Much of Bisbee's notorious Chinatown was burned to the ground on the afternoon and evening of March 4 during a series of violent skirmishes between Arizona Rangers and local Boxer militants. The Arizona Rangers were aided by a number of deputized citizens in these melees. Over the past six months, the situation in Bisbee had grown increasingly tense, due to numerous reports of illicit sewing activity and opium trafficking in the Chinatown area. Previously, open conflict had been avoided, but allegations concerning the arrival of highly trained martial artists recruited by the local Tongs encouraged the Arizona Rangers to take action and restore the rule of law.

Throughout the week leading up to March 4, there had been rumors a squad of Rangers would be arriving on the Friday train and that some kind of operation was imminent. In fact, by the time the Friday train arrived at Bisbee station, a substantial crowd of armed citizens had already gathered. Surprisingly, the train was first greeted by Mr. Tom Heady, a senior manager of Cananea Consolidated Copper Company and close confidant of that corporation's universally respected proprietor, Colonel William Greene. It is not known what interest Mr. Heady or Colonel Greene might have had in this affair, but his presence was apparently expected by the Rangers. Once the train arrived, Mr. Heady quickly boarded the lounge coach and was seen to have a short conference with prominent Arizona Rangers Mike Hunt and Spanky MacFarland. Ironically, at this point, the almost overwhelming atmosphere of tension was at least temporarily dissipated by the comic-opera antics of traveling salesman Milford Preston. Wearing his trademark plus-fours and bowler hat, Mr. Preston slithered onto the train carrying a large display case, and it was reported that he then attempted to sell army surplus gatling guns to the Rangers. However, his adenoidal entreaties were quickly rebuffed and Mr. Preston was summarily ejected out a window. Though these involuntary gymnastics were greeted with laughter by the assembled crowd, a serious mood quickly returned as Spanky MacFarland made a brief but impassioned speech about the need to purge Bisbee of criminals, undesirables, and debaucheries from abroad. He then led about fourteen Rangers and deputized citizens into Chinatown. Included in this company were such well known individuals as Lash LaRue, Phineas Smoot, Yakima Knute, Pedro Martinez, Lucca Brazzi and Tommy Six-guns. Adding a touch of working class humor, a dusty Milford Preston, Green Bart and Bisbee's beloved "Snookums" Monco also joined the assemblage. As per usual, outspoken airshipman Deets of Douglas pushed his way to the head of the column.

Unfortunately, as the Ranger Company moved into the maze of dingy streets and dark alleys which made up Chinatown, they became increasingly confused and argumentative. The precise sequence of events which followed is not clear, but it is known that the evening was marked by a series of brief but violent hand to hand battles with Tong members.

Without a doubt, many of the Rangers first came upon the Cow Town Hotel and Saloon. Known throughout Bisbee as the "gateway to Chinatown", this disreputable flophouse was also rumored to be the headquarters of the Red Dawn Tong. Forming a loose skirmish line, Mike Hunt, Tommy Six-guns., Green Bart and Lash LaRue all rushed the front entrance. Tommy Six-guns. was the first to open fire, though, instead of hitting a Tong swordsman emerging from the building, he actually killed an unarmed octogenarian Non-Player-Character. From this point, the situation actually deteriorated for these Rangers. As a growing mob of Boxer vigilantes formed around them. Green Bart's gun jammed and both Lash LaRue and Tommy Six-guns. were wounded. Following this, Green Bart was actually hit from a shotgun blast fired by Luis Quon Yui Sen, the reputed leader of the Kung Pao Tong. Fortunately, the appearance of quick thinking Mike Hunt restored the situation. Mr. Hunt, aided by Phineas Smoot, rapidly dispatched a number of Tong assassins and essentially cleared out the Cow Town Hotel and Saloon. To confirm this situation, Yakima Knute entered the hotel and, after some time, came out carrying a small bundle marked "Baby Formula / Not Opium". This was the last appearance of Yakima Knute for the evening, who left the scene clutching this package and emitting a stream of high pierced giggles.

Immediately after this, another gun battle broke out at Harry Chin's Laundry. Lucca Brazzi, Green Bart and Spanky MacFarland were charged by a number of enraged Boxer laundrymen, but their marksmanship was less than effective. Fortunately, in a rare show of skill, Mr. Deets actually was able to help the Rangers by shooting several of the laundrymen. While this was happening, "Snookums" Monco entered the now deserted laundry and picked up what he later described as a "bucket of money".

By this time, there were gunfights and brawls throughout Chinatown. Happily, with all of this, no Arizona Ranger or Deputy was killed, though there were a number of injuries. Interestingly enough, no real fires were observed in Chinatown until approximately 2:00 A.M.. At that time, Tom Heady said he thought he smelled smoke coming out of the Cow Town Hotel. Mr. Heady went inside to investigate and, after a few moments, exited the building and confirmed that it was indeed on fire. He then calmly walked back to the train station. By 2:15 A.M., the Cow Town Hotel was completely engulfed in flames and this quickly spread to neighboring buildings. Simultaneously, many of the surviving Boxer militants and vigilantes began to flee the scene.

At exactly 3:00 A.M., the Bisbee volunteer fire department did mobilize and the fire was extinguished before it could spread beyond Chinatown. Also at 3:00 A.M., a nonscheduled train pulled into Bisbee's station and, after picking up Mr. Tom Heady, departed at 3:05 A.M.

