BarbarousMexico JOHN KENNETH TURNER

CHAPTER XI
FOUR MEXICAN STRIKES
On the line of the Mexican Railway, which climbs, in
one hundred odd miles of travel, from the port of Veracruz
10,000 feet to the rim of the valley of Mexico, are
situated a number of mill towns. Nearing the summit,
after that wonderful ascent from the tropics to the snows,
the passenger looks back from his car window through
dizzying reaches of empty air, sheer a full mile, as the
crow might dare to fly a score of them, down to the
uppermost of these mill towns, Santa Rosa, a gray
checkerboard upon a map of green. Just below Santa
Rosa, but out of sight behind the titanic shoulder of a
mountain, nestles Rio Blanco, largest of the mill towns,
scene of the bloodiest strike in the labor history of
Mexico.
In altitude half way between the shark-infested waters
of Veracruz harbor and the plateau of the Montezumas,
Rio Blanco, which in Spanish means White River, is
not only a paradise in climate and scenery, but it is also
perfectly situated for water-power manufactories. A
bountiful supply of water, provided by the copious rains
and the snows of the heights, gathers in the Rio Blanco
and with the speed of Niagara rushes down the mountain
gorges and into the town.
It is said to be a favorite boast of Manager Hartington,
the steel-eyed, middle-aged Englishman who oversees
the work of the 6,000 men, women and children,
that the mill at Rio Blanco is not only the largest and