"Viva Abelardo Rodríguez !"

The inauguration of Governor Rodriguez was a great day for Sonora. Former President Lázaro Cárdenas of Mexico, center figure in the left picture, is with Gov. Rodriguez (on the left) and retiring Governor Macias. Center, Rodriguez and Cárdenas demonstrating their friendship and mutual esteem in an "abrazo," and on the right Cárdenas reading an inaugural message. These two men, Cárdenas and Rodriguez, are with President Avila Camacho, most popular and powerful men in Mexico today.

Our Neighbor Sonora Viva Abelardo Rodriguez

A SALUD! TO SONORA'S NEW GOVERNOR, ONE OF MEXICO'S FAVORITE SONS, WHO BRINGS TO OUR GOOD NEIGHBORS TO THE SOUTH A WIDE EXPERIENCE IN BUSINESS, STATESMANSHIP AND MILITARY AFFAIRS, AND UNDER WHOSE WISE ADMINISTRATION NOT ONLY SONORA BUT ARIZONA, AS WELL, WILL BE BENEFITED.

THE bright sun beating down into the central patio of the Palacio del Gobierno (state capitol building) in the city of Hermosillo, Sonora, the first day of September of this year, added to the brilliancy of an event that can be termed historic for Sonora, for Mexico, and, for that matter, for Arizona. On that day and in that particular place, Abelardo L. Rodríguez, one of Mexico's outstanding sons, became governor of the state of Sonora. Of such far-reaching significance was this particular inauguration that President Ávila Camacho of the Republic of Mexico was represented by no less a personage than his minister of war, former President Lázaro Cárd enas. Of the three most popular and powerful men in all of Mexico, Camacho, Cárdenas and Rodríguez, there are many who contend that because of his varied activities and his illustrious career, Rodriguez is perhaps the most popular of all, and his name and fame is known by rich and poor alike from Sonora to Yucatan and all in-between places. Himself a former president of Mexico, who served his country with dignity and resourcefulness in one of its most trying periods, Abelardo Rodríguez (ahbay-lar-tho roe-dree-guess), still a comparatively young man, has lived a full life, has sucSucceeded in several careers, and today stands on the threshold of great service and accomplishment for his home state. Because of that, all Sonorans are proud and look forward to the next six years under their new governor as momentous and constructive years for their particular portion of the rich, colorful land that is Mexico. Six years of tomorrows under Rodríguez' management will see a new Sonora (soe-noerah), a more prosperous Sonora and a Sonora closer to the fuller utilization of its wealth and resources. We, in Arizona, are not only very happy because our neighbors are getting along nicely, but we know, too, that what is good for Sonora is good for us. Sonora's gain in Rodríguez is also our gain. With Sonorans we can say just as fervently as they do: "Viva, Rodríguez!" And to say that properly, if you wish to say it with us, the word is "Vee-va!"

Rodríguez was born in Guaymas (gwhy-mus) May 12, 1889. His father Don Nicolas Rodríguez, a native of the state of Durango, had settled in Guaymas during the boom days of Sonora's picturesque seaport on the Gulf. The town in those days, before the railroad came was Mexico's most important west coast seaport, and was a busy and thriving place. The boy's mother was Doña Petra Lujan de Rodríguez, daughter of an established Sonora family. There were eleven children in the household and while Don Nicolas was not a wealthy man, he provided a comfortable home for his children. He believed in the efficacy of hard work and inculcated those principles into his life and into the lives of his children. The boy's mother was a devout Catholic, a patient, thoughtful parent.

During the first six years of his life, Abelardo lived in Guaymas. There the desert met the sea and there he acquired that deep love for the Gulf of California that he has always had. Around that body of water was he to build a great career and a great fortune, but all that was to happen later for the tides of destiny were to sweep him along through exciting years and he was yet to be touched by destiny in other ways.

When the railroad came from Nogales by Guaymas on the way to Guadalajara (gwadda-la-har-ah) in the state of Jalisco (ha-lees-ko), Guaymas began to lose its place in the economic sun of Mexico's west coast. Don Nicolas, looking for more promising fields, moved his family to Nogales, Sonora. Abelardo was then six years of age. The Nogales the fam-ily came to was a busy place. The railroad brought great prosperity to the town, and the cities of Nogales, Sonora and Arizona, soon became, as they are now, important trade centers for not only Sonora but Mexico's vast west coast.

HIGHLIGHTS IN THE LIFE OF A GREAT MEXICAN PATRIOT WHO HAS FEVERENTLY ADVANCED HIS COUNTRY'S INTERESTS AND WHO HAS BEEN A CONSISTENT AND TIRELESS WORKER AND ADVOCATE OF THE CLOSEST U. S.-MEXICAN RELATIONS.

Abelardo went to school in Nogales and grew up to young manhood in the town. Industrious and with a stability beyond his years, he became known in both towns as the years went by, as a young man with a future. He believed then, as he does now and as he always has done, in the simple virture of hard work. If you wanted the finer things in life you had to work for them. No one was going to give you anything on a platter.

A boy can live in Nogales, Sonora, and be as far from the United States as if he were living in the state of Oaxaca (wa-ha-ca) hundreds of miles to the southward. He can also live in Nogales, Sonora, and be part of Nogales, Arizona. Young Abelardo was like that. The two towns were like one town to him, and he spent as much time in one town as he did in the other. He soon was able to speak English fluently, and he wasn't very old before he was a member of the Nogales, Arizona, town baseball team, and oldtimers in the town today speak highly of his ability. Both cities of Nogales have always been good ball towns, and a good ballplayer there was always something of a celebrity. Abelardo's first bid to fame, however local it was then, was as a baseball player in an Arizona border town.

Sometimes Mexican boys, brought up along the border, acquire, and often with good reasons, strong feelings of dislike for Americans and the U. S. A. The Rodríguez boy wasn't like that. Among his very best friends in those days, as they are today, were Americanos.

