The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-07-15
BIG FEAT IN
/ OLD MEXICO
Mask Begun Three Hundred Years Ago
. - Nearly Finished.
DRAINING AN IMMENSE VALLEY
Millions Of Money and Thousands of
Lives Expended..vast Area Of
Valuable Lands Made Tenablc rs a
Result.
From the Mexican Herald.

ished, the drainage Of the Mexican val
ley, which has required for its compile
tion nearly 800 years and many millions
of dollars, and has cost the lives of hum
dreds OF thousands of men.
The valley of Mexico is an immense
basin, of approximately circular shape,
with one extreme diameter of about six
ty miles, completely bounded by high
mountains out Of the basin. The sur
face Of this valley has mean altitude
above the sea of 7,i13 feet, and an area
Of about 1900 square miles. Mountain
ranges rise on every side, making
great corral of rock, containing dozens
of villages and hamlets, with the an
cient capital IN the center. In times
past the fires of volcanoes licked up the
earth, and such fires still live in the
mommoth Popocatepetl from whose
great nav of sulphur fumes and smoke
with jets OF flames have poured through
the centuries.
The valley thus hemmed in with solid
walls Of rock had been an inland sea for
many cycles, and during the early ex-
istence of man here the salt waters
spread over large extent of the de-
preston. The waters have been grad
ually lessening by ssepage and svapora-
ton. and the Aztec pilgrims coming
from the north in the fourteenth CEN
tury, having received a sign that they
were to build their queen the world
city on a small island Of the sea, set
about building dikes and combating the
overflow of the waters. Many of their
works remain to this day, and show
that the valley was divided by them
lnt6 fve great departments. The dikes
We're built under the direction Of King
NetSahualcoyoti, relative of the En-
peror Montezuma, whose surviving
works prove him to have been an en-
gineer whose conceptions and accom-
plishments would have given him high
standing even among modern engineers.
ON DRY GROUND.
Originally buflt in the midst Of lake.
the city has been left on dry grounds by
the receding waters. Lake Texacoco-
some three miles distant-Chalco, and
Nochimilco have attitudes nearly four
feet greater than the pavement OF the
capital. Still more imperiously do the
lakes to the north dominate the city.
San Chsistobal and Xaltocan are about
five feet. while zumpango is over thir-
teen feet, above Il. ,
The project now completed is q Ynodi-
fication of a scheme projected by Simon
Mendez In the time of the Spanish gov
ernment. which in 1s49 was adopted by
Captain Smith of the corps of American
engineers which accompanied General
Scott's army. The tunnel was ultimate
ly located under the saddle and through
the ravine of Acatlan, its mouth being
near the village of Tequiquiac. The
works have been begun several times
and then suspended without effecting
anything of Importance. In 1866 the
works now nearing completion, Were
commenced. A project proposed by
Senior Francisco de Garay,a well known
engineer of the city of Mexico, was pro-
nounced the most feasible. But the
revolutionary struggle succeeded, and
for many years the work was relegated
to the background.
In 1879 Engineer Don Luis Espinosa,
the president director of the works. took
charge of the undertaking. In the first
period mentioned the cutting of Tequix-
quaic was excavated, and the greater
part of the shafts were begun. But at
that point the work was stopped by
political agitation. The work was
really commenced in 1885, when the city
council of Mexico submitted a project
to the federal government and offered
to contribute largely to the cost. Presi-
dent Porfirio Diaz then named a special
commission with ample authority to
disburse the funds dedicated to the
work, and this body up to the present
date has directed its execution. The
drainage works. now carried out, will
receive the surplus waters and sewage
Of the City of Mexico, and carry them
outside of the valley, and 1t will also
control the entire waters of the valley
anording an outlet, whenever found
necessary, to those which might other.
wise overflow fields and towRs render
ing the soil stagnant and marshy. The
sewers of the City of Mexico form 6
network Of covered channels, located
sometimes in the middle and sometimes
On the sides of the streets, these beine
almost gorges, communicating with 6
system OF secondary sewers that empt,
into a collecting sewer discharginx in.
to the canal of San Lazaro, which trans
ports the sewage to Lake Texcoco. L
the water is high In the lake the water
Lacks up into the sewers and satllra Is,
the soil under the houses and streets,
FORT YMILEs DONE.
The canal and six-mise tunnel
Through the mountain range have 6
total length approaching forty miles
The present works will take rank witt
the great achievements of noderr
times just as the immense "cut" o
Nochitongo their unsuccessful pre,fe
cesscr. was the leader among the an
Client earthworks in all the world Th,
completed system will have cost s2O
100000.
The benefits Of these works to fh,
city OF Mexico cannot be overestimattd
Instead Of being one OF the heal thies
cities in the world. as 1t should be will
its magnificent climate and situation
Mexico, unfortunately, has a terribl
heavy death rate, due principally {,
want Of drainage and generally bat
sanitary conditions. When the exist
ing danger OF foods is removed ant
the sanitary evils are remedied by
proper system OF drainage, the in
creased security that will be enjoyed b.
life and property will certainly hav
its effect on the prosperity o6 the city
Property will rise in value, the pOpula
tion will grow with rapidity. not I
mention the tide of tourists that Wi
get IN from the United States and tht
win mean larger revenues for the city