Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1922-08-17
ON BURIED TOWN?
Speculation Over City OF Mexi.
! co.'s Foundation.
Grounds for Belief That the Modern
Capital May Have Taken the
Place OF Ancient City.

Is there a second Pompeii under
the city OF Mexico? Does the largest
city OF the southern American republic
have as a foundation the roofs Of an
ancient city OF which IL knows moth.
ing? Recent excavations have indi.
Gated that this surprising possibility
exists, writes Fred. Gilman Jopp.
While doing some construction work.
one OF a patty of worknen i'm the
heart Of the City of Mexico suddenly
disappeared from view. In the process
OF resculng him from the deep pit into
which he suddenly fell IL was dlscoy.
cred that he had literally fallen into
another town. Naturally. great excite.
ment at once prevailed and crews OF
workmen were at once brought 10 the
place and started on the work Of re.
moving the ground level of the modern
city.
When this was done, and the exist
ing earth removed, it was found that
"A complete building, In excellent con.
ditfon. was supporting the supposed
solid ground. Walls OF rock, not
bit crumbled, divided the house into
rooms and passageways of various
sorts and depths. Tiled floors com
parable to modern tiled floors. were
found intact. and other elements OF
building construction indicated that
the builders knew as much Of the
principles of construction rs modern
contractors ana architects.
Most characteristic Of the builders
OF the ancient city were the carved
stone images found In the walls ant
about the floors in various places. q
these the large stone image which
guarded the entrance is probably most
noteworthy This huge affair has beer
carved out of the hardest stone viii
an eXactncss that would do credit tt
marble worker Of the present day
Detail 10 the extreme is 70 bc found II
this figure; Yet the instruments Will
which it was fashioned must have beer
altogether crude.
In another place a complete bake
oven in perfect condition, built Of
adobe bricks, was uneavhed. Accord
ing 10 scientists the presence of the
bake oven wculd Indicate fairly higl
type Of civilization among the resi-
dents of the mysterious city.
A pile OF nails for use In further
construction work is of great inter.
est. These consist Of stones. pointed
artifcially at one end. 4 pile Of hun
dreds of these is surprisingly uniform
To fashion them from the hard rock
of which they are made must indeed
have been a tedious task Apparently
the inhabitants had intended TO DO
further building. fer there were many
of the mails" stacked up in pile
ready for use.
The bricks used in the walls are
of two kinds: first, those made by chip
ping rocks into regular shapes, and
second. those made Of adobe mud. In
the case Of the bricks made OF stone
the walls are frequently built slopine
back instead of straight up, evidently
10 avoid a cave-in or slide. The walls
are extremely thick.
Now that this much las been IN
earthed, the City of Mexico residents
are wondering what lies under their
own property. Is 1t possible that n
whole underground city is there wait
ing to be uncovered? or is the ruin
that has been discovered simply that
of an ancient Mexican dwelling that
has been gradually covered up and for
gotten?
Advocates Of the latter theory cite
the recent finding Of a complete boat
under san Francioe9 city lot as sup
port for their Theory. Many, however
are equally positive that under the
modern city lies a second Pompoii,
waiting for someone 60 dig it up again
And still others, who take little inter
est in the situation one way or the
other, are specializing about a more
practical question. They are wonder
ing just how secure the foundation
of their property Is. The possibility
Of living over an ancient city. with
ones dwelling supported only by
~edged earth. is not exactly ccnduc-
i've TO the most comfortable Of feel
ings-Montroal Family Herald.