When he became old enough to reason about such things he found that in many ways the plain person or the poor person was better off in America than Mexicans in the same position in Mexico. His country was in the latter days of the Diaz dictatorship and life under a dictatorship never was nor never will be particularly pleasant. He also reasoned, with good sense, that two states as close together as Arizona and Sonora, and two countries living as closely side by side as the United States and Mexico, had much in common and it would be good business, good for both, to get along. As the years rolled by, and the voice of Abelardo Rodríguez became more and more important in Mexican affairs, that voice always advocated the closest and friendliness of relations between the two countries. That was one of the important lessons he learned in the two cities of Nogales, one in Mexico and the other in the good old U. S. A. When the present world conflict broke out and we in America realized how important it was for us to have Mexico friendly and on our side, belligerently so, few of us realize that the man in Mexico who more than any other Mexican counselled his Nation's leaders to string along with Uncle Sam, was once a youth who was cheered by Arizona fans crowded into a border town baseball park not so many years ago. History sometimes has a curious way of writing itself, and carrying out its drolleries.

When Abelardo Rodríguez was a mere youth, events were transpiring in Mexico that were to sweep him along in their stride. Across the land, held in the tight grip of the dictator, Porfirio Diaz, there sounded, like a clarion call, a new and inspired name: Francisco I. Madero. This gentle professor, believing in freedom and liberty, raised the voice that Mexicans had been awaiting so long to hear and the voice said: Abajo Diaz! Down with the dictator! Down with oppression! Let there be freedom in Mexico! Throw off the chains of slavery, all you Mexicans! Let there be bread and liberty! Let there be land!

The voice of that inspired man was heard in Nogales, Sonora, by a happy-go-lucky youth who worked hard when the opportunity afforded itself, and who would sooner play baseball than eat. Young Abelardo became a "maderista," and defied the authorities in advocating the principles of "maderismo." The revolution began. Diaz fled before the fury of his people and Madero came into power. Abelardo watched every happening on the national scene. He saw his idol, the dreamy thinker, fumble destiny's moment. Madero was assassinated and Victoriano Huerta came into power. The youth saw the politicians and the bread-and-butter statesman make the mad scramble for personal gain. His Mexico had been betrayed, but he still believed in the principles of the revolution. Mexico could never grow great until great reforms had been carried out.

Still in his teens he went to Durango, his father's home state, and worked as a mechanic, and later worked in the mines at Cananea, in Sonora. Whether he felt that his way was not the way of mines and machines or what he felt is not known. Only that a group of his friends sitting in a drug store in Nogales, Arizona, one evening in 1913 were joined by Abelardo who had come to say goodbye to them. He said that he had just joined the Mexican Army, receiving a commission as teniente, (tay-nee-en-tay), or lieutenant. A young man who could take orders and wasn't afraid of work or responsibility could get along well in the Army, he felt. He was right, for he was to go far, far indeed, and high in the Mexican Army.

He first served in the Fourth Battalion of Sonora under Coronel Francisco R. Manzo. It didn't take him long to show his ability, for he had the stuff of which good soldiers are made. He was a hard-working officer and while main-taining the discipline required in the military machine he was friendly with his men and soon had the respect and friendship of those from whom he took orders as well as those to whom he gave orders.

His rise in the Armed Forces of his country was swift and inspired. In July of 1914 he was raised to the rank of captain and served under one of Sonora's great patriots, Colonel Benjamin Hill (ban-ha-mean-heel). He fought in the Battle of Culiacan (coo-lee-ah-cahn), served in the Yaqui (ya-kee) campaigns, and distinguished himself in the campaigns against the zapadistas. Mexico was trying so desperately to set up a stable government, and Rodríguez as inspired a revolutionist as he had ever been, felt that the Mexico of the future had to be governed by true patriots rather than by bandit leaders. He was just as fervent a be-liever in Madero's principles as he had ever been. But before Mexico could progress, order had to be brought to the land, and he, as a soldier, did his part in bringing that order about.

As a young officer in various campaigns throughout Mexico he attracted the attention of two great Sonorans, Generals Obregon and Calles (cah-yes), the latter to become the iron man of Mexico. Fifteen years after he joined the Army as a teniente he became a general de division (hain-air-all day dee-vee-see-yon), a division general. General Calles was one of his strong supporters and gave advice, en-couragement and support to the younger officer. The star of General Abelardo Rodríguez was one of the rising stars that began to shine with great promise over Mexico. Obregon and Calles were to become presidents of Mexico. And General Rodríguez was sent out from Mexico City in 1924 to become military commandant and governor of Baja (ba-ha) California, a wild, forgotten Mexican territory, rolling down between the Pacific and the Gulf, a vague and unknown land south of the state of California, hanging there like a misplaced comma.

He put both himself and Baja California on the map. As governor and military com-mander of the territory, he encouraged the fish-ing, ranching, agricultural and the tourist in-dustries. Investors came into the territory, and he himself had faith enough in this area over which he was to have such influence to invest his own funds. He was a shrewd and smart business man, and his investments were soon profitable ventures. He profited and the territory profited. The Federal Government officials soon came to learn more of their ter-ritory than they had ever known. Rodríguez wanted money for schools, roads and public works. He wanted the government to lend money to small business men. And as governor he secured the passage of territorial legislation that would protect the working man. He was a liberal administrator, opposed to any radical theories, who believed in hard work and also believed that every person in the territory, however poor, had a right to get along. He saw the tremendous possibilities of the Colorado River Delta as a farming empire and had colonies established there.

It wasn't many years before the Government realized that in General Rodriguez they had not only a patriot and a soldier but an inspired public administrator. His ability was not only in military but civil pursuits. He was called to national life as minister in the presidential cabinet, becoming a hard-working public of-ficial.

He was minister of the interior when President Pascual Ortiz Rubio resigned in 1932, and again destiny touched the former baseball play-er from Nogales, Arizona-Sonora. On Septem-ber 4, 1943, he was selected by the Chamber of Senators in the National Congress to suc-ceed Rubio, and to serve the two year's of Rubio's unexpired term.

