davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The citizen. [volume] (Berea, Ky.) 1899-1958, 1913-01-02
CHAPTER XXI.
Wherein Elnora Makes . Confession.

HESE days were the beginning
Of the weeks that followed.
After June the moth hunts
grew less frequent-the fields
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-02-16

snow The notes show that about
2,ooO soundlngs were made with the
alpenstock, and that 271 measurements
were made with the density tube in
carefully selected representative places
This is an average OF one density
measurement for every fourteen acres.
Now the III depth measurements
showed that the average thickness of
the whole snow covering was sc inches,
and as the average water equivalent of
the snow in the water shed was III.
inches, the surveyor figured the melting
of all the snow on his map would cover
3,S33 acres of ground one foot deep or
that it would spread fourteen inches
over all the land irrigated under the
me stream fed by that particular water
shed. The figures don't mean anything
to you except in rough way They
are intended simply to give YOU an
idea as to how these surveyors arrive
at their conclusions.
The accompanying pictures of snow
surveyors in the field of their appara-
tus and of the scenes of their DerilouS
operations We're made by j. Cecil
Alter, observer. I. :. weather bureau
who outlined the original plans for the
weather bureaus snow survey work.
Copyright. 1913. 10y John Elfreth Watkin>)
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-02-16

that his gift te returned. 1t is said that
he got back 81; ,e03. but doubt it.
Bat let US so down from the tower
and take z walk through the streets.
The cathedral faces the Plaza Major or
the Plaza de Ia Constitution upon which
faces the National Palace. the new city
hall. the Monte de Piedad or govern
men: rawnbroking shop and other great
buildings. Il is just :, O'Clock we come
out Of the church and az we stroll along
by the palace We see that soldiers are
!nasssG At one Of the entrances where q
greet crowd has gathered. We are told
that the president IS coming. We wait
moment and soon see AN automobile
fly up. The soldiers present arms
and the bugler gives a bias. in way of
salute. AT the same time the people
raise their hats and cry Viva, Viva
Madcro. The automobile opens and a
little man with fiat face covered with a
brown beard takes oft his hat and sa-
lgtes as he goes into the building.
We cross the Plaza and so up the Ave-
nida de San Francisco The sun has now
set and the electric Fights have sprung
out. the street biaZes with the arc
lamps. which. fastened to posts about fif-
teen feet high run through it from one
end to the other. The lights so ar
ranged thai each cluster of five is not
more than twenty-five feet distant from
that on the opposite side OF the way. The
windows of the shops are also illuminated
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-02-16
VIZ TAKE A TAXI AND ARE, Soon AT THE CATHEDRAL

American cities. and the town looks mere
like one of the old world than of the new.
But suppose we take a 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 hg hest
capital north of the Panama canal. It is
mile and a half above the other great
capitals of the world. and the cathedral
towers are 2Gp feet higher.
The cathedral STANDS on the spot which
forms the center of the great city of the
Montezumas. II is just above the site of
the pyramid upon which lay the sacrifi-
cial stone where the AZtecs sacrificed
their victims and upon which e0.00o slaves
were slain every year. That pyramid
rose within fifty feet of the top of the
tower, and it was there that Montezrma
stood beside Cortez when he took him
up TO show him the city.
We take a taxi and are soon at the
cathedral We choose the southern tower
and enter the little door at its foot. We
wind way round and round through
the darkness UP steps worn hollow by the
feet of thousands, and ct last come out
high above the Mexican capital.
What a magnificent site for Il city, We
are in the heart of the valley of Mexico
and surrounded by mountains which
make a series OF Notifications. created
by nature, beyond which IS | write the
rebels are fighting. The mountains reach
to the skies and those two great peaks
off there at the south are covered with
snow. They are PCpOcatape1 and lxtac-
cihuati. Old Popo is considered the hus-
band of the latter and she is everywhere
known as 1.-The White Woman. See how
ike a sleeping giantress she looks. as,
carved in silver. she lies there outstretch-
ed upon the purple rocks which slope
IL
with face upturned and we see her
mighty breasts and the whole outline OF
her gigantic body clear to the snowy feet
which are turned toward Old Popo.
Now look at the valley in the center of
which we are standing. Do you wonder
that it was chosen as the center OF the
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-02-16

