A REAL AMERICA IN MEXICO.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXIX, Issue 10765, 13 May 1911, Page 3 (Supplement)

A REAL AMERICA IN MEXICO.

That "'two battalions of the Salvation Army could go down to Mexico and capture the whole revolution, both sides of it, with their tambourines," is the humble opinion of Leon A. Watts, who has recently returned after a year's stay across the border. Born on one of the* wildest of frontiers, his early life speiffc punching cattle and repelling night attacks of cow-stealing "greasers," Watts is a typical American soldier of fortune, says Robert E. l'iukcrton in the Milwaukee Free Press. Watts was educated at the University of Texas, and is only an adventurer by avocation, his real calling being that of engineer. This 3 however, he regards as more dangerous than fighting, more dangerous than any he-has. witnessed in Mexico, at any rate. He relates: " -

"The battles are a joke. I saw-one where they fought all day, fired 5000 rounds, and tho official count of the score was eleven killed. If the insurgents win one or two decisive battles; it is all off with Diaz. Except the Rurales and the--Federal artillery, none of the Federal troops is loyal. v In Mexico, you know, the convicts compose the standing army. They have to corral them at night and stand guard over theni, instead of putting them on guard duty. "In Mexico, when a man goes on a tear and shoots tip a.place or commits some crime, he goes into the army by force. The army, as a result, : s willing to -burn against Diaz any time, and it will whenever the insurgents get the upper hand. The Rurales, how-, ever, as a good body of fighting men; in fact they are the highest paid fighting soldiers in the world, getting 60 dollars gold per month when there is no fighting and 2.75 dollars per day when they are in active service. Originally the Rurales were an organisation of bandits, about 3000 strong. They did so much damage, and resisted capture so Well, that Diaz took them over as his personal bodyguard as the best means of getting rid of them. They are wonderfully good horsemen and wear the gaudiest uniforms you ever saw, but they can't shoot —no one in Mexico can shoot. They wear 8000 dollars worth of gold braid on their clothes and a ton of silver on their sombreros. They look gaudy and warlike, but the Salvation Army could start them running." They always speak down there of their affection for Americans, says Watts, but a "gringo" wants to watch out after dark. He says hi part:

"The Mexicans treat you fine to your face—they are the finest people on earth —but move one eye around to the back of your head after dark, and always sleep with one eye and one car open. An American in Mexico to-day wants to have a limber trigger-finger; and, when once lie docs unlimber his artillery, he wants to let his six-shooter get the hiccoughs. They have less use tor Americans than the border citizen has for 'greasers.' I've been a target all my life, from the time I began punching cattle on the Rio Grande, where I was born, and I am ready to go back to Mexico any time." The whole trouble, he recalls, was caused by a Mexican's attempt to kidnap a white woman down iu I'exas near the Rio Grande: "A bunch of Texas cow-punchers strung him up and burned his body.' That started a bunch of Mexican students in Mexico City, who tore down a few American flags and showed how they felt towards the citizens, of the United States. Then, of course, the Federal Government had to step iu and stop them to show that the Government had no hard feelings towards their country. That gave the insurgents th'eir chance, and the revolution has been going on ever since." ''But to a white man, the revolution is a joke"—for they don't know how to fight. Their battles "sound big enough," and they burn so much powder that one would fancy a battle was "oing on between the United States and England; but after a day's fighting the total number of dead and wounded '■.'enerallv amounts to alraut nine." ""One <if the battles I saw was that of Parrel. This is one of the oldest towns on this continent. It was founded at least 350 years ago, and has between 5000 and 7000 inhabitants. It is hard to count them, because the people are like rabbits in their burrows. The insurgents held the town, and the Federal soldiers approached. They sent word to the insurgents to ■rive up because they would be beaten anvhow. The insurgents held a good position and could have maintained it, but they got cold feet and started to retreat ' The Federal troops came in, and the fighting began iu the streets in the morning. It lasted all day and bv night the insurgents had been driven from the town. But it wasn t-ngiit-in"- A Texas cow-puncher of the same name as myself, and I, watched it from a roof, but we were careful to keen pretty well under cover. They fired all day, ariout 5000 rounds, hut •it ni"ht the official count was eleven dead *" I think there were fifteen or twenty killed—you can't tell in those battles how many are hit " An American named Lawton, who had lived in the country a long while "and should have known enough to keep out of the way," was shot in the. neck, the bullet almost tearing his head off. Another American was twice shot, while watching operations from the roof of a hotel. "The Federal troops said lie was hit by spent bullets or some that had glanced from a wall. But there was no chance of that. He was shot intentionally wlien on the roof. The I'fdeTals wi'll take a pot shot at an American every time they get a chance when there is a battle on, and then blame -t to a spent bullet. This man got well, I believe, but Lawton laid in the street. We went to pick him up and give him a. decent burial, but the Government troops would not let us touch him. xte laid there all night, and someone stole his clothes and shoes. We asked lor permission to bury him, but they would not grant it, and he was carted off in a waggon with a dozen peons and buried in a big hole with the others. We think wo know where he was buried, but are not certain. Of course, that sort of business made me sore, and J intended- to get evidence and take it up to the proper authorities. I took a picture of Lawton lying there, without his clothes and with his head almost shot off, and intended to bring it through. But the Government heard that I had the picture and took the film together with a lot of other films 1 had exposed when the battle was-on. Not only was the film taken, but I was warned to keep my mouth shut and not say anything about the death of the American when I got back to this country-"

