Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-05-31

what one has left behind and below.
More than once fully half a dozen trackS
are visible beneath. with bridge after
bridge. is negotiated the heaviest Grade
on the road. the per cent one at Alta
Luz. which Is literally in the Clouds
When clear the panorama here Is
Crossing Winners bridge over q deep
gorge is one of the thrilling moments
of the journey. when one suddenly looks
down 1000 feet. At last Roca del Monte
can high plateau. He 10 already $50 feet
higher than the City Of Mexico and stiil
climbing. II seems almost incredible that
he left the tropics that same morning.
On the left rises the lonely peak o.
Malinche. 1910 feet. covered with snow.
Here you find corn and wheat fields. and
especially apple orchards. for which this
section Is celebrated.
The puldue district Is then entered. Mex
leo s the land OF cactus plants. and Of
these the most conspicuous II the ma
Ruey which name covers some thirty
odd species found on The plateau The
be-. known is the American aloe which
Yields the pulaue liquor that enters %
deeply into Mexican customs and life
In Aztec times the naRuey leaves were
made into PAPER. much like the Egyptiar
rapyrus But even then puloue tfppling
was national vice. II can be traced
hack TO the ToItecs. from whom the
Aztecs inherited II when they conquered
the valley Of Mexico. There Is an old
Toltec empire through puldue.
-
The Spaniards were convinced that
pulaue was responsible for the degener-
acy found among the Indians and many
vice-regal edict was intended to stamp
IT out. A Mexican pulaueria- or puiaue
saloon. is ono Of the most repulsivs
things to he seen anywhere on this CON
tinent. The Intoxicating properties OF
rulcue are very small. but ifs cheapnees
makes II possible for the natives mon
and women. to swallow Il In colossal
quantities. The pulque problem Of the
Mexican highlands is on a par with ths
opium question in China
At Ocotlan. in the state Of T1axcafa
the highest point on the line 10 reached
s.333 feet. From there the road descends
700 feet to the capital. Ocotlan has q
most interesting old church. one OF the
best specimens of Spanish colonial archi-
lecture in the country. II embodies the
type called Churrigueresque. the span-
ish development of tho Italian Baroqus
style. 1t is so called after Jose Churri-
guerra a native of Salamanca. Spain. who
lived in the latter part of tho seventeenth
century.
Mexico is full Of thi. style OF ART, both
architectural. and ornamental 1t 10. In
fact, the dominant art note Of the coun-
try. and with its audacity Of conception
and exuberance Of detail lends itself emf
nently to the decoration Of the Mexican
plateau.
1t was Tiaxcala. the smallest state Of
modern Mexico which at the time Of the
Spanish conquest virtually decided the
fate of the Aztec empire. The Tlaxcal-
ans were a people who had evolved a
-, onfc hi f .rSt,k
them into sharp conflict with the A1tec
autocracy When Cortes arrived on tbs
scene they were at war with the EN-
peror Montezuma and after testing the
came their stanch allies and thus
brought about the eventual downfall of
the Aztecs.
One grand reminder of what had been
long before the Spaniards took possession
looms in the distance as the traveller
speeds down to the Mexican capitalize
terraced pyramids Of the sun and moon.
The place is called TeotIhuacan. which In
Aztec means the City OF the Gods, but II
is quite certain that to the Axtecs and
probably even to earlier conquerors the
two mounds-the largest, by the way. on
this continent-were as much a mystery
as they were to the invading Spsniards
and are to this day.
These tzacualli. as they are called IN
Aztec annals. inspired both Aztecs and
Toltecs with awe. It vas hithsr that the
Aztec sovereigns came to be crowned and
Aztec high priests had their abode here.
Aztecs and Toltecs knew no more about
their origin and early religious purpose
than we know: but through their ~hoary
antiquity the pyramids became the re-
ligious center Of these successive empires
1t is only in recent years that the
earth has been removed from the sun
pyramid. showing the terraced form
which recalls the pyramids of Egypt II
is a curious fact that many OF the little
sacerdotal effigies-unearthed around the
mounds and the nec-opoiis. bear an un-
questionable resemblance to the Egyptian
race type. r.,
few more miles along Lake. Texcoco.
famous in Mexican history, and another
great religious monument Of the Americas
is reached. at the outskirts OF Mexico
lupe. the Lourdes of Mexico Its pic
turesque tradition OF the Indian Juan
Diego-whose tilma, cloak, with the
miraculous image of the Virgin i'm
pressed on it is seen over the altar of the
sanctuary-is intimately connected with
the spread of Christianity in the new
world.
Historically. Guadalupe is of vast sig
nif1cance. for it was here that the peace
treaty between Mexico and the United
States of February ., 1S4S. was conclud-
ed which gave Mexico S15 600 200 and the
United States 500 955 square. miles Of ter.
ritorry. WALTER WERNER.