Through an exceedingly fortunate, and completely unexpected, turn of events Mr. W.A. Pffankuch is able to announce that the Illustrated London News will be providing international reporting for The Bisbee Review. We hope that our readers will enjoy the exhaustively researched, and comprehensively reported, coverage of world events.

Cairo: Lord Kitchener, British Consul General in Egypt, recently expressed concern at the continuing surreptitious movement of Turkish officers and materiel through Egypt in support of the ongoing conflict with Italy in the Tripolitanian desert. While still part of the Ottoman Empire, Egypt, encouraged by Great Britain, is maintaining a strictly neutral stance regarding the war to its west. Lord Kitchener reiterated the resolve of Egyptian Khedive Abbas Hilmy and the British administration to prevent the use of neutral Egyptian territory by either belligerent. Nevertheless, informed observers have expressed doubts as to the sincerity of the Khedive's publicly neutral stance. His pro-Ottoman leanings are no secret and he is suspected of pro-Austrian sentiments as well, having been educated in Vienna. The Khedive is known to have met privately last autumn with a Turkish officer, Major Mustafa Kemal, and Kemal subsequently played a significant role in recruiting anti-British Senussi Arab tribesmen from Egypt for operations against the Italians occupying the coastal fortress town of Derna. For the present, however, both the Khedive and the Consul General would seem to have their hands full dealing with the increasingly popular nationalist movement in Egypt. It is, after all, just two years since the decidedly pro-British Egyptian prime minister, Mr. Boutros Ghali, was assassinated in the street outside his office by the young nationalist Muslim, Ibrahim el Wardani.

Constantinople: Yesterday, the Minister of Marine, Mr. Jemal Pasha, denied reports of a Turkish naval operation to smuggle munitions into the Tripolitanian theater of operations. According to Mr. Pasha, Turkish naval forces are concentrated in the Sea of Marmara for the defense of the capital. Knowledgeable observers agree that virtually the entire Turkish Navy lies rotting permanently at anchorage in the Golden Horn. Nevertheless, reliable information has been obtained regarding a clandestine resupply effort, utilizing the cruiser Hamidiye, the only Turkish combatant outside the Dardanelles. Hamidiye is a retired US Navy warship and is commanded by an American former Merchant Marine officer, Bucknam Pasha. The cruiser is believed to be using Anatolian coastal waters to transfer arms shipments to Ottoman territory in Syria. Bucknam Pasha reportedly receives a percentage of the cargo's value for every successful transshipment. From Syria, the arms are reportedly transferred to small boats for the coastal journey through Egyptian waters to Turkish troops on the North African coast. A young Turkish naval officer, Hussein Rauf, is believed to be coordinating the overall operation.

In other naval matters, there is marked anxiety amongst senior staff members in the Ministry of Marine and Turkish Admiralty over the sudden and unexplained disappearance of a confidential secretary, Mr. Mustafa Riza, assigned to the documents section of the main naval staff. There has been no official acknowledgment of his disappearance and Admiralty sources deny rumors that extremely sensitive documents detailing coastal defense arrangements are also missing.

Sonora, Mexico: Despite promises to return ancestral lands and make reparations for years of cruel exploitation suffered under the Diaz regime, Mexican President Francisco Madero and his fledgling government seem either unwilling or unable to deliver on their implied promises of land reform and face a new uprising of angry Yaqui Indians. The Yaqui are not only a stoic and determined adversary, but they also enjoy a well deserved reputation for military organization.

Unrest began in the southern portion of the state when deceivingly small numbers of the Yaqui indulged in minor vandalism and threats against the local landlords (Hacendados) who now own what was once their tribal land. The Rurales, the Mexican Federal Police Force, were not available to quell these disturbances as most of them have deserted to join their commander 'General' Pascal Orozco in the state of Chihuahua, from which he hopes to topple the Madero government. Unable to call upon the Rurales, who have crushed previous Indian rebellions with great ruthlessness, Sonoran Governor Jose Maytorena was obliged to use units of the Federal Army (Federales) who were far less experienced in irregular operations. By burning a number of plantation buildings and then appearing to flee in disorder the Yaqui lured the Federal troops into exposed positions, and in a series of sharp minor actions inflicted unexpected casualties and acquired a substantial number of government bolt action rifles. The Yaqui then melted into the countryside, and from their hidden bases in the Sonoran desert and the inhospitable mountains of the Barranca Chinipas they continue to launch a series of hit and run raids that are increasing in size and effectiveness. Foreign observers claim that the government no longer controls most of the rural areas south of Guaymas.

The Yaquis, who have lived in the fertile Sonoran river valleys for generations, have long standing grievances against the Mexican government which decimated the tribe in a series of campaigns between 1904 and 1909 when as many as 15,000 were pressed into "service" as plantation workers in the Yucatan. Their ancestral lands were then parceled out to other business and farming interests. It is believed that as many as 9000 Yaquis died the first year alone.

With the fall of the Diaz government the Yaqui had expected the return of their lands. However, the Madero government, in what can only be interpreted as an effort to placate the country's large landowners, has made little or no effort at land reform. Indeed, Madero seems unconcerned with the fact that the majority of Yaqui tribesmen are quite literally slaves on the plantations of wealthy Hacendados.

Currently, the disturbing situation in southern Sonora can only serve to further destabilize the already fragile Mexican government. However, experts on military matters worry that a large number of highly motivated, and eventually well armed, Yaqui would surly prove an invaluable asset to any revolutionary leader willing to meet their demands for land reform.

