The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1951-08-20
In The
Background
sBy TAe Associated Pressl
Sinking City

News items from Mexico City
sounds like the bulletins on a
dying celebrity 1t says Sinking
Fast" And according to the Ma
ional Geographic Society, Mexi-
co City is indeed sinking-al-
though not very fast.
Mexico City, you know, is
mile above sea level and sur
rounded by towering mountains.
1t is one of the worlds great
beauty spots, and it has benign.
cool climate.
But is Just not very steady on
its pins. This metropolis, third
largest in North America, is
slowly sinking into an under
ground lake. In the last eight
months, the general level of
ground has dropped more than
a foot (i41s inches. The famous
palace of fine arts, which in
cludes a great opera house, has
sagged about Is feet below its
original level, although ii is not
an old building. At the same
time, however, some of the ultra
modern steel buildings which dot
the city are apparently growing
taller.
These skyscrapers are built on
piles which reach bed rock, and
the ground level is gradually
falling away from them.
None Of this is any surprise to
the citizens of Mexico City.
They've known about it all
along, and its only recently that
the situation has reached the
point where they seem to be
getting ready to do something
about il.
The first man to notice the
problem was fernando Cortez,
who rode over the rim into the
valley in 1919. Spread before
fernando and the boys was
magnificent valley of lakes in
terspersed with islands.
Many cities and villages were
built on the islands and even out
over the water in spots. cortez
and his conquistadors were much
impressed.
What they saw was Tenochti-
tlan-- golden capital of the am
Gent Aztec empire. It's temples
and castles rose on the islands,
and boats made their way along
canals. It was linked to the
mainland by three masonry
causeways.
II was a magnificent city, in
its way, but it didn't suit Cor
tez. He burned it down and
bailt another over the remains.
In the center. on one of the
larger islands, he put a square
which was to be the middle of
town---and il is still just that.
Its called the Zocalo. now--and
it is dominated by the Oldest
cathedral of North America
the cathedral known as ''Mexi-
cos st. Peters" Nearby stands
the huge national palace. where
Spanish viceroys once ruled, and.
later, the i'll fated emperor Max
milan held forth.
In the four centuries since Cor
tez. Mexico City has continuous
~ spread out and expanded
mostly on filled land. Great bou-
levards extend outward and it
now sprawls over many of those
lakes that looked 50 good to the
Spaniards and the Aztecs.
Thus the lakes now under
ground--not very far under. The
whole city is really floating on
mixture of water and volcanic
mud--a very slippery foundations
indeed.
Thousands of arleSlan WeIiS
have been drilled through the
solid crust. And the water is
slowly but surely being pumped
ont from under the city. AS II IS
pprugsed spt. she City goes down.
The Mexico CNy citizens are
drinking up their own founda-
tons. What's more. the city has
been growing rapidly in popus
lation since the beginning of
World War Two---and il is still
growing. Population as of 1880
two and a quarter million.
According TO engineers on the
scene, crisis is rapidly ap-i