OCR Text |
Show John Paul Dana, the author au-thor of this article, has spent many years in Mexico, and during the war times of recent re-cent and present date, has been a soldier under Made-ro, Made-ro, fought side by side with "Pancho" Villa, and after ward, during and prior to Huerta's tenure of office, was news editor of the Mexico Mex-ico City Herald. He is a former for-mer New York and Si Louis newspaperman. Recently he returned from the land of the Aztecs, hunted for political politi-cal and martial reasons. His warning from friends and hazardous trip pcross the Sonora desert, and exhausted, ex-hausted, his sight of the beloved Stars and Stripes, are told thrillingly in the following story. By JOHN PA UL DANA. CARKANZA and Villa -were fighting tooth and nail for' supremacy, Mexico City was in a turmoil, various factions were at loggerheads, logger-heads, and theie was a bunch of politics being played along San Francisco street and In the popular cafes Knots of men could be scon on tho street coineia In an anl-f mated discussion which would simmer down to silence as one camo along. There was conccn- trated electricity In the nlr and nobody knew whero It was going to strike. One night on the Alameda, while walking toward a cafe, I felt a note slipped Into my y hand. In the eating place, In a sequestered epot, I read it. f "When I get into La Ciudad de Mejico City of Mexico) I am going to tine you up. And it won't be long. (Signed) EMILIANO ZAPATA." A mortal enemy of: all Americans, this ban-' ban-' dit, guerrilla, murderer, who has been prey- I ing up"on tho people of tho Immediate vlcln- 1 lty of Mexico City for five years, had worked up an intense hatred toward tho "El Her- ' oldo" and everybody connected with it. Ho is powerful in a way, and hl3 enmity is not to be disregarded. I A Timely "Warning. ' Several days aftorward an old Spaniard camo to rae, ono of tho ancient regime, one close to the Inner news of the capital, and Eavb me warning. "Juan Pablo, hoy estan Los Estados Unldos mucho bueno par ustcd, major do Mejico," ho whispered to me. "Tho United States are bet-tar bet-tar for you right now than Mexico," is what he said. I aakod him what he meant, although al-though I know that ho would not have said a word without sufficient cause. And ho whls-L) whls-L) pered back, "Zapata!" ) Well, I left. I didn't wait to do much pack ing, at that. L found out that there was a bridge down on tho Vera Cruz road, tho way to Manzanlllo was infested with Zapata, men, and so I took a train for the North. Wo crept along over battered roadbeds, occasionally putting put-ting in a few rails, and when we camo to trestles or bridges, shoved two heavily loaded freight cars ahead to see if they were safe. 1C thoy got over all right, wo look a chance. It was between Torrcon and Chihuahua that the warning was given me. "They're going to take you off at Chihuahua, said tho conductor. "Whero did you got itT" "The operator picked tt up off the wire and told mo to put you wise." It was not far from tho Cumbre xunne.. -which Saltlllo and hln band several I i ears ago pushed a couplo of burning " afiowed a passenger train to " I There were many lives oat I got J bag and ten days' "grub" and popped off the rear car. tho train having slowed up for mo without anybody but the crow tho wlsoi. ' Mountains and Desert. j of their operations. It is to mat- w W Mco what Jackfcon's Holo and the Ilole-In-the-Wall lotreats in Wyoming v. ere to tho train lobbcrs and cuttle lustlcrs or tho Webtern countiy fifteen years ago. No man who has u price upon his head Is denied welcome there, and the deni-zons today arc about the toughest class of people upon God's gre'en footstool Away off to the northward from the spot -where I left tho train there is tho very considerable con-siderable town of Nacozail, the southern terminus ter-minus of a railroad which runs south from Agua Prleta, a neighbor to Douglas, Ariz. Tho railroad taps a number of rich mines and Is very flourishing under noimal conditions. But theie were about 175 miles between me and Na-cozari, Na-cozari, Chihuahua lay but a few miles to tho north and but ninety miles further was El Paso. But both were out of tho question for me, In view of the warning given by the conductor. I figured that I could mako Nacozarl in seven or eight nights, and so turned my face toward the Sierra Madres (Mother Rango) and hit the trail Four yeais before I had fought with Otolco and Villa all over the same country and knew ovcry landmark, every trail, oven' water hole for hundreds of miles. The bad coulees, the big washouts, tho short cuts woro as familiar to mo In pitch darkness as in the light of day. But there were a number of small towns, an occasional ranch hero and there, and I dared not repproach any of them, not knowing their present affiliations, nor the extent of tho pursuit pur-suit that was being made. So it was a night irail all tho clmc. timing my marches to de-elop de-elop secute hiding places during the day. A Narrow Escape. It was not until the second night, as I was cautiously making my way through a moun-, tain 'pass, that I had causo to pause. ThH pass Is a sort of a common causoway and I almost stepped upon a band of snoring guerrillas guer-rillas befoic I know it. They had doused their fire after having had supper and wero rolled up In their blankets. Thoy had no sentry, being be-ing off the trail. I had made it a point to carefully avoid the common way, and this Is the reason that I ran Into thm. My foot sUuck against a soft figure, and ne sat up with a grunt. "Que ticne ustcd?" (Whafs the matter?) he asked. I had fallen over and had the prcs-enco prcs-enco of mind to He still. - i "Nada," I answered. Bleeplly. "Estoy sed. Tlene aguaT' (I am thirsty. Have you any water) Ho rolled over with a disgusted snort and was soon In the land of nod. After a time I got up and carcfull picked my way out of tho sleeping group, replenishing, at some hazard.