Sonora's new governor has a brilliant record as a Mexican soldier. As general, he led the government's forces in putting down the Escobar revolution. He has held high war portfolios for the Republic.

Rubio was neither an able administrator nor an inspired statesman and patriot. He allowed things to happen that were not in the best interests of the people, nor did he show any zeal in carrying out the principles of the Revolution. Mexico had come too far to sit back and watch dreams of the people fade. Rubio had to resign.

President Rodríguez, caught in the maelstrom of turmoil that Rubio's resignation brought about, did not take office in what could be described as being under happy circumstances. The people were upset. Animosities had been aroused between factions in public life. And the poor old peso, Mexico's equivalent of the American dollar, sick and distressed, faded into almost worthlessness. When a nation's money begins to drop it hurts everybody. The most sensitive part of any nation's anatomy, the pocketbook, registered distress signals.

President Rodríguez came to the rescue, not with trumpets or fanfare, but with common sense, hard work, practical ideas, and sound, conservative suggestions. While he was well-known in Mexico when he came to the Republic's highest office, what after all did the great majority of the Mexican people know of him? A general? Santa Maria! There are a lot of generals! Military governor of Baja California! Hay Que caray! And whoever heard of Baja California! Minister in a presidential cabinet? Yes, yes, but... oh well! We'll see! We'll see!

Yes, they saw! Nothing miraculous, you understand, just plain common sense and hard work. It is doubtful that any president in Mexico's history has ever accomplished as much for Mexico in any two-year period as President Rodríguez accomplished in the two years he served of Rubio's unexpired term. The peso ceased to have the ague and soon recovered. Public works got a needed shot in arm. Business took heart and got back to normal. And the working man could say, too, that he wasn't forgotten for President Rodríguez introduced some sound, liberal legislation that gave the laboring man, always the forgotten man, encouragement and hope.

Nor did he become what all Mexicans hate: "a bee-eeg shot!" He remained a friendly, democratic man, as much of the people as he always been. It is told in Mexico that as a minister, of state, not such a "bee-eeg shot,!" he met every day at noon with some friends for a friendly game of dominoes in a quiet cafe. When he became president, the friends never expected to see him again. But one day soon afterwards a presidential aide called at the cafe and said that if they wouldn't mind the president would like to continue his noonday dominoes, but would they mind coming up to Chapultepec Castle, and join him there because he thought it would be quieter than in the cafe. The dominoes continued and the ghosts of Emperor Maximilian and Empress Carlotta tip-toed around unusually quiet so as not to disturb the game. (After all what would his people think, if they saw him sitting around in a public cafe playing dominoes each noon when he should have been home worrying about them and the affairs of the state.

When he left the president's office, succeeded by Lázaro Cardenas, in 1934, he left with all factions of Mexico's political life applauding his administration. He might be described as a moderate in political thought.

He would have every reason to be an economic royalist because he is one of the richest men in Mexico, yet labor leaders, and they have some mighty bitter babies in labor leader-ship ranks in Mexico, have always praised and still praise Rordíguez. (Gossip has it that he is worth from 10 to 30 million dollars and that ain't hay no matter what language you speak.) His vast industrial empire extends itself into banking, ranching, wineries, fishing, commercial enterprises, and almost everything else you can think of in Mexico, yet he has set the pace in friendly labor relations with his employes, and every employe is a Rodríguez disciple. Most of the frozen shrimp that comes out of the Gulf of California are shipped and packed by Rodríguez owned canneries and packing plants. His various financial interests even extend to such things as the ultra-modern Garci Crespo resort hotel at Garci-Crespo, state of Puebla, yet the lowliest fisherman at Guaymas or the bartender at the Garci Crespo will tell you that there was never a better patron than Abelardo Rodríguez. And they should know, for like thousands of other people, they work for him. And it can never be said that he has ever done anything to harm the Mexican working man. He lately has financed a cooperative whereby every fisherman in Sonora can become his partner and on fair terms.

After leaving the presidency, Rodríguez returned to the Army, serving in various roles. In 1937 he toured Europe studying army methods in all of the leading European countries. In his first public address to his people after returning from that trip he said that war was coming and that the Mexican people, who are after all the citizens of a Democracy, should prepare to fight for Democracy. He told his people to beware of the false political ideologies that were sweeping Europe, and from that day to this has done all in his power to fight foreign political cure-all philosophies. He feels today, as he has always felt, that the Mexican people should have as their ideal the American Democracy, because only in such a Democracy can life, liferty and the pursuit of happiness on the part of all individuals be at-tained.

When Mexico declared war against Ger-many, Italy and Japan, General Rodríguez was given important folios in President Ávila Camacho's war cabinet. He supervised the removal of all Japanese from Baja California and the west coast of Mexico, and set up in part Mexico's west coast defense. No other military leader in Mexico was as cooperative as General Rodriguez and as helpful to our own strategists, during those crucial days when our military brains were trying to organize an iron wall around our country in case of invasion shortly after Pearl Harbor. General Rodríguez has been soldiering up and down Mexico's west coast and Baja California for a long time. The Japanese have been running fishing fleets up and down those coasts for years and we could have been open to attack in that direction as easily as not, but you can bet your last dollar, or peso, as the case may be, that we would have been ready for the enemy had they decided to come through Baja California or the Gulf of Mexico, and you can also bet your last dollar, or peso as the case may be, that our military wisemen got a lot of good friendly advice from General Rodríguez in plotting the terrain for the best possible bulwark of pro-tection.

So this is a brief portrayal of the background of Sonora's new governor. Before he announced that he was a candidate, the Sonora woods were full of candidates but when he announced all opposition withdrew. It was unanimous.

What do Sonorans think of Rodríguez? Well, they thought enough of him to put on a major political campaign when he had no opposition.

Here is what a few of them think: Meet Don Pancho Elias (ee-lee-as). Don Pancho (Francisco I. Elias) was secretary of agriculture under Abelardo Rodríguez when he was president, and is himself a former governor of Sonora. Today he is one of Sonora's largest cattle operators and has vast cattle holdings in the United States. Don Pancho says, in perfect English, "We in Sonora are fortunate to have General Rodríguez as our governor. He is a great statesman, an able administrator, and under him we should have our greatest era of progress and prosperity."

