The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1891-06-21

. 1855 sacrilced their victims, and upon
~, ~ sFeas altar, which IN the days of
H. lay only fifty feet be-
ION where We are sitting. 5000
Saves We're sacrificed in single year. In
that long, low building there in front of
10, you may see the wonderfully carved
STONE upon which the victims lay when
Inc sharp obsidian knife was plunging
lneo sheif vifais, and there is the great
stone pot which was used TO catch their
blood as il flowed down the trench from
the altar. 1t was on that altar that Monte
Luia1 STOOD With Cortez when he took him
xp mere 10 show him his fair city, and the
Ae1lco o; the Aztecs OF 300 odd years ago,
covered very much the same ground as
does the Mexico Of today
~ nas beautiful site for city,
:, mountains on every side Of you rise into
lue SKIES making natural series OF forti-
ncalons. A great plain of the richest
sIeeh stretching ont on all sides from the
| VAST network OF buildings until il is lost
| 70 IL, the nazy blue of the mountain sides.
/ Every lakes sparkling like shields OF
| diamonds of in the distance The great
| volcanoes of Popocatapetl and Ixtacci-
nuati rocking down upon you from their
/ caps OF perpetual snow. Canals in sal
very streams bordering the out skirts of the
CITY, and away over there ut its edge the
vast eiump of green trees which in hun
/ dresis Of acres Of forest surrounds what
Aontezuma and which is now the summer
residence Of President Diaz, the castle of
Cnapuitepee, the White House of Mexico.
| Bring your eyes nearer home and take
look at the city below. 1t is as big as St.
| Louis, and Minneapolis and St Paul could
be lost IN its borders. Its form is that of
one OF the great cities of Europe, and ike
/ 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 lies al our feet
| There are number of these spots Of green
squares through the network, and there
| at the right is the long strip of forest
hour or so on Sunday, and where
there is music every afternoon
the year round. Further on is
the vice avenue known as the Paseo.
where you may see any afternoon as gay
/ . set OF iurnonts as you will ind IN Hyde
around and below you is the great
| checker board of Mexico City.
Take look at this cathedral as syou
stand here above it. 1t covers acres, and
You wander for hours in going from one
| place TO another within it. II has been
/ gold mine in its costly decorations, and It's
| choir has balustrade of a mixture of
silver, copper and gold which weighs Sc, 600
| pounds. and which is worth more than
| this weight in solid silver The walls of
the church alone cost 100000. and the
treasures of the interior have made rich
| some of the families of the Mexico of to-
day. 1t had single statue OF gold set with
diamonds which was worth 5000
| GO, and one OF the great lamps
which lighted it in the past cost $4,000,
and its workmanship was so intricate that
| 1t cost 81 900 10 clean il. The affairs were
once set with precious stones, and 1t was
second building like that which the Shah
Jehan and Akbar had al Delhi in India,
and ike their building 1t has been plum
dered by the unbeiieyer. After all. however,
it stands only as monument of retrlbu-
tive justice. Akbar plundered the people,
the church plundered the Indians, and
then the Mexicans or Indians, under q
pure Indian leader, President Jaurez,
Numbered il. 1t was right here that
Cortes despoiled the Aztecs, and that long
| low. tEo-story building which faces the
pisza, and which looks more like a great
stable than anything else, Is the National
palace where the Senate of Mexico Is now
sitting, and in which the treasury
and the government offices are located.
There was the palace of MonteZuma, and
that site formed the residence of the sue
y
Office, and further on is that beehive of
ant-like men and women, the great market
of the City of Mexico, which Is as much 3
sight today as il was when the Spaniards
entered it and described its wonders. At
your feet is the market for flowers, and
dozens of men under big hats and pretty
| girls under no hats at all are there selling
the most beautiful of full-blown roses for
almost nothing. and you canIbuy a twenty
dollar bouquet for twenty-five cents.
Come down from the cathedral and take
walk along the streets. The crowd
which moves with and by you is as cosmo-
politan as that of any European capital
/ You are in the Gale de San Francisco
where the foreign shops are located and
near the principal hotels. Here are
Frenchmen, Engiishmen, Germans. Span
| iards and Americans, and mixed with
1 them are the diverse elements Of the great
| Mexican people. A swell carriage with
great coach horses dashes by YOU, It's sill
| ver-mounted harness glistening in the sun.
/ light and its cOacnman wearing gorgeous
| sombrero and his pants lined with silver.
| It contains the wife and daughter of rich
hacendado who ere going 10 take their aft
/ ernoon ride on the Paseo. Behind them
rides a rich Spaniard IN Mexi-
| can costume, with saddle. hat and harness
| as gorgeous in their gold and silver as
money can buy. and al the side of the
| street runs a half-dozen little hQrros with
! great bales of hay almost hiding their little
/ bodies from view. while IN their rear Is 3
/ poor Indian driving them with a like bun
| die of hay fastened on 20 his back and held
/ there by strap that comes over the front
of his forehead. Here is a brlgand looking
/ peon from the country in blanket as red
| as the opal which shines out OF its dia-
mond setting on the necktie OF the Ameri-
can dude at his side, and you note that his
/ feet are dirty with miles OF travel as they
| show out through his leather sandals.
1 There are two ladies in black on their way
| 10 the cathedral 10 mass. and the younger
| one casts shv but modest look al you
| ont OF her shawl as they pass. On the
| other side Of the street there Is an Indian
! girl whose wealth of black hair streams IN
/ a frowsy way down her shoulders, and
| whose plump form Is bent almost double
I under the great load of red Jars she Is
| carving and now through them all comes
| squad of soldiers. dark-faced ana snlIens
! under the command OF an officer Who looks
! down. as proud as LucifeT, out OF his sad
die Here are sser-carriers and peddlers
| milliOnaires and paupers; the rich and the
| poor; the great and the small, all mixed
| up together in one Of the most picturesque
! and the most delightful conglomeratlons
| Won will find anywhere in the world.
| Every way your eye turns IL meets new
/ sight and everything IS strange 1o9
glance about yea in bewil6eTment and
wonder where YOU are You pnt Your
/ hand 70 your head and almost ask when
! the curtain will fall and hide the great
I show from view. As you 60 on you are
accosted by peddiers and gooc-nAiore
! highwayrnen IN big hats and red oISnkets-
Z ~ 1Gf3 vns