New York: A Birmingham Small Arms (BSA) company spokesman announced yesterday the British arms manufacturer will introduce a new gas-operated, air-cooled and magazine-fed light machine gun. Earlier this year, a US Army officer named Isaac Newton Lewis demonstrated a prototype machine gun of his own design to company officials and a contract for exclusive manufacturing rights was subsequently negotiated. BSA, known in the USA primarily for its superb air rifles, is expected to market the new small, compact machine gun to the British Army and other interested services. The "Lewis Gun" should appear on the market sometime in 1913 and company officials predict it will find applications on land, sea, and in the air.

Sofia: According to informed sources in the Bulgarian foreign ministry, a new secret treaty of alliance has been concluded with Serbia. Although unconfirmed, it appears the treaty is aimed at acquiring territory now held by Turkey. Reportedly, Serbia is seeking access to ports on the Adriatic Sea and Bulgaria seeks access to the Aegean Sea. Knowledgeable diplomats suspect Russian pressure at work behind the scenes and the Austro-Hungarian foreign ministry is believed to be greatly alarmed regarding rumors of a secret map appended to the treaty of alliance. Speculation abounds in diplomatic circles here, but there appears to be agreement that discussions are now underway with Greece about expanding the alliance. King Nicholas of Montenegro is also believed to be maneuvering behind the scenes for inclusion in the alliance. Nicholas has long advocated combined military action against the Ottoman Empire. As recently as last October he reportedly proposed an allied Montenegrin, Bulgarian, Serbian, and Greek attack on Turkey, following the September 1911 Italian declaration of war over Tripolitania. The Italo-Turkish war and a nascent revolt against Turkish rule in Albania this spring would seem to offer the ideal opportunity for Christian nationalities formerly of the Ottoman Empire to wrest new territory from the weakened Turks. According to experienced Balkan observers, this latest alliance is a foreseeable consequence of the "Young Turk" army officers' rebellion of 1908, the installation of Mehmed V as a figurehead Sultan in 1909 and the Party of Union and Progress' subsequent policy of Ottomanization through assimilation of the various nationalities in the territories remaining in the Empire.

Mexico City: Colt Firearms Manufacturing Co. sales agent, Arsenio Combaluzier, announced yesterday that a Colt representative from the Hartford headquarters, Mr. Peter "Holly" Martins, is visiting Mexico to finalize a contract with the federal army for Colt semiautomatic pistols. Martins arrived at Vera Cruz this month aboard the SS Ulysses S. Grant. The federal commander in Vera Cruz hosted a banquet in his honor and publicly expressed the hope Mr. Martins' visit will lead to a closer relationship between the Mexican army and the "World's premier arms manufacturer." The Colt representative returned the compliment by presenting the general with a richly cased pair of finely engraved Colt .38 caliber semiautomatic pistols. Rumor has it discussions with the Mexican General Staff will include options for the possible acquisition of Colt heavy machine guns.

El Paso: The fledgling democratic regime of newly elected Mexican President Francisco Madero is in grave danger. In less than a month, a new revolution has consumed virtually all of the northern border state of Chihuahua. What few federal forces were maintained in Chihuahua following the revolution of 1910-11 have either joined the rebels or have lost control of all but the southernmost portions of the state. If Chihuahua falls, the road to the capital in Mexico City will be wide open.

The rebellion erupted on February 27th with an uprising by the garrison of largely former revolutionary soldiers at Ciudad Juarez. Members of the radical Partido Liberal Mexicano (PLM) supported the mutiny and the rebellious soldiers immediately called upon former revolutionary leader Pascal Orozco to lead them. President Madero ordered Orozco, as commander of the Chihuahuan Rurales, to crush the uprising and restore order in Ciudad Juarez. There are rumors Madero even offered Orozco the governorship of Chihuahua. Nevertheless, on March 2nd Orozco resigned his post and declared for the revolutionaries.

Orozco has become the public face of the new revolutionary movement. Soon after turning his back on Madero he published his own revolutionary manifesto, the Plan de la Empacadora. In it, he calls upon the Mexican people to rise up against the Madero regime, accusing the democratically elected president of betraying the people and turning his back upon the promises of the revolution of 1910-11. According to Orozco, Madero established a corrupt dictatorship and reneged on promised social reforms. In his plan, Orozco calls for major reforms on behalf of the peasant classes and industrial workers. Specific reforms include recognition of labor unions, higher wages, and land reform. He promises to return lands illegally expropriated from the peasants and includes a plan to seize all lands on the large estates not actually under cultivation.

Orozco has received the endorsement of the powerful PLM, which declared publicly "the present armed movement…is clearly liberal in nature." In the south of Mexico, the radical rebel leader Emilio Zapata has endorsed Orozco. But while Zapata inspires fear and loathing amongst the ruling elite in the state of Morelos where his violent agrarian uprising rages on, Orozco and his new revolution appear to be embraced by the most powerful families in Chihuahua. The Chihuahuan oligarchy is raising funds to support the uprising, reportedly to the tune of 1,200,000 pesos. A rump legislature, composed of members of the elite, has publicly endorsed the Orozquista seizure of power.

