Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1892-04-09

AustC tcslS ne viii near IL on sJIluReu III
strlments and in human voice as he never
heard 1t else where. Will be mount a sad
die? No where outside Arabia are there
such horses, such riders Will be drive z
From the palace of Chapultepec to to he
plaza of the city he will traverse one of the
most magnificent pleasure ways in the
world, as broad as the Chamrs Elysees,
und three miles long. Will he white arch.
ed aqueducts remIndful of the oldest forms
of city architecture? He will find them
in Mexico within range of the open prom
enades of Chapu'tepec. Will be gray,
dim, sandy deserts, with solitary horse
men in brilliant scarves flying like arrows
across their silence? He viii not have to
travel far from Chaputepsc. Will he
carvings on great stones to tell CT the age
of the world and the antiquity of sculp-
ture2 They are at his door. Viii he
dancer Nowhere more Qayly than in Mex
leo. Will he read? 1t has ancient lib.
raries and modern book-stalIs In fact
all that is ancient, all that is modern, all
that is western, all that is eastern, all that
is pagan, little that is christian, all that
is polished, far more that is primitive but
not rough, all that is charming to the
senses and much that is revolving to the
soul, is in Mexico to a degree nowhere else
in the world.
Those who have never been in lands
where mountains are higher than clouds,
who have never watched for hours through
instantly changing wells of vapor begin
ning with the deep rose OF tropical sun
rise and extending into the clear high
gold of meridian comulus, now seeming
cloud, now seeming peak, have no concep.
ton of the sybilline nature Of the atnos-
phere or the weird fascination of altitude
and distance. Far above the ordinary
level of mems habitation atmospheric eff
fects are Taplcllly unlike those lower
down. Doubtless science would account
for this difference easily enough; poetry
prefers to leave science out and deal with
the air and its ceremonias purely in Hell
lenc mood. Tue cloud effects of mountain
neigh borhoods have been from the begin
King of time the marvel the delight, the
defiance of men. At certain points in the
Alps one sees within a few minutes change
Of focus nearly every imaginable aspect of
nature-the pleasant dales, the little
white winged vessels on the mountain
lakes s 600 feet beneath, the dim towers
of hlmlets, the winding ribbon Of silver
streams. In another direction there is
storm and stress, furious winds are out
from AL the caves, thunder growis and
lightenings leap from crag to erag. Else.
where clear skies smile on deep tranquil.
~ and suddenly as from nowhere the be.
holder OF these marvels of Gods pastimes
finds his own face wet with cloud. his
nearest companion invisible, his feet
nailed 10 the soil lest single step should
find unsupported verge of gorge; and in
archer instant the majestic food of sun
light again envelopes tue mountain, and
the SHOWS, that have not melted no one
knows for how long on the distant daz-
zIing terraces, blind The astonished eyes
with heavenly radiance.
But that is Switzerland. The two great
sentinels of the valley OF Mexico, when
the writer hereof saw them, were in early
spring majesty, now many miles away no
one knew. Whether the mass of fleece
we're cloud or cap no one dared assert. As
the train kept ITS steadfast way up tho
gradients they seemed nearer, nearer,
nearer, soon to be unveiled, soon to be
hailed with open salutation of homage:
but farther, farther, farther they grew as
we grew nearer. Now they swept as if
angrily out of vision, and the sky was
overborne with gray, lavender, silver and
opal. Now the sunlight rested on their
cones like gold on a bishops miIre. Nov
the clouds wheeled swiftly about like
FquaGrons drilling and manueyerjng.
Now mighty winds clutched cloud masses
and threw them about il caprice or fury.
Still ever they wen farther away, ever re
firing, hiding, eIuding the eve, escaping
from the heavens utterly. All phenome-
non RuskIn notes In the myth of Athena
of the air we're visible, inglorlous but
elusive professions. What Aztec deities
may not have fought upon their metal
sides. What fables of prehistoric ages
must have been drawn from their tremend-
eous fTowns, their demon like furtiyeness;
colossal humors. Why, in such presen e,
should not man as before the Hlmalayas
and the Caucasus fail upon his knees and
worship fire as the god of gods, fire that is
In the sun, in the moon, in the stars, in the
lightniugs, in the clouds, and FIRE that
from time to time belched forth from these
uplifted hel.sl of snow and poured down
death from hundred living rivers on
villages that awoke only to die? At last:
as If 4 Toltec Jove with electric finger
drew back the curtains, the mighty pair
sat before us, opal azure or the Mexican
ky investing their eternal calmness, the
MONDAY sun giittering on their SHOWS. all
other elemental forces invisible, silent. in
presence OF their majesty.
Every day during the dry season in
Mexico Jay Gould can see these visions
The two great peaks are his nearest neigh.
bors The Palace Of Chapultepec siaads
on rock that is master Of hundreds of
miles on mountain, valley, and plain. 1t
is soiidIy built Of stone, its architecture
Characteristic only Of the country, neither
Roman nor Gothic, neither Greek nor
Moorish, square, massive, spacious. So
mud is the air that the covered prone
uades are frescCed in modern Italian taste.
The rooms are large and during the &C.
cuplncy Of Maximllian and Carlotta were
all refurnlshad with the newest upholstery
and carved light woods Of Paris. The
furniture would have been equally at home
IN the IuIIsries Every foot Of the adjac.
ert grounds Is historic On no other part
of the American continent can he read and
feel so much in so short time. TIE
story Of C1rtez and the glory
of the ca ,us-re8rjug Aztec is mere.