Another person who knows his Sonora is Ernesto Elias of the Elias Brokerage Company, Nogales, Sonora, who is responsible for hundreds of thousands of dollars of cattle and goods crossing the border each year. Mr. Elias, has this to say: "The incentive that Governor Rodriguez will give to all forms of business in Sonora will mark a new business cycle in our state. This business revival will be felt in every corner of Sonora. All of us believe that the next six years will be our most important years."

SONORA IS A FAR-FLUNG EMPIRE OF UNDEVELOPED WEALTH. THE SECOND LARGEST STATE IN MEXICO, ITS MINING, CATTLE, AGRICULTURAL AND TOURIST POTENTIALITIES HAVE YET TO BE TOUCHED. SONORANS ARE PLANNING A GREAT EXPANSION.

Quest, are potential tourist attractions of the future, when good roads are built and accommodations are available to the American traveler.

And another person who speaks with authority is Julio Piña, Jr., a member of a pioneer Sonora family and gerente general (hay-ren-tay hain-er-al) the general manager, of the Banco Ganadero y Agricola, with branches at Nogales and Hermosillo (er-moe-see-yo), who watches business trends in Sonora with an eagle eye. Mr. Piña is as optimistic as he can be: "Trade and commerce were stimulated in Sonora months before General Rodríguez became Sonora's governor. A business man himself and a banker, he knows the problems both of the business man and the banker. He will bestow the confidence in government that all of our investors need to extend their invest-ments. We are confident that under his leader-ship all industry, and particularly cattle and agriculture, will attain heights never before reached in Sonora."

And so speak three representative Sonora citizens. We could quote people all the way from Nogales to Masiaca: hotel operators, businessman, fishermen, miner, bartender and cantina owners (yes, quite a few of them), newspapermen, ranchers, taxicab drivers. We could quote many, many people for you, but they all are equally enthusiastic. General Rodríguez succeeds Governor Anselmo Macias, who proved a very able governor, but few people in Mexico have caught the public's fancy as has Sonora's new governor. Many of Gov-ernor Macias' projects will be continued and others inaugurated.

We are personally excited about Governor Rodríguez because we have learned a lot of nice things about him, as you will see from this sketch. We have talked to many, many Sonorans and we have yet to find one person who doesn't praise this man, who once played baseball in our state, and who has always played ball with our country. We have always been excited about Sonora, because, to us, it is, next to Arizona, the best place on earth.

We are very fond of Sonorans because cordiality and friendliness seems to be a state characteristic. Sonorans have a charm and a poise of their own which cannot be equalled in all of Mexico. And we know quite a bit about Sonora, and we know too that what is good for Sonora is good for Arizona; so you'll pardon us if we sound a little bit enthusiastic. It is the second largest state in Mexico, (to repeat a statistic), has about 360,000 people spread over 76,633 square miles. Sonora has 500 miles of seafront along the richest fishing center in the world, the Gulf of California. The valleys of the Yaqui and Mayo Rivers are incredibly rich. The state is loaded with mineral wealth, and its tourist attractions and possibilities are boundless.

It is a big country and a charming country. When General Rodríguez announced his candidacy for governor of Sonora, leaving high posts in the national government, tongues began to wag all through the Republic. According to law, no man can succeed himself as president of Mexico. A man is elected president, he serves his legal term of six years, and by law can never again be elected president. One school of thought maintains that Rodríguez can not legally serve again as president of Mexico. Another school of thought, a larger one, maintains that he never was elected president of Mexico, did not serve six years, and is therefore eligible to become a candidate whenever he wishes. That would be all right, too, with all Sonora and with many, many Mexicans, rich and poor, all the way from the Arizona-Sonora border to Guatemala.

Let people ponder the enigma why this national figure in Mexico, a famed military leader and industrialist, chooses at this time to become governor of his native state.

national figure in Mexico, a famed military leader and industrialist, chooses at this time to become governor of his native state.

As far as we are concerned we think he returned to Sonora for a very good reason, which he has expressed in no uncertain terms: "I feel that our nations are well along on the road to victory. I have done all in my power to assist my country in making the supreme war effort, and now I feel I can better serve my country by returning to my native state as governor. Sonora has done a great deal for me. I should like very much to pay back my indebtedness tomy native state and the people of that state by doing something in turn for Sonora. To-ward that end will I dedicate my administra-tion."

That sounds straight from the shoulder, Governor Rodriguez. May we join with our people in wishing you good luck and good fortune both to you and your state and success in your endeavors. And may we join with your people in shouting very sincerely: "Viva Rodríguez! Viva, Sonora." R.C.

A camel driver who was prominent here when the government imported camels as beasts of burden. on Arizona's desert, the venture which proved unsuccessful because the rough terrain was too damaging to the camel's feet.

Salome (Sah-lohm), west of Wickenburg, said to have been named for an early settler, Mrs. Grace Salome Pratt, was made famous by Dick Wick Hall, Arizona's first widely known humorist. Hall distributed free a mimeographed sheet, "The Salome Sun" with humorous sayings and drawings about "Salome, where she danced," and "my seven year old frog that never learned to swim." Hall had several of his humorous stories about his town published in the Saturday Evening Post.

Tucson (too-sahn), once the old walled pueblo, now the county seat of Pima county and Arizona's second largest city, is a very old place. In fact it is said that Tucson is one of the three oldest settlements in the United States. The Indian name for the settlement was Stjukshon, or Tucson, which has been variously translated to mean, "dark spring" and "at the foot of a black hill." Nine miles to the south of Tucson is beautiful San Xavier del Bac (Sahn Ah-veer-del Bahk), said to be the finest example of pure mission architecture in the United States. This old mission, which is still being used by the Indians today, is said to have been completed in 1797.