The casual observer may wonder at this enthusiastic support from the conservative landed classes for a radical revolutionary movement with an ambitious social, economic, and agrarian reform agenda. Some seasoned observers of Chihuahuan politics are convinced the goals of Orozco and the oligarchy may be far closer than the Plan de la Empacadora would make one think. According to one informed source, a confidential cable to the US Department of State from the US Consul in Chihuahua, Mr. Marion Letcher, recently provided the following observation regarding the seeming inconsistencies:

"To sum up the present situations: The revolution is the result of intrigue pure and simple, and takes advantage of the ignorance of the people. It is fostered and backed by the wealthiest men of the state. The fulfillment or the non-fulfillment of promises credited to Madero have nothing to do with it. These have been mere incidents availed of in a propaganda to discredit him with the masses."

The same informed source provided this observation from a US Bureau of Investigation field agent's report: "Every businessman in Chihuahua supports Orozco's and the cientificos' policy of disarming all of Mexico and using an iron hand like that of Diaz to hunt down rebels."

According to this same source, within two weeks of declaring for the revolution, Orozco issued orders that the property of the powerful Luis Terrazas was not to be touched under any circumstances. Indeed, we have learned that the taxes for the Terrazas estates are to be reduced by 50 percent under the new revolutionary administration.

Whoever is ultimately behind the revolt, Orozco is clearly leading the forces in the field. The revolution is spreading rapidly and Orozco's troops, joined by those of radical agrarian revolutionary Maximo Castillo and those of Jose Ines Salazar, have seized virtually all of Chihuahua. The federal army suffered its worst defeat at the village of Rellano when, after hours of indecisive fighting, the Orozquistas loaded a locomotive with dynamite and crashed it into the federal troop train. Panic ensued and the federal troops were completely routed. Their commander, the secretary of war and a relative of Madero, Jose Gonzalez Salas, took his own life in the face of so ignominious a defeat. The capital, Ciudad Chihuahua, is now in rebel hands and only a few villages and towns in the extreme south, most notably Parral, remain under federal control. Indeed, Francisco "Pancho" Villa's loyalist irregular forces in Parral would seem to be the last obstacle to Orozco on the revolutionary road to Mexico City and the presidential palace.

Berlin: The Imperial German Navy is increasing the tempo of battleship construction under its Naval Law. The German Admiralty published a supplemental naval law, known as the Novelle, on 22 March. Under its terms the Imperial Navy seeks a 2:3 ratio of dreadnoughts with the Royal Navy. To achieve this, the Germans are increasing the tempo of battleship construction beginning in 1912 and continuing for five years thereafter from two dreadnoughts per year to three every other year. Thus, according to the plan, the rate of construction over the next six years will increase from 2-2-2-2-2-2 to 3-2-3-2-3-2, resulting in a total of fifteen new dreadnoughts instead of twelve. Rumors of the increase in battleship construction have been circulating in naval circles since last fall and Whitehall insiders unofficially confirm the battleship race was the subject of a secret diplomatic mission to Berlin by Lord Haldane, Minister for War, this past February. Lord Haldane reportedly met with the Kaiser and Admiral von Tirpitz, Imperial Minister of Marine, before conducting extensive discussions with the German Chancellor, Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg. Negotiations between Britain and Germany intensified during March, with Lord Haldane apparently warning the German ambassador, Count Metternich, Britain would lay down two keels for every one the Imperial navy put on the ways. As recently as March 18th, the new First Lord of the Admiralty, Mr. Winston Churchill, proposed an alternative to unrestricted naval expansion while delivering his first Naval Estimates speech in the House of Commons. The First Lord offered a "Naval Holiday" in construction. "Let me make it clear that any retardation or reduction of German construction will, within certain limits, be promptly followed here….Take as an instance…the year 1913. In that year…Germany will build three capital ships and it will be necessary for us to build five in consequence. Supposing we were both to take a holiday for that year and introduce a blank page into the book of misunderstanding; supposing that Germany were to build no ships that year, she would save herself between six and seven millions sterling. But that is not all. In ordinary circumstances we should not begin our ships until Germany had started hers. The three ships that she did not build would therefore automatically wipe out no fewer than five British potential super-dreadnaughts. That is more than I expect they could hope to do in a brilliant naval action." But in extending this olive branch, Mr. Churchill left no doubt about the resolve of the government to meet the German naval challenge head on. The First Lord announced that in future Britain would abandon its long held Two Power Standard, whereby the standard for Royal Navy strength was calculated so as to be capable of defeating the combined fleets of any two other naval powers, and that hence forth construction goals would be set so as to maintain a sixty percent superiority in dreadnoughts over the single state which menaced her. The First Lord's closing remarks are worthy of note in view of the German Novelle published just days afterward:

"The spectacle which the naval armaments of Christendom afford at present time will no doubt excite the curiosity and wonder of future generations. Here are seen all the polite people of the world as if moved by spontaneous impulse, devoting every year an enormous and ever-growing proportion of their manhood, their wealth, their scientific knowledge to the construction of gigantic military machinery which is obsolescent as soon as it is created; which falls to pieces almost as soon as it is put together; which has to be extensively renewed and replenished on a large scale; which drains the coffers of every government; which denies and stints the needs of every people and which is intended as a means of protection against dangers which have perhaps their only origin in the mutual fears and suspicions of men.

"The most helpful interpretation which can be placed upon this phenomenon is that naval and military rivalries are the modern substitute for what in earlier times would be actual wars and just as credit transactions have in the present day largely superseded cash payments, so the jealousies and disputes of nations are more and more decided by the mere presence of war power without the necessity for its actual employment.

"If that were true, the grand folly of the twentieth century might be found to wear a more amiable aspect. Still we cannot conceal from ourselves that we live in an age of incipient violence, and strong and deep-seated unrest. The utility of wars even to the victor may be in most cases an illusion. Certainly all wars of any kind will be destitute of any advantage to the British Empire. But war itself, if it comes, will not be an illusion-even a single bullet will be found real enough.