-tho contents of my water bag Thev may havo been friends, men with whom 1 had fought, men who would have shared their last tortilla with me. comrades who would have been delighted to swap stories and hear the news. Sut 1 couldn't take the chanco. Ono learns those things In a hostile country when war Is on. Breaking away from the limbered slopes of the mountains, the great Sonora Desert la befoie me in all Its glistening whiteness 1 struck it Just as dawn was breaking. FUt nr Ktv miles to the cast, as near as I can figure, and upon the same day, Watson ana his nineteen men were led out to slaughter at Santa Ysabcl. The country was alive with bandits and gueinlla bands, none of which owed allegiance to any recognized military authorities. au-thorities. ' And it was this closed which 1 feared, this deseit with its dearth of cover, its vast sandy expanse sparsely covered with cactus cac-tus and mesquitc. This last is a bush which -rows at times to a height of 10 feet and affords some protection fiom the torrid heat of tho day. Perils of the Desert. One must know a dct-crt, and know it thoroughly thor-oughly to trust himself to Its mercies. A man cannot carry enough water to last him over tho great distances. Ho must have a keen knowledge of tho water holes, which wero pio-vided pio-vided by a beneficent providence for desert wandcreis. For theie aio no camels In Mexico and the piospcctor. strange to, the count, y. always al-ways has his burros, one of which canies the precious fluid In goat skins, and the other his tools and cooking outfit. Herb and there In tho deseit. and I believe that it holds true In all land wastes, ihcro aio elevations, rocky, and at times ulmoal inac-ccsiblc. inac-ccsiblc. evidently earth fault lines. Control y to ordinary conception, at times thero aro great rains in the desert. They aro very violent, vio-lent, and come usually in tho form of cloudburst cloud-burst This water is that which feeds those water holes, deep crevices in the rocks, and piotccted fiom evaporation by ovci hanging Boinlpieelplcos. 1 havo known water in home of these receptacles, when the sun made it imnoaslblo for white men to submit themselves to its heat, to be ho cold that it was almost undrlr.kablc. Theie weie four ol these water holes known to me between tho western base of the mountains moun-tains and Nacozarl. more than 100 miles away, according to a rough calculation. Under normal nor-mal conditions I could havo made It easily In four days and not suffered. There were scattered scat-tered ranch houses, and to ono who knew the trails tho "hiking" was not had. But ,lt hud to be a night trip, and the, water holes aro favorite camping places and ambushes for tho guerrilla bands. So during tho time tho sun was coming into view over the Madres, carefully care-fully hidden in a bunch of plnon trees, I thought it out and mapped my course. Long Night Hike. TheU, When It iau UCCUlim sumunuai v. .... I Btretchcd out on a soft bed of pino needles and slept the sleep of tho man who has determined deter-mined upon his plan of action. Just as soon ns tho suddon nightfall had succeeded the but momentary twilight of tho descrl, I started out ut a four-inilo-an-bour gait The night was moonless, luckily, ns it was during tho entire trip. It was a stretch of twenty-eight miles, as nearly as I could judge, to tho big "olia" to tho west of the Casus Grandas country. Everything wont splendidly nil night, and. with tho exception of being cut on a few times by bad washouts, I had ho trouble, and mado tho water hole about 4 In tho morn Luc. I made a caieful approach and kept under coicr until It was light enough to see. Thero was nobody In sight, but there was onrf file, the embers of which weie not twenty-four hours dead. I climbed to the highest point but saw no signs of life. Drinking my fill and soaking my water bag after having eaten a cold lunch, for I did not care to take a chanco with a file. 1 sought out a niche high up in tho locks and went to sleep On the following night I had what I considered con-sidered the narrowest escape of tho journey. It may have been that I needed not to have taken tho precautions I did, as I was Informed afterward. But I was not overlooking any bets and I knew the Mei'can character too well, that changeable nature, that friendship when one Is In power, and tho knife in tho back. The night had gone along uneventfully and I mado the second water hole after Iho hardest sort of traveling over a long stretch Fagged out, after tho usual reconnaissance, it was hardly light when sleep overtook me, and, as eventually was proven, 1 neglected to find a well-concealed couch. Captured by Guerrillas. I was awakened by a rough shake of the shoulder and blinked sleepy eyes upon the sorriest band of guerrillas that I had ever acen and I had seen a number of them, either in action or lined up against a wall to be shot. Most of them were of the usual peon order, although al-though hero and there was an upstanding Yaqul. Dazedly 1 thought that I caught a glimpse of a face that might be whllo If tho sun and