garden of the family, and we 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 IL evidence of the days when this
land was ruled by priests. Thei. roofs,
like those of all Of the buildings, are COW
cred with bricks laid in lime mortar, and
there is almost as much masonry on the
top of house as there is in its walls.
Take this mighty cathedral on which
we standing. 1t is the largest on the
North American continent, and its roof
covers acres. 1t is paved with bricks,
containing enough, l venture, to form
the roadways for a town of 10000 people.
This building cost millions. and the tower
upon which we are Standing alone cost
$4,000 or more. Its choir has q balus-
trade formed of an alloy of silver. copper
and gold, which weighs almost three tons
ard is worth more than that weight in
solid silver. Inside the cathedral was
once a single statue of gold set with dia-
monds. valued al a milton dollars, and
the affairs contained precious stones be-
fore they We're plundered in some of the
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-02-16
A "Perfect Union"

A y error, SO patent as TO be termed
! glazing, has existed in the very tirst
sentence of the Constitution OF the United
States since its adoption, undetected as
far as can be ascertained, by lawyers or
rhetoricians. Strange to say, the error was
only exposed BY foreigner applying for
citizenship. whose ability to understand
this foundation stone of our government
was being called into judicial question.
\ young German. who. tive Years ago,
had taken cut his first papers shat is,
declared his intention to become an Amer
lean citiZen--WaS recently taking out his
final papers in court OF the District.
One of the essential steps IN this pro
cedure is the examination % the appli-
cant by the i,.dSe as to his knowledge OF
the. Cons tuition. The form of thu uues-
ton is. by immemorial custom. az follows :
Have you read the Constitution o. TIL"
United States, and, if 50. do you under
stand it,"
In this instance the young German, to
the s.onishment of the examining Judge
replied:
Yes. your honor, and | think the men
who wrote it did rot know how to write
correct English. The very first sentence
is defective
What do YOU mean queried the
Judge. bewildered by this foreign attack
upon the bulwark OF our liberties.
Why" replied the German. the frs;
sentence says: We the people OF the
United States, in order to form Il mere
perfect Union Now. accordins to the
best. or indeed. any authority, the word.
'perfec:' means something that is by it's
very nature SuperlatiVe; ii cannot be inl-
proved upon. How then could the people
of the United States form more perfect
Union? If 1t was perfect before, they
could add nothing to increase lis per-
lection Il might be made more effective
more binding, but certainly not more
perfect.
The young German got his papers with
ont more ado.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-02-16

cipitated as snow OF as rain u eVapo-
rated from the surface of the oceans. Atter
il has been absorbed by the air it is
borne along by tn" drifting atmosphere
and il formed into snow is deposited at
the higher elevations in the early fall and
at the lower levels in the winner time.
At very high levels il SHOWS in niidSum-
mer as well as in midWinteT. This line of
perpetual snow depends not only upon
the height of mountain and its distance
from the equator, but upon its exposure
the severity Of the season, and other
factors. 1t varies from year TO year, but
in SpitZbergen, Norway, it averages l,5pp
feet above sea level while at Quito near
the equator. ii is ten times as high, or
1850 feet above the sea.
Now, II our mountains hoard mUcn
snow upon the OF the spring thaW
our underlying rivers. creeks, brooks,
reservoirs. bitches and farms VIII be
abundantly or perhaps destructively sup
piled with water. And If this hoard can
be measured we can pretty nearly deter
mine the amount of this water that Will
rush through the streams and into the
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-02-16

.owlands Such measurements are what
Uncle Sans snow surveyors are now set
ting about to accomplish, and we shall
see how they do their interesting work.
Their problem is TO find the water
equivalent" OF every patch of snow III a
watershed. 1t is strenuous work. They
wade into the drifts upon the noun
tains, study the surrounding topoSra
ply and note how the snow lies every
where about them. 1t does not lie in an
even layer over the mOuhtainside, for
not only during snowstorms. but ate
ward. it has beer blown into gullies and
ravines forming immense drifts. 10 which
We owe, our summer water supply. Here
and there in the raVines the snow be-
comes soiidifed to the density of ice, due
either to th9 bearing of the upper lay
ers down uptn those beneath, which thus
become packed, or to occasional rains
and the partial melting of the top layer
during tGe<{'ay. But where a mountain
slope is forest-clad these surveyors find
the snow layer quite even and less pack
ed. Melting here occurs more readily, so
that often such a wooded slope is entire
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-02-16