"The Admiralty must leave to others the task of mending the times in which we all live, and confine themselves to the more limited and more simple duty of making sure that whatever the times may be our island and its people will come safely through them."

Bisbee: The presidential race of 1912 is heating up as Democratic Party candidate, Governor Woodrow Wilson appears to be gaining momentum with his progressive reform agenda. Wilson is crisscrossing the country, speaking to anyone who will listen and promising voters what he calls a "New Freedom" package designed to help the "man on the make," not "the man who has already made it." He is appealing to the middle-classes with their aspirations for advancement and a lifestyle that shares at least something of the benefits enjoyed by the propertied and business-owning classes. The Democratic candidate is progressively carving out a solid core of people in the center who are looking for change. The Governor of New Jersey and former president of Princeton University has already established a reputation as a progressive thinker and administrator well equipped to deal with the enormous changes in urbanization and industrialization facing our nation. Most Americans agree the changes over the past 30 years require a massive reordering of America and Wilson is appealing to this popular longing for change.

Republican Party strategists are increasingly concerned over the schism in the party precipitated by former-president Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt's decision to leave the party and form his own Progressive Party, also known as the "Bull Moose Party." Roosevelt is extremely popular with progressive Republicans in favor of reform and there is a growing realization amongst Republican Party analysts that he is attracting large numbers of centrists. Roosevelt denounced President Taft following the elections of 1910, accusing the president of using party machinery to undermine the candidacies of progressive Republicans. Roosevelt characterizes the Taft Republicans as representing big business and the status quo, while he stakes out the middle ground for himself, appealing directly to what he considers as the majority of reform-minded Americans. All agree he has more personal charisma than Taft and Wilson combined. Indeed, one commentator has likened shaking hands with Teddy's principle rival for the center ground as shaking hands with a "dead fish."

For his part, Taft rejects the notion he is in the pocket of big business. He points to his record of having broken up twice as many trusts as Roosevelt, including that of American Tobacco and most notably last year that of Rockefeller's monolithic Standard Oil. But the public largely regards him as lacking a passion for the office and withering in Teddy's shadow. The failure of his much vaunted 1911 free-trade agreement with Canada, rejected by the Canadian parliament, diminished his record of accomplishment in office and his handling of the recent revolutionary unrest in Mexico and China has called into question his "Dollar Diplomacy" foreign policy. Nevertheless, he has exhibited resolve on occasion, recently deploying American forces to Honduras and Nicaragua to forestall revolutions in Central American states surrounding our vital Panama Canal Zone construction project. Ultimately, it may be Taft's unwillingness to exert presidential authority beyond his traditional legalistic and strictly limited interpretation of executive power, loosing him the support of many Republicans anxious for change, that could lose him this bid for a second term.

On the extreme left, the Socialist Party candidate, labor leader Eugene Debs, is pushing for truly radical change.

The Socialists are appealing to the urban underprivileged
and the industrial working classes, preaching class warfare and violent discord. Debs recently announced to his followers that it is time for the working class to run America. Many are concerned over the growing popularity of Debs and the expansion of Socialist Party ranks in recent years. The violent events in Mexico and China, coupled with growing instability and unrest in the Old World regimes of Europe make the internationalist agenda of the Socialists even more troubling in this era of rapid and massive change.

The election of 1912 takes on a new significance for all Arizonans, as we prepare to vote for the first time as full and equal participatory members of the Union. February 14th marked a sort of Rubicon for us as citizens when we became the 48th State. We no longer have a territorial governor, appointed by the president and not elected by the people of Arizona, and our representatives are now full and equal members of the Congress with voting rights on matters of local, national, and international significance.

The road to full statehood was not without ruts and detours, but we Arizonans are accustomed to carving new roads out of the frontier. President Taft withheld his signature from the statehood bill approving our draft constitution until we removed a provision for judicial recall. We removed the provision, bowing to this federal interference in our internal affairs, and the President finally signed the Arizona Statehood Act. Our first popularly elected Governor, the honorable George W. P. Hunt, was inaugurated as soon as this news was telegraphed to Phoenix and he immediately convened the newly elected state legislature. Their first official act was to place two constitutional amendments before the people of Arizona, the first returns the provision for judicial recall and the second provides women the right to vote in local, state and national elections. These are indeed important issues and worthy of thoughtful consideration by the electorate. The choice of our next President and the future direction of our nation is an even more important decision, requiring an informed and thoughtful consideration by every Arizonan.

The editors of the Bisbee Review believe democracy requires an informed electorate. We believe the Bisbee Review serves our readers well in providing honest, objective reporting of events impacting our daily lives, our new state, and our nation. Increasingly, events in far off corners of the world are shaping our future in ways not always immediately apparent. For this reason, the editorial staff of the Review has arranged for select articles on matters of international import by leading foreign correspondents assigned to the renowned Illustrated London News to be included from time to time in our pages. We are also confident these articles will be of interest and use to our readers in our sister state of New Mexico, who we congratulate on becoming the 47th State this past January.

Mexico City: Former revolutionary commander Francisco "Pancho" Villa is perhaps President Madero's last best hope in Chihuahua. Villa rides at the head of a loyalist irregular cavalry force composed largely of former Villistas from the revolution of 1910-11. In the face of this new rebellion led by his former revolutionary comrade-in-arms, Pascal Orozco, Villa abandoned his thriving meat packing business to once again take up arms in support of his former commander and "little father," the democratically elected president of Mexico, Francisco Madero. Villa and his irregulars are now the only force standing between Madero and those who seek to topple his regime.

