The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1882-02-01
The City Of Leon, Central America.

Leon Is one of the oldest cities on the
continent, and the next largest in Gem
trail America. The first city of thai
name was founded by Cordova In 1928,
near the base Of the volcano Of Momo-
tombo, but was abandoned in 1910 for
the present site, which was once occu>
pied by an Indian city of prehistoric
times. It is q plateau about two hum
dred feet above the level of the sea, par
TALLY surrounded BY mountains, and lies
equidistant from Lake Managua and
the Pacific Ocean, The most remarka-
BILE building in the city is the Cathedral
of st. Peter, which fronts on the grand
plaza. In building it small army Of
slaves were engaged thirty-seven years;
It was completed in 1T43; Is composed
such prodigious strength that troops
mounting batteries on its immense roof.
Its main altar is, composed Of solid sill
ver A more interesting religious ,edi1
fee could scarcely be found in America,
although its more precious decorations
have been nearly all carried away by
successive hordes of revolutionists..
From its roof nine volcanoes and the
Pacific Ocean are plainly visible. Sep
arated from 1t by q paved alley Is the
Bishops palace, a capacious, but not
very pretentious establishments. I once
saw the Bishop, who appeared to be OF
Castilian descent; but the priests were
all Indians, and seemed to be well-fed,
good-natured and contented saviors OF
souls. Divine service is celebrated in
the churches with stringed instruments,
horns, excellent choirs and o clamor Of
bells. When military mass takes place
at the Cathedral front brass band adds
to the dignity of the occasion. and every
man who CROSSES any portion of the
plaza must remove his hat, or take q
bayonet thrust from an enraged senti-
mel. The natives kneel, and foreigners
were formerly required to do 80 !;
but so many personal difficulties
arose concerning this regulation
that the removal Of the hat was finally
decided upon as q compromise measure.
was not aware of even this custom,
and on returning from bath one MORN
ing cut across one corner Of the plaza
in blissful ignorance of what was ex-
pected. "A barefooted sentinel came
rushing at me with leveled bayonet,
sputtering q -broadside of Spanish. and
in another moment would have spitted
me, had not an officer shouted at him
IIOLl bllt ttEAhQL III Tic CtttlI tct.
When was there, despite its large
population, Leon had no free schools,
and few private ones; no theater, pub
lie hall, public library, merchants' ex-
change, bank, water works, livery stable
or restaurant. Money commanded
twenty five per cent. per annum. At
times the air was filed with dust, but
no public street sprinkler went its daily
Refreshing rounds. A few of the
wealthier families manufactured their
own ice with machines, but no ice could
be purchased for love or money. The
business men had clubhouse aud bill
lard hall, with q small library attached.
Three Spanish newspapers kept the
public mind sufficiently infamed for
political purposes. had not been
there forty-eight hours when q revolu-
ton broke out, but it proved to be an
insignificant affair. A new President
was being inaugurated at Managua,
whereupon sixty or eighty armed mall
contents mounted their mustangs and
laid siege to Leon. For. a day or two
they fired from the jungles ct every
body who attempted TO leave the city,
and then ampered off to Honduras,
not having received the popular sup.
port they had been led 70 ex-
pect. Every Thursday and Sunday
evening military brass band discoursed
tolerable music on the plaza, and gangs
of natives gathered on the surrounding
verandas to listen and smoke cigars and
cigarettes. Everybody smokes in Mica
ragua-old, young, rich, poor, male,
female, saint and sinner. Tobacco
thrives by cultivation, and grows wild
without 1t. The cigars are bad-ex-
tremely so. found the nights remark
ably cool, so much so that two blankets
were positively necessary. Our daily
custom was to rise at five O'Clock, take
cup of coffee, ride several miles into
the country ON half-wild mustangs,
bathe, gallop back by seven O'Clock,
smoke and chat till ten, then take
breakfast, dine at four, have q cup of
tea in the evening, and smoke till bed
time-an indefinite hour in the tropics,
for the nights are beautiful, and the best
portion of the twenty -four hours. During
one evening I had the novel pleasure OF
Witnessing a volcanic eruption. Mount
Telica, twenty mikes distant, became ac-
tive. Masses of FIRE streamed from its
summit, forming spectacle OF great
maguifeence This outbreak finally
subsidized, after which two parallel fis-
sures, stretching almost from the base
to the crest of the mountain, poured
forth steady sheots of fame for more
than an hour. These then widened un-
til they formed an immense fiery heart.
When I retired the brilliancy of the dis
play continued unabated, though was
surprised to observe that few persons
save myself paid the slightest attention
to it. Within radius of hundred
miles of Leon there are fourteen volca-
noes, all more or less active, and as
many as sixty earthquake shocks have
been known TO occur in that city in
twenty four hours. It is not to be won-
dered at that s harmless volcanic illum-
ination scarcely excited passing COM