Ajo (ah-hoe) from a Spanish word meaning garlic, is the name of an interesting little mining town in Pima county, named after the Ajo mountains there where wild onions grew in profusion on the hillsides. Another has it that the Ajo lily found there had a root which tasted very much like an onion set. Spaniards worked mines in this vicinity as early as 1750. The Ajo Copper Company, first incorporated mining company in the territory was formed about 1854, and ore was sent by pack mules to Yuma, 100 miles away, at a cost of $105 a ton where it was shipped down the Colorado River and around Cape Horn to Swansea, Wales, for smelting, where it brought $360 a ton. In 1931 this company was absorbed by the Phelps Dodge Corporation.

Nogales (no-gahl-eez), county seat of Santa Cruz county, is one of Arizona's popular border towns. Across the street is Mexico. The name comes from the Spanish word Nogal meaning walnut. Early settlers say the stream was lined with these trees. The settlement was first known as "Los Nogales." It was known also as "Line City," then Isaactown," after the owner of one of its saloons.

Tombstone, "the town too tough to die," is perhaps one of the most colorful of Arizona's old mining camps. In the eighties, this town was the most important between San Diego and El Paso, and was said to have had a population of 14,000 persons at one time. Today, most of the town is deserted and the buildings, most of them, are either in ruins or badly dilapidated. "Instead of a mine you will find a tombstone," said a fellow soldier to Ed Schieffelin in 1877, as he set out from Fort Huachuca, regardless of dangers from Apaches, to look for stones." Schieffelin remembered the warning, and when he came across some rich-looking ore, said to himself, "Here is my tombstone." He gave that name to the place. It is estimated that about $80,000,000 worth of minerals have been taken from the Tombstone mines. The town "too tough to die" is still operating.

History of Flight

(Continued from Page Forty-one) Alcock and Brown, flew non-stop from Newfoundland to Ireland.

The history of man's flight encompasses but a single generation. Many of its early conquerors are still in active service.

General Billy Mitchell's tremendous vision of aerial strength did much to awaken the world to its present war strategy. He soloed under Orville Wright in 1915-later became commanding general of the A. E. F. in France.

General H. Arnold, Commanding General of Army Air Forces, World War II; soloed in a Wright Pusher; responsible for much development in air force organization.

Col. Lowell H. Smith completed the first flight around the world in September of 1924, distance of 26,345 miles. He made many "firsts" in cross-country flights and originated mid-air refueling.

Col. Lindbergh's flight from Roosevelt Field to LeBourget Airdrome in May of 1927, though not so great a scientific achievement, did more to start an aerial renaissance than any other flight.

Admiral Richard E. Byrd's aerial exploration of both poles acquired for the U. S. vast territories and much needed weather data. With Floyd Bennett, he circled the North Pole in 1926; flew the Atlantic non-stop in 1927; and circled the South Pole in 1929.

Wiley Post and Harold Gatty in 1931 circled the globe in 81/2 days. He demonstrated the automatic pilot two years later in a solo flight around the same course.

General Andrews, Brig. Gen. of the Air Corps in 1935, accentuated heavy bombardment; and was considered one of our greatest air strategists.

Jimmy Doolittle discovered the outside loop and tested much scientific altitude and blind flying equipment.

Amelia Earhart's Atlantic crossing in 1932, her hop from Hawaii to the United States and her nearly completed, but fatal, around-the-world flight, places her as our foremost aviatrix.

Aerial renaissance had its beginning shortly after Lindbergh's flight. No longer was the plane a toy for amusement and for the spectacular. Private enterprise-the businessman, the capitalist, and the industrialist-recognized the plane's potential unlimited value as that of a common carrier.

The purse-strings of a nation were opened. Long-needed financial backing was pooled and liberally invested. As a hand, man reached into space, with methodical precision flights he opened air routes to every portion of the globe.

The first all-metal plane-the Boeing 247-D -accentuated airline travel. The D. C.-3 series followed as standard equipment on all airlines. Super strato-liners and cargo ships had but made their appearance when through the necessity of gearing for war, their commercial silver coats were covered with the olive drab of the army. War conditions augment civil air transport as well as all other phases of aerial strength.

Forty years ago the Wrights proved that man could fly. Today the destinies of all people are hinged to the rendering of this recentlydoubted possibility.

As a weapon of war, aircraft has been welded into a mailed fist, and for the first time has been given the leading role in the prosecution of war. Because of feverish production and development, its types and styles are in constant change.

The long-range heavy fortified bomber is principally an offensive weapon, assuring all future wars a definite intercontinental aspect. The pursuit is purely defensive, being the antidote to the bomber. Plane accessories are being constantly developed and applied, assuring post-war craft expedients in navigation, efficiency and safety.

This, at present, is as far as the history of flight goes. What future developments come next will simply be the future becoming reality, and reality is history.

The locomotive, the automobile, and all the other developments of man's means to an outlet, appear so limited to that of the airplane. In aviation, the sky is the limit, and the word "sky" simply means a view of the universe.

This mural is painted with a limited oil palette yellow ochre, burnt sienna, and ivory black. A service of the Base Special Service GroupArtist Put. Phil Brinkman '43.

STATEMENT OF THE OWNERSHIP, MANAGEMENT, CIRCULATION, ETC., REQUIRED BY THE ACTS OF CONGRESS OF AUGUST 24, 1912, AND MARCH 3, 1933.

Of Arizona Highways published monthly at Phoenix, Arizona for the year 1943.

State of Arizona, County of Maricopa: ss.

Before me, a notary public in and for the State and county aforesaid, personally appeared Raymond Carlson, who, having been duly sworn according to law, deposes and says that he is the editor of the Arizona Highways and that the following is, to the best of his knowledge and belief, a true statement of the ownership, management (and if a daily paper, the circulation), etc., of the aforesaid publication for the date shown above caption, required by the Act of August 24, 1912, as amended by the Act of March 3, 1933, embodied in section 537, Postal Laws and Regulations, printed on the reverse of this form, to wit: That the names and addresses of the publisher, editor, managing editor, and business managers are: Publisher, Arizona Highway Department. Phoenix, Arizona, Editor, Raymond Carlson, Phoenix, Arizona.

