Frostburg mining journal., 1883-08-11
COR RESP0N D E N C E
FROM AUSTIN TO LAREDO,
With a StOp-0Uer at the alamo
city (Sdn 4ntOniO.)
To the MINING JOURNAL:

or ala Conceptioue," when l left of.
So I'll begin this letter as | start toward
the second, or "Missione De San Jose."
The road is the hardest to find Of
any I ever saw. After 1 get on it, l
am off again in five minutes and
have to inquire Of every one I meet
whether l am on the right road, The
cause Of this is that the country being
generally level, every fellow makes
his own path which soon widens out
into road and tends to lead a
stranger off. Anyway, after some
trouble I got to the mission, or the
ruins of it, for it is scarcely moro
than that, only one room, the chapel
OF auditorium, being inhabitable.
A few Mexicsns use it to worship in.
They wont allow visitors to enter
this room, but as l could see through
a window that it was merely an or
dinary apartment, / had no desire to
enter. What was once the place of
worship is now in ruins, with only
tue beautiful, clear-blue sky, peculiar
to this region, Tor covering. One
side and the front, with the vestry
rooms on either side, are left standing
These rooms are used by the people
who live in the out-buildings, which
formerly served for stables and SER
wants quarters for the mission, and
for storing fodder and hay. Over the
grand entrance there are three fig
ures, about eight feet in height, rep
resenting Christ and two Of his disci-
Piles. 1t has been a magnificent
piece of work but time, which wrinkles
the brows and steals the roses from
the cheeks of youth, making US to
look old, has in the centuries which
have rolled by since these statues, or
"relievos," has, although dealing very
leniently with them, destroyed their
beauty, according to our idea of it, by
wearing off the sharp, chiseled feat
ures, smoothing down until in few
years time there will be nothing but
an even surfsce-naught to tell those
who visit the spot that a master
workmsn's handiwork had vanished
forever. 1t is an immense building
l stepped off the large room and it
was 80 good strides-about 200 feet
at least, and the side that is left
standing is SO full Of names carved
on it that to register mine had to
get an old ladder and climb up above
the balance to find room. On one
side of this place is the chapel, and
in the rear tha kitchens, diniug-rooms,
wash.rooms, etc., twenty-three in all
on the ground floor. Above is such
a mass of ruins it is impossible to tell
for what it was used. Where the
roof is still left it is made Of small
stones about 8 inches square, all the
same size for the first course and cov-
cred with at least three feet thickness
of the concrete, which those old fel-
lows knew how to make 80 much bet.
ter than weof to-day. 1t is my opin.
ion that the finest ornaments used in
these buildings were brought frcm
Italy or some of the older countries,
ready to put for had the mechanics
who made them been here all the
work be comparatively the same but
as it is there is a vast difference in
the work that was necess arily done
here and that which could, and l
have no doubt has been fastened to
the walls with cement. The remains
of one large double door at the en-
trance to the chapel presents to the
seeker after the wonderful the per-
formances Of those ancient workmen
the most beautiful Of work | have
ever seen. On either side of the door
is a pilaster about eight inches in
diameter, around which twines an ivy
vine, the leave. and stem standing
out in bold relief the vine loses itself
in a splendid cap whose design is a
mass of the ivy. 1t is the handsome-
est one l ever saw. Suimounting
this is a lovely head modelled after
Raphael's Cherubs Certainly, the
faces are scratched and piece broken
OF here and there, but they are pretty
faces still. Up from these heads
springs a finely executed piece of
work-an arch of the most exquisite
ly carved flowers and leaves, as
though the daughters Of an army of
corquerors had combined their art.
istic tastes and formed that which is
almost natural in its . riection. The
door comparea iaynrahly with tha