Villa was quick to declare for Madero and to question the motives of the revolutionaries. On February 29th, days after the uprising in Ciudad Juarez, Villa published an open letter to Braulio Hernandez, a senior member of Governor Gonzalez's Chihuahuan administration who had transferred his allegiance to the rebels.

"Do you think that there is no better means to carry out the promises of the Plan of San Luis than an armed uprising? Will it be a consolation to those who became widows and orphans during the last revolution to have their ranks swelled by new widows and orphans? Is it a sign of patriotism if we kill each other every time an ambitious man wants to take power? When the [Chihuahuan] government sent you to…Madero to settle problems dealing with land, why instead of siding with the Mexicans did you side with the Americans? It was said at the time that you received a bribe of several thousand pesos that the Americans gave you so that the lands they then occupied and are still occupying would not be expropriated."

Villa began his campaign by marching his followers into the western mountains of Chihuahua in hopes of recruiting new troops amongst the villagers who had formed the core of the Maderistas in 1910-11. One observer noted, "One can have all kinds of opinions about Villa, but he is a loyal man, he is true to his word of honor, he is not a traitor." Our correspondent in the field with Villa's irregulars is impressed by the discipline exhibited by his well-organized force. According to our correspondent, "When they arrive in a town, all bars are closed, and the sale of liquor is strictly forbidden. Each major billets his men where the colonel tells him to. He receives supplies from the quartermaster, and their owners are immediately paid for the animals he kills." In the village of San Andres, Villa continued efforts to rally volunteers to the federal standard. An article in the Correo de Chihuahua describes one Sunday thusly:

"In the afternoon, he gave orders for a band to be brought to the main square, where it played for the inhabitants. Since he had just received the last proclamation of Governor Gonzalez, he ordered his men to proceed to the main square and to listen to the manifesto. It was listened to with great attention and very well received by the soldiers and the inhabitants of the village, who shouted "Long live the governor, long live the legal government, long live Colonel Villa!"

Our correspondent, who was also present, observed, "It must be noted that his men have unanimously agreed to call Senor Villa 'general' and demand from the government that he be given this title…. It is remarkable how much confidence and sympathy for Villa can be found among the inhabitants of this region, so that it was easy for him to find sufficient men to serve in his command."

Despite this auspicious beginning, by late-March the continued victories of the Orozquistas had disheartened the majority of loyalists in Chihuahua and Villa's force shrank to little more than 60 of his most loyal Villistas. But the resilient Villa is not one to give up in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. Upon learning that his old foe, Jose de la Luz Soto, had declared for Orozco and was going to deliver the town of Parral to the revolutionaries, Villa infiltrated his 60 men into Parral where he was joined by loyalist members of the garrison. After some fighting, Villa secured the town and captured Soto, who he sent under armed escort to Mexico City. Fears amongst the citizens of Parral about Villista excesses proved unfounded. Carlos Roth, the German government representative who was present, provided us with the following observation:

"When Villa entered Parral, everyone was trembling and believed his last hour had come, since the reports in the press about Villa and his men had given rise to great fears. In truth I must say that Villa behaved with great decency toward foreigners. He forced Mexicans, not always in the friendliest of ways, to give him arms, horses, and money. But he did not molest them in any other way. Villa took nothing from foreigners, and if his men on their own confiscated any of their property, a short conversation with Villa was sufficient to obtain return of stolen property. The troops maintained perfect order, and absolutely no looting took place."

While no foreigners were disturbed and no looting took place, our correspondent reports Villa collected some 150,000 pesos in forced "loans" from Parral's wealthiest and most influential citizens. Villa provided receipts for these loans, promising government repayment upon the successful suppression of the rebellion. Prominent citizens reluctant to produce the required capital were hosted for a period at Villa's headquarters where the hospitality always inspired the desired level of enthusiasm for the loyalist cause. In the case of the Parral branch of Banco Minero, Villa wrote on the receipt for 50,000 pesos that he considered the money "spoils of war." This was probably because he considered the Creels, who owned the bank, to be amongst those behind the rebellion. There are rumors Villa threatened the branch manager, Sanchez Dominguez, and his son with being used as human shields when the Orozquistas attacked and with "things that were worse than death."

"General" Villa has strengthened his position at Parral and awaits the approach of the Orozquista revolutionaries. His force includes the garrison of Parral, led by Maclovio Herrera who remained loyal to Madero despite Soto's treachery. Several hundred additional irregulars have arrived to reinforce the defenders of Parral and Villa has additional arms, horses, equipment and money courtesy of the most prominent families of Parral. There are also reports of a number of foreign volunteers in the ranks of his force. He is, nevertheless, far weaker than the Orozquista force led by General Jose Ines Salazar, reportedly bearing down upon Parral.

In Mexico City, President Madero must be asking himself whether Villa will be able to buy him enough time at Parral for the redeployment of desperately needed federal army regulars to southern Chihuahua. In Parral, Villa must be asking himself whether his desperate gamble will pay off. In Ciudad Chihuahua, Orozco must be counting the days and hours until he rides in triumph to the presidential palace.

