National Republican., 1885-12-16
1.-THE CITY OF THE ANGELS"
A MODERN MEXICAN MUNICIPALITY
BUILT AMONG RUINS.
The Construction of the Cathedral
Aided by Celestial Beings-other Le-
gends of the Second Finest City in the
Sister Republic.

PuEBLA, MEXICO, Dec. 8, lss5.-Thi
"City OF the Angels Is one OF the few in
modern Mexico not built upon the ruins of
former greatness, but was an original idea
of the, e,early Spanish colonists. Its site on the
green plane called Acayete was formerly
occupied by few huts belonging to the
Cholula Indians, and then, as now, was en-
vironed by productive corn6elds, beyond
which miles Of agare Americana (maguey)
stretched away to the foothills of the Sierra
Madras. The present splendid city is con-
sidered by many the finest in Mexico. 1t is
the rival of Guadalajara in beauty, and sec
ond in size to the capital, having popula-
tion Of nearly 100000 1t was founded in
1881, and named Puebla de los Angeles
('City of the Angels'') because OF tradi-
tion-still devoutly belleved-that while its
cathedral was being constructed the work
was hastened by heavenly hands; for every
night while the wOrkmen slept angels de-
scended and added as many stones as the
builders had placed by dav. Since 1862 the
city is more generally called Pueba de cara
goZa, in honor Of the Mexican general who
defeated the French army here In that year.
The streets Of Pueba are wider and bet
and its two.storied buildings are In pleasant
contrast with the prevailing style of in
terror towns, whose stony alleys are over
shadOwed by the low-roofed casas OF a by
gone age. Besides the inevitable central
plaza, and the great Alemada (''grove OF
elms"D, Puebla rejoices in no less than
twenty-six public parks, all OF which are
well shaded, and aower-filled spaces, where
the population nightly congregate. The
ahon fronta and nnat pf tho hnusal are
built Of six-sided bricks, with small blue
tiles set In between. Others are perfect
MOSAIC OF DUTCH OR CHINA TILES.
upon ground of Pompeian red set with
numerous plaques and panels, upon which
saints are painted. The effect is extremely
quaint-somewhat startling at first, because
OF violent contrasts In coloring; but one
soon becomes accustomed to II and learns
TO regard our commonplace dwellings as
collectors OF ceramics look upon delf as
compared with decorated china, The finest
tiles on the continent are made In Puebla,
and here are no less than ten fabricas for
their manufacture.
THE HISTORIC CATHEDRAL.
The cathedral, once one Of the richest In
the world, is still the great attraction for
tourists, though much Of its pristine splen-
dor has disappeared. Standing in the
midst Of majestic expresses and surrounded
by a wide stretch OF marble pavement one
sees no evidence OF the work Of shadowy
hands but. on the contrary, everything APP
pears as substantial as though designed for
eternity. The facade Of the northern en-
trance Is embellshed with statues and me-
dalliOns In MARBLE and the inter and keys
OF the pope. On the face of the western
tower Is a fine old clock, made In Madrid
more than two centuries ago. Though un-
told treasures in the way Of gold, silver
and precious stones were conilscated from
this church by the anti-Catholic regime, Il
is still enormously rich. The finest colec
tion Of marbles in the world-not even ex
cepting the celebrated Tai Mahul of India
enters into It's construction.
Perhaps its most striking object Is The
main altar. II was erected by a prelate Of
Puebla, in 1879, as a mausoleum for the
successive bishops, and affords the greates
display of the beautiful Mexican onyx TO bC
found anywhere In this country, which II
famous for H. One Is astonished at the in
finite variety Of tints-from delicate ROSE
pink TO Nile green, dark yellow and mahog
any brown. Most cOnspicuously lovely II
the pure white, transparent alabaster from
exhaustless quarries near Puebla, A mas
siye railing and ten broad steps, all Of
translucent onyx, leads to circular plat