The Coolidge examiner., 1937-06-17


Washington. D. C.-WNU Service.
"HE peninsula of Yucatan
projects northward between
the Caribbean sea and the
Gulf of Mexico like the thumb
of giant hand. Located in its
northern half are the states of Yu-
catan and Campeche and the terri
tory of Quintana Roo, in the Repub-
lie of Mexico.
1t is almost as fiat as the proven
bial pancake, though, as one travels
from north to south, a few low
ranges, little more than foothills,
are encountered, few exceeding 500
feet above the sea. The country is
a limestone plain of recent geologic
formation, covered with a dense,
, rather low forest which increases
in height from north to south as the
soil grows deeper.
Yucatan has no surface water, no
rivers or streams, and relatively
| few lakes, but everywhere are to
be found large natural wells called
cenotes, which made life possible in
ancient times. In the formation of
these, the surface coralline lime
stone, honeycombed by the action
of water, has broken through, eX-
posing the Subterranean water level.
The cenotes and modern wells
IN, IN
creasing elevation of the land as
one withdraWs from salt water,
from only few feet at the coast
to about 100 feet in the interior. The
level of the subterranean water
table, however, always remains the
same.
There are only two seasons, the
dry and the rainy. The former be-
gins in December and lasts official
ly until May 3, Santa Cruz day,
when the faithful believe the rains
should commence, though actually
it may have been raining since the
middle of April, or Nature, in a
contrary mood, may have held off
until the middle of June.
The thermometer does not fall be-
low 80 degrees Fahrenheit, and does
not rise above 107 degrees. But
these two extremes do not tell the
true story, since the average max
imum is in the eighties and the av-
erage minimum in the sixties.
The nights, even after the hottest
days, which are in April and May
before the rains break, are cool,
because of the trade winds which
sweep across the peninsula from
east to west practically throughout
the year, bringing the freshness of
the Caribbean sea to cool the SUM-
parched land.
Almost Completely Isolated.
Although Yucatan is a peninsula
joined by broad base to the con-
tinental land mass to the south, it
is, practically speaking, an island.
For every person who manages to
fight his way into the peninsula
through trackless jungles, across
vast swamps and over stony ranges
of low hills which together form an
all but impossible land barrier,
hundreds reach Yucatan by air or
water.
This circumstance profoundly af-
fected the civilization which flour
ished there in ancient as we'll as in
modern times.
Because of its almost complete
isolation, the peninsula was select
ed by the Carnegie Institution of
Washington more than two decades
ago, as a center for the intensive
study of American aboriginal civil
izations. Foreign influence having
been reduced to a minimum, Yucca
tan is an excellent Laboratory
case" for such study.
This subtropical paradise is not
difficult of access from the United
States. Merida, the capital, is only
nine hours by air from Miami and
less than six and a half from Mex
leo City. There are regular steam
ship sailings from New York and
from New Orleans to Progreso, port
of Yucatan. There is every facility
for convenient touring about the
peninsula, even the modern Maya
land lodge in the venerable ruins
of Chichen Itza.
Merida, with about 110, 900 people,
must be one of the cleanest cities
of it's size in the world. All the
streets are paved. Ninety per cent
of the houses are rough masonry
coated with lime plaster. Flat
concrete roofs rest either on wooden
beams or, in the modern houses,
on steel beams.
The houses are painted in every
color imaginable, pastel shades of
cream, pink, green, blue, and yel-
low prevailing.
PatiOs Are Delightful.
AS in all Spanish cities, the dwell
ings present to the streets either
entirely blank walls or heavily
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