Palace. which. il it is ever completed, viii
cost something like six million dollars.
l say. if it is ever completed The build
ing promises To he too heavy for its
founda tionS, and II is slowly sinking into
the great bed of ooze upon which this
city stands. The same is true of the Ma
tioHal Thcater the new post office, and of
other great buildings which are slowly
and gradually going down into the ooze.
w thin the past few wears q drainage SYS-
tenn has been introduced, but this has
taken off the subSoii water which aided
in upholdinS the principal buildings. and
they are now said to he more stable dur
ing the rainy season when the ground is
we'll soaked
:: :;
The Mexico of today is founded on the
site of the ancient capital of the Mon
tezumas. and | am told that there has
been a city right here since a hundred
years before Columbus discovered Amer
lea. The capital of Montezuma was a
town of islands and mainland cut up. by
canals. 1t had hundreds of bridges and
its 100000 houses, made OF red porous
stone. skirted the canals and had cement
sidewalks, lining the waterways just as
has the Venice of today.
After the conquest when the Spanards
built their capital. they did not go To
the highlands. bat chose the same site
that formed the Aztec metropolis. The
only difference is that they have filed
up the canals and drained large part
of the lakes. and they have now buid-
ingS covering space which IS many
times larger than That Of the ancient city.
The Mexico City of the present covers
about twenty square miles. 1t has
population of more than half million.
and including its outskirts. or the federal
district. it is more than twice the size
of the city of Washington.
1t is well lighted city, having so
are lamps. and many car lines that
if put end to end they would reach all
the way from New York 10 Boston.
Owing to the Swampy foundation there
are no sEyscraD ers. and the main bust
ness blocks are of three ard four stories.
There is not the broken sky line OF our
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-02-16

Aztec empire and as the site Of the best
of that Old civilization. 1t is garden
spot. fort5-fve miles long ard thirty
miles wide with a ha!f-doZen silvery
lakes running through it. These lakes
rise one over the other. the level OF all
of them being above that upon which the
Mexican capital stands.
Skirting the lakes and covering the val
ley. and coming close to the edge of the
city are plains of richest green. and with
in them is the great red and gray eX-
panse of low buildings which make up
Mexico City. That vast building off to
the south cost over two million dollars.
1t is the penitentiary. and it is now
the home of many Il rebel including Gen
Bernardo Reyes
OFF on the opposite side of the city We
can see Chapultepec. where is now the
White House of Mexico, the home of
President Madero. 1t is taere that Monte
yuma 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 IL Reforma. and the
magnificent buildings about are the Co
loniaS. They cover some thousands OF
acres. and form the sections of the
capital which were planned by Amer:
cans and built with American money.
Now take YOUR glass and look at the
great checker5oard 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 ali the houses below rs are
fiat. There is not chimney in the whole
city, and YOU number the furnaces
on your fingers and toes. These people
do all their heating and cooking with
charcoal. and n hot-Water pla"t ~
as great wonder here as the Siamese
twins or Il fve-lesged calf. Now look Il
little closer at the great expanse OF brick
fields which make up the houses. Each
house has hole in its center. That is
the patio or court around which the
rooms This often constitutes the
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-02-16
A Martin Mot.

