Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-03-29
THE CITY OF NENICO.
NATURES FORCES USED TO CREATE
A SITE FOR THE CAPITAL.
Ruildtngs of rumiCs stone aud Pave
ment~ at Lava Mountains 81 Mud
pictur.>uurn... nf "a strange Land In
hnbItnnt- and Their ways.

soup pilates with just hItl" suggestion
Of soup still i'll the plate ont around the
deepest places. and that Is the valley "t
Mexico The city is on that highest part,
the center. where CnrtrA found the chill
iren If the sun, in their gorgeous hower
garden.
A. we descend the high wall tu the level
valley before Us We can easily trace the
formations nf these great black mountains
OF half hidden lands We can easily see
that there was once v"lcan" 80 terrific rs
to almost tear the earth asund"r You
can see how the mountains were piled
back and III, one after the other, TIL ike
some grand cdifce under the hand uf
skIllful builder, the site WAS complete.
The buildings al the little stations.
very frequent. H. We descend INT" the val
ley, are all made Of a C"mented pumlCe
stone. light As cork almost. and these
Cemented particles seem To h" precisely
such little bits of pumiCe stone ~ you see
living in great drifts like snow about the
edge of the bay Of Naples any morning
after Vesuvius has had a little blow out.
But this pumIce stone has laid - Tong on
the ground, a. sad before, that II i
cemented together and now forms a tolera
hIy substantial wall II put up under
shelter. | can see from som. Of the old
buildings in the city that rains and storms
wash il away in time.
All the paNenents all the fences all the
more solid buildings along the approach
Ia the city are made Of very poor sort of
black lava. and tins i very enduring. 1t
reminds one of the brown tutTa "t which
the coliseum at Rome was built, only this
lava in Mexico l. black. and also II is more
Dorus Yes we are surely descending into
the mouth ofla mighty volcano.
THk woNDEKs Or STRANGE LAND.
To the right as We de- cend Is a deep and
ugly cut Mountains OF mud. an unsatis-
factory piece Of engineering surely. This
is the drain 1t WAS filled up once. And
the city lay for years under wafer. 1t
looks To be hundreds of feet deep. Ii must
be many leagues in length. II seems as il
tunnel would he the only effective
means of secure operation here. Yet il
was an attempt to tunnel through this
slippery mud that filed this "ciuaca max
ino" and drowned the city
As we came down into the green levels
among the dikes. and drains and gardens.
among the people. among the d"nkrHs and
cows and pigs and turkeys. the chickens
the caCkle and crow pcrprI uHllN. the thou
sands Of buZLard~ we see more color. more
picturesquenr~s II may u>r the word
IN one hour than whole week : travel in
the states. or III Europe either. for that
matter For Mexico, | nud. i more
strange than all the strange Lands | have
vet seen.
The very atmosphere has a languor. a
law dignity about it that puts yuu AT once
AT your ease and prepares y"u To rest. Tbs
huge brown hills are resting IN their man
lies of imperial purple this early morning
A soft and dreamy haze haug- about the
holluws, and Clrft>. and canyons. 50 that
every outline l. snftrued Erd toned to q
sense Ot rest. There i never a sign Of
storm in heaven. BlueSt "f all blue skies
purple a. the sun wheels mp. not a bar nr
scar, or sign "f cloud But away beyond
the CITY, at the other SIDE of the ancient
volcano. the two still mountains stand
facing each other. holding the purple
world on their snowy shoulders. wearing
the imperial purple Of umrer"rhed EN-
pirrs. and Of kings that have no name or
place i'll history. What land for the
painter,
PEOPLE STANDING on THE HOus TuPS.
We pass littlr suuarr-hUlr stone houses
close up ro the railroad. 50 close that you
NAV almost clasp hands with the
strangely clad and most curious little peO
plr standing on the housetups. They stand
knee deep amidst muSkmelun> watermel
ons corn. peppers. tomatoes. and many
other things taken from their gardens
and PLACED here nn the h"u-etops TO rIpen
in the sun NOu see a thousand things
here on every house that bring up Bible
pictures and tell you in your heart that
all the stories of the Bible are true because,
in some sort you see their counterpart
here among these simple people away out
here on the north Of Mexico City. where,
until very lately. little has been done TO
break up the natural tenor OF their lives
for centuries.
The two women grinding al a mill" you
see here on the huusetopS in the sun AT al
most every mile-post. Why there should
be two do not know But there are al
ways two grinding at the little hand mill
As to whether "une is taken and the other
left " in this Aztec land. a. in the land of
old. do not know. But they are here,
and as said before a thousand things that
are constantly bringing up Bible pictures
familiar in your youth. when your father
read the Bible 10y the tireSde.
They rise early and are on the housetOp
with the sun. these people here III the
vast. rich valley. Away up yonder on the
| purple mountains side | saw fires that
mingled with the stars As the morning
came These are the camp fires Of Indians
| that still prefer the tent, the camp. the
! open air They come down at times III the
| valleys for hire, are good workers, entirely
honest But they love the sun as their
! ancestors loved il. and are up there to 81
| lutte him in the morning. With the hills
| behind us the picturesque people on the
! housetop on either side Of us As we glide
! IN through the lanes Of trees. the gardens,
| the dunkeys the growing cocks. the yelp-
! ing dogs. the thousands Of hairless and
| hIdeously ugly dogs too lazy 10 yelp-in
| the midst Of and through all these, under
| the full burst of the soft morning sun,
we enter the gates of Mexico City
| joaquin Miller in Chicago Times.