Durango semi-weekly herald., 1904-01-14

down all the trees and to the stoppage
of the drains and the irrigatjng ditfhes
which have overfiowed the low lands
In the neighborhood and turned them
into swamps. Friends In Madrid eau
toned us against staying here for any
time for fear we would catch a fever.
In the days OF the Moors. il was con
sdcred the most perfect paradise on
earth, and later the Andalusan nobil-
ity made 1t fayorite residence and re-
sort, but two centuries ago 1t sank
into a dull, ill-provided city of remi-
niscences; the palaces of the once
rich and powerful noblesse are vacant;
the grass grows from the crevices OF
the pavements of their patios, and the
leading inhabitants OF the town are
now the managers of the farms of the
nonresident landlords. AS one OF the
greatest admirers of Cordoya says.
Sterl b. Thomas and family Of Cor
tez stopped over night in the city and
left this morning for Des Moines,
where they will make their future
home. The knights OF Pythias. Wood
men of the World and large number
of other friends gave him great send
of giving him reception in the lodge
hall at Cortez Friday night
MIR. Thomas has lived in Cor
tez the last sixteen years and has
made host of friends, who wish him
success in his new home. He will go
into the real estate business.
There are now but few and fast fad
ing vestiges of the glorious Moslem
dominion Indeed. artists and poets
will feel that their progress Is little
else than following the long funeral
of that eastern genius that left no
heirs behind save such like cities as
this one, that sit in widowhood point
ing to some great monument as an elo-
quent record of past magnifcence."
Cordova now has less. than $4,000
inhabitants. In the days of the 3o-
mans 1t had more than a million. and
for many centuries 1t was not only the
proudest and most populous city In
Spain, but was the seat of its greatest
wealth and industry. Everybody has
heard of Cordova leather. You can
now buy it of the curio dealers and
lne furniture men III INtW ioIht 'ii-
cago. In Hongkong and in Buenos
Ayres. Like the blades OF Toledo, 1t
was famous throughout the entire
world, and yet today not scrap can
be purchased in the city from which
ii came. There are still several tan
neries here. but they produce only or
dinary leather. The Morocco to which
Is Irta al
elsewhere. If 1t is made at all.
Cordova was the capital OF Islam in
the West, as was Damascus in the
East, and the residence of the richest
ruler of his age. Three miles north
west outside of the city walls, upon
the estate of the Marquis Goadalcazar.
was palace of the Moorish sultan,
quite as large as and even more cost
ly than the Alhambra. 1t Is said to
have represented an expenditure of
more than S250.000.000 1t was called
the Medinat Az-Iahra, and was erected
by Abderrahman Ill, one OF the great
est of the Moorish kings. The de-
scriptions left us by the arab poets
and writer's OF that day represent it as
tuuai III taA'hl anu ~
the Golden House of Nero and the
other palaces of the Caesars at Rome.
1t was built of marble and was large
enough to accommodate 1900 people.
Its decorations were of the same style
MS those of the Alhambra and the AL
caZar at Seville, and some claim that
they surpassed them. The harem OF
tbic luxuripup Garocou rnntnina6 t1OO
women, sample beauties from all the
countries of the world there were B.
900 mules and horses in the stable; 49,
900 pounds of meat were consumed by
his household daily; 1900 servants
and attendants waited upon him, of
whom 1850 were mercenary guards
kept by the sultan TO protect him
against his own people.
The palace was built in nine years
and finished in the year 936. The ar
chitect came from Bagdad and brought
with him from beyond the Mediter-
ranean 4312 columns of different kinds
of precious marble. He employed TO-
900 men. 2400 mules and 100 cames
in the work of construction, and more
than 5000 artisans and decorators
came from Damascus. Bagdad, Alex.
andria, Cairo and Constantinople.
The great hall in which the Khalif re-
ceived ambassadors was finished in
ebony and ivory; its eight doors We're
overlaid with gold and incrusted with
precious stones. In hall called AL
NUNS was Il fountain brought from
Constantinople. The water flowed
from the mouths of animals, sitting
around the rim of the basin. which
were made of pure gold and adorned
with precious stones.
An elaborate description of this ex.
traordinary structure may be found in
Al-Malkari's History of Magreb."
The palace had been occupied but
twenty-five years when it was burned,
and the ruins have been allowed to lie
undisturbed except occasit ly by
some treasure hunter or ht Ter In
Cordova who sought materi ! Or con
struction purposes. No &C vations
hrve ever baen made abou Il place.
and it Is believed that the RI rs CON
ceEl an unparalleled mine Moorish
art.
Unfer the rule of this prince, when
Cordova was the capital and the me-
trnnplic nf tho Nlonrc and tho wa,lth