Imperial Valley press., 1914-11-17

san Dlego, Nov. l6.-Thrlllng ora
matte episodes taken from the relig
ious ceremonials of the ancient Az
tees and Toltecs and other might.
races of red men of the past viii
be reproduced throughout next yea
by large cast of actors, supporte;
by musicians, dancers and a chorus
engaged by the San Diego exposition
None of these ceremonials has beer
held for several centuries and few
of them are traced back through 5000
years to a period where the mist of
antiquity conceals all knowledge of
the dead nations.
This is the awaited announcement
of the exposition in the Far South
west as its program of special events.
There will, of course, be the usual
state days and special events of that
character, but statement of the
more spectacular features had been
delayed until all contracts should
have been signed. The ceremonials,
as reproduced after centuries of neg
lect, are based on careful studies made
in scientific libraries during the past
year and on research made by the ex-
plorers whom the exposition, with the
Smithsonian Institute and the School
of American Archaeology, sent into
Central and South America two years
ago.
"Only few students have the
faintest idea of the rich beauty of
these old peoples mythology" says
H. 0. Davis, director general of the
exposition, in commenting on the in
rovation. "The great body of read
ers, even readers above the average,
knows nothing of Quetzacoatl or
Huitzilopochtli or the other brilliant
names in Aztec religion. Ignorance
is just as deep as it is about the ex-
traordinary heights to which the May
as scared in affairs of art, heights
quite as great as attained by these
red mems contemporaries in Greece
or Rome or Egypt. We know pitt
fully little about the engineering
feats of the Incas, but l think we will
know more.
"One purpose of the San Diego ex-
position is to present information
about South America and Central
America as well as the American
West. The Panama canal, whose
opening will be celebrated both at San
Francisco and San Diego's expositions,
is bound to open up our western con-
tinent to the world, commercially, in
dustrially and economically We want
to help out, too, in the realm of more
poetic things. The display of Indian
arts, ancient and modern, at the Ex-
position Beautiful is the most COM
plete thing of the sort ever essayed.
There was never anything compar-
able to it in scope, in interest, in sci
entific accuracy. It is being supple
mented by this series of pageants-|
sixty-thr are in our present list
quite as important in an educational
way as in the way of entertainment.
We have insisted on accuracy in cos
tunes, in dance steps, in incidental
music, in every detail. We have not
succeeded in obtaining candidates for
the roles Of victims in the scenes of
the sacrifice to Huitzilopochtli, how
ever, and Pm afraid the removal Of
the hearts and other neat little fea-
lures of that sort will have to be
omitted"
The pageants will start on the
opening night, New Years Eve, and
will be given every Saturday after
noon and evening and at special mid
week events. All will take place in
the great plaza, which is thanked by
the Did mission buildings, palaces and
ether Spanish structures, all covered
with riotous growth of vines and
flowers and shrubbery, which make
up the Spanish city" on the mesa
where the exposition is situated.
The heaviest movement of exhibits