The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1897-05-01
SIGHTS TO BE SEEN in THE CITY OF DIEXIC0.

scheme should occupy a conspicuous
place among his country's public men
whatever may be thought of the JUS
tice of the proceeding-is not strange.
He was of pure Indian blood, and at
twelve was a poor errand boy unable
to speak the Spanish language. At
thirty-six he was a lawyer Of note and
chief justice of his native state.
PASEO DE LA REFORMA.
The Paseo de la Reforma, the fash
ionable drive of Mexico, is about two
and half miles long, and was laid out
by the unfortunate Carlotta during the
brief reign of her imperial husband,
Macmillan. 1t leads from the city to
the Chapultepec castle At the entrance
of the Paseo, going out of the city,
stands massive statue of Charles ~,
said to be the largest solid bronze figure
In the world. 1t was made in 1902 and
weighs over thirty tons. 1t was first
erected upon a pedestal in the Zocalo,
the plaza in front of the National Pal
ace, but about 1920 the feeling against
Spain became so bitter, growing out of
the revolutionary struggles, that this
statue was covered by a huge wooden
globe for a time and subsequently re-
moved from the plaza. Nearly thirty
years later, the Mexican feeling against
Spain having softened. 1t was placed
where 1t now stands. 1t is 10 TT. in.
high and is a real work of art. There
is also a fine statue Of Columbus-one
of the first erected on the continent
that he discovered. GuatemotZin, the
nephew and successor of MOntezuma, is
also honored by a beautiful memorial
and statues of many other Mexican
celebrities have been erected all along
this magnificent boulevard.
Guatemotzin sometimes written Gu
autemoc) was the last of the Aztec
monarchs. He came to the throne in
1920. at the age of twenty-four. Mon
tezuma died on the day before Cortez
and his followers were driven out of
the capital city by the natives, after
the brief Spanish occupation of less
than eight months. The night of their
evacuation is known in history as la
noche triste, and a tree beneath which
Cortez Is said to have sat down and
wept, on the night of his defeat, still
stands in the suburb of Popotla, sur
rounded by an iron railing to protect
1t from the vandalism OF relic hunters.
When the Spaniards succeeded in re-
gaining possession of the capital city,
a little more than a year afterward,
they found that the treasures of the
Aztecs had been either destroyed or
concealed, and to eXtort the secret of
their whereabouts from Guatemotzin
he was cruelty tortured by Cortez, who
had the feet of the captive ruler placed
over a fire, but was only able to learn
that the kings great wealth of gold
and precious stones had been cast into
the lake during the siege of the city.
The erection of the splendid memorial
to Guatemotzln on the Plaseo was or
| dered by General Diaz in 1876, when he
first became president, 1t is the work
of native artist, Jimenez. The relief
designs and inscriptions tell the story
of the heartless torture by the Spanish
conquerors, and bear ancient Aztec
symbols Surmounting all is a large
bronze statue of the heroic young ruler
1t represents a plumed warrior stand
ing erect, in the act of taking an arrow
! from his quiver.