Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-06-21

great cathedral which faces the plaza In the
center of Mexico. We have pulled the
| rope at the little side door and have paid
our fee to the dark-haired, big-eyed, cream
faced maiden in Mexican garments who
| guards the entrance, and have worn our
| legs sore In climbing hundreds of steps,
and we sit on a ledge above the 40 great
bells which thunder out the hours as we
| look We are 200 feet above the ground
| and more than 1900 feet above the.sea-
! Under our feet is the spot on which
] The Axtecs Sacrificed Their Victims,
| And upon the great altar which in the days
| of Montezuma lay only 90 feet below whers
we were sitting, $4,000 slaves were sacri-
| fioed in one year. In that long, low build
| ing there in front of US you may see the
] wonderfully carved stone upon which the
\ victims lay when the sharp obsidian knife
was plunged into their vitals, and there is
the great stone pot which was used to catch
| their blood as it flowed down the trench
from the sltaE It was on that altar that
| Montezuma stood with Cortes when he took
| him up here to show him his fair city, and
! the Mexico of the Aztecs three hundred odd
years ago, covered very much the same
aground as does the Mexico of today
What beautiful site for q cfty3
Mountains on every side of you rise fntoi
the skies making q natural series of fortih-
| cations A great plain Of the richest green
stretching out on all sides from the vast net
work of buildings until it is lost in the
hazy blue Of the mountain side. Silvery
lakes sparkle like shields Of diamonds of in
the distance The great volcanoes Of Popo-
scatapetl and Ixtaccihuatl look down upon
you from their caps Of perpetual snow.
lCsnals in silvery streams border the
outskirts Of the city, and away over there at
its edge the vast clump of green trees
which In hundreds Of acres Of forests sur
round what was once the summer home Of
the great Montesuma in which is now the
summer residence Of President Diaz, the
Castle ofChapultepec, the White Houss of
Mexico
Ldkee City ofspafn.
Bring your eyes nearer home and-taka O.
hook at the city below. It Is as big as ST.
Louis, and Minneapolis and St Paul could
be lost in its borders Its form u that Of
one of the great cities Of Europe, and Like
the cities Of Spain, its streets cross one
another at right angles, and the center Of
the network of squares is the plaza filed
with green trees which lie st our feet.
There are a number of these spots Of green
squares through the network, and there al
the right is the long strip Of forest where
fashionable Mexico walks foren hour or so
on Sunday and whore there In nzsin evsry
afternoon the year round.
Further on is the wide eze1ue known a
the Paseo, where you may see any after
noon as gay a set Of turnouts "a yoa will
find in Hyde park or the Bois de Boulogne,
and all around and below you IN the great
checkerboard of Mexico 6ity Suppose
yourself hanging still in q balloon above q
Ave thousand acre farm Let this farm be
divided mp into little square fields and pave
these fields with brick, and make the fields
fat but at different levels, and you have an
idea of how Mexico looks from the skies.
The roofs of ali the houses are flat.
Not a Chimney to Be Seen.
There is not chimney in the who1e-city,
and you could number the furnaces and the
cooking and heating stoves on the fingers Of
one hand The Mexican capital does all Of
its heating by charcoal, and base-burner
would be as much of wonder here as FIVE
legged CALI If you will take your glass you
Will note that each field is made up of
houses and that each of the houses has a
great well or hole in its center. These are
the patios or courts around which, every