Sun River sun., 1884-12-11
OLD MEXICO.
A Description Of the Wonderful City
of Mexico.

of view. The houses are all built of
adobe and stone and are remarkable
structures when we consider that they
arc oil built by pioncs, who carry all
the materials on their backs. The
hotels arc all built with court in the
center, similar to that of the Palace
hotel. in San Francisco. which they
term pctio, being u hollow square
into which all the rooms of tho hotel
open. Tho Inter Bide. where We
stopped, was once the court of Maxi
milan, and is Il beautiful building on
tho interior, being finished with gold
and silver Innings. You are admitted
to these buildings through double
iron doors, about fifteen high and ton
feet wide, where you are attended by
a servant and conducted to your room
by the clerk of the hotel. You Gun
hardly imagine that this wonderful
city is one Of the finest built cities in
the world 1t contains about 375, 900
inhabitants and is built very compact,
there being only n few scattering
buildings in the outskirts. We wan.
dered about the city sightseeing, and
the first thing which attracted our ut.
tention was the extreme narrowncss
OF the streets. On either side rise
stately and handsome buildings, from
two to five stories high, while the i'll
tervening street varies from twelve to
fifteen feot in width, in some places
barely wide enough to accommodate
pedestrians, to say nothing Of the peo-
pie on horseback and in carriages.
Some of the streets are much wiucr,
from 70 to 150 feet, and on these
streets you find street cars. We found
ut every corner two or three police
men, who are employed by the city ut
q salary Of thirty-seyen and oue-half
cents day. These people are seldom
seen in day time, but at night you
may see their lamps in the middle of
the street, while the owner is loung-
ing in some doorway taking no no
tice of what is going on about him.
We wandered up and down the streets
udmii'ing the beauties Of this wonder
ful city, when all of sudden we came
to the end Of street opening out into
most beautiful plaza, which lies in
front Of the largest and oldest cathe-
dral in the Republic OF Mexico. This
plaza is visited day and night by all
pleasure seekers. In the center is II
large music stand, from which band
discourses sweet music from ten
o'clock in the morning until twelve ut
night. Diverging from this stand are
many paths or walks, shaded by UNI
brella trees, and bordcred by banks
Of beautiful flowers Of every deacrip-
ton, adding much to the beauty Of the
scene, and elfusing their strange,
sweet perfumes upon the air, which,
with the moving multitude of strange
ly clad pcoplc, combine to make the
scene one OF remarkable beauty. III
terspersed amid the trees are nuIIer-
Gus seats, where one may take his ease,
listening to the music and watching
the people, while pleasant reveries fit
through your BRAIN only disturbed 10y
the never-tiring fruit vcnder, who,
even in the month Of December, wi.
offer you all kinds of fruit bunanas,
pineapplcs, oranges, lemons, grapes,
straw berries, ana such other na,l &c
fruit As the country plodncos. On
the east side Of the plaza il tIlo noted
cathedral Of which | spoke, and Il
wonderful structure it is. The eXnet
size | do not know. but il i5 cH.culaleo.
to allow over three Thousand people -
worship III once, and strange q, il
may appear, t!.eao people all hAcei 10
worship, having 40 seals al III ia lae.r
churches. On the north side, foruinE
u part of the wall oi tAo cAuic.4. 10
the wonderful calendar stone, which
has never been fully deciphered, not
withstanding the Mexican govern
ment has paid thousands of dollars for
the translation, over half the charac
ters still remain mysteries. This stone
is about ten feet high by eight feet
wide, oval shaped and beautifully
carved with all conceivable shaped
characters representing Il great many
things yet to be dociphered. In this
great cathedral you can find people
at worship at all hours OF the day and
night, the priests being constantly in
attendance, having apartments in the
building About two blocks from the
cathedral is the pos.oiiice and custom
house. The postal laws Of the Re
public differs from ours very mutcri-
ally, as each state regulates its own
postage laws. When you wish to in
quire fer mail you look oyer Il large
kn1Iafin bnur1 IN which 1hn names