The other American-named Watts, a Texas cowboy, wasn't "going to stand for that sort of thing," even after their warning, and after the film was taken. "He was a real Texan, and wanted to clean up the whole bunch by himself. "He started, and nearly got ma into serious trouble as the result of our names being the same. Of course, being a Texan myself, I was not far-be-hind him, but I was a little cooler and did not want to go through with it against those odds." .'•-./■' Fighting may he a joke in Mexico, but an arrest is not. "In Mexico, when they arrest joii under martial law, they tell you that vim can have" a trial in eight days. But Vou can lie in jail for eighty days and never get a chance. .They tell yout they will be fair and reasonable, but the only kind of reason they give you is a stone .wall and a handkerchief oyer yom- eyes and some steel-jacketed w--30" bullets." - ■ ■ After the battle of Parral there was fighting in that vicinity each day and "'"You could hear the rifles cracking air dav and see the flashes m the toothills at night. : The town is twentyone davs by pack mule from the nearest railroad, and the trad goes through a pass 13,000 feet high. The mine where I was at work was seven miles from the town.- You. know, a man can t work all day and then go to .ed at night. I xwed to ride into Parral every night for some excitement. And it generallv was to be had. I would go back to the mine after dark, and there alwavs was shooting along the trail. Nearlv everv morning there were two or three dead Mexicans lying in the road. One night thev began shooting at me, and I unlimbered and began popping back at them. I never knew whether they were insurgents or Fede-

ral troops. Anyhow, they got me in the leg. -The bullet hit my thigh when 1 was in the saddle. In my trousers' pocket was a big Mexican silver dollar. The bullet hit that dollar, and I guess I will carry the mark of that coin to my grave. It hurt then, but did not bother me until later, when blood poisoning set in. and I had a hard time of ■it."

He got back to town by riding hard, and there his troubles began, for with him were two Americans and three American women. There had been some talk of an attack, and feeling 'against, the "Gringos" ran high, so that he would gladly have left were it not for the women.

"The talk was so strong that wo barricaded an adobe hut with boiler plate, and were ready to pull off a regular Alamo stunt. A fellow named Foster, from Boston* and I stood guard at night. One night I saw some troops down the mountainside, and crawied down to hear what they were talking or doing. I got the idea that they were going to attack us, and crawled back to warn the others. Then I crawled down the. mountain again to keep in ■touch with them ancl.;give them the warning of the attack. There was amill between our fort and where the. men, about twenty of them, had dismounted. When I got back, aJI except two had gone, horses and all. I thought they had spread, but to attack us, and started back. I went through the mill. In 'the darkness two men jumped on me, one hittiing me on the head with a rock. I could have killed both of them, but I was afraid to shoot for fear that would bring the others and would block my retreat to the fort. So I beat it up the mountain as fast as I could. They did hot attack us that night, and a few days later the war shifted and we were able to get out."

Watts admits- that Diaz is a good President from the standpoint of Americans interested in Mexican rubber and mines. And for some others:

"But for the peon, the lower class, and the big class, of Mexico, there could not be a worse President. Madero is a good man, and would try to make a good President and inaugurate reforms where Diaz has inaugurated oppressions, but it would not make much difference in the end. Without Diaz to exercise his iron-bound rule, the country would be in one continual revolt. The peons are worked so hard, and paid so little, that they can't get their noses off the grindstone. They can't stop work and hunt for a better job, and few of them would have the ambition to do so. There are no schools, and the people don't know there is anything any better for them." He is personally acquainted with one of Madero's brothers, having lived near him at San Antonio, Texas, and "He stopped to see him on the way out, but Madero had' left for across the border, the United States authorities having had a warrant for him on a charge of breaking the neutrality laws." He is sceptical of the honesty of our intentions in Mexico, and scoffs at the explanation of 'manoeuvres" on the part of the United States troops along the border. Says Watts: "When the troops start out for manoeuvres they have only blank cartridges. I know, for I have been in the army. On my way back I saw the Twenty-third Infantry and the Second Artillery, and they had steel-jacketed bullets."