The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-06-27

perior arms Of the Spaniards and. above
all. the terror impaired by their cavalry,
were too much for the Indians. who had
never seen horses before. and believed
horse and rider to be one frightful super
natural being. AT the end Of six days
hard fighting, the Indian king was slain
and the suhjugation of his followers was
accomplished. Alvarado completely de-
stroyed their capital RACED the temple OF
their idols TO the ground. and built on
its site a Catholic church on July q, 1924
the festival of St. James. the patron
saint of Spain. Alvarado assembled his
horsemen, the Mexican Indians who had
accompanied him, and as many Guate-
malans as could crowd around, under
tree, which is still standing, when the
chaplain, Fray Juan Godnez, said Mass,
invoking the protection Of the apostle and
christening the city of which this church
was to be the center San Diego de los
Cabeileros-'St. James. the Gentleman"
For fifteen years Alvarado kept thousands
of Indians hard at work building the new
city upon the ruins OF their own.
But in 1874, only seventeen years after
its beginning. there came a calamity which
entirely destroyed the place and buried
nine-tenths of its inhabitants under the
debris. Accounts of the catastrophe say
that il had rained necessarily for three
days, and on the fourth the fury of the
wind the ceaseless lightning and dread
full thunder were indesCribable. At O'Clock
in the morning earthquake shocks became
so vio.ent that the terror-tricken people
were unable to stand. And then an euor-
nous body of water came tearing down the
mountain side, bringing with it trees and
great masses of rock, and entirely over
Whelming the town with an avalanche OF
earth and ashes. Dense darkness added
horror to the work of destruction, and
hardly soul escaped. Alvarado himself
with a company of cavalry happened to
be off on the expedition; but his palace
was crushed, and in it persisted his young
and beautiful wife, Donna Beatrice dc Ia
Queba, the daughter of a noble family of
CASTLE. The cathedral, which sat on a
mound forty feet high was buried to the
roof, but year and years afterwards when
the sand was dug away and all the holy
relics were found uninjured, the miracle of
their preservation was attributed to St
James, who certainly acted, "the gentle
man in this instance.
Enough remains of Alvarado's house,
half covered with sand, to indicate its
original massive grandeur. AS this ear
liest governor of Guatemala had the
reputation of keeping great stores of gold
and silver in his house-the treasure OF
conquered Indian kings-many excava-
lions have been made in the ruins. So
far they have resulted in no remunera.
tive discoveries. but have disclosed some
fine carvings and wonderful frescoes and
other evidences of the beauty of the
home to which AlVarado brought his ~
fated bride To-day a low-browed house
stands above its ruins, with this inscrD-
ton over the door: "Complimentaria Es-
cauia Para Ninas"-a free school for
girls The tree under which tradition
says Alvarado and his soldiers first camp
ed, and where Padre Godinez sanctified
the short-lived city by religious services,
looks rather too hourishing to have been
large enough for the purpose nearly four
centuries ago. Alas for romancel Our
visions of conquistadores with lance and
halbred and the blood-red banner of
Spain. were badly disturbed by the rea:-
ity of a Studebaker wagon, from South
Bend. Ind, and several empty bottles
bearing the brand of a Chicago brewer
under the sacred shade. The fountain
of Almolouga, which gave the aboriginal
city its name and first induced Alvarado
to select the spot as the site of his capital
is = large, natural basin of clear and
beautiful water, shaded by trees. Sad to
say, il has been walled up and partitioned
off into apartments for bathing purposes
and laundry work; and here all the wo-
men Of the vicinage come to cleanse their
dirty linen
No attempt has ever been made to ex-
caVate the greater portion of the buried
city. 1t must have been very rich. for
tie Spaniards had collie ed there all the
treasures they could lay hands on. After
three and three-quarter centuries II rests
secure, and above ii houses are built and
fine estates cultivated When somebody
goes searching intelligently In this second
Pompeii he will no doubt be well rewarded
The old church was dug out of the sand
and patched up, and is yet in use. In one
corner is a gruesome chamber, filled to the
brim with bones and skulls taken from the
ruins. What a time there will be to tell
(which is which" when Gabriel blows his
trumpet on the resurrection morning! The
pictures, hangings and altar ornaments
are said to be the very same that we're
placed there in Alvarado's time. and lay
buried 200 years. For a small consider
alton" the custodian priest will unlock a
great iron chest and exhibit communion
vessels, incense burners, urns, crucifixes
and other sacred untensls of solid god
and silver. Among the other treasures Is
a magnificent golden crown which was
presented to this church In its early days
by one of the Philips of Spain. Originally
it was thickly studded with diamonds and
emeralds, but all the precious stones have
been removed. The old priest and all the
native bystanders cross themselves iever-
emily before those treasures are taken from
their box, and again when they are put
away. The only people who patronize
the church nowadays are Indians, 20 the
number OF 1000 of 5000. who live along the
lower ssope of the volcano So the splen-
did ancient vessels are never used but
are kept as sacred relics. Merely as show
pieces they would yield a handsome reve-
nue. were American tourists and curiosity
seekers more numerous in this out-of-the-
way corner of the hemisphere.