El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1914-08-01
A ". Bollvla, August -

A PAZ, Bolivia, August IL am
able TO give you today the story
- Of some wonderful discoveries
lust made in the heart Of the Bolivia
Andes. You may have read Of the
ruined city of Macchu Pichu, found by
Dr. Hiram Bingham in the heart of the
jungle within four or i've days OF
CUzcO, the capital Of the meas That
is situated in PERU On the nlSn PA
teau Of Bolivia are the remains Of an
other ancient city not far from La Pax
that has been known Tor generations
Its origin has never been settled, but
now out Of the ground from under II
are coming pottery. relics Of gold and
copper and the skeletons of human be
ings that lead scientists here to sup
pose that il was in existence 1000 years
or more before the first stones OF the
pyramids were laid
This ancient city is known as ia
huanacu. It is y miles from Lake IL
ticaca, and some Of its ruins are within
a stones throw of the railway that
goes from GuaQui, the Bolivian port on
the lake, TO La Paz- stopped there
on my was across the plateau.
Traces OF Lost City.
The ruins are scattered over an area
equal to about a dozen 100 acre farms.
They consist Of he remains OF massive
walls, Of uerraced mounds, and Of the
great edifice sometimes called the Tenn
pie. The latter building covers four
acres and it was made Of blocks OF
black stone 80 inches in thickness The
stones are much like those OF the an
cient buildings 1 saw in Cuzco- They
were fitted together without mortar
and that so closely that 1 found it i'm
possible TO insert knife blade De
tween them. The stones are cut Win
absolute regularity and We have no
modern buildings which are more
closely fitted together
As it is now, most Of the structures
of Tfahuanacu have been carried away,
f- only the rr1fornTW n1lLaTE LnaL
are scattered here and there and the
cut stones remaining from the olQ
buildings that indicate the wonders OF
the past The temple itself was IN
The shane of a rectangle, AS feet long
BY 388 feet wide Its outlines are
marked by massive blocks OF red sand
stone, some Of which are sun erect
They evidently formed the part OF a
rough wall and they supported plat
form OF earth that rose eight feet ABOVE
the country surrounding On the east
ern side of this platform was a lower
terrace, along the edge OF Wnlcn were
great stone pilasters ranging IN helghl
from nine TO IA feet and IN WldIn from
two to four feet There were ten OF
these An except one STAND lheFe 10
nay.
Let me tell you what is still left OF
Tfahuanacu. The ruins are accessibl
to all, and some may be seen from the
windows OF the cars passing through
on the way TO La Paz- There are re-
TuarEable ruins right at the railway
station and in the town that surrounds
it The town consists Of mud nuts,
some of which have oOOrWays made OF
stone brought from the ruins set INTO
the walls I saw Aymara indians sit
ting in these stone dOOrWays and otn-
ers STOPPING as they went IN and out
The nuts are often plastered with mud,
and upon the matched roofs are wood
en- crosses, showing the religious ma
ture Of the people. The town has a
Catholic church that has stones Of the
ancient city in its walls sand IN front
Of the church is a cross on a pedestal
made of such stones There are carved
idols on each side Of the gateway that
leads into the church They all came
from TiahuanaCu, whose people lived
5000 years ago and WOrshiped We know
not what
one of the striking features Of the
ruins is a great doorway cut out Of one
solid block of stone. This is fitted into
the walls Of an old cemetery The
block is broken at one corner, but II
originally was a great stone Stag IS
inches thick, and twice as tail as
man The doorway that was cut
through its center is four and a half
feet hin and almost three feet in
width The stone above the door is
beautifully carved with figures that
seem to be Egyptian, and over the
doorway IS a central figure in high re-
lief Some or the figures evidently
represent kings, for each holds a
scepter and some have crowns on their