2. That the owner is: (If owned by a corporation, its name and address must be stated and also immediately thereunder the names and addresses of stockholders owning one per cent or more of total amount of stock. If not owned by a corporation, the names and addresses of the individual owners must be given. If owned by a firm, company, or other unincorporated concern, its name and address, as well as those of each individual member, must be given.) Arizona Highway Department, State of Arizona.

3. That the known bondholders, mortgagees, and other security holders owning or holding 1 per cent or more of total amount of bonds, mortgages, or other securities are: (If there are none, so state.) None.

4. That the two paragraphs next above, giving the names of the owners, stockholders, and security holders, if any, contain not only the list of stockholders and security holders as they appear upon the books of the company but also, in cases where the stockholder or security holder appears upon the books of the company as trustee or in any other fiduciary relation, the name of the person or corporation for whom such trustee is acting, is given; also that the said two paragraphs contain statements embracing affiant's full knowledge and belief as to the circumstances and conditions under which stockholders and security holders who do not appear upon the books of the company as trustees, hold stock and securities in a capacity other than that of a bona fide owner; and this affiant has no reason to believe that any other person, association, or corporation has any interest direct or indirect in the said stock, bonds, or other securities than as so stated by him.

5. That the average number of copies of each issue of this publication sold or distributed, through the mails or otherwise, to paid subscribers during the twelve months preceding the date shown above is

RAYMOND CARLSON, Editor

Sworn to and subscribed before me this 29th day of September, 1943.

G. L. JACKSON. My Commission Expires February 18, 1947.

Salute Your Compatriot

(Continued from Page Fourteen) Try bolting it all in one gulp. I felt, however, it was only fair to help him out of a predicament which looked as though it could well cause his death by choking. I advanced toward him, but he cocked a reddish eye at me and lumbered away on his long legs to the other end of the yard. There was a gulping motion of his elongated neck, something like the skirmishing tactics of measuring worm, and another half inch of mouse became a memory. About this time my wife gave forth somewhat ribald laughter at my ungrateful attempts to lend aid to the bird, and suggested, for the umpteenth time, that I might like to look in some of her bird books and get educated about this bird I had been neighbor with all my life and still knew nothing about.

The results were fascinating. Together we prowled through the books, and gradually realized that this incredibly clumsy, trampy looking red-eyed reprobate was in reality one of our best friends, and a fellow to regard with respect in any man's language. In looking up his family tree we found that, while he isn't exactly of royal lineage, he belongs to a perfectly respectable group, the Ground Cuckoo, so that he fits as one of the 200 odd species of the cuckoo clan. And he is related to some of the most tireless talkers in the world, the parrots. Scarcely a dozen species of cuckoos are represented in the Americas, but most of them are a lot more self respecting than numerous of their old world relatives, for they build their own nests and raise their young, instead of resorting to that barbaric device of throwing eggs out of other birds' nests and laying their own there to be hatched gratis by unknowing foster mothers.

The Road-runners are a particularly hardy breed, and have a very wide range. They can be found as far south as Puebla, Mexico, north to Northern California and Western Kansas, and eastward to Central Texas. They are happy anywhere from sea level to mountain country of a mile or more above the sea, in late summer. Of course, to hear the local names, you might not always know the same bird was being referred to. Depending on where he is found he may be the Cock of the Desert, the Chaparral Cock, the Snake Killer, the Lizard Bird, the Churca, the Correcamino (Spanish for Road-runner), or the Paisano. The latter is a true token of the regard in which he is held by our neighbors south of the border, for it means Fellow Countryman or Compatriot. This name also stands well in New Mexico, where he is the state bird.

George and his wife are family loving folks. With the greatest of care they select an inconspicuous spot for their nest, usually a short distance above the ground in a bushy low lying tree or shrub where the crotch of the branches gives good support. That the nests are carefully hidden is borne out by the fact that I have searched for one for years and have never located one.

Unlike most bird mothers, Mrs. Road-runner does not attempt to have her babies all about the same age. She may lay a couple of eggs, set on them and meditate a while, then lay another or two. A few weeks later finds her and her husband a much be-familied couple, with perhaps two half grown youngsters, one or two tiny babies, and another egg not due to hatch for a week or two. It would be a tough job for the mother to catch enough grasshoppers, small lizards, and other delicacies for all of them and still keep her eggs warm, if George were not a thoroughly domestic soul who relishes his share of these choice tidbits.

He relishes his paternity so completely that he rides herd on and feeds the older children while she hatches and tends to the young ones.

Baby Road-runners are disconcertingly home-ly. No one but a mother could stand the sight of the newborn in the nest, with its skinny black body, completely nude, with an oversize head wobbling uncertainly about on a pipe stem neck. Such a little atom of negative beauty quickly grows into something much larger, however, and loses the midnight color of its birth, to more nearly approach the irregular coloration of its ancestors, and bristle with pin feathers on the neck an:l wings. But, alas, the chick is destined never to attain the grace of other Southwestern birds. Always he will remain long legged and clumsy, even late in summer when his full growth is practically on him.

The young birds eat like harvest hands, and have no table manners at all. The huskiest or quickest specimen would gladly take all of the food mama or papa brought, but the parents are rigid disciplinarians on this matter.

As the children become old enough to roam freely about in early summer, feeding is not much of a problem, for their appeitites are very versatile. Like a Model T Ford, which would run on gasoline, kerosene, or alcohol and profanity, the Road-runner will eat practically anything that crawls or runs if he can get it down his neck to his belly. If he can't get it all down at once, he will do it on the installment plan, digesting the lower end while the rest hangs out of his mouth, placidly wait-ing a while, until the inner self says "More fuel!" and then with rhythmic gulps disposing of more centimeters of condiment.

