Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-04-14
ANCIENT CITIES
FOUND IN RUINS
Habitations of a Grand and
Prehistoric Race.
REPORT MADE BY MExIcANS
Had Been Searching for Ties for Pan
American Railway.
STORIES ARE NOT CREDITED
Archaeological skeptical Regarding
the Alleged Discoveries-Have
Basis Of Probability.
STORIES ARE NOT CREDITED

the Alleged Dt9cover1es-Have
a Basis Of Probability.
/ BIZ WILLIAM d. CURTIS.
special Correspondence Of The star ana tie Chiesse
tPIJaJIAPAM. State Of Chiapas. Mexico.
| April O. 1905.
II what appear to be reliable reports
prove to be true. there have recently been
discovered In southern Mexico ruins Of an
| ancient race SURPRISING In extent and
grandeur even those of Palenque. which
are In the same neighborhood. Three ma
| tive Mexicans. timber cruisers" searching
the forests for ties for the Pan-American
| railway, claim to have found the remains
| OF two cities larger In extent than Chicago
or New York, with long streets inclosed
Dy buildings OF dressed granite and paved
with blocks OF stone. The two cities are
connected by highway several miles long
also paved In a similar manner Tn the
midst OF these cities are temples and PAL
aces OF magnificent proportions and MANY
other buildings SO substantial that time
mas been unable to destroy them. In many
places the walls are inscribed with picto-
graphs and characters which resemble those
OF the Chinese. Both cities cover an area
of several square miles and are In the
midst of an almost impenetrable forest
concealed by the vegetation Of centuries
This Is the report which three railway
tfe-cutters brought to Mr.. Cox. superinten-
dent of the Pan-American railway, and he
Is inclined to credit their statements be-
cause OF similar ruins he has himself seen.
Senior Emilio Rabasa, member of the Next
can senate from the state of Chiapas who
lives at San Cristobal, the capital of that
state, tells me that such a discovery is
impossible because the territory in which
fhn Stv,c
SO we'll known. Senior Rabasa thinks 1t
probable that the timber cruisers may have
come across Palenque or that they may
have found other ruins which were I'M
known to them and appeared very grand
to their eyes. He Is not an archaeologist
but Is learned gentleman and a member
Of the faculty Of the Academy of Fine Arts.
Skeptical About the Reports.
Professor Antonio Batres chairman of
the national archaeological commission
which has supervision of all ruins and other
monuments of antiquity in Mexico has
heard nothing of the discoveries and is
not inclined to credit the report. Professor
Batres believes that a matter OF such i'm
portance would have been promptly re-
ported to him. He is now engaged In very
important excavations at the pyramids OF
the sun and moon near Teotihuacan, about
twenty-seven miles north of the City of
Mexico, and his work received a well-de-
served compliment in the message submit
ted to congress on the LIST of April by
President Diaz- He has recently discovered
monumental stairway approaching the
pyramids.
In his message President Diaz makes an
earnest recommendation in favor of liberal
appropriations for the National School of
Archaeology, which will be part of the
new university which is in contemplation
by the government. There is no wider
field for archaeological research and study
than Mexico because this soil has been the
theater of at least three distinct and sue
eessive civilizations which have left re-
mains of their arts and industries scat
tered all the way from the Rio Grande to
Central America.
Mrs Zelia Nuthall, perhaps the most emil
nent and accomplished of women arch
aeologists, tells that she has heard
nothing of the discoveries In Chiapas. but
she is not so skeptical as Senator Rabasa
and Prof. Batres, and believes that there
may be some foundation for the statements
made by the timber cruisers to Mr.. Cox.
Mrs Nuthall is now making Mexico her
home. She lives In the suburb Of Coyacan,
formerly the headquarters of Cortez, whose
residence is now occupied by the municipal
government. Mrs. Nuthall lives in the
house OF .Alvarado, who was second in
command among the invaders and who
conquered Guatemala and set up a Spanish
government there. 1t is large and quaint
old structure with walls as thick as would
be needed for a fortress and she has re-
stored 1t with great expense and care to
Its original condition The rooms are filled
with appropriate old Spanish furniture
which Mrs. NuthaI has picked up in her
travels about the republic. much of 1t
being of the same period as the conquest.
An Ignored Ruined City.
1t is not strange that the alleged discov-
cries should have escaped the attention of
the official archaeologists OF Mexico. be-
cause they are so busy working among
the ruins In the neighborkood of the capt.
ia; that they have scarcely time to think
Of anything else. And there other
important ruins which have never received
their attention. Within seven miles from
the city. Of Tonala, one of the most popu-
lous places upon the Pan-American rail-
way is a mountain covered with the
mains Of magnificent prehistoric city
which can be seen from the car windows
with an ordinary glass. There Is no trail
to them, which shows that they are seldom
visited, and Mr.. Cox was unable to find
any person In the city who had ever been
there Nor could any one tell him any
thing about them. The people of Tonola
have. been born and raised and died, gen.
Grafton after generation for a series of
centuries with these ruins in sight and
have no curiosity whatever about them.
They are as commonplace as the forests
that surround and conceal them. the
clouds In the sky.
The ruins have never been explored; they
have never been described in any publ
cation so far as Mr.. Cox knows: no scien-
fist has ever visited them Prof. Batres,
the official archoeoiogist has never been
there and knows nothing about them, and
Mr.. Cox declares that so far as he is able
to ascertain, other man but himself has
ever taken the trouble to penetrate the
jungle to see what is there. Nor Is 1t a
difficult climb. He says that he made the
trip in one day without much fatigue and
that 1t would be easy to cut trail to the
mountain top. This will be done as soon
ftn AYna
to business. A hotel will be built and other
accommodations for tourists will be pro-
vfded because these ruins are certain to
prove a great attraction. Nowhere in the
world can such a splendid and well-pre-
served prehistoric city be reached so COM
fortabiy. In few months anybody who
chooses may go there In Pullman car,
There lie a mountain fourteen or fifteen
miles long and three or four thousand
feet high rising Immediately back of the
city OF Tonola, at a distance of about seven
miles across fields and pastures and through
dense forest which extends the entire
length of the mountain. Upon Its slopes.