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

, Of which we are standing. Do you
wonder that it was chosen as the cen
ter of the Aztec empire and as the site
of the best Of that old civilization. II
is a garden spot 40 miles long and 80
miles wide, with q half-dOZen SllVery
lakes running through ii. These lakes
rise one over the other, the level CT
all of them being above that upon
which the Mexican capital stands.
SSlrtinE the lakes and covering the
valley. and coming close to the edge Of
the city, are plains of richest green,
and within them is the great red and
gray eXpanse Of low buildings which
make uD Mexico City That vast build
ing off TO the south coast over two
million dollars 1t is the new penitsn-
tiary, from which the mutineers last
Sunday released Gems. Bernardo Reyes
Felix DiaZ
off on the opposite side of the city
We can see Chapultepec, the home Of
lIexicO's president 1t is there that
MOnteZuma had his summer residence,
and there president Diaz lived. That
wide avenue shaded with trees and
decorated with magnificent statues
which leads to It is the PaseO de Ia Re
fOTma, and the magnificent buildings
about are the CoIonias. They cover
some thousands Of acres, and form the
new sections OF the capital which
were planned b. Americans and built
with American money.
Mexican HOusefsps Without Chimneys.
Now take your glass and look at the
great checkerbOard of Mexico city. The
most Of the streets cross each other at
right angles, and the whole seems to be
divided up into square fields paved with
brick That is how the capital looks
from the sky.
The roofs of all the houses below US
are flat. There is not a chimney in the
whole city, and you can number the
furnaces on your fingers and toes.
These people do all their heating and
IT. san- -n--- H. 60
plant would be as great a wonder here
as the Siamese twins or a fiVe-legged
calf Now look a little closer at the
great eXpanse Of brick fields which
make up the houses. Each house has
a hole in its center. That IS the patio
or court around which the rooms run
This often constitutes the garden Of
the family and we can see trees rising
here and there over the roofs
The tops Of the buildings are almost
level. save where a public office here
and there rises higher or where The
many churches with their spires and
towers stand IN evidence OF the days
when this land was ruled by priests
Their roofs, like those of all OF the
buildings. are covered with bricks laid
in lime mortar, and there IS almost as
much masonry on the top OF house
as there IS in its walls.
MeTicO's Big Cathedral.
Take this mighty cathedral on which
we are standing. It is the largest on
the North American continent, and its
roof covers acres. 1t is paved with
bricks, containing enough, venture, 10
form the rOadways for a town of 10,JpO
people This building cost millions,
and the tower upon which We are
standing alone cost 100000 or more
Its choir has a balustrade formed Of an
alloy Of silver copper and gold, which
weighs almost three tons and IS worth
more than that weight in solid silver.
Inside the cathedral was once a single
statue Of gold set with diamonds, val
ued at a million dollars, and the affairs
contained precious stones before they
were plundered in some Of the revolu-
tons of the past The cathedral mas
one bell so heavy that II would take
40 horses to haul ii if IL could be
broken up and loaded on wagons. The
cIapper of that bell is two feet taller
than president Tart, and II weighs zoe
pounds more On clear days it can be
heard six miles away. The church has
altogether 40 bells, and when they ring
at midday the poems who hear them
take off their hats. Their sound is
also the call TO lunch, and the clerks
then drop their work and rush for the
street cars to go home TO eat. and TO
rest
Biggest on the Continent.
This cathedral IS not only the biggest
church on the continent, but il is also
the Oldest. The corner stone was laid
in 1873, upon the site of the great Az
te ctemple which COrteZ destroyed. A
small church was erected there two
years later, and then so years after
ward came the foundations Of this
mighty building, whose walls were
completed five years before our puritan
fathers first came to America
The walls Of the cathedral are said
to have cost more than million dol
lars, and when the church was opened
the richest OF the Spaniards gave up