My wife was somewhat horrified when we consulted the Road-runner bill-of-fare, and even I, a case-hardened desert dweller, felt greatly impressed by it. The Paisano invades Nature's kitchen and takes what he finds, according to the season, and no complaining about the cook. Standard bird foods, such as crickets, grass-hoppers, spiders, worms, beetles, cicadas, and the like, are eaten in great quantities, with later in the season a generous use of numerous kinds of seeds, parts of cactus fruits, and kindred delicacies. But the bird doesn't stop there. Ants, bees, lizards, and mice find ready wel-come in his capacious maw. To cap the climax, he eats centipedes, scorpions, tarantulas, and snakes. He doesn't confine himself to ordinary garden variety snakes, either. As I said before, he isn't particular, and so if he finds a rattle-snake which is small enough for him to swal-low, he will take it on.

It has been said that Road-runners are sometimes destructive. All the evidence we could find indicated that occasionally a specimen will eat eggs, or even baby chickens, but that on the whole there is so little of this type of vandalism, compared with the immense amount of good they do, that it is really poor judgment to let yourself kill this desert clown.

Paisanos don't have as easy time of it in the lean winter months as during the summer, for there isn't much animal food to catch, and they live then largely on seeds. It is during the colder months that folks can often make friends of them by throwing the mice they catch out at the edge of the open yard on the fringe of the desert. For if George finds the dead mouse he will remember where he got it, and likely be back for more.

After a year the youngster is old enough to have felt the desire for matrimony and sturdy sons and daughters. Young George finds his heart's desire, and shortly after he and his Georgiana are married. In the showery month of April they locate their nest and she beginsher family duties. While she spends her long hours setting, he behaves as a good husband should, doing most of his feeding in the near vicinity and keeping a watchful eye for marauders who might venture near his home. I rather imagine it is at times like these, when family feelings are very strong, that George is more apt to perform such daring feats as the conquest of larger creatures than he can eat. For it is positively known, and has been substantiated by photographs, that Road-runners do rarely attack and kill large rattlesnakes. Now you know why I called myself a fool at the beginning of this article for interrupting such a possible altercation. However, after carefully checking on different authorities, I believe we can safely assume the following description represents what might have taken place had 1 not interrupted George's designs on the rattlesnake.

her family duties. While she spends her long hours setting, he behaves as a good husband should, doing most of his feeding in the near vicinity and keeping a watchful eye for marauders who might venture near his home. I rather imagine it is at times like these, when family feelings are very strong, that George is more apt to perform such daring feats as the conquest of larger creatures than he can eat. For it is positively known, and has been substantiated by photographs, that Road-runners do rarely attack and kill large rattlesnakes. Now you know why I called myself a fool at the beginning of this article for interrupting such a possible altercation. However, after carefully checking on different authorities, I believe we can safely assume the following description represents what might have taken place had 1 not interrupted George's designs on the rattlesnake.

His circling dance around the snake is apparently done in the hope of finding the reptile in a poorly guarded pose, so that he can dart in with his powerful sharp beak and administer a lethal peck to the head. Crotalus has to continually turn his body to match these maneuvers in facing his opponent, and he is kept stirred to fury by George's repeated lunges toward him. He matches these lunges with open fanged strikes of the forward half of his heavy body. The bird anticipates these lethal gestures, and always stops just short, leaving his enemy to partially lose his balance and recover the fighting coil in greater anger than ever. This fighting coil, much different to the coiled rope attitude or repose, leaves Crotalus' tail and rattles somewhat out in front of him, giving him leverage with which to draw quickly back from his forward motion. This sparring bout continues for some little time, with George nervously raising and lowering his crest and tail, intently watching for every possible opening, darting in and out frequently to lead the snake into a veritable blind rage. It doesn't take much of this feverislı fighting to weary the reptile, for at best a rattlesnake's body muscles haven't the tone of the athletic racers or constrictors, and he begins seeking a possible retreat to the shelter of a bush. He doesn't turn tail to flee at this early stage, nor does he go into reverse gear; he simply sends his body the way he wants to go and keeps his head and neck pointing at his enemy, serving as a rear guard for the retreat.

George, seeing Crotalus about to escape, redoubles the fervor of his attack, and darts in quite close, his wing feathers stirring up dust. Crotalus strikes, in a flurry of beating wings, and George emerges panting on the other side. He has been hit, but it is from his tough wing feathers that the deadly yellow-amber drops of venom fall to the ground, and not from any vulnerable spot. Crotalus, in a burst of frenzy, makes several more rapid strikes, but he is very tired, and his body weaves a little as he rears his head and neck.

George is very weary too, and he remains motionless a moment, resting. It looks almost as though the fight is over, with both antagonists hors de combat. The intensity of Crotalus' rattling begins to diminish, and his head imperceptibly lowers. Suddenly he throws caution to the wind in a swift looping sideward move toward the security of the nearby bush. This is a fatal error, for George is quick to spot his chance, and with this dash he succeeds in driving his beak through the fragile bones of the reptile's skull, crushing the tiny brain inside.

Do you wonder that I respect and admire our clownish friend of the desert? "!Viva el paisano!"

Meet Chickee, My Roadrunner

(Continued from Page Fifteen) Reaction is instinct on the part of the road-runner to protect himself from his enemies that might sneak up on him from the rear. By perching thus in a cholla, as I have seen them do during the night, or in other types of shrubs or trees, enemies can approach only from the front and from this angle he can use his strong beak to good advantage to ward off the enemy. No matter what time of night it was I never caught Chickee with his eyes closed, and it is my opinion that roadrunners never close their eyes.

The roadrunner is a strange bird. His scientific name is Geococcyx californianus and this translated means that he is the California Ground Cuckoo. In testimony of this fact, you will find that he has only two toes in front and two behind, whereas most birds have three toes in front and only one behind. The conspicious tracks of the roadrunner are often found out on the desert soil, but it is difficult to tell which way he is going.

Roadrunners build their nests generally at about five to eight feet in chollas, mesquite, saguaro, and other suitable places. The nest material is a considerable mass of coarse twigs, to which is often added snake skins, shreds of bark and extraneous matter, such as dried manure for lining and probably decoration. Usually six large pure white eggs are laid, although numbers up to 12 have been reported. Incubation commences as soon as the first egg is laid so that when the youngsters from the sixth egg is hatching the oldest youngster is a week old. Lizards appear to be the favorite of the young roadrunners, probably because they form food for growing bones and tissues.

