The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1912-11-17

Los AmateS. Guatemala.
AVE you ever heard Of 0utri-
gua?
4 ! Seven hundred years before
Columbus discovered America. when
our ancestors Of Northern Europe
were living in huts. eating with their
fingers and sleeping on straw, II was
the most civilized place on the west
ern hemisphere. 1t had its pyramids
and its palaces, its temples and Its
novels. It had men who understood
fine masonry and artists who did won
derful carving II was the capital Of
q great population. which filled the
valley In which I am writings VAL
ley which In it's fertility 10 equal to
that OF the Nile. the Ganges. the
Amazon or the Kongo.
rhe valley Of The Motagua.
To-day this valley Is covered with
Jungle. Palm trees Of hundred
varieties wave their A,nlike leaves
over II. and lianas. from the thick
ness of your finger to that OF your
leg. bind the great trees together.
Mixed with the palms are mahoganies
and other hardwoods. so that the veg
citation IL almost impenetrable. The
underground Is dense and II IL good
woodsman who can cut his way Tor
two miles through the jungle inside
Of twelve hours. The soil and climate
are such that the clearing OF to-day
becomes a forest within a few years
and plants will shoot up to from
dozen TO twenty feet IN the course OF
six months
At the same time the decay Of the
vegetation is rapid. Cut II down and
II rots SO quickly that within . few
months the smaller trees have dtsap-
pearcd. and by the aid OF the vast
armies OF ants. the larger ones last
but few years For this reason. all
OF the woodwork OF that ancient civil
ization has long since passed away.
The stonework remains. and within
the past thirty or forty months
American psychologists have been dig
cling II out Of the jungle and trying
to discover the character Of the peo-
pie who lived here thousand ana
more years ago. What they have
found and VIVA. they are doing l
shall tell you further on in this letter.
where the Ral.s Lie.
But srst let me give the location.
doubt whether many OF you have eve!
heard Of the Motagua River and Of this
great Garden of Eden known as the
Mo;agua Valley. II was well fitted for
remember your history you will find
that the first civilizations have sprung
uu in valleys Tho soil there il rich
and the river makes II easy to carry
the products from one place to an
other The fight for food IL not hard
and the people have leisure to Guilt
va.e the gentler arts. Other peoples
come to buy OF their abundance
Commerce follows and in time ciyiliza-
ton grows. So the civilization OF
Egypt sprang up N the valley OF the
Nile: SO that OF Babylon and Uneven
in the delta OF the Euphrates. and &c
that Of old India along the banks OF
the Ganges
II was somewhat the same In Central
America The continent here consists
OF backbone Of mountains. with q
narrow strip of lowlands along the
coast. The Motagua River flows out
Of the mountains In Guatemala. and
IT has a valley about Eve miles wide
running from this backbone to the sea
The mount aims are so situated that they
catch the water-laden winds OK the
Caribbean and give IL heavy rain
fall. At the same time they sheIttr II
from the winds and make il tropical
paradise.
The Home of the Mayans.
This paradise was the Sardeh OF
Eden Of this nation thousand years
ago Its people were the Mayans They
conquered the Jungle and lived here no
one knows how long, until IN time they
were conquered by the wilder tribes
Ard the Jungle again came into It's
own.
The exact dates Of these events are
unknown It was probably thousand
years ago when the jungle again re.
eurned .ts sway. and from then until
now nature has reigned supreme ii
IL only during the past century tha'
any one has known that a civilization
ever existed here. And ii Is only now
when a railroad has been cut through
to get to the highlands and when the
American fruit men have begun to CUT
down the trees and make their banana
plantations. that any idea OF the extent