dirt was washed off I icallzed quick -lj that resistance would be silcldai. They stood me on my feet and looked me over carefully. They took my only arm, a rovolvcr, away from me, and searched mo with care, asking excited questions. For a man on foot In the Sonora Desert Is an object both of curiosity and suspicion sus-picion "Who aro ou? Where did you come from'.' What arc you doing here?" they shot at me In bowlldcring confusion. My senses were coming back and my brain had cleared. "Glvo mo somo water," I asked, to gain time, and to size up the situation. I didn't know whether to llo to them or tell them somo of tho tiuth. But I had an Inkling that they knew the present desert doings bettor than I and decided to tell them a pait truth Andjso there was a tale unfolded about a railroad wreck south of Chihuahua and how I was hit-,; ting for the ranch of Gustao Romero, some i miles west of there. i "Why, amlgos, I have fought all over thlsJjl country," told them. "I was here with Orozcou four years ago." I feared to mention Villa, for a I did not know Just how they wero attached. There was some excited jabbering and moro . there were some mighty unpleasant glunce.'i . cast at me. For tho Mexican eye can look J oomise, there was a general cooling off. A fire was built aftor a sentry had boon stationed, nnd we had some tortillas, and coffee. I never will foigct that coffee. It was ambrosia and nectar and beer and a few other things all combined. It put life into me and the hot tortillas tor-tillas made me feel like a man once moie. The tortilla is made by mixing Hour and salt, knead-Ing knead-Ing it well, and then frying it in grease, filling "I blinked sleepy eyes upon the sorriest band of guerrillas that I had ever seen and I had seen a number of them." ,, about as bad as any optic on earth. I had a vision of looking down n dozen rlflo barrels and being left to tho tender mercies of tho coyotes. Saved by a Renegade. "Ilombres, I know him," and one of tho nondescripts non-descripts stopped out from the bunch. "Ho is an amlgo (friend). Ho was with Villa. Is that not right, El Capltan?" And then I recognized nn ox-Texas ranger, who had been 'ca-jhlored from tho border forco for 1 don't know what, and who had beon a hard fighter in Oro7co's "Foreign Legion." Ho called himself "Florcs" In Mexico. Aftor shaking hands with the man. -who undoubtedly un-doubtedly camo between me and an untimely the frying pan with a tmn cae sometmng- hko a hot cake. It has tiemendous qualities ot staying with ou and is good qold. It Is tho great standby of tho Mexican peon. And then, over our cigarettes, 1 told my talo. They were very friendly, for the Mexican has a big heart for those ho likes, and ns 6oon as my identity had been established, they dealt out their good feeling toward me .with a lavish hand. They were vcr much lntciested In the latest news fiom Mexico City, and wero sur-pilscd sur-pilscd that the "United States had not sent Its army Into the Southern countiy. They gavo me much needed information about the counliv ahead of mo and then told me that they weie a band of Villa's men. "When I left, at datk, they loaded me with tortillas and tilled my water bag with coffee In ic-turn ic-turn I gavo them two gold pieces and then It wan "adlos." After it Is all over. I look back upon the Incident with pleasant retrospection. Lands at Nacozarl. "- On to Xaco7arl without further incident of note,, but never again taking the chanco that 1 had before because of my fatigue. There weie u number of times when I hit the chaparral or a friendly bunch of mesquite, and in several Instances thero wero considerable bodies of troops which panned along the tiall which I had hunlcdiy abandoned. Whether friends or enemies I knew not and did not care to ask any questions. I knew that tho Villa and Carranzu troops wero battling somo place in the north and that was enough for mo. At Nacozarl everything was in a turmoil, but I got Information that there were things doing along tho border and, fiom an old friend, the advico that I get into the States by tho undcr-giound undcr-giound loutc. Tho train cairled mo noilh and seven or eight milos from Agua Prleta, adjoining adjoin-ing Douglas, Ariz., I again dropped off the rear car, praying that it would be the lait time for such a stunt. I sought cover In the mesquite, which was quite heavy In that neighborhood, and waited for dark. I could hear tho artillery booming to tho cast and tho booming of heavier guus from around what I took to bo Naco. But l slept with the grateful feeling in my heart that in the moining I would be on my own toll again. It was lalo before I awoke and for a wonder, the very unusual condition of a cloudy aky confronted con-fronted me. I darod not follow tho lallroad, for' It is always well policed near tho border. So I struck' off in a generally northern dircc- tlon. Looking always to tho northeast for th lights of Douglas, I failed to- sight them. After wandeilng about for hours, I decided that t must bo across the bolder and to await for daylight. Dropping Into a sleep, tho sun waf well up when my eyes opened. ' , And there, the handsomest thins that I ever saw, not a quarter of a mile away to tho west. I was tho glorious Stais and Stripes whipping i merrily In tho morning breezo. It was an en- , campment of tho Twenty-fourth Infantry, do I ing patrol duty between Douglas and Naco. 1 was soon taken caio of and whllo eating in th officers' mcs told to an interested group Uif .tato of. my escape t . , j |