Glasgow weekly times. (Glasgow, Mo.) 1848-1861, 1852-11-11
From the New York Family Courier.
SINGULAR TRADITION.
The Ruins in the Island of Tinian.

The ''once upon tines" have not yet
all been chronicled. The wonderful fc-
tionS of the Arabian Nights, which we have |
all pored over in our childhood with open
mouths and excited Imagination, until we
were SO terrified by the exploits of the Ge-
nil and Ghosts, that we feared to turn our
heads lest we should see some uncouth
spectre, can be equaled by as charming sto-
ries, the scenes of which lie upon our own
continent. The Americas abound in mate
rial for romance-real romance, romantic
romance-not the sickly, yellow-covered
trash which sentimental young ladies are
so fond Of reading, and which are the weak
productions of the weak brains of weak men
but good old fashioned wonder-exciting
stories. equal if not exceeding the famous
Gone Thousand and One The stupen-
uous remains of stupendous race which
existed on this continent long before it was
known to what are now called men; the ru-
ined cities. the mounds, the temples, to-
gether with the marvellous traditions now
known only to a few, furnish material which
might be made to shame the eastern story
telers.
We published the other day an extract
from the Edgartown, Mass Gazette, Civ
ing an account Of wonderful ancient city.
discovered scme time ago by Capt. Alfred
X. Fisher, of the New Bedford ship .4meri-
ca. Captain Fisher states that having oc-
casion to visit Tinian, one Of the Ladrone
Islands, he, while walking over the island
came TO the entrance of the main street of
a large and splendid city in ruins. The
buildings were all of stone, of dark color
and of the most splendid description, In
about the centre of the main street, he found
twelve solid stone columns. six on each side
Of the street, they were about iorty-tive or
fifty feet in height, surmounted by capstones
Of immense weight. The columns were 10
feet in diameter at the base, and 8 feet at
the top. Captain F. thinks the columns
would weigh about 60 or 20 tons, and the
cap-stones about Is tons. One of the col
umns had fallen, and he had an opportunity
to view It's vast proportions and fine archi-
lecture. From the principal street a large
number of other streets diverged. They
were all straight and the buildings were Of
stone. The whole Of the city was entirely
overgrown with cocoanut trees, which were
fifty and sixty feet in height.
The same day that this account appeared
we accidentally heard that native of one
Of the Ladrone Islands, Don Juan Taytano
was now living in this city, and had con-
firmed Captain Fishers statement in every
particular. Our curiosity led us TO visit
Don Juan. and hear his version of the story
and richly were we paid for the trouble
We found Don Juan TO be an intelligent
man, about forty years Of age. Of deer
olive complexion. engaging manner, anc
quite communicative disposition. He spoke
Spanish with a great deal of grace, and re
vcaled the traditions of the Tinian Islander.
with all the gusto of an eastern storv-teller
He promised his relation by informing II
that Tinian is one of a large groupe of Is
lands in the North Pacific. belonging to tn
Spanish Crown, and used mainly as n plac
OF exile for thieves and other criminals. -
Many Of these islands have no name, an,
are unknown 10 navigators. They are ais
for the most part uninhabitcd. Marirnas
of which place he is a native. has a popula
tion of few hundred. Next to Marianas
is the island Of Rotan. which has q few in
habitants only; next comes the island o
Aguigan, which is covered with trees an
immense rocks, but is uninhabited. The
Tinian, where this grand city is situated
with the ruins of which Don Juan SCENE
quite familiar, and which is inhabited by
few Spauiards; next is the island of Capar
also containing few inhabitants; next tn
islands of Iatan and Pagan, uninhabited.-
The climate of these islands is warm an
? delightful; all the fruits of the tropics grow
i in profusion. The only animals are horse,
. cows, sheep, &c., but there are no vii
beasts or venomous reptiles 10 be found
But to his story.