Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1914-07-10
GREAT BOOKS.IN
RUINS IN YUCATAN
Lore Yet Unread Believed To
Date as Far Back as Any
in Old World.

Edward II. Thompson, former United
| States consul at Merida. Yucatan, in a
/ communication to the National Geo
graphic society, at Washington. ID. c.,
forgotten race, on the peninsula of
Yucatan, declares that the American
people should awaken to the fact that
they have right at home architecture
essentially American and ruined struc-
lures every whit as interesting and
massive and possibly as old as those
of other lands. who boast that Amer
leans must come to them.
within these mysterious American
ruins are great books, with pages of
stone, writ in characters that no man
may yet read" he declares. Are the
mysteries they hold. the wonderful
facts that certainly lie sealed and mute
within them, hidden from US, less in
teresting to Americans than are the
tales of Egyptian dynasties. the rites
of Druids, Roman campings. or Saxon
raidings? l think not
Mr.. Thompson describes what was
probably the first tennis or basketball
in the world. The ruined group OF
Chichan liza covers a space of fully
three square miles, he says. over
all this wide territory are scattered
carved and squared stones, IN count
less thousands. fallen by the hundreds.
while the formless remains and out
lined walls of huge structures fallen
into ruin are seen on every side. Seven
m a q efxra ctr ~ eff
adamantine mortar still tower erect. (.
and almost inhabitable. Their facades
sustain the claim that Chichen liza is
ere OF the worlds greats. monuments ,
of antiquity.
S"veral hundred feet to the west of
tie castle temple rest no great par
allel moles of solid masonry. each 275
feet long 81 feet vide and IS feet high.
"-twecn these moles is the ceremonial
court. This level cemented space was
probably the theater for the perform
ance of certain rites and games of a
ceremonial character. This belief is
borne out by the fact that at a distance
of six feet from the level uppe- sur
face of the mole two great rings of
stone were fixed into the perpendic-
ular wall surface, directly opposite
each other"
Mr.. Thompson declares estimates as
to the age of the city vary from less
than 1000 years to more than IL 500
years. An idea of the intricecies of
the language of the people If the city
is given by the following Quotation
from a document found there: "Lai
u trojan katun lukci ii cab ii yotoch
which is translated to mean.
~ 9 -. 81.
from the time of their departure from
the LCuse of Nonual in the land of
Tulapan."
The writer tells a legend concern
ing Camel, the impetuous ruler of
liza. who loved the daughter
Of the ruler of a distant province. One
day. runner brought him the news
that the Batab OF a neighboring and
far more powerful province had mar
ried the maiden. Canek and his war
riors went to his enemy's city under
cover IF darkness, while all was rev.
elry there in celebration of the we'd
ling. AFTER venting their fury on the
drunken CeIebrants they stole the
bride of an hour and disappeared.
Never again did Chichen liza know
lis Lord Canek nor any of his band
u
ing band from Chichen liza made a
long journey to the south. They fl
tally reached a lake, and in it's center
an island city. The city was Taysasal
and its ruler the now aged Lord Canek.
He also tells of the arrival, reception
Ind subsequent fight by night of Mon
eio. one OF the early Spanish conquer
'rs. in 1928. The Spaniards. besieged
md almost without provisions, tied a
log to a rope of a bell and placed food
Just beyond his reach. His efforts to
get the food kept the bell ringing and
deceived the natives into believing
heir captives were still there. When
he ruse was discovered, the little
band of Spanish soldiery was nearly
,ut of the enemy's reach. The writer
expresses the belief that the natives,
to be rid of their burdensome
,uests, shut their eyes and let them
scape unmolested.