The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1914-11-27
WESTERN EXPOSITIONS

Dan IlcEO. NOV. l.-lhrllllnR ORA
matte episodes taken from the relig-
ious ceremoEials of the ancient Az
tees and Toltecs and other mighty
races of red men Of the past will be
reproduced throughout next year by
Il large cast Of actors, supported by
musicians, dancers and a chorus, en-
gagged by the San Diego Exposition.
None of these ccrcmonials has been
, held for several centuries and few
Of them are traced back through five
thousand years to Il period where the
mist Of antiquity coHceals all knowl-
edge OF the dead nations.
This is the awaited announcement
Of the Exposition in the far South
west as to 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 ccrcmonials,
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 explorers whom the Exposition,
with the Smithsonian Institute and
the School of American Archaeology,
sent into Central and South America
two years ago.
only a few students have the faint
est idea of the rich beauty of these
old peoples mythology" says II. o..
Davis, director general of the Expo
sition, in commenting on the nova
ton. "The great body of readers,
even readers above the average, knows
nothing Of Quetzacoatl or Huitzil-
pochtl or the other brilliant names
in Aztec religion Ignorance is just
as deep as it is about the eXtraordi-
nary heights to which the Mayas
scared in affairs of art, heights quite
as great as attained by these red
mems contemporaries in Greece or
Rome or Egypt. We know pitifully
/ little about the engineering feats Of
the lucas, but think we viii know
more.
cone purpose Of the San Diego
/ Exposition is to present information
about South America and Central
America as well Us the American
west The Panama Canal, whose OPP
cning will he celebrated at San
Diego's Exposition, is bound to open
up our western continent to the world
commercially, industrially, and eco
nomically. We want to help out, too,
in the realm Of more poetic things.
The display Of Indian arts. ancient
and modern, at the Exposition Beau
/ tiful. is the most complete thing Of
the sort ever cssaycd. There was
never anything comparable to il in
scope, in interest, in scientific acct
racy. 1t is being supplemented by
ths series Of paCcaEts-63 are in our
| present list-quite as important in
an educational way as in the way Of
entertainment We have insisted on
accuracy in costumes, in rance steps,
in incidental music, in every detail
We have rot succeeded in obtaining
candidates for the roles OF victims in
the scenes Of the sacrifice to Eluit2il-
opochtli, however, and I'm afraid the
removal of the hearts and other neat
little features of that sort will have
to be omitted"
The paEcants will start on the OPP
cning night, New Years Eve, and will
be given every Saturday afternoon
and evening and at special mid-weck
events. All will take place in the
great Plaza, which is flanlci by the
old mission buildings, palaces and
other Spanish structures, all covered
with a riotous growth Of vines and
flowers and shrubbcry, which make
up the Spanish City" on the mesa
where the Exposition is situated
The heaviest movement Of exhibits
that has been noticed up to date start
ed last week, when nearly solid
trainload arrived at San Diego in one
haul. The bulk of the exhibits were
for display in the buildings o. the var
ious states and valleys, erected along
La Via dc los Sstados, on the lower
plateau Of the Exposition grounds.
On the same day n steamer landed in
the Harbor Of the Sun carrying the
forestry exhibit for the State Of
Washington, collected by the Univer-
sity of that state An immense