Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 128, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 May 1916 — Amid mexico's Rich mines [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Amid mexico's Rich mines

PARRAL, Mexico, which recently was the scene of tragic happenings in connection with the arrival there of General Pershing’s punitive expeditionary force, is in the heart of the fabulously rich gold and silver mines district of the southern republic, mines which were among the first discovered by the Spanish conquerors and which began pouring their streams of wealth into the coffers of the monarchs of Aragon and Castile as early as 1547. This town, which has a population of less than 20,000, has been the center of Francisco Villa’s operations for several years, says a bulletin issued by the National Geographic society. Situated on the banks of the semidry Parral river, at the foot of the Sierra de la Cruz, Parral’s whole history centers below ground, in the marvelously rich Veta Colorado (red vein), which runs from north to south through the Parral mining district, including Minas Nuevas and Santa Barbara.

As early as 1600, before the first permanent English settlement in the United States, there were 7,000 miners employed in this district, bringing from the depths of the earth the yellow metal destined to sustain in splendor, for a time, the opulent court of the then most powerful monarch in Europe. From that day up to the present Parral has continued to enrich the world from its seemingly inexhaustible store of silver and gold, the only interruption having been caused by a rebellion of the oppressed natives, who on one occasion flooded all the mines of tho district and then deserted the city by the thousands. The richness of the or© in this section is shown by the fact that American mining companies find it profitable today to smelt the tailings or refuse of the old Spanish works. Indian Kept His Secret.

One of the most interesting incidents in the early history of Parral centers about a time-st£fined church known as La Iglesia de la Virgen del Rayo, the favorite place of worship among the Indians of the district. In 1690 a devout native began the construction of the church, paying his helpers with ingots of pure gold, which he produced mysteriously once a week. During the twenty years required to build the structure the pious Indian baffled the spies commissioned to discover the source of his treasure, but when his work was finished the Spanish commander summoned the miner before him and demanded that the location of the mine be disclosed. When the Indian refused to, tell he was tortured to death, carrying with him to the grave the secret which 200 years of search have failed to reveal.

One of the "sights” of Parral Is the palace of a multimillionaire mine owner, once a humble peon. In this house, which is shut in by adobe huts and narrow streets, there are big drawing rooms and museums with luxurious carpets, over which the owner’s fighting cocks are allowed to roam at will, it is said. Twenty pianos are among the most highly prized possessions of this simple, public-spirited native, the source of whose wealth is La Pamilla (little palm) silver mine, which he discovered many years ago. Parral was not always the chief city of this mining district. In 1580 the nearby town of Santa Barbara was the seat .of government for a vast region equal to one-third the area of the United States today, exclusive of Alaska. The country over which it held sway embraced the territory now comprising Chihuahua, Coahuila, Sonora, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California and Colorado.

Durango Also Rich in Mines. Parral lies only a little north of the borders of the state of Durango, which is surpassed'in the number of its mining properties, aggregating more than 4,000, by only two states in Mexico — Chihuahua and Sonora. Its natural resources include silver, gold, lead, tin, copper, sulphur and rubies. The state’s wealth is not confined to minerals, however, for there are extensive forests of valualjleitimber and the agricultural resources are capable of almost unlimited development, while lr 000,000 head of stock find rich pasturage on its fertile tableland. The Nazas river, which empties into Lake Habas, is the principal waterway of the state. It is known as the Nile of Durango. In the spring, as the snow melts, the river Inundates JJts valley, leaving a rich deposit of silt brought down from the mountains. After the waters have receded the land bursts into bloom like a miniature ■ Egypt, cotton, barley and wheat grow-

ing in great luxuriance, while the whole landscape assumes the aspect of a flower garden. One of the most Interesting trees to be found on the mountain slopes of Durango is a species of pine, the needles of which the Indians and Mexicans boil and use as a remedy for stomach troubles. Its taste is like that of anise seed. The wood of these trees is much used by the Indians in the manufacture of their primitive violins. One of the products indigenous to Durango, but one of which the state does not boast, is a venomous species of scorpion whose sting is almost invariably fatal in the warm regions of the state, but which is more painful than dangerous in the higher and cooler altitudes. In the vicinity of Durango City 60,000 of these spiders are killed annually, some of the natives making a business of destroying them, collecting from the municipality ft bounty of one centavo per scorpion. City Has Wonderful Climate. At an elevation of 6,000 feet, the city of Durango, capital of the state, enjoys a matchless climate, which has earned it the sobriquet, “town of sunshine.’* It is one of the oldest Spanish settlements in the republic, having been founded by Captain Ibarra two years before the followers of Don Pedro Menendez de Aviles initiated the permanent colonization of the United States at St Augustine. The site of the present city was reached by the adventurer and silver-seeker, Mercado, who in 1552 discovered the famous Iron mountain of the suburbs. When Ibarra arrived with his colonists the country was occupied by nomadic savage tribes.

One of the odd customs of the Durango district is the funeral ceremony for children. “An angel is being buried” is the explanation which a native will give of a gay procession headed by a woman bearing aloft on a board a bundle bound in white. The parent© of the child are obligated to give it joyfully to heaven, to the accompaniment of music and dancing. If there is weeping the baby cannot enter paradise until it has gathered all the tears. One of the places of historic interest is the town of Santiago de Fapasquia* ro, said to derive its name from “paa quiero," meaning "I want peace." The phrase alludes to the defeat of the Indians following a massacre of the missionaries and a burning of the churches by the Tepehuanes and Tarahumares in 1616. After the outrage the Indians gathered a force estimated at 25,000 and marched on Durango City. The governor of the province, with-600 valiant whites, determined to resist and save the territory for Spain. In the battle which followed, the Spanish chroniclers declare, the governor completely overcame the insurgents, who lost 16,000 men. After this overwhelming defeat the Indians wanted peace. Durango derives its name from the old Spanish town of that name, in the Basque provinces.

VIEW OF PARRAL