(ONDEMNING the dissipation and
- extravaganza of certain clique OF
young married people in New York Fred
erick Townsend Martin said:
1T requires money to get into that set.
and IL requires brains to keep out of II"
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-02-16

~ iree from SNOW. 3.lnUuSn the adjacent
slopes are deeply covered
=. ::
The snow surveyors instruments con
sst of density tube, an alpenstock,
2j0-foot line. spring balance scale.
aneroid barometer, compass and metal
semi circle, with plumb and pointer to
secure slope angles. He is Quilted with
snowshoes i'm whose use he must be an
adept With his line and compass he
makes a preliminary sketch map of the
mountain slope to be surveyed Then.
gliding upon his snowshoes, he goes up the
bottom of each gulcl, ravine or canyon
and back and forth along the slopes,
measuring the snow depth and density
every thousand feet or so. and plating
the snow beds upon his map.
His alpenstock is graduated in inches,
and with this he makes numerous sound
ineS of the snow layer.
Thus locating a place of average depth.
he jams down his density tube-a pipe of
galvanized sheet iron nearly three inches
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-02-16

IIng UTlitS WHICH, upon mountain Slope
and raVfne. Dame Nature has boarded
during these winter months and which as
warm weather approaches, she will thaw
out gradually 10 moisten the farmers
land. or suddenly convert into mighty
floods which. If not anticipated might
destroy a wealth Of life and property.
Definite knowledge of the amount of
snow left. al the end OF winter. in the
watersheds of certain of our rivers
therefore is OF great value To the
gineer. contractor. property owner and
farmer.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-02-16

III EN- | started
across the bound
airy | was warned
that ! took my life
in my hands. and
that ' would al
ways be i'm danger
of Mexican bullets.
| replied that |
would at any rate
escape the Amer
can automobile and
that all the bullets
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-02-16

tiful snow. Of which
the poets sing, is
much more of an
economic I a q [ o I
than the layman
realizes.
The weather bu-
reau has charged a
corps OF observers
with the task OF
= u L ve Vi n z and
measuring the daZ-
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-02-16

in diameter and four feet long. This has
saw edge. and when brought up car
rles with ii core of snow, and before
this core is removed the tube is weig
with the spring balance, whose scale IS
adjusted to give, not the weight. but the
water equivalent of the snow core. be-
fore it is removed. You can readily see
that thin button of snow packed as
hard as ice will when melted contain
more water than loose cylinder of soft
snow that has lately fallen. The more
primitive method was to melt the core of
snow and measure the water produced,
but as two cores of equal weight Will
produce the same amount of water when
melted, and as the water equivalent of
each ounce of snow is always the same
YOU can see how the scale on the balance
can he made To do the calculating
Now let us look at d sample ma sent
in by one of these snow surveyors 1t
covers "a watershed containing $3.50
acres, about 1000 of which are under
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-02-16

When was in Mexico City twenty %edrS
ago the new part Of the capital lying On
both sides OF the Pasco de la Eeiornla
had lust begun To be The city then was
only half the size it is now, and the
greater mart of this region was covered
with swamps. It's possibilities We're seen
Inv American capitalists. and they organ
lied :, syndicate named the American col
onv COMPANY and bought large tracts OF
land which they laid out in lots lhey
drained off the water and put IN pave
ments and sewers. They also buit nnod-
eru houses costing all the way from sd
trAt TO s1DeW9 apiece and sold them On
time The investment was exceedingly
profitable and | am told that they made
something like leo per cent dividends on
about S6.Gio.uo
coioniai and now we have a half dozen
different colcnias which have sprung UP
in t,'at region. One is the tolonia hohia'
which named It's streets AFTER the CUES
OF Mexico and which represented cap
itaI OF about Sl.|.otFA, furnished ny
Americans. Another coionla was lald OUT
By Kansas City man, and others ny
Mexican capitalists.
All OF these enterprises PAID Well ano
tocay these colonias form the finest parts
of the Mexican capital. They extend all
the way from the Alameda or little be-
yond it to Chapuitepec. ana they nave
covered a large part OF the GROUND 'o li'e
north and south of the Paseo de la Re-
fOrma.
The streets of one colony are names
after foreign cities, AMI you can walk
through Vienna. Liverpool, Berlin or
London Another has streets named AFTER
famous Mexican statesmen, and another;
near the Plaza de Toros. might be called
the colony of doctors. for every street
bears a name with Or. before 1T.
II is here in this colony section that
lj,-n- M American nag
flying over his mansion of stone.
FRANK q. CARPENTER
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-02-16
DRETTY Soon It's Corps

