El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-11-30

ring. TIE theater is named after Col
umbus and its building was modelled
after the church OF the 3IadeIaine in
Paris. 1t has a subsidy from the gov
eminent. and Stars are brought in
from Italy, Spain and Mexico.
The bull ring is right near the Cen
tral railway station, and during the
season all classes meet there Sunday
afternoons to see the fun. Now and
then bulls are imported from Spain to
contest with the Guatemalan bulls and
some of the chief Spanish bullfighters
come here to take part As a rule
however, the animals used are oxen,
with now and then an old bull for
change.
There is also plenty OF driving and a
little automobiling' but joy riding is
largely confined to the rich The only
street cars are old fashioned trans
drawn by mules, and the cars 90 at
such irregular intervals that one can
hardly tell when they viii come. Be
sides they are usually filled with in
dians and half breeds, which many
consider unpleasant. The fares are
equal to tWO-thirds Of a cent OF our
money, but the street car company
pays no dividend
As to the main drives. one is to the
hippodrome, where is the race track
and temple Of Minerva, and another
is out over the Boulevard de Reforma
to the national museum. This boule-
America 1t is several hundred feet
wide, and has four dTiveWays divided
by rows Of trees and greensWard.
There are statues under the trees. and
now and then circle with some great
monument in il. This boulevard is
lined with the chief public buildings.
There is q fine military school, a hos
pital for Convalescents, the military
hospital and the homes Of the richer
Guatemalans. ire street ending at the
national museum.
It is on this boulevard that stand
Guatemala'S two famous bull statues.
These are life-sized figures OF bulls
represented as they might be in the
bullring- One shows the bull defiant
and the other when it has Just been
struck with the banderillO in the shOHI-
der They are the only statues of bulls
nave ever seen, except the great one
in the museum at Naples. The only
camel statue is that ridden by Gen.
Gordon at Khartum in the Sudan.
Among the most interesting mOnu-
ments and buildings of Guatemala are
those erected in honor Of education,
and this. strange to say, in a country
where there are less than so, 900 school
children in population OF 100000.
The president Of the republic is an en-
thusiast on the subject of schools, and
one of his ways Of showing it is by the
erection of these temples to Minerva,
which are to be found at all the large
cities.
The temple here. of which I have al
ready spoken in connection with the
visit of secretary Knox. covers about a
quarter of an acre. 1t consists of a
great platform with a roof upheld By
"a Ionic columns. The front of the
building has allegorical figures repre-
senting civilization and progress and
under them an inscription saying that
Manuel Estrada Cabrera, the president
Of the republic, has erected this for the
study Of the youth Of the country.
Similar buildings, though not so
grand have been erected to the god
dess of wisdom and education in other
places. I saw one in the town Of Pro
EresO as came over the railroad from
the Caribbean sea to Guatemala CITY
and there are others at Quezaltenango
and elsewhere.
In these temples there are annual
festivals of the school children, at
which time the eminent men of the
republic make speeches and the little
ones come out in great parades There
is song singing, oratOry and essay
reading, and altogether a feast of rea-
son and flow of soul-of sort
The National library contains about
10000 volumes and many manuscripts,
including the records of the inQuisitiOn
in Gus emala- In the law school library
there are 5000 law books. and the cftv
library has about 5000 more. One of
the best English libraries is that Of the
American club which numbers $500
volumes.
The chief trouble with the schools
here is the lack of money for teachers. /
A great deal has been spent for temples
and for putting up school Buildings
But many Of the buildings are empty,