Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1886-10-20

some quarter of mile, can be sean num-
ax of spiked cannon, used by Gen. Taylor
m the Mexican war when he stormed the
city. He gained this position at night,
then stormed the palace, and then bonn
barded the city, and being unable to pass
down the streets, which were thoroughly
guarded by Mexican cannon /; under cover
OF these cannons at this fort his men cut
their way to the main plaza through the
| walls OF the houses Sitting down on one
of the unused pieces of war the writer's
mind wandered to what he had read of the
conf1ict of other days when the use of these
very guns had made man President, and
that now he was sleeping among his faith
ers, and the world moved on all the same
"The paths of glory lead but to the grave
and men may come and men may CO."
but the world still exists aud time with
outstretched wings covers up the good and
the bad Standing upon the balcony of the
! ii tel 81 Leader on the first morning in
tx e "before the {mists had cleared
as'as; ard looking tnlsard@the mountain
only this white castle could be seen among
the clouds, more beautiful than picture,
and reminding one of the stories of old,
''when Knights were bold, and Barons held
their sway" The Palace seemed but a
few hundred yards off, but upon taking the
|
before you reach the foot of the mountain
the air being SO pure, one can see an OBJ
ject great ways off.
THE CATHEDRALs-
| are the most interesting objects in the city. |
| They are generally situated on the plazas,
the largest, however, in Monterey is upon
an eminence in the center of the city, and
is very large magnificent building, not
yet completed, though it is said it has been
building over one hundred and fifty years. |
1t is also fact that the foundation of this |
immense structure was made by breaking |
up the stones of the idols of the ancient |
Aztecs. 1t is sublimely and magnifcently !
furnished with silver and gold ornaments |
and trimmings, and fine oil paintings.-l
Many life-size statues of the saints and of |
the Son of Man and images of the Holy |
| Virgin Mary and her Blessed Son, with |
angels robed in white, all appearing so |
grand and peculiar, and made more so, |
owing to the fact that the sky-light and |
windows are painted all shades Of bright |
colors, making soft mellow light calcu-
lated to win one from his worldly thoughts |
and cause him to think of the world to
come. The other cathedrals are not as
large, yet are finely and richly furnished,
and show grandeur as we'll as age.
THE BLACK FORT
is large square stone structure north of
the city, and is similar to all the Mexican
strongholds. Around the sides are built
rooms, and in the center is court,-the
whole fort surrounds three or four acres.-I
The wall is about tour feet thick, and about
ten feet high, with one gate of iron. Where
the name of Black Fort originated is not
exactly known, but Americans living in
the city say it was given it during ths war
with the United States, when prisoners
were compelled to draw for the black bean,
and the number drawing the black bean
were shot. There are few cannons in
side the walls, and the yard or court has a
heavy growth of mesquite trees showing
that years have passed since very hard
lighting has occurred within its walls
However, these
MESQUITE TREES
may have been planted within these walls
for purpose, for this much-abused and by
some despised tree, gives us strong evidence
of the adaptation of means to ends. In ID
this climate, one would think nature had |!
ssade a mistake. She should have given
tIs '.ee broad leaves in order to mako T,
st'd1a. On the contrary its leaves ars Is
fringed and narrow, allowing the sun to par
italy act upon the grass underneath, which
grows freely up to the very trunk. Underl
wide-leaved trees no vegetation lives.-t |
Bees get the purest honey from its bloom,
stock grow fat unon the beans it produces
blossoms, green pods and matured fruit all
at the same time it furnishes the best of
timber for posts and firewood. 1t grows {
very rapidly, and if You cut off a limb for
wood, in three months it grows another in
the same place equally as long The leaves
are eagerly eaten by stock. But the most
surprising thing about this tree is that dur
ing a rainy season (when beans and bloom
are not required by man and beast) there
are no beans produced. When drouth or
dry year comes, like we had this summer,
for instance, it produces three and four
crops of beans. The tree puts forth great
effort and gives an abundance of fruit
No other tree is so we'll adapted to mans
wants and fulflls its mission so fully as
the mesquite.
CHURCH BELLS.
Monterey beats any place on this side of
the Atlantic for bel-ringing. Not an hour
passes during the day but what you can
hear the ringing of the church bells; what
for, no one has been able to tell. The wri-
ter has counted the strokes, watched his
watch, asked the priests and members of
the church, and all they would say to his
question would be, "Quien sabe' (who
knows). In America or the United States,
the different churches ring their bells to
signify the time of service, and toll them
for funerals. In England, at one time, the
curfew tolled the knel of parting day, just /
the same as the cannon at our military posts /
are discharged at sunset and sunrise. And
it is supposed that the Mexicans have an
object, and it may be because of respect for
the different saints, as they have saint for
every day in the year.
CHEAP LANDS.
The writer was informed while in Monte
rey that lands in that State-Nuevo Leon
could be purchased, first class, at twenty
cents per acre; second class. twelve and
half cents per acre; and third class, at eight
cents per acre. This land is all fine land
the location makes the grade. The land
around the cities, of course, is worth more
than the above prices. These prices only
apply to government lands; and where indi-
viduals own land it is impossible to buy at
any price, for they seem to have an antipathy
to sell land, but leave it to their many chill
dren to divide up; hence the cause of SO
few large estates near the cities and towns.
MEAT MARKETS.
All over the city one finds meat markets.
1t seems that on every square are found
these shops, and everywhere you go you
meet meatvendors with stick across the
shoulders, at each END suspended quarter
of kid or piece of mutton; and on every
corner are found orange-women, though one
seldom sees any one eating this fruit,
though this fruit sells at cent an orange.
At the table one gets nothing but meat and
fruit, and after remaining some time in the
5ity, the writer felt like he never wanted
to see oranges and meat again. These Pc
pie, as a rule, live poorly, and as good liv
ing promotes health and is sign of intel
ligence, it may be this is one cause why
these people, as rule, are SO ignorant Il
IT'S said that in no country in the world do
the people average so high in the cost of
living as in the United States. And were
our people so poverty stricken as to be COM
oil 1aI f<,1 kho |