The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1901-12-22

As We wouUcr Trough The dear Old bust
,vcr rev Republic at Mexico, we are CON.
strained TO SAY with him of old. THAT
which was from Tho beginning, which we
I,sye seen With our cvrs. which we have
looked upon and our hands have handed
Before we ARE we'll out Of Laredo we me-
Gin TO ihiuk spanish and 10y the tmc wa
lrlyc rcachcd Cudad Monterey, we are
not only thinking but are wishing we could
and arc even trying to speak Spanish u
sc. ms so easy n W listen to the sof; words
slip from The lips Ike gentle hrcczr Oh
an Indian summer day, or the swish, swi-Ii
or ,hr waves OH Tho sandy shore ~ u
great calm rests on the ocean.
rho weary traveller llcw 1t soothcs
How ii rests! Il Is not our purpose TO
write history of Mexico; for that' even
81 wa hnA the ttme and space. would be
supcrfuous. for almost every child over y
years ~ age Is now studying Che history
Of Mexico our sister country; hul by re
quest We touch upon some ot the iutercs'
In Monterey we first visit the cathedral
ON ZarHgozu plaza. the erection Of when
was started 10y Dou Martin IdyNi1 shortly
after his appointment as royal governor OF
the province Of New Spain. Here we see
the poor halfbrccd kueel before the Holy
Virgin, and hardly a foot from this half
clad fellow bowed Ia earnest prayer upon
the floor without cushion or cnrpCt. are the
beautifully dressed sonora and scnoriia; far
apart in this worlds goods, but both near
60 God.
The Iturbide hotel was once the Catholic
college and Is not without interest Ia the
tourist, but perhaps the most Interesting
place TO the American Is the bishops pail
ace on Chcpevare hill, Il commanding Local
lion overlooking the city of Monterey. As
we stand on the summit and close our
eyes we see the brave American boys, nm
der the command Of General Taylor, creep
ing up the hill ont of thc valley below; now
they reach the top, now tho drum Is beat.
ing, the hugle sounds, the cannon helch
forth In awful fury, the surprise Is com
plete, We have only TO look ON The har.
Tered walls Of the palace tu realize how
awful must have hern the work done lhrre
that day. Monterey has been the scene Of
many battles and Still hears more al loss
signs Of her struggles In the encounter
betty cen tho American and Mexican troops,
which occurred At tho bridge which spans
the "Oio de Aqua EYE OF wateri canal,
the latter succeeded In defending the
bridge The image Of the Virgin which
ornamented the masonry work Of the
bridge is still there and In a good state uf
preservation The pazas or parks are. like
IN all other Mexican cities. many and bead
tlful. AT Iaragoza plaza we take the
mule ear and begin the climb up the side Of
the mountain 10 Topo chico springs, No
one should miss this "trip. As we ascend
we look back aud 10! We are gazing on the
Z famous saddle mountain: also the Metro
. mountains. After an hunr's steady but very
SLOW climbing we reach the springs the
water Is so not thht dIlcf IL u lei INTO the
tubs we must ueeds walt a few minutes
for the steam TO clear away This water
comes directly from the mountains and Is
noted for lts mineral Qualities
From Monterey we so TO Satllo The
scenery between these two cities is one
never to be forgotten This city, like an
other Mexican cities, is full Of historic in
teresf Then away TO San Luis Poiosl-
her we hnd cathedrals too numerous TO
mention. there being over seventy, and the
city only claims about G0Od0 people All
the cathedrals show signs OF vns eNpenli-
lures Of money. which has mostly been
contributed bv the desperately poor. Here
IN the government pawn shop we find
an old silver medal bearing the dafe OF
1Gdc, The hgure Of the yirgin On oHe side
and serpent on the other There Is still
q small piece of faded ribbon run through
fhe eye az the top and shows signs ~
years and age We are told that az onR
Tins these sacred medals were turned over