Omaha daily bee., 1914-06-07
The lord OF. The Ea1'Eh4uakes

plates tackled to the heads OF mummies
and on skulls
The building of the great granite cathe-
dral in Cuzco which stands on the plaza
near the ancient site of one of the Inca
palaces, was brought about by the dis
covery of an Inca treasure. It's origin
was in a miraculous dream OF the bishop
In this dream the Virgin Mary appeared
before the bishop and told him that she
wanted cathedral in Cuzco. She fixed
the location on the ancient plaza OF the
Inoas and described the grand building
as it now is. The bishop replied that his
people were poor that he had no money
and that he could not possibly raise the
money needed. Thereupon the Madonna
directed him to go to place near Cuzco
and dig. There he would uncover some
Of the lost treasures of the Incas. This
was duly reported to the people. and, as
the story goes, they went with the bishop
in a great procession to the place desig-
mated. They dug down into the earth
and there found large store of gold. 1t
was with this gold that they began the
cathedral which, although here far off
from the sea and between the walls of
the Andes. Is one of the finest churches
Of the new world
Cathedral is Gorgeous.
1 have already described the cathedral
or Cuzco. All told II is perhaps more
gorgeous than was Coricancha, the Inca
temple of the Sun. 1t is a vast museum
of gold carvings and beautiful paintings.
One OF Its treasures is a life-sized figure
of the Christ fastened to a wooden cross
by great nails of solid gold. The figure is
decorated with Jewels and the pedestal
or car upon which the cross stands is
plated with silver and incrusted with
diamonds.
This image Is greatly revered by the
Indians and also by the other people OF
Cuzeo. They carry it around through the
streets on Good Monday at which time
they kneel down on the sidewalks and
pray before 1t. They call it the Lord OF
the Earthquakes and believe that their
city is safe from seismic disturbances as
long as the annual procession takes place.
This comes from tradition that the
Christ was once left in the church be-
yond the hour usually set for the process
sion, when the mountains began to sway
and an earthquake occurred which 1t was
thought would swallow the city. There
upon the Christ was brought out and the
earth ceased its quaklng.
Story of Lost Treasure.
Another story OF lost treasure relates
to Cuzco white man OF Spanish descent
whom the Lord blessed with numerous
children. It is the custom here that a
godfather shall look after and provide
for his godchild; and so. as this man
was poor, he tried to add 10 his resources
by getting a corps OF good godfathers.
So as the infants came one after an
other he named each in honor Of one Of
the distinguished citizens OF the town.
The citizens. however, did not respond
and the man grew poorer and poorer, Al
last he had had nine babies. each of
whom had been given a rich godfather,
but there was no help forthcoming. The
father swore that he would leave the rich
and choose as the patron OF his next child
the first man he met on the street after
its birth. In due time the stork came
again, and the man. rushing out saw a
poor Indian driving a caravan OF llamas
into the town. He stopped him and told
him he wanted him TO be godfather 10 his
child. The Indian objected, saying that
he was poor and not fit TO be godfather 10
white child. The man then told OF his
vow and finally persuaded the Indian TO
accept the position.
Wood Turns out Gold.
In due time the baby was baptized ami
the Indian appeared at the ceremony as
its godfather. He kissed his godson rs
he left the church and the next day
came back into Cuzco with a score II