A railroad is in course of construction from Zacatecas to San Luis Potosí. The concession is granted to the Mexican National Railway Company. The intervening region is arid and very barren for the most part. A few cattle and sheep are raised along the proposed route, and the country is gently rolling. Ojo Caliente, about 25 miles from Zacatecas, is a town of some importance. It has a good hotel, adjoining a fine grove of trees.
From this place to Las Salinas the country is covered with nopal, tazahillo, huisachi, and dagger-plant, interspersed with a little mesquite.
There are several salt lagoons at Las Salinas, as the name suggests, and the owner, Señor Erazos, has built a stately residence, which is surrounded by a stone wall and a deep moat. A draw-bridge across the moat is raised at night, reminding the traveler of the baronial castles of the middle ages.
The country between this town and San Luis Potosi is rolling, and a portion of it is adapted to grazing. Some maguey grows along the route.
(For description of San Luis Potosi, see pp. 237-240.)
Route II.
1. El Paso to Chihuahua.
2. Chihuahua to Jimenez
1. From El Paso to Chihuahua. Distance, 225 miles; time, 14 hours. One passenger-train daily.
EL PASO, TEXAS.
Population, 3,000; elevation, 3,600 feet.
Hotels.— Central, Windsor, and Pierson House.
El Paso is a great railway center, and is destined to grow rapidly within a brief period. Real estate is becoming higher in price, and the rents for all classes of buildings are said to be enormous. There is a union depot occupied by the Southern Pacific and the Missouri Pacific Railways. The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fé Railroad Company has also a depot. The last-named line makes connection with the Mexican Central Railway, and it is the most desirable route from the eastern and central cities of the United States to Mexico in the summer season, which will henceforth be the time when most travelers will approach Mexico by land.
