The National tribune., 1903-08-27

Surrounding the town and the valley are
the bare, grimly rugged mountains. great
walls of granite and clay, with peaks ris-
torn into CHASTITY gu,ches and ragged ra-
vines, as if they had been the battle
ground Of raging elements.
At first sight they seem indescrihabiy
ugly and repellant. bnt they have fasci-
Mating grandeur that grows day by day
on those who dwell among them. They
are so great. so solemn. 50 awful-so like
the eternity of silence and power. ever
changing lights and shadows over their
surfaces. where there is the solitude of
death. No life can exist-not even of the
hardest weed or shrub-uPon their burn
ing. deadly steriIity.
Instead. there are the most wonderful
shadinSS of color, such as Bicrstadt and
Abuish have tried to show on canvas to
n skeptical world. Caring yeIlcws. in
tense puppies. deep browns, opulent reds.
all vivid as Midsummer sunset, alter
nate. mingie and change along their EN-
battletf sides.
The Rio Grande. here dwindled to a
creek. on account of the "aceauias' or ir-
rigating bitches which intercept its wa
ters, winds through the valley very meek
ly now. but iii the rainy season it be
comes a raging food, before which mil
road embellishments and even the best
built bridges may go down.
THE MEXICAN CITY OF JUAREZ.
In striking contrast with the trim. sub
stantial, comfortable buildings of Ell PaSO
is the important town OF JUarez, with its
10000 people, only few hundreds
away across the Rio Grande. and reached
in few minutes by weilbuilt. we'll
run trolley line. owned and operated by
Americans. Though quite Il number of
American buildings have invaded the
place, the great majority OF the houses and
stores are of the one-story adobe arehi-
lecture, with earthen floors ard roofs. OF
sidewalks. sewers and cutters there are
none. The streets are not even grIded.
and all the, house Stops and refuse are
frankly flung out into them. Yet they are
not SO dirty as one would ina CINE. The
intense dryness of the air speedily removes
offensiveness. Many Of the windows have
iron bars, in the old Spanish style, which
seem the most expensive parts of the
houses. All have heavy board shutters.
As far as can be seen from the outside.
the houses have occasionally some cheap
American. furniture, bedsteads. etc, but
the most persons we see inside are taking
their siesta on the bare, cleanly-swept
ground, with some article of clothing fold
eo up tutiT UtduS IpF
One element of cleanliness seems relig-
ious with the Mexican women: they sweep
carefully in and around their houses.
Even about the miserable little adobes in
the desert the ground is swept for some
yards. Unfortunately they don't extend
their sweeping out into the streets OF
JuareZ.
The leaven Of Americanization has en-
tered .1uarez, but it is working more slow
ly than one would imagine. Possibly,
though, the process is quite as rapid as
in the foreign purlieus of New York and
other great cities.
TIE JUAREZ CATHEDRAL.
One Of the noted old cathetlraIs of Mex.
leo is here-an immense, barn-iike adobe
over 10 feet long, 20 wide, with plain
est of floors and woodwork, and the
beams of the lofty ceiling of timber
brought from no one knows where. But
the stained glass windows are rich, and
the paintings about the altar from famous
Spanish masters. Outside III the hot
bare, grassless, graveliy grounds, are bur
led the priests and others in the service
Of the cathedral, with their gravestones-
level with the surface-engraved with the
names and long records in Latin of the
men whose bones rest below. The bare
and sandaled feet Of generations of wor-
shippers have passed over these inscrip
tons, grinding the sand AMI gravel into
them, until they are now only legble with
difficulty. -r.
In the center of the city is little
square, with some struggling cottonwOods
which are having hard time to live
with a border of fiame-fowered tropi
cal plants, which give much vivid color tC
the place. The military band plays here
in the evening.
In the center is a pedestal about five
feet high, with a bronze bust of Juarez
about Is inches high on it. 1t is a good
deal of pedestal for very little bust, bu;
after all it is something, and it is artistic
and patriotic, something standing up in 8
wilderness of the dreariest commonplace
THE BULL-RING.
Much the finest building in the city
for costlier than the cathedral or the epis
cOpal residences the bull-ring. Its shape
and arrangements are those made famil
lar by the pictures of the Colosseum a
Rome-an exact reproduction on a small
scale, and in adobe, concrete and Texas
pine, of the marble and oak and bronze
where the gladiators- fought, and tn,
Christians were thrown TO. the lions. The
shape, the circular arena in the center
the entrances, the stair-like seats. tn,
boxes at the top are such duplicates of tn,
great theater of 10 centuries ago, that on,
would not be surprised to see tOgaed Sen
ators in the boxes and excited vesta
virgins turning their thumbs down, be
yond the arena, while the vizored victo
stood astride his PROSTATE foe with blood,
blade and looked up ut them for thei
verdict.
A tall, muscular, alertly moving man
wearing an American-nlade suit of clothe
and broad brimmed black hat. enter
and moves around with an inspectin:
glance of the arrangements. He has
high nose. jet-black hair. and the complex
ion of coffee with plenty of cream in il
He moves about with an air of reticen
superiority. and the wOrkymen regard hin
with an air of admiration and respect.
''Who is that MANI" 1 asked; 9Th
owner or manager?"
'No. He is a quite noted bull-fghter.
| JOHN MCELRoY.
|