p. 15 | U. C. FATTEBERT, M. D by U. C. Fattebert

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D.C. · Apr 26, 1906

U. C. FATTEBERT, M. D

By U. C. Fattebert

Mexico

CELAYA, GUANAJUATO.—The State of Guanajuato is the second in population in Mexico, having over a million inhabitants. It has a number of large towns, Leon, Guanajuato, Silao, Celaya, and Irapuato, with populations ranging from seventy thousand down to twenty-five thousand.

Celaya has two railroads, with eight trains daily. It has several mills and factories, while a woolen mill, a cotton mill, an ice plant, a tannery, and a flour mill are either building or to be built shortly. Most of the country around is agricultural, producing corn, beans, and vegetables in summer, and wheat, barley, and garbanzo, a kind of large pea, in winter. The rainy season lasts from June or July to September, while the winter crops are mostly raised by irrigation, dams being built to hold the rain-water. Horses, cattle, sheep, goats, and hogs are raised, but few of the landowners, who hold the land in large tracts, devote themselves to any one line. Among the mountains around Guanajuato are rich gold and silver mines. I give this description because several have written me, asking about possibilities in agriculture and stock-raising.

This is one of the most fanatical States in the republic. The Methodist Episcopal Church has tried every town of any size, and during the last twenty years has been driven out of some, in some cases several times, literally frozen out, and has hardly had anything like real success, except where they have medical work. They have sanitariums in Guanajuato and Silao, and a physician in Leon.

I am the only Adventist in the State. I have been here four months, and am slowly building up a practise. I have rented a good house, where I can keep a few patients; while in the rear, fronting on another street, are a few small rooms that would do nicely for a bakery, which could be established at little cost, and would help to support other lines of work. A school is needed here, and would pay expenses after a while, but any line of work requires a knowledge of Spanish, and of the customs and habits of thought of the people. The latter applies to all parts of the world, and workers should enter the field as soon as possible. The best training is to be had in the field itself, but let none think it can be had without hard work. The results come slowly, and may appear small, but our work is to sow the seed. The Spanish field will give its share to the kingdom of God.