Evening star., 1920-06-13
CALLS MEXICO CITY
ROME OF AMERICA
William J. ShowaIter De-
scribes Wonders Of Center
of Revolution.

I'm all the world one cannot find
a more remarkable capital than Mex
leo City" says William Joseph Sho-
walter, in a communication to the
National Geographic Society. con-
cerning an interest center Of the pres
ent Mexican revolution.
Situated in a valley whose floor
Is a mile and a half above the level
Of the sea. and whose borders are
surrounded by towering mountains !;
located where the beautiful volcanoes.
Popocatepetl and Ixtaccihuatl, rear
their snow-capped heads above the
plain and stand eternal guard over It.
Its situation is one of rare beauty and
grandeur. Its climate IL mild, the
temperature ranging from 35 to 10
degrees. with a mean Of IS degrees.
No man sleeps without q blanket In
Mexico City. nor needs an overcoat
at midday.
Prior to the conquest tho lakes
OF the Mexican valley were extensive
uninterruptedly from the gates Of
Chapultepec to Ixtapalapa "A large
number of canals intersected the an
Client metropolis Of Tenochtitlan and
connected with the lakes in the
suburbs. making 1t sort OF new
'.1n 1907 the celebrated Portuguese
engineer Martinez undertook to drain
the valley Of Mexico by cutting, a canal
through the mountains. The work,
however, was largely failure, since 1t
drained only one small lake and an un-
and Chalco still perpetual menaces to
the city.
Thirty-Mile Drainage Canal.
TN 1879 huge drainage canal
thirty miles long was begun. which
was completed in 1900. at cost Of
about $8,00O.000. American gold. It's
completion removed the danger Of in
undations from Mexico City and
solved the problem which occupied the
the Aztecs as far back as 1449.
Mexico City is the most complete
mixture of the ancient and the modern
TO be found In the new world. The old
city might date anywhere from the
tenth century from its appearance. The
from the sixteenth to the twentieth CEN
tury by walking across the street.
The parade ground of Mexico City Is
the Avienda de San Francisco. This
short street extends from the Mexican
white house to the Alameda and Is only
about twenty-four feet from curb to
curb. Here. at the approach of twilight.
every smart equipage In the capital
comes. Down the one side of the street
and up the other side moves the pro-
looks at everybody else.
'As Avienda de San Francisco unites
the old and the new cities, so does the
Cinco de Mayo Fifth Of May) unite the
cathedral. stateliest Of all the religious
edifices on the continent, with the thea
ment places in America. The CiRco de
Mayo is the Wall street OF Mexico, and
the buildings which line II are modern,
In every respect
The Pasee de Ia Reforrna. extending
from Chapultepee to the Avienda de
Paseo with Avienda de San Francisco.
is one Of the finest drfvevays OF the
world.
The city is full of interesting
places. Whether it be the cathedral.
which rears its majestic towers to
sacred temple Of the Aztecs stood; and
where tens of thousands of human be-
ings were sacrificed to the sun;
whether 1t be the Hospital de Jesus,
built on the site where Cortes and
Montezuma first met, and supported
to this day from the Eevenues of the
estate of Cortez; whether it be the
Jockey Club, housed In the beautiful
House of Tiles; whether 1t be the
bronze equestrian statue Of Charles
w of Spain, declared by Humboldt to
be second only to the statue of Mar
Gus Aurelius at Rome, or whether 1t
be Chapultepec, with its memories of
the American triumph in Mexico, there
is no place with more attractions from
a historic standpoint than Mexico
City.
THE national pawn shop is one of
the unique institutions of the capi-
tai. 1t was founded by Pedro Jose
Romero de Terreres. the owner of the
rich mines at Real del
Monte. Here money may be borrowed
on chatteis at very low rates of in-
terest. and everything is pledged,
from pair OF cocks spurs to an au-
tomobile and from a silver ring to an
iron safe. The smallest loan made Is
IL cents. and the largest. 81 4.0O0
From the American standpoint
burial customs in Mexico are very
strange. A grave may be rented in
or for a term of years. If
the latter option is taken and the
rent is not paid promptly at each re-
curing period, the bones Of the oc-
cupant are elected and thrown upon
a great bone pile. These bones from
time to time are cremated.
"At Mexico City's great city Of the
dead, where 10000 people have been
buried, there ie q cave which con-
tains hundreds of tons of human
eshee. The Mexican law forbids sery-
Ices at the grave since the separation
OF church and state under Bsnite
Juarez."