLINE.
Soap users are ignorantly extrava-
gant of Time, Health and Clothes.
_
PEARLINE- MODERN\SOAP
Please Mention Overland Monthly When Writing Advertisers.
xlx
Test the
obtain the right seasoning use
LEA & PERRINS
SAUCE
THE ORIGINAL. WORCESTERSHIRE
Soups, Fish, Steaks, Roast Meats, Chops, Game, Chafing Dish Cooking and Salad
Dressings are improved by its use. Leading Chefs and Cooks know-
its value as the "final touch" to many a dish. Try it!
Refuse Imitations*
JOHN DUNCAN'S SONS, Agents, New York.
FOR SALE
VINEYARD
NEAR SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA
$5500
26 acres consisting of 16 acres now
planted in Hay, 1O acres in vines. 7
miles from San Jose, 2 miles from
Campbell. Surrounded by rich vine-
yards and orchards.
For further particulars address Owner, Room 16, 773 Market Street,
- San Francisco, Cal.
Please Mention Overland Monthly When Writing Advertisers.
Vamos a Mexico
The Pyramid of Cholula
Reached by the lines of the
Southern Pacific
For further particulars see Agents
Please Mention Overland Monthly When Writing Advertisers.
xxl
"VER JOHNSON
SAFETY AUTOMATIC REVOLVER
Sharp, smooth action, safety and accuracy are combined as
never before in a small arm in the New Iver Johnson Revolver.
Spiral Springs of Tempered Steel
Every spring of the old-style flat type has been replaced by the most
durable types of spring made spiral and round wire springs of drawn tempered steel. The U. S. Govern-
ment army rifle, which is the finest in the world, has spiral springs throughout wherever they can be used.
The reason is obvious. The Iver Johnson is the only revolver so equipped. Hence it is the one you can
trust absolutely to act surely and positively at all times. And the famous safety lever, simple but sure,
t possible to "Hammer the Hammer"
WEI JOHNSON SAFETY HAMMER REVOLVER IVER JOHNSON SAFETY HAHMERIESS BEVOIVER
3-inch barrel, nickel-plated finish, 22 rimfire cart- f j nn
ridge, 32 or 38 centerfire cartridge JU.UU
Nearly all firearms dealers carry Iver Johnson revolvers. Where unobtainable locally, we ship direct on receipt of price.
The owl s head on the grip and onr name on the barrel mark the genuine.
3-inch barrel, nickel-plated finish, 32 or 38 center- (7 nn
fire cartridge Jf.UU
Send for our new technical catalogue, illustrated, which tells all about the New Models.
IVER JOHNSON'S ARMS & CYCLE WORKS, 156 River St., Fitchburg, Mass.
NEW YORK- 99 Chambers Street. HAMBTTBG, GERMANY Pickhnben 4. PACIFIC OOABT 717
Market Street, San Francisco, Oal. LONDON, ENGLAND 40 Queen Street, Oheapside, E. 0.
Makers of Iver Johnson Single Barrel Shotguns and Iver Johnson Truss Bridge Bicycles.
CAMP AHWAHNEE
Yosemite
At the foot of Glacier Point Trail.
Opposite Yosemite Falls. Every tent
electric lighted. The most luxurious
camp in the Valley.
W. M. Sell, Jr., Manager
PETRIFIED FOREST
Five miles from Calistoga on the Santa
Rosa road, one of the world's wonders.
Here the eye is attracted and the mfnd is
overwhelmed in a bewildering mass of
giant trees trampled to earth by the forces
of early volcanic action and long since
turned to stone. Good automobile road.
J. I. NELSON, Santa Rosa,
R. F. D. No. 6
YOSEMITE
CAMP LOST ARROW. Formerly Camp
Yosemite. largest hotel-camp on the coast.
Grounds and buildings electric lighted. Now
open for the season.
SENTINEL HOTEL. The only hotel in Yo-
semite. The "Hub" of the valley. Steam heated
electric lighted. Open the year round.
GLACIER POINT HOTEL AND CAMP. Un-
der same management.
For rates or other information address
J. B. COOK, Prop., Yosemite, California,
Or Southern Pacific Agents; Santa Fe Agents;
Peck-Judah Information Bureaus.
titali
A Weekly
Periodical
for the
Cultured
xxii Please Mention Overland Monthly When Writing Advertisers.
THERE ARE SIX
SLEDGE HAMMER REASONS
WHY YOU SHOULD PLACE YOUR ORDER
WITH US
We are defending the interests of the oldest race of which we have authentic reliable
history.
We are printing up-to-date matter of interest to every Jewish American.
We are bringing to the home, literature which tends to uplift every member and make
each one more worthy of the love of those around them.
We are impartially and successfully handling the greatest and most important problem of
this century the unquestionable success of the Zionist movement.
The man who spends his time and money defending, protecting and promoting your inter-
ests, is worthy of your support to the extent of a subscription at least.
Feeding the mind with good reading matter is as important as feeding the body with good
food or protecting it against the elements with proper clothing. We can supply you with the
best literature at lowest prices.
OVERLAND MONTHLY (the oldest magazine
of the West) ................................. REGULAR SUBSCRIPTION PRICE ...... $1.50
and the HEBREW STANDARD, of New York,
(America's leading Jewish family paper). ...REGULAR SUBSCRIPTION PRICE ...... 2.00