San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1897-08-29
WAS IN THE SISTER REPUBLIC
FOR A MONTH AND SAW
WONDERFUL THINGS.
Describes The Nanl,rS. Customs,
Laws And People OF The lOun-
try And Tells About Tie
Wonderful Scen2ry. Ele
CANT ChlrlhtS. tic,

Mr.. II. j. Vogler, the well known
proprietor of the Alamo Trunk fac
tory of this city, has just returned
from an extensive pleasure trip to
Mexico. He is highly pleased with
his Journey and speaks in very praise
worthy terms of the country as a
tourists resort but tabooes it as a
place of residence for any but the
rich.
Most of Mr.. Vogler's time was spent
in the City of Mexico, where he says
he was treated royalty and with
which place he cannot find language
in which to express its many charms
and its exquisite scenery.
a Light reporter called upon Mr..
Vogler for an interview and found
him in his office complacently indulg-
ing the smoke of some genuine Mexi-
can cigarettes, the smoke of which
gently curled about him in his cosy
office while he was engaged in writ
ing several letters to friends in that
city. He graciOusly consented to give
some of his valuable time to a talk
and said:
My first sight of Mexico was from
the train ON the Mexican National
railroad, which by the way, is mar
row gauge affair, and it was simply
immense, far SURPRISING my most
wildly pictured imaginary ideas of
the country. The first really beautiful
mountainous scenery is encountered
at night and the moonlit mountain
peaks in the distance present a view
which cannot be surpassed in any
country in the world. The scenery on
the sides of these mountains is also
very beautiful, being constantly green.
The mountains appear to be very near
but in reality they are many miles
away. | asked the conductor the dis
lance to a mountain ridge which APP
peared TO me to be about half a mile
away and he replied that it was at
least fourteen miles.
''Some of these peaks appear to stop
short with fiat surface on the top,
but this is only where the clouds sur
round them, the top of the mountains
being surrounded by the clouds and
obscured from view. A person, how
ever, cannot form any accurate i'm
preston of the country, except from
a scenic standpoint, from the train,
as the road rarely ever passes through
a town, the depot being from half
TO a mile distant from the city proper.
zone peculiar thing which attracted
my attention was the earnest devo-
ton which the Aztec descendants
appear to have for their religion. Ev-
cry community has a church; in fact
they are almost like mileposts. l be-
lieve | saw one about every mile on
my journey. They are thick and all
are well attended, the people being
very strict in their devotion.
~ popularity, however, in connec-
ton with this is that there is not a
monastry or nunnery throughout the
whole republic, the government sew
eral years ago having contiscated all
their property and passed prohlbitory
laws against them.
This country, nevertheless, has
some of the finest devotional editices,
Catholic of course, as that is the rul-
ing religion, of any country in the
world There is the grand cathedral
in Mexico City, which is one of the
grandest pieces of, architectural work
in the world. 1t stands on the Zocola,
near the White House, or presidential
palace. 1t is $50 feet in length, POS
feet wide and from floor to ceiling in
side it is 179 feet. The towers are
$50 feet high.
1T was erected in the sixteenth CEN
fury on the site of an old Aztec In
dian worshipping edifice, some of the
remains of the ruins of which are yet
remaining. 1t is enclosed by an iron
fence 1t contains some of the most
beautiful statutes, richest carvings
and exquisite paintings of any place
il has been my good fortune to see.
1t contains one organ alone which has
5000 different pipes. In the walls on
the inside there are inches with stat
ues representative of the various ep-
isodes in the life of Christ There are
twelve of these, the exact number OF
beads of the Catholic rosary. The in
terror of the church is so spacious that
forty priests can sing mass at once.
Another one of the republics most
beautiful devotional edifice is the ia
nous shrine of Guadalupe. This is
reached by car which is taken on the
Zocola in front of the Grand cathedral
after a ride of about four miles. The
shrine is situated on the top of
mountain about 200 feet high and is
reached by climbing steps hewn from
the stone on the side of the mountain.
From the top of the mountain at
the shrine the most beautiful sight in
the Mexican republic can be beheld.
Before you lies the valley in which
is nestled the picturesque City of Mex
leo. Beside a view of the city you
have a view of three or four silvery
lakes and an excellent view of Mount
Popocatepetl, which l understand has