The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-12-10

ure, and from which three doors give
admission to as many great halls. At
Uxmal, the splendid governors house,
so-called, is a similar plan; it is 800
feet long by 40 feet deep, and stands on
a natural elevation, artilclally he1ght-
ened by stone blocks rising in three
terraces.
Ornate Architecture,
These and other buildings equally gil
gantfc seem to have been pretty bare
and plain as to their interiors, but orna-
mented most deliberately and richly on
the outside, the walls being covered
with matched pieces of hard stone, laid
in zigzag patterns. Wherever the mas
onry was exposed on the exterior 1t
was covered with red plaster and work
ed smooth. The floors were laid with
rough blocks of stone
1t is hard to imagine how the pre-
historic architects, without the help or
iron tools, quarried out the mighty
slabs and pillars Of granite employed
in the structures described or how they
shaped them. Some of the pillars are
rs feet high, and in one place a whole
avenue of them has been found. one
Of the most curious of the buildings
Is the so-called spiral of Chichen-Itza,
which is circular in form. of massive
masonry. % feet in diameter and with
narrow double passage running all
around 1t. 1t stands on two artificial
terraces, one above the other, and form
the first to the second extends a stair
way of 20 steps, the rail of which is
carved to represent entwined serpents.
The walls and pillars of the old Maya
buildings are adorned with countless
human heads, more or less carocatured,
and the artists of that ancient race APP
pear to have had great fancy for
making masks for corpses and deaths
heads of incrusted work. Representa-
tions of fishes, snakes, lizards and mon
keys are numerous.
The early Inhabitants Of Yucatan
seem to have had a great deal of gold
and considerable quantities of the met
al have been found in graves. Human
teeth overlaid with gold were sometimes
used as ornaments and golden roses
were worn in the ears. Apparently
gold was conspicuous among the Of
ferings made to the gods, and it is easy
to imagine that in that way the priests
accumulated large quantities of the
precious metal. Shields inlaid with a
mosaic Of stones and studded with gold
were carried in war, the limbs being
somtimes protected with arm pieces
and greaves Of thin-hammered silver
plate, while the feather coats of the
leaders were garnished with gold and
silver. The leading warriors had he'll
NETS in the shape of heads of snakes,
crocodiles and panthers, and they rem
dered themselves additionally fearsome
to look at by the help of grotesQue
masks. Some wore body armor padded
thickly with cotton and shields of cane
wadded with cotton and capable Of be-
ing rolled up.
According to the legend current
among the ancient Mayas themselves.
their own remote ancestors were a very
miserable race, depending for food up
on worms and snails and unacquainted
with houses and clothing, until there
suddenly appeared from the westward
band of heroes, headed by giant
named Gamma. This benevolent Titan
was the founder of their civilization.
He taught them the arts, and particu-
larly writing. This writing was HERO
glyphic in character and was known
only to the priests and mobiles. Many
books were made Of it, and of these
few are extant in various libraries of
the world.
Destroyed by Priests.
Unfortunately the fanatical Span
ish priests destroyed as many Of them
as they could so that comparatively
little is understood to-day regarding
the ancient Mayas and their customs.
The paper used was made by macerat-
ing the leaves of the century plant,
beating out the fiber and sizing with
long sheet folded backward and for
ward like a screen or map. Both sides
of the paper were used and the sheet
was bound by attaching boards to the
outer folds.
The aboriginal culture of the west
ern hemisphere attained it's highest de-
velopment in Yucatan. Here the Span
ish explorers found cities of noble
though peculiar architecture, a people
of refined manners clothed in woven
and dyed cotton stuffs and a literature
and history inscribed on animal and
vegetable parchments. Not until 1870
did the conquerors under Francisco De
Cordova first land upon the shores of
the peninsula. They found it divided
into IS or 10 independent petty states
or provinces, each ruled by hereditary
chief. The provinces were feebly unit
ed in a confederation, but jealousies
and small quarrels gave rise to fire.
quent intertribal wars, and these con-
flicts are mainly accountable for the de-
struction of many of the cities whose
ruins yet remain to excite the wonder
and admiration of archeologists.-
Washington Post.