Todd war diary, 3 August 1914-29 February 1916 / Arthur Todd - Page 194
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[Page 194]
Orizaba (18000 ft) can be descried.
We still drew the inevitable blank as regards hostile vessels and had to sail right into the harbours to see any Huns at all. Such as there were hugged the jetties hard.
Vera Cruz was in the usual state of rebellion. All the firebrands and agitators of Mexico seem to congregate there and when we passed the place was in an uproar. Most of the English population had already fled with such of their property as they could get away and some of the oil wells had been set on fire.
Our next port was Tampico and as we pushed North the weather became villainous.
At Tampico there were two American battleships well known to Australians our late friend the Kentucky and the Kearsage. They were just off the harbour or what does duty as such and lay rolling their masts in the roadstead. They were there to protect American interests for just as at Vera Cruz the place was in a ferment there was a rebellion in full blast.
In the light of subsequent knowledge the gold laden hand of the Hun was already at work. We had intended to stay a day at Tampico but the awful weather and the unsettled state of the political situation decided the Captain to push on.
The method of handling the oil strikes the layman as being particularly efficient. Large jetties on which run overhead rails run right out to sea the oil ships lie alongside and the trucks run right from the wells to the ships side. In some cases there are pipes laid and the necessity for trucks is obviated.