The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1891-09-24
The VIRGIN IN PURE GOLD.
A Relic Of the Aztecs Discovered in
q Little N xican Church.

4 Relic OF the Aztecs Discovered in
q Little NJ xican Church.
Up in the mountains about thirty miles
from Chihuahua is an old Catholic mis-
sion The church is said to be one of tie
oldest on the continent, having been
built lust after the suhjugation of the
Aztecs This church Is away IRON the
usual hauuts of white men, and all the
members are indians. The priest, Faith
err La Lumere, all old, white haired
Erenchnan, mas had charge of the par
isl for more tDan half a century.
The church is closely guarded and no
other white man than the priest has ev>
er been permitted TO enter Its sacred
precincts 10y the inuians. 1t has always
been supposed that the cause OF THIS rlg>
id exclusion was the superstition OF the
natives, but an adventuresoine young
American artist has discovered that there
was a method III the appai ent madness
Of the descendants OF tie Montezumas. A
party of tourists went out from Chlhua-
hua to the Old village for The purpose OF
seeing the sights and taking pictures OF
Indians and old buildings. When they
were refused admission to the church
they at once concluded there was some
thing there that tbay ought TO see. They
visited the priest and tried to induce
him to let them iii, but he was obdurate
and gave them no satisfaction.
In the party was u young man from
Illinois named William Morrison. He
determined at all hazards to see inside
the church, and at once set about lay
ing his plans He found that a number
of old Indians were constantly on guard,
each being relieved at stated intervals.
/ He also found that the door was kept
locked and the key was at the priests
house. but that the windows could be
, raised by little effort He prepared
himself with camera, with flash light
attachment and bottle of avua ardu-
ente or Mexican whiskey, in which he
placed enough morphine to produce
sleep He then sauutered along to
where the old guardian was sitting and
engaged his attention. The converse
ton was limited, but the bottle spoke
for itself and it was not difficult to in>
| duce the old man to take two or three
| drinks. Morrison then passed on, but
| soon returned and found the Indian fast
asleep.
He quickly forced window and gain
| ed entrance to the church. The interior
was very common, but upon the altar
was a small statue of the Virgin, which
Morrison at first supposed to be gilt, but
as it was the only thing in the place that
| had the appearance of being OF val
ne, and as it had a peculiar lustre,
he gave it a closer examination. The
| statue was a foot high, and vixen he
took hold of it he could barely move it..
| Struck with its extraordinary weight he
/ lifted it and found that it weighed not
less than one hundred and fifty pounds.
| This convinced him that it was of pure
gold, and he took flash light picture of
| the image and altar and made his exit.
He told his story to the other members
| of the party and they concluded to get
| the facts from Father La Lumere. The
| old priest was much surprised when ask
ed about the golden statue of the Virgin
and at first refused to talk, but when
convinced that it had been seen he said
that it was pure gold and had been
made from the ornaments and idols of
the old Aztecs when they were first con-
verted.
They are induced to make offerings OF
this kind, and when all had done so the
! gold was melted and run into the statue.
Father La Lumere refused to give an es>
innate of the value of the image, but If
| it is as heavy as Morrison thinks it must
be worth fully 100000. Father La Lu-
mere said that in many of the churches
in the interior there were similar statues,
but the Indians were SO jealous that it
was dangerous to attempt to penetrate
the mysteries of the churches. He adj
vised the party not to let it be known
that they had seen the statue, for the
Indians might take extreme measures to
prevent it becoming known outside the
| town.
Henry billiard, business man OF
| Chattanooga, died suddenly of heart
failure. According to the story told by
his relatives, he had always been hard
drinker, and about ten days since swore
Off He could not be induced to taper
off, and when told that his life depended
upon taking an alcoholic stimulant he
refused to yield, and died firm.
A thief in Massachusetts, day or two
ago, adopted noyel but effective way
| to, prevent the man he was robbing from