The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1912-12-31
Copyright 1912, by Frank G. Car
penter.)
Antipl,a ~.

Antigua, Guatemala.
1ou nave probably never heard Of
Antigua! Nevertheless it was long
one OF the great cities of the North
American continent. 1t was lannon's q
hundred years before any settlement
in the United States began to be. It
mad its tens of thousands when our
Dutch ancestors landed on Manhattan
island, and its colleges and it's cathe-
oral when the boys Of the Pilgrims
We're first trotting the cowpaths which
FORMED the streets of old Boston. 1t
nad palaces and public buildings when
We had only log cabins, and it's ruins
snow that 1T far surpassed any other
CITY of North America for two hun
dred or more years after the continent
was discovered
The Old Capital OF Spanish America.
have seen all the ruined cities Of
the world, but l know none more in
teresting than those of this old capital
OF spanish America. I lay tramped
through the streets Of P0mpeii, and
have explored the remains of Zim-
babwe in northern Rhodesia. I have
explored Timgad, the once buried cap
ital which IS now being ~excavated on
the edge of the Sahara, and have
wandered about owe the site Of old
carthage. A few years ago l was in
Baalbek, that old ruin in the noun
tains of Lebanon, and it is only d few
WINS SlIlCe j wrote 10 you ABOUT
(!uirigua, the city of the Mayans in
the Notagua valley, not far from
here.
The ruins Of Antigua lie at the DOT
Of two mighty volcanoes. They repre-
sent a metropolis which was destroyed
again and again by earthquake and
eruptions, until the people of Guate-
mala gave up in despair and moved
their capital to where it is now.
The site Of the city is thirty miles
from the railroad, n it took me ten
hours Of hard riding on the back of a
mule to reach it. 1t was situated
here in the mountains on the slopes
of the Volcano de Aqua and Of the
Volcano de Fuego, which, translated
into English, mean the mountains OF
fire and Of water.
These mountains are symmetrical
volcanoes. Each is as beautiful a:
Fujiyama in Japan, or the Moyon vol.
canO OF southern Luzon. Fuego o
and then rumbles and 1t is said thai
1t may at any time break out in erup-
ton. The Volcano de Aqua is nov
quiet, but fourteen years after the
old city was started 1t burst forth ir
a deluge of water and reduced it te
ruins. Some think the water came
from a lake in the volcano, which thu
eruption threw out like a might!
cloud burst, and others say that i
came from torrential rains. which hat
OCSI pun ~ AOI odyo ohN
which rolled down the mountains
bearing forests, rocks and earth il
their floods.
That first city was founded by Pc
drO Alvarado only thirty-two year
after Columbus first crossed the At
lantic. Alvarado was an officer o
Cortez and he was sent with an arm.
Of 2J0 Spaniards to conquer the coun
tries of Central America. He enliste'
great hOrdes Of Indians. subduing tn
natives. He reduced tribe after trib
to slavery. branding them and selling
them in the public markets. He chos
this place as his capital, n archi
tectS came over from Spain to lay GU
the city. 1t was just about the tim
of his death that the town was de
Stroyed and the Indians here believ
that it was largely done as a judg
ment upon his wife. who complains
to the Lord because she had lost he
husband.
\ Seat of Culture and Learning.
In rebuilding the city the Spaniard
chose a site about two miles away an
there erected their capital. This re
manned in existence for 23O years
when it was again destroyed by tn
same volcan which had brought o