The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1903-08-30

II kEHlSlUklO
JEWELLERS I: |. E Rs:
|.AmerlCan Apartment Houses
Prior toAmeriCd's Discovery
\, THE first American fat dwelers, who
/ lived from three to five centuries before
Columbus landed on the shores OF the new
world, may furnish an interesting ex-
hibit at the st. Louis Fair, where 1t hH s
been suggested that some Of the apart
ment houses they occupied might be re-
produced on a small scale. 1t would not
be practicable to show them In full size.
because some Of them were actually rs
large as the great department, buildings
at Washington.
These huge monuments Of aboriginal
architecture would presented to view
In the shape Of accurate, though minln-
ture, copies. with Incidental arrange
ments to show how the prehistoic people
who lived In them were accustomed to
occupy themselves and, to pass their time.
One such structure. which has specially
suggested itself asa model, stands to-day
In hnlf-ruined condition on the banks
or the Animas River. 1t is about the
size Of the government Patent Office and
contained no fewer than five hundred
rooms.
In Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado
there is a region covering more than
five hundred square miles which ID thick
~ sprinkled With the architectural re-
mains OF these ancient castle builders. 10
give them that title. indeed, Is BY no
means inappropriate. inasmuch as many
OF the larger cdlRces erected by them and
built entirely OF stone were crowned with
massive towers and defended by forlnltl-
able oattlements, behind which garrison
was we'll protected against u besieging
enemy. Et1 ~ 53 a 3s RE lt-'i' :
Sucn buildings, in fact, did serve as
fortresses on frequent occasions Under
ordinary circumstances they housed whole
communities, providing shelter for
large number OF families, like modern
apartment house, but when danger threat
ened they were converted a. moments
notice into defensble works. and every
lnhaoitaht, without regard to age or sex,
was called upon to help in repelling the
foe. -ii5s siF 4R-
The people who built these castles and
towns on the shelves of the canyons have
passed - aWay put i Is far from correct to
as their descendants survive even at the
present day and are recognizable under
the names OF Moki and Zuni-two tribes
peaceful In character and i-cIvillzed8
WhiCh while Mnt lWnll.4
ers, occupying towns which are to all in
tents and purposes gigantic apartment
houses. being merely clusters Of rooms
1t should be realized that the ancient
fiat dwelers, though pre-Columblan. were
very far from being savages., They. were
peaceful race t'lllng the fields ,,. and rails,
excellent system Of irrigation. Sheep
they kept In large corrals, and they are
known also to have domesticated the dog
a variety Of uses, eating It's flesh, employ;
Ing IT'S feathers as material for burial
garments. and training the birds to run
races Traces OF race tracks for turkeys
hood OF some Of the prehistoric towns.
The people of the Cliff u-%ays kept OH
hand large stores Of corn ana ~. nea u.s. out
It. Is difficult ia, to see &c how Tor lack ion
Siege. Their fortresses were practically
impregnable, the outer walls being COM
mGaly erectea ush With he face Of fo, ths
only ,.be had through windows and by
means OF rope ladders which we're drawn
up when notice Of danger was given In
tenders could keep Off whole army of
assailants merely by dropping rocks. +,
The amount of labor expended In the I
towns described must hare, been enor-
nous. All OF the material had To, be
brought, piece BY piece, up the vertical
the outer walls was cut and dressed, and
finally layer Of plaster was spread
children mixed and spread the plaster,
and In many cases ting clear impression
Of slender fingers and chubby little hands
shows how they did It.
The flat dwellers knew no better weap-
on than the bow. and arrow They made
pottery and fine baskets, as we'll as mats,
and the pots they painted, beautifully:
Of tn key leatfers, 7 nd aoms slass
were walleu UP ~ the house. The air
was so dry that the corpses did not de-
cay. but wero converted into mummies.
face food was stored and In the middle
was the common kitchen, where shee?
were roasted in q pit, The. floors were Of
cedar logs with small poles laid across
tlCm and covered With a carpet OF cedar
bark.
The modern Moki and zuni have the
most elaborate religious ceremony In tho
world, and their ancestors We're no less
p!ous than they. One ct the most Import.
house wns circular tower, thirty or
forty feet in diameter, which had no doors
Or windows ana was aceessb nro on, Gnniy
two feet across 4 Only by crawling was
Z, possible for anybody to enter th9 toTo
the wsh OF Of the sun god. the CHEF d.
y!nlty recognized by the people Of the
cliffs. 55as
but a time must have arrived when
and property became more ssafe in that
part OF the country, The p n MGan 81 the
eyries, moving down into the valleys and
building their towns on t;ha, J plains, like
greater protection, they built on the ele-
waited mesas. as In the 9. 6! case 20, Of YalpI.
surrounded by precipitous cliffs, But even
to the present DAY the aneent 5sehvs
2unl Or Mold town heing to all lntents |