Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1885-06-01

that of cavern. Very little light
or warmth works its way down
through the dense mass of overhang-
ing leaf and limb and Spanish moss
long festoons and streamers of which
come down nearly to the ground. 1t
is not only damp and cool, but dusky.
1t is always sundown in the grove of
chapultapec.
From the castle the view is
grand one. 1t includes the whole
valley; the city with all the outlying
towns; the highly cultivated land
scape with here and there patches Of
timber; the surrounding mountains
which constitute the rim of the ba-
sin, including, if not enwrapped in
clouds, Popocatapetl towering al
most half a mile above Mt. Blanc
and La MWe, Blanca, the woman in
white, a long ridge about one thou
sand feet above the line of perpetual
snow, in which imagination traces a
reclining female figure from the dis
hevelled hair and upturned face thro'
the whole form to the feet. This
castle was the palace of Montezuma
and of the viceroys during the three
hundred years of Spanish rule, and
the country residence of the emper-
ors, Iturbide and Maximilian and of
some of the presidents. A portion
of it is now being remodelled and
good deal modernized for the occu-
patton of President Diaz. AS a for
tification it amounts to but little. In
natural advantages for resistance it
is about like little round top at Get
tysburgh; and the engineer has done
but little to strengthen it. In fact
it is not so much fortress as res
idence. But whether difficult or
easy of capture the American will
always feel an inch taller as he
stands upon the battlements of this
old castle; for here after series of
sharp encounters and brilliant victo-
ries, his countrymen charged up
these heights, meeting death at every
step; and, from its loftiest turret,
unfurled his country's flag. The
stol ming party came up on the
opposite side from the city; and off
beyond, where the plain stretches
back from a small stream, is the
battlefield of Molino del Rey. The
place is marked by a little white
monument in full view from the cas-
tie. Now, as when captured by our
troops in 1847, there is connected
with the castle a military school,
answering to West Point in our
country. The visitor is admitted
upon pass from the war depart
ment or the commandant, and cadet
is detailed for each person of the
party, who is polite and attentive,
and especially cordial towards Amer
| leans; as indeed are all MeXicans.
There are between three and four
hundred of these young men now in
this school, learning the art of war.
Part way down the hillside stands an
elegant monument, to the memory of
the cadets who fell in defense of the
castle in 1847.
The monument to the soldiers of
the United States who fell in the
Mexican war is plain shaft of
granite and stands in the American
burying ground, which adjoins that
of the English, near the city. 1t
bears this inscription ITO the mem
ory of the brave men of the United
y
States army who perished in this
country in 1S47; and whose bones
were collected and deposited here by
their country's order" This bury
ing ground is the property, by pur-
chase, of the United States govern
ment and is well-kept resting place
for the dead. Over it floats the
American flag, always welcome
sight to the American abroad, even
though found in graveyard.
This being the lenten season the
theatres are all closed; so too are
the bull rings both within and out
side the federal district, which is five
miles square and answers to our Dis
trict of Columbia. A recent act OF
the federal congress prohibits, with
in the district, the killing of the bull
which the expert is always able to
do with single sword thrust; and
the same law requires that the bulls
horns be sawed off so that he cannot
| kill the horses rode by the fighters.
But in the state of Mexico, just out
side the federal district, and in most
of the other states, the old time
Spanish bull fight, in all its barbaric
cruelty, may be seen any Sunday af-
ternoon in the year, except during
lent. One of these rings, a great
roofess amphitheatre surrounded with
covered seats stands near the castle
of chapultapec-so near that from it
you can almost look down into the
ring itself. Here, just outside the
federal district, but near enough to
the city for its patronage, from three
to five thousand persons come up
Sunday afternoons and regale them
selves upon all the sickening details
of genuine bull fight; which fire.
quently results in the slaughter of
horses and riders, but never ends ex-
cept with the death of the bull. AS
a raging sign of blood and death
within, this amphitheatre is painted
blood red without. Of course, this
barbarous exhibition would be in
complete without bar, which is said
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