Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1919-10-19


Syria. It bears marked resemblance to
the profound masonry at Athens. Seen
from any angle it Is mysterious, fasci-
mating, awe-compelling, certain to
leave its lasting imprint on the mind
Cliff jewellers or trogiodytes could con-
vert 1t into happy homes. In argonaut
days a band of desperadoes, led by the
notorious Tiburcio Vasquez, lived here
| in secret chambers and preyed upon /
the valuable metal freighting from the
Cerro Gordo mine at Owens lake to
San Pedro and tidewater. These ban
dts were driven out in the 7Os.
CLOSED CATHEDRAL
"a gem of magnificent coloring, so
gorgeous and yet SO softly harmonious |
that no mortal welded of the brush |
dares hope to equal 1t, the Closed Ca
thedral towers resplendent The edi- |
, flee is of tremendous size with an en-
| trance rs feet high and Is wide, SOL
idly blocked at a depth Of IL feet. In
the decorative scheme pure white,
deep blue, red. yellow, green and all
the intervening shades are blended by
the Perfect Painter. There even is the
suggestion of a stained glass window.
The aspect is of antiquity. This is en-
HANGED by a crack or fault diagonally
across the front-evidence of an earth
slide before the ceaseless processes of
erosion began. So realistic is the ca
thedral effect that one voluntarily lis
tens for bells to intone the hour or
tcall to prayers. The atmosphere Is sa-
cred; it inspires reverence.
"At the canyons edge, rising 200
feet above the level floor, is a stately
! columnar entrance of such comeliness
, and so reckoning that 1t unhesitatingly
j was christened the Royal Gateway. 1t
, opens to a sculptured foyer extending
: several hundred feet back and forming
a superb art gallery. Here almost any
; figure desired, heroic or miniature.
| may be dscerned by permitting the
> ina gination slight leeway. In the cen
| ter as though placed by measured de-
sign exactly the correct distance from
! the portal. stands a graceful group of
five columns on tall base. Gateway
and foyer are white as Carrara marble.
LIKE BURIED PoMPEII
t Reminiscent Of Herculaneum and
e Pompeii and somewhat melancholy
d sight is the buried city. Masses of
d burned clay broken up like common
0 bricks have crashed down and crushed
= and covered some of the best exam
n Piles of natural construction, notably
s rare pagodas. Fortunately perfect ones
r remain also particularly dainty sculp-
C lures such as the gracefully curved.
r. lace like parapet in the foreground of
$ the detail photograph. Other oriental
building types escaped the avalanche
s and serve as reminders of Asia Minor
n and Thibet. The buried city occupies
e ten or more acres. Behind 1t Is a
k lava crowned wall. From the neither
q side of the upper stratum of this came
,e off and go HURTING down, tearing paths
of destruction.
" CASTLE OF DREAMS
l. with the most pleasing of skylines
lie a thousand or more feet UP on the
10 hard, corrugated, brick-littered slope
(, is ma estically perched grand castel-
n lated palace, the citadel. Dark and an
h cient with impregnable old world
= heights, guarding fertile wales or sap
phire tides. Vertically it is castle OF
dreams among crags where golden
eagles nest. ii looks down upon the
white chapel, which is what the name
implies. At the corners the walls arc
heavily buttressed like the old Span
! ish missions of the southwest. In con-
| tour it is a duplicate of many of Mex
icos oldest churches; unlike them it IL
elegantly embellished. There are many
inches containing appropriate statu'
| cites.
"Symbolizing enduring strength de-
| flying time, and dwarfing the supports
| of the Temple of Bacchus, the Pillars
| of Hercules appear to sustain thu
weight of the Sierra. Before them il
| the Sphinx, a salmon-tinted rock heat
| of a thousand tons with turban and de
| tached neck of dark red. 1t is Egyp
| tian in design and faces the noonda,
| sun. Visible from afar is Capito
| Dome, enormous, shapely and SHIN
| mering fittingly named for the prou'
| man made rotunda in Washington.
THE SILENT CITY
| Farther back in the canyons rami
| fications are the unbelievable wonders
stupendous, staggering-a dozen soli'
miles of them. There are thousands o
monoliths of dazzling hues, of agat
| and jasper and jade, sandstone AM
granite and quartz and crystal: count
| less astounding structural forms nobl
| and unscalable, beside which those al
| ready described would be insignifi
| cant pigmies; Mountains of blac
stand against mountains of white, re
opposite blue, pink meets brown an
| soft gray merkes into deep yellow ST
miles up one of the many rugge
branch gorges on "a 2000-foot mes
| glaringly white and edged with flint
| Jet glows under the blazing sun tn
/ silent city, tenantless graveyard
Hundreds of blocks, circular, square
and four to ten feet tall, rise irf or
dered rows like headstones in well
nc kept cemetery. Not one Is slanted. TIL
- streets are Immediately swept b
ar strong winds. No sexton is needed
This place is reached by heart break
ing climb. Not half dozen men nav
seen 1t. No camera has been carrie