Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1912-09-19
AWORLD MYSTERY
Early Civilization of the Twin
Comments OF America.
THE SECRET OF THE PACIFIC.


Of tho Ancient Toltecs. Aztscs, Mayas
and ineas-The Enigma That Turks
In Their Ruined Monuments.
THE Secret of the Pacific" Is the
title Of book which deals with one
of the great mysteries of the world
the origin Of the aborigines Of the Amer
teas. The author-C. Reginald Enock.
F. X. G. S.-answers his own ques-
ton. What do we mean by the secret
of the Pacitic?' thus:
Set between the worlds mightiest
oceans. the Pacific and the Atlantic,
lies that greatest Of all islands, the
twin continents Of America. great
mystery still shrouds these twin con-
tinents. a riddle still unread for whose
solution the world may be said to have
waited 100 years What is this mys
terry:
History will have us believe that
until the end OF the fifteenth century
these great seas had roared defiant, IN
crossed by man, with the exception.
grudgingy admitted. of some shadowy
northmen from Europe. and that these
great continents have been unvisited
ever since the world began. Yet scat
tered for thousands of miles through
out the forests and deserts of these
twin continents are the remains of civ
ilized empires which once fourished
there-the ruined temples. palaces.
pyramids and habitations Of peoples
and nations who rose. fell and rose
again ages before the caravels of the
vikings and the conQuistadores turned
their prows toward the setting sun.
What | have ventured to term the
secret of the Pacific Is the mystery sur
rounding the ancient civilization of the
Americas. the homes of the Toltecs.
the AZtecs. the Mayas. the lncas and
their predecessors What was their
origin? What was their connection
with each other? Had they any link
with the old world? Did they in Old
en- times draw inspiration and know-
edge from Asia. Egypt. Babylon? II
not, and they spraug unaided from
their own soil and created their own
culture. what are or were the condi-
tons Of their Independent develop
ment?
1T has been my lot to traverse. at
least in part. those great regions of
North and South America forming the
al lob
neously termed 'new'-the ancient
world of America before Columbus.
My travels have taken me upon the
trails of CorteS and PiZarro trails
which in some cases are almost as re
mote and difficult today as they were
when first traversed by the white man
from Europe and the horse first ascend
ed the Andes.
"But to these journeyings we must
add other iucursions through space
and time. both real and conjectural.
which will take us from Mexico to
Egypt. from Peru to Babylon. from the
American shores to the strange islands
OF Polynesia From those broad re-
gions where the Toltec. the Aztec and
the Inca hourished we must seek to
gather up those threads which some
have coniectured lead to Asia
What are the monuments left by
these ancient peoples. and what are
the evidences of their civilizations?
For 1000 miles or more they lie upon
the western American littoral and Cor
dilleras and seem to extend In isolated
patches across the Pacific ocean in
northwest path to Asia. like vast step
ping stones between the old world and
the new. In the rock ravines and
scorching mesas OF Arizona and Cali
fornia, wildernesses whose trails were
first mapped out by the bones of hardy
explorers. are the abandoned habita-
lions of the cliff dwelIers.
"On the high slopes and tableIands
of Mexico are strange pyramids and
mysterious courts and quadrangles.
with carved stone halls about them Il
puzzle to the beholder In the dense
troplc forests of Yucatan are the sculp-
tured facades of palaces and pyramid
temples OF exceeding beauty and in
genuity, ruined and abandoned or sur
rounded here and there by the waffle
huts of half savage Indians
in Central America sculptured
stelae OF great beauty and popularity
rrotrude strangely from the Jungle
while far away below the equator.
along the Scorching coast line of Peru
and amid the bleak tahlelauds and
snow crowned ranges OF the Andes.
are cunningly wrought temples and i'm
pregnahle fortresses which could only
have been fashioned under the man
dates OF ruthless new world pharaohs
or devout American Solomous.
''In the Mexican desserts and by the
waters Of the mysterious Lake Utica
ca OF the lncas the sun god and the
moon god held sway, and centuries ago
unnumhered ancient worshipers raised
great temples to the unknown God
''Deepening the mystery still. there
arise strange and grim upon solitary
sea girt Pacific islands in the track of
the setting sun colossal images and
fortrpSSeS whose origin no man can