When alarmed the roadrunner crackles his bill, and raising his crest over an inch long reveals the beautiful speculum of purplish blue and crimson running back of the eye. Aside from this note of alarm, so far as I have ascertained, only a song has been variously described in the literature of the past and these references are very scarce. Although the writer has never heard the song he believes that he has learned many new facts concerning the sounds of the roadrunner by observing the natural actions of Chickee, who probably regards me as his foster parent, as I provide him with food and other necessities of life. However, when strangers come around he will not act naturally with me because of fear.

The variety of sounds produced by the road runner runs the gamut from fear to contentment. These are: an alarm, a cluck, a begging cry, a growl, a croon, a fret, a squawk, a cackling call, and a song.

Very few people have ever heard the song of the roadrunner. The writer hopes someday to hear one singing. Dr. Lawrence M. Huey, Curator of Birds and Mammals of the San Diego Society of Natural History, in an article just off the press, gives this note "a bird (roadrunner) in Alamo Canyon (Ajo Mts.) was heard daily during our April-May visit, uttering its descending mournful song." The cry is a very common sound with Chickee. When just a little fellow, Chickee used to run around my feet, crying and begging for food or a walk with fluttering wings. Some times he pecked at my shoes as if to gain attention. Sometimes his cry seemed to be made with such effort that not all of the sound was audible although it was not high pitched. He fluttered his wings when crying until about five months old, when such actions ceased.

He still begs to be let out for a run by hanging his head as if ashamed and uttering a nasal whine or cry something like "wheeangg." When very young he sometimes hung his head as if he were really ashamed of some of his actions at which time all the feathers of his head and neck stuck straight out and produced a strange effect especially about the eyes.

In December, when about six months old, Chickee startled me one evening by growling. At first he only gave this performance when I cornered him during the chase or while playing with him. When cornered he would suddenly stop, duck his body and head and then as he quickly raised his body and head to give the growl, his tail flicked suddenly to the vertical. It all happens so quickly that the individual actions are difficult to observe. The growl is a low guttural "brrr" and is audible only ten to fifteen feet. An untamed roadrunner with an injured eye from a car accident was given to me for doctoring in January. When improved I put this bird in the cage with Chickee. The other half of the cage is occupied by Surdu, the hawk. Chickee and Surdu are the best of friends, but when the strange road-runner saw the hawk there was much snapping of his bill and loud growling which could be heard 25 feet. Surdu became excited too and tried to get at the intruder.

is a low guttural "brrr" and is audible only ten to fifteen feet. An untamed roadrunner with an injured eye from a car accident was given to me for doctoring in January. When im-proved I put this bird in the cage with Chickee. The other half of the cage is occupied by Surdu, the hawk. Chickee and Surdu are the best of friends, but when the strange road-runner saw the hawk there was much snapping of his bill and loud growling which could be heard 25 feet. Surdu became excited too and tried to get at the intruder.

When handled roughly both tame and untamed roadrunners will squawk, just like any chicken, when they think they are going to be hurt. The wild roadrunner will also make a sort of fretting sound if he thinks he is going to be handled.

One night in February Chickee was perched on top of the curtain roads in my home when he surprised me with another vocal achieve-ment. This time it was a sort of a croon, re-peated three or four times in succession every ten or fiftten minutes. This croon or coo can be imitated by closing the lips and making the sound "ugg" in the larynx by raising and lowering the Adam's apple. By imitating this croon Chickee will often reply in kind or if he is free in the yard he may respond with a growl. The vocal box of the roadrunner is composed of two air sacs on either side of the neck just below the base of the lower men-dibles.

While the manuscript of this article was rounding into its final form, Chickee added still another song to his repertoire of vocal performances. On a rather hot spring day, April 14, Chickee gave vent to his first cack-ling call. It was the loudest of all his vocab-ulary and could well have been heard several hundreds of feet. On this occasion I suddenly heard a loud "Kok-kok-kok-kok-kok" uttered about ten times but as I was at some distance from the cage I was not able to see his actions during this call. Later that same afternoon he gave the call again with only five koks. Per-haps with spring in the air and the nesting season of the birds in full swing, Chickee has at last become an adult at 9 months of age and is calling for his kind. This cackling call may well represent the mating call of the roadrunner.

Despite the fact that the roadrunner is one of our most interesting and valuable birds it has been unnecessarily persecuted because of malicious stories that have been circulated due to misinterpreted observations. One of Arizona's counties for a number of years had a ten-cent bounty on the roadrunner because a certain faction felt that the roadrunner was destroying large numbers of quail. The facts do not substantiate such a conclusion, but rather show that the roadrunner is one of our most bene-ficial birds.

Chickee exhibits a like propensity for grass-hoppers. If anyone doubts that the roadrunner is largely insectivorous in its diet the writer will gladly let Chickee demonstrate his appetite on the desert. When free on the desert he starts out looking for grasshoppers and other insects. He can see a grasshopper at ten feet, and even the tinest insect at several feet distant. Upon spotting a grasshopper he slowly creeps up on it until within one or two feet of the insect when suddenly with flash-like speed he darts in for the capture. Usually he gets the hopper, although the pale winged Desert Grasshopper Trimerotropis pallidipennis "takes off" from the ground at about one hundredth of a second. Should he miss, a rapid spring usually is enough to capture the hopper in mid air. He rarely misses. The same tactics are used to catch butterflies which are, however, more difficult to take on the wing. Chickee also eats earwigs, katydids, sowbugs, and earthworms, and any other kind of insects,. He is a little cautious of yellow wasps and ants.

If you are a student of nature or of bird lore; if you are a farmer or friend of the farmer; if you love the desert and wish to see it as the Creator originally planned it, then surely the roadrunner will find a place in your heart and you will do your part to see that where the desert is there you will find this most interesting of birds the two-toed Paisano or Roadrunner.