El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-02-15

FA/H The revolution has been gong
Iva on here for over two years, but
Is far as any shooting up the town Is
concerned this Mexican capital mas
been as quiet as is Glasgow on sun
day. until the uprising OF Dlaz last sun
when I starttd across the boundary
I was warned that took my 4lLe ~
my hands. and that would always D5
in danger Of the Mexican outlets
7en1fed that / would at any rate escape
the American automobile and tnal al
the bullets in Mexico could not e4ua1
the danger Of crossing the street N
New York or Chicago. ma tAdL
Jumped out of the frying pan INTO
the fire Mexico City sWarns with au-
tomobiles and they 80 at sucn speed
that they would be held up on any
country road in the United States Here
no speed limit whatever IS observed,
and even the taZicab s race each olnel
on the chief business stress L--LIo us3-l
90 an so miles an hour over the asphalt
of the Paseo de Ia RefOrTna, and IN the
Avenida de san Francisco, the Broad
way and Fifth avenue OF this town
the motor cars fairly bump eaen oJher
as they fly this way and that Ihe same
is true of all kinds Of traffic me mo-
tor drays make 30 miles an hour anu
there are hundreds of motorcycles
which go so fast that their wheels
city Not Dead Yet.
had expected TO find Mexico City
would have squeezed the life out OF
business and that the people ana
prices would be on the down grade i
found II quite the reverse The IrOu-
bis which have been going on over
the country scared the rich hacienda-
dos into renting or buying property
in the capital and they came here unlll
conditions are stable Lney are BOou
money spenders, and the opera house
was filled every night prior 10 TINS
weeks fighting.
pie and the stores filled with goods
bearing cost marks as high OF higher
than those of the states. / und new
buildings going Up on the OUTSKIRTS ana
construction of one kind or another on
the chief business streets. Just below
the Alameda 2 national LheaIer Wnlcn
is to cost high into the mlIllons IS al
most completed, and on the F-a1a oe
Ia Republica sands the great steel
skeleton Of the legislative palace,
which. If it is ever completed, VIII cost
something like S6,O00,O0O-
The building promises to be too
heavy for its foundation, and II Is
slowly sinking into the great bed OF
ooze upon which this city stands The
same is true of the National theater,
the new pOstOffiCe, and OF other great
buildings which are slowly and grad
ua4lly going down into the ooze- Wllnln
the past few years drainage system
has been introduced. but this has taken
off the subsOu water which aided IN
UNFOLDING the principal buildings, ana
during the rainy season when the
ground is well soaked
An Ancient Location.
The Mexico of today is founded on the
site of the ancient capital Of the Mon
rcZumas. and ] am told that there mas
been a city right here since 100 years
before Columbus discovered america
The capital OF MOnreEuma was a Town
Of islands and mainland cut Up by
canals It had hundreds Of bridges and
its 40, 900 houses, made Of red porous
stone, skirted the canals and had ce-
nent sidewalks, lining the waterways,
Just as has the Venice Of today
After the conquest, when the span
fards built this capital, they dtQ not go
to the highlands, but chose the same
site that formed the Aztec metropolis
The only difference is that they nave
filled up the canals and drained large
part Of the lakes, and they nave now
buildings covering space Whlcn IS
many times larger than that OF the
ancient city The Mexico City OF the
present covers about 20 square miles
1t has q population OF more than 5VUs-
COO and including its outskirts, or the
federal district. 1t is more than Twice
the size of the city Of Washington
it is a well lighted city, having $500
are lamps. and so many car lines that
if put end to end they would reach all
the way from New York to Boston
Owing TO the sWampy Loun0auon
there are no sE1yscrapers, and the main
business blocks are Of three ana -FOUR
stories. There is not the. broken sky
town looks more like one Of the old
world than OF the new.
Mexico From the Cathedral Tower.
But suppose we take = bird s-eye
view Of Mexico City. We can get it
from one Of the twin towers Of the
great cathedral, which forms the pivot
around which the whole city moves
This is the highest capital north Of the
Panama canal It is q mile and hair
abOvL the other great capitals OF the
world and the cathedral towers are
- ~n~.L- rN THfnH
there last week and win tell you what
saw. All my following references
have to do with events prior TO the
Diaz-Reyes UPRISING.
The Cathedral stands on the spot
which forms the center OF the great
city Of the MOnteZumas. Tt is Just !
above the site of the pyramid upon
which lay the sacrificial stone where
the Aztecs sacrificed their victims and
upon which $4,000 slaves were slain
eTery. year That pyramid rose within
it was there that Montezuma stood
beside COrtez when he cook him up 4
to show him the city.
We take taxi and are soon at the
cathedral We choose the southern
tower and enter the little door at its I
foot We wind our way round and
round through the darkness up steps I
worm hollow by the feet Of thou
sands. and at last come out high above Z
the Mexican capital
What a magnificent site for city, 1
We are in the heart OF the valley OF =
Mexico and surrounded by mountains /
which make a series OF Qualifications,
created by nature, beyond which as / 4
write the rebels are fighting The l
mountains reach to the skies and those I
two great peaks OF there at the south I
are covered with snow. They are Popo- /
catapetl and Ixtaccihuati. Old Popo is (
considered the husband Of the latter I
and she is everywhere known as the I
White Woman" See how like sleep I
ing giantress she looks. as carved in /
silver. she lies there outstretched upon /
/, the purple rocks which slope down to 4
the plain She lies on her back with i
face Upturned, and we can see her I
mighty breasts and the whole outline 4
Of her gigantic body clear to the snowy 4
feet which are turned toward old POpo-
The Valley Of Mexico.
Now look at the valley in the center /