DRETTY Soon It's Corps
1 of Snow Surveyors Will
Be in the Mountains Gauging
the Water Equivalent of Their
Dazzling Drifts-Will Make
Forecasts of Vast Value to
Farmers. Engineers, Con-
tractors and Property Own
ers-Tne Interesting Appara-
tus With Which They Will
Work.
TX fnIi\ IyFPETH W wilkins
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-02-16
TIL In TEEIoR New OF NENIeos
NEW PcST-OFFIcE


and the asphalt shines like polished glass
under thu. ele trio rays
Now stop moment and notice the peo-
pie There are representatives here from
all over Europe-tiermans. Frenchnen.
Englishmen and Spaniards. and also many
Americans. Ne see our goods i'm the
stores, and hear the English language
often spoken as walk through In"
streets. There are many rich MeNicanS.
and some of them come in from the coun-
try with the costume OF the old hacienda
do consisting OF an immense soinbrefo
loaded with silver and suit OF rich clotn
decorated with numerous buttons ana
braid. There are many peon men wearing
blankets over their shoulders and Indian
women with black rebosas wrapped round
their heads There are also girls of the
well 10 do ella sses. clad i'm black with
black Shawls round their heads. and
others wearing high-heeled shoes and
Paris hats like those of our ladies AT
home Most of the women have powdei
and paint upon their dark faces. bui not
more. | venture, than YOU can sac an
dav on the girls who walk up and down
the great white way in New York.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-02-16

of Mexico could not equal the danger
% crossing the street in New York or
Chicago. ] find that have jumped out
az The frying pan into the fire. Mexico
City swaTms with automobiles and they
80 at such speed that they would be held
NJ on any country road i'm the United
states. Here no speed limit whatever is
observed and even the taxicabs race each
other on the chief business streets.
L.;nous mes 20 at fifty miles an hour over
the asphalt of the Paseo de Ia Reforma,
and i'm the AveniGa de San Francisco, the
Broadway and 9TH avenue of this town.
the motor cars fairly bump each other
as they fly this way and that. The same
is true of all kinds of traffic. The motor
drays make thirty miles hour and
there are hundreds of motor cycles which
go so fast that their wheels seem solid
disks. l have never seen anything like
II. and my heartbeats. as | have tried to
keep out of their way. have worn my
throat to a FRAGILE
! had expected to find Mexico City
'deader." I thought the revolution would
have squeezed the life out of business
and that the people and prices would be
on the down grade. | find it quite the re-
verse. The troubles which have been
going on over the country have scared
the rich haciendados into renting Or buy
ing property in the capital and they have
come here until conditions are sta ble
They are good money spenders, and the
opera house is now filled every night. I
find the streets thrOnged with people and
the stores filled with goods bearing cost
marks as high or higher than those of
the states. | find new buildings going
mp on the outskirts and construction of
one kind or other on the chief business
streets. Just below the Alameda n ma
tional theater which is to cost high into
the millions is almost completed. and on
the Plaza de la Republica stands the
great steel skeleton of the Legislative
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-02-16

The engineer OF contractor who is build
ing bridge. dam or other work upon
river subject TO floods caused by noun
tain thaws wants TO know the amount
OF water which viii pass the point where
Ills work * in progress.
Especially TO the farmer. whose crops
depend Cpen irrigation is the snow sur
vey o; practical value. 1t enables him To
select his crop more intellgently If ,h.
survey shows that AN average amount of
water will be his portion lie will. if wise.
plant his usual crop. And II the sur
vey shows that more than the average.
amount Of water can he guaranteed ne
can risk a crcp requiring Il great Deal of
water. But II the government snow sur
veyorS measure less than the usual water
content of the SHOWS. then the wise farm
or viii plant crop requiring but little
moisture. No matter what crop he may
plant ne is interested in the quantity o.
water which the mountains will WELD to
him. The nearer he can know just how
much water he viii have for a coming
growing season the more nearly can he
estimate the value of his crop.
The amount OF snow in the high noun
tains varies greatly from year to year as
a result of the action OF the great cur
rents OF misunderstanding wind which add
more or less TO winters white mantle