St. Louis: US Army aviator Captain Albert Berry made history at Jefferson Barracks in St. Louis, Missouri, on February 19th when he leapt from an aeroplane moving at 50 miles per hour and an altitude of 1500 feet. Through this unprecedented act of daring, Captain Berry demonstrated the utility of the "parachute" as a lifesaving device for aeroplane crews. The parachute has been tested in principle from static platforms, however, this is the first practical test of the silk canopy from a moving aircraft at altitude.

Although considered by many as too bulky for routine use, Captain Berry predicts the parachute will soon become standard equipment for aviators and will prevent countless needless deaths due to aeroplane in-flight mechanical malfunctions. The silken canopy traps air during the descent, retarding the wearer's fall sufficiently to prevent serious injury. Many intrepid aviators are expressing severe reservations about trusting their lives to a sheet of silk and some insist their chances of survival in the event of mechanical failure are much greater if they rely on their flying skills to bring their machine safely to earth.

Hamburg: The German shipping line, Hamburg-Amerika (HAPAG), announced today its newest addition to the North Atlantic passenger trade, the massive and luxurious Imperator, will be launched on May the 23rd at the shipyard of Vulkan Werke in Hamburg. Kaiser Wilhelm II himself will officiate at the ceremony, launching what is expected to be the largest passenger liner in the world. Imperator's length of over nine hundred feet will exceed that of White Star's Titanic and Olympic and will be considerably larger than Cunard's Lusitania and Mauretania.

HAPAG reportedly has benefited from the experience of White Star and Cunard, learning valuable lessons from the introduction of the new British liners. Imperator is to incorporate new technologies and design innovations derived from their British competitors. Like the Cunard liners, Imperator will be powered by revolutionary steam turbines driving four screws, giving her what is expected to be considerably greater speed than either Titanic or Olympic. Her interiors are expected to be even more extravagant and opulent than those of the palatial White Star giants. In fact, the Germans are reportedly determined that Imperator and her two sister ships should surpass the White Star sisters in every respect and this ambition has pervaded their entire design philosophy.

HAPAG's designer, Charles Mewes, is reportedly including a majestic "Pompeian Bath" swimming pool that will be the largest swimming pool afloat. Interestingly, in one respect Imperator will not surpass either the White Star giants or the swift Cunarders; in silhouette she will possess only three funnels instead of the four customary on liners of this size. Of course, there is no secret that, with the exception of Mauretania, only three of the four funnels on these massive floating palaces are actually functional.

HAPAG is now the largest commercial shipping line in the world. Despite originally considering award of the contract to Harland & Wolff, the builders of Titanic and Olympic, HAPAG determined Imperator and her two sisters should be built in German yards, a first for ships of such a scale. Perhaps a new German mail contract stipulating ships built in German yards influenced this decision. It remains to be seen whether the introduction of this new palatial giant into the North Atlantic liner trade will recoup business lost to Cunard and White Star since the introduction of their luxurious modern liners. White Star's unsinkable beauty Titanic will be departing on her maiden voyage in little more than a week and Imperator is not expected to join the race until the summer of 1913. One thing is certain; the construction of Imperator at Vulkan Werke and her two sisters, Europa and Bismarck, at Blohm & Voss represents a considerable expansion of German shipbuilding capacity.

Berlin: Officials in the German Foreign Ministry and Admiralty vehemently deny recent allegations of German espionage activity in Britain. The denials come in the wake of the arrest of several German nationals and their conviction on charges of spying in Britain.

Max Schultz, an Oberleutnant in an Imperial German Army hussar regiment, was arrested at Plymouth in August of last year, attempting to solicit correspondents to report "naval and shipping news" to the German News Agency. Oberleutnant Schultz was reportedly offering the ridiculously high salary of 1,000 pounds sterling per annum for this "journalistic" service. He was convicted and sentenced to a surprisingly light twenty-one months imprisonment.

In February of this year a German naval reserve officer, Heinrich Grosse was tried and convicted in Winchester on charges of spying. Grosse was operating in the Portsmouth area under an assumed name, "Hugh Grant." He was apprehended with a mass of information about gunnery range finding systems, details of gun systems for the latest submarines, a list of which ships were outfitted with wireless telegraphy, and specifics regarding dockyard supplies. These and other revelations regarding German activities abroad have fueled speculation about a vast German international spy network. German officials reject such accusations and accuse the British government, particularly the Admiralty, of trying to divert attention from their own espionage activities targeting German naval modernization.

According to sources in the German Ministry of Marine, these recent arrests and show trials were nothing more than petty retaliation for the arrest and conviction of two Royal Marine officers, Captain Trench and Lieutenant Brandon, in May 1910 for photographing and mapping German coastal defenses around the Frisian Islands. Both officers were sentenced to four years imprisonment, but were released after only seventeen months to mark the recent state visit of King George V to Berlin. British Admiralty officials have distanced themselves from the two Royal Marine officers, putting their adventures down to overly exuberant and misguided patriotism during a personal holiday.

Peking: More than 2,000 years of Imperial rule and nearly 300 years of Manchu dynasty control ended February 12th with the formal abdication of the last Ch'ing emperor, the six-year old child Puyi, in favor of a new nationalist republican government. The Imperial decree of abdication, the last Imperial decree, read as follows:

"The Whole Country is tending towards a republican form of government. It is the Will of Heaven, and it is certain that we could not reject the people's desire for the sake of one family's honor and glory.
"We, the Emperor, hand over the sovereignty to the people. We decide the form of government to be a constitutional republic.
"In this time of transition, in order to unite the South and the North, We appoint Yuan Shi-kai to organize a provisional government, consulting the people's army regarding the union of the five peoples, Manchus, Chinese, Mongolians, Mohammedans, and Tibetans. These peoples jointly constitute the great State of Chung Hwa Ming-Kus [a republic of China].
"We retire to a peaceful life and will enjoy the respectful treatment of the nation."

