El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1899-01-10

e. THSU UHII1 nCnHIU,
IAN ANCIENT
AZTEC CITY
Buried Beneath the Soil
Of Ell Paso
TREASURE VAULT FOUND
Which Is Supposed To Contain Vast
Stores OF Gold And Manuscripts
Of the Extinct Race That Once In
habited Mexico. -Mundy's Addition
Is the Site Of A Castle Built OF
White Marble Which Was the
Abode VI Priests.
Is Ell Paso built above the ruins of q
buried city? is the question now being
asked, and II the word of DR.. Berson, &
learned archeOlOgist, is to be taken as
conclusive the answer should be in the
affirmative.
That eminent scientist asserts with
positive assurance that where the pres
emit fOurishing and modern metropolis
of the south west, Ell Paso, now stands
was, centuries ago, the site of q mag
nificent city of castles and palaces
whose walls were of solid masonry and
polished marble.
Before Cortez set foot on the soil of
Mexico. before the Emperor Montezu-
ma was tortured by the cruel Spanisrds
into disclosing the hiding place of his
gold, and before the unhappy Aztec
was driven to the mountains by his
palaces and mines of fabulous richness
confiscated, DR.. Berson claims that q
beautiful Aztec castle stood at this
point on the banks of the Rio Grande
and that 1t was buried beneath the pre-
sent surface of the earth by q volcanic
eruption of old Mount Franklin.
A LEARNED MAN.
DIR, Berson has spent the best years
of his life in Investigating the ruins of
Mexico and collecting relics of vast i'm
pOrtance to science.
His researches in Disz's domains
have been under the auspices of the
government and he has had complete
access to the archives where the most
ancient records CT that historic coun-
try are stored. among the musty
and decsying records he found an old
parchment containing an account of q
splendid castle, surrounded by a thirty
ing city, that once stood upon the left
bank of the Rio Grande. The castle
was used as q temple by Aztec priesss
and within its walls vast treasured
were stored and valuable records
kept.
Realizing Immediately the benefit
science would derive could he but To-
cate the castle or its ruins and procure
some of the relics of the ancient and
extinct Inhabitants of the land, DIR.
Berson sought further among the old
records until he ran across q chart that
showed him the exact location of the
spot where the castle once stood.
He became enthused with the mag
nitude OF his discovery and in an
audience with President Disz persuad-
ed him to authorize q search for the
ruins and share the expense of the
work. The president being q patron of
the arts and sciences and q champion
OF literature, as we'll as q scholar and
gentleman, readily agreed to assist the
learned explorer financially.
DR.. Berson accordingly set out to
discover the lost city and unearth the
valuable records of the buried castle.
Unfortunately he started at the mouth
of the river and investigated the Mex
lean shore, that in his opinion being
the Cleft bank. After months of
fruitless search it occurred to him that
the left bank meant the bank at the
left hand side of man when he faces
down stream.
THE SPOT LOCATED.
After that THINGS were easy and re-
suits were astonishing.
By means of his chart the doctor re-
Oily located the exact spot where the
ancient Aztec castle stood and now
stands with its highest point covered
by sand and fragments of volcanic
rock
The chart showed that the castle
stood less than three quarters of mile
distant from where the Ell Paso custom
house now stands. The castle, says
,he doctor, is buried beneath the soil
If 81. M. Mundy's addition within the
corporate limits of this city.
When DR.. Berson located the spot