This was signed by the Emperor; by Yuan Shi-kai as Prime Minister; and also by the other Ministers.

The abdication follows months of revolutionary activity led by nationalist officers of the Chinese "New Army." The former empress dowager, Tz'u-his, created this modernized and reformed "New Army" in 1900, following the debacle of the Boxer Rebellion. Its officer corps quickly became a cradle for nationalist republican activists. The revolution of 1911 began on October 10th in the city of Wuchang on the Yangtze River in the imperial province of Hubei. Wuchang is an industrial center involved in the production of armaments and materiel for the "New Army." An accident resulting in the explosion of a bomb that was being constructed for insurrectionist purposes prompted an Imperial secret police investigation and comprehensive lists of revolutionaries within the officer corps were discovered. Rather than wait to be arrested, the officers at Wuchang rebelled. The provincial governor and the chief of the security services panicked and fled the province. The rebellion spread quickly with most of the regular army joining the Wuchang officers. In November the rebel provinces declared a new Chinese Republic. By early December all of the central, southern, and northwestern provinces had declared independence. Dr. Sun Yat-sen, long time voice of Chinese nationalism and leader of the revolutionary government in exile since the unsuccessful uprising in Canton in 1895, returned to China from the United States in December and was immediately declared provisional president of the new republic. In early-March, prior to the abdication of the emperor, Dr. Sun Yat-sen resigned in favor of General Yuan Shih-kai, the powerful army commander in Peking and the north. Yuan Shih-Kai was elected provisional president at Nanjing and then brokered the formal abdication of Emperor Puyi. At Peking, Yuan was formerly inaugurated as president of the new republic and he has promised to act quickly in establishing a republican system of government with a premier, a cabinet, a draft constitution, and a plan for parliamentary elections early in 1913.

Before returning to China in December 1911, Dr. Sun Yat-sen was heavily engaged in mobilizing Chinese ex-patriot support for the nationalist movement and in fundraising among the Chinese communities in the Americas. As leader of the Chinese nationalist movement in exile, Dr. Sun was head of the Xingzhonghui (Revive China Society). He eventually incorporated a number of other Chinese revolutionary groups, including the Guangfuhui (Restoration Society), into his movement, renaming it the Tongmenghui. The platform of the Tongmenghui was "to overthrow the Manchu barbarians, to restore China to the Chinese, to establish a republic, and to distribute land equally." The party, combining republican, nationalist, and socialist objectives remains the core of the revolutionary movement and is expected to form the nucleus of the new Kuomintang (Nationalist Party) which will coordinate preparations for the free parliamentary elections promised for 1913.

For the present, the republic's new president, General Yuan Shih-kai, appears firmly in-charge with a tight grip on the nationalist army.

Colonel William Greene, 19th century financial tycoon and well known friend of the working man, is sponsoring a Fandango at Bisbee's famous Bar-T Bengal Ranch on the afternoon/evening of April the 23rd.

Vast amounts of food and drink will be available for this egalitarian event. All are invited to join Colonel Greene for an evening of "gorging on barbecued, plebeian cuisine and guzzling overly sweet wine."

The editor is also informed that the membership will be making another run at breaking the record for "Maximum Girls In Club at One Time." Members, auxiliary members, wives, girlfriends, and attractive strangers are encouraged to solicit official invitations.

Individuals with experience in the transport and use of dynamite for industrial purposes please send resume to
P.O. Box Uno Dos Tres
El Paso, TX USA

General Labor. Three positions still available. Apply to Roy Knabeshue.

$ 2,000.00

$ 30.00

"Busted" Gun = 25% of value

• If a you take a gun during a game, and live, you get to keep it
• If the other side concedes, and you tell the umpire that you want to loot the gun, you get a 1 in D6 chance of looting the gun.
• If you forget to mention 'looting' at the end of the scenario, "The Indians get the guns."

Remember: In order to cause an event that is part of a 'cunning plan' you must roll 8+ on 2D6. Your result may be affected by skills possessed by the character you have trying to make the event happen. So some of those 'useless strategic skills' suddenly aren't so useless.

Characters might consider the possibilities of a rewarding career in the fields of: Embezzling, Gambling, or Rustling. Each player may field only 1 'Gambler' character. Embezzlers and Rustlers are not limited, but inquire about the game mechanics.

The umpire has finally developed a strategic use for motor vehicles. Cars and trucks are restricted to driving on marked roads, or alongside railway lines (where it is assumed that there is an access road). Individuals traveling by motor vehicle move at the train rate of 2 towns per week. However, a die roll of a "1" on 1D6 means that the transport has broken down on that leg of the journey.

The umpire is still waiting for further suggestions about skill chits. I may develop an "Educated" chit that provides +1 advantages in; engineering, language=communication, deal making, etc.

Newly created skills: "Life is Cheap" does not entitle the bearer to 'backshoot' other characters, that would be a violation of "The Code Of The West," but it does allow bearers to shoot into crowds, or hand to hand combat disregarding the chance of hitting friendly characters. Hits are determined normally, then the actual victim in the crowd is determined by a random die roll which is influenced by the shooter's marksmanship skills.