The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, October 2, 1898, Page 25

T E SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, OCTOBER 2, 1898. = mD OF SV P‘_(‘:E%T\HQACAN.ME)“ HIGHEST PYRANID, _ \NA"\ER‘CA hd a person ground. Its construc- a period of thirty hundred thousa GOD THE TEMPLE At the sculpture les of the stair are sloping E s forming a kind of bal- 1gth of the bullding is ent: the width twenty-five feet, yout four feet thick. placed two at the netuary door and one ack wall of the sanct These nd most important mural nd in America, and are vle of characters and in age ject in v mid: P rs of the ual st S great ruined cities 3000 years In the of Mitla Chichen-Itza, Uxmal, Copan, Tlacolula, Quiche, Papianpla, Misantia, Lacqua- mada, Tepo an, Xochicalco and T divided into temple tihuacan, the pyramidal ruins, 2 of sacrifice, mounds of sepul- crowned with crumbling temples, are S , mounds of observation and very numerous. It is at Teotihuacan Jacques d unds of fortification. To giye illus- the” most imposing structure on the € trations showing the L¥Pes continent is to be found, viz: Pyramid would tax the limits o : 0Ctavo of the Sun. The photographic views of volume. Unlike the py: it and from it showing in the distance the age of the mounc the Temple of the Moon were made by of North America Professor Marshall H. Saviile, of the h group, as the history of th American Museum of Natural History, one of the eminent authorities on M can antiquities, as well as explorers. nd aracter and place short article the cl It is the nobie in architecture of the pyramids of MeX- mhjs i one of the most historic places pt, and from. its lc ico, we give Professor Willlam Henry in the conquest of Mexico by the Span- f the = world great Holmes'—of the nited States Na- jards. It is the opinion of Professor Saville and others that the city was destroyed by volcanic eruption, as the valley and the two great pyramids are covered with volcanic debris. M. De- sire Charnay, who has given much of his life to American exploration, thus describes the Pyramid of the Sun: “The famous edifices at Teotihuacan, twenty-five miles from the City of Mex. ico, are still in existence. The two prin- cipal pyramids were dedicated to the sun and the moon and were taken for models for building later temples in this region. That of the sun is the most tional Museum—pen sketch panoramic view of the ruins of Palenque, one of the best known of the ruined cities of Mexico. In this we see temples sur- mounting the truncated pyramids. Tak- ing as a single example the pyramid to the right of the palace ruins, crowned by the Temple of Inscriptions, we find it to be about sixty’ feet in height, sloping at an angle of forty-five degrees. A platform about twelve feet wide occurs near the top, and from this, midway in the front, a few steps of well-hewn stone lead to the summit. builder its to looked plain most universe. The pyramid bul limestone from the hills of Mokattam and granite from Syene. It d ‘severai others were covered with casing stones, as was the pyramid next to_{t—Chefren—bulilt by the king who succeeded him, some of which still re- ummit. al height of the pyramid of fore the casing stones were to.bulld Cairo, was 482 feet. ent height is 451 feet. It covers down of th The Great Pyramid of Gizeh, Egypt. ¥ asuring 680 feet at the t high. Like all great were divided into four of which are still visible, rmediate gradations are al- ced. temple stood on the summit of the larger mound, having a colossal statue of the sun, made of one single block of most e stone. Its breast had a hollow in which was placed a planet of fine gold. This statue was destroyed by Zumarraga, Bishop of Mexico, and the gold The e or of the pyr: and volcanic pebbles surface with light, over this was a th tucco, such as wa cla; the telzontl of white porous stone, coating used for dwellin, : the pyramid is much defaced. is from thirty-one to thirty s, and where the coatings of cement still adhere fortv-seven degrees. The ascent was arduous, especially with a burning sun beating down upon us, but when we reached the top we were amply repaid by the glorious view which unfolded before our enraptured gaze. “To the north of the Pyramid of the Mobn is the great ‘Path of Death,” with its tombs and tumuli covering a space of nine square miles; to the south and southwest the hills of Tiascala, the villages of St. Martin and St. Juan, the gnowy top of Iztaccthuatl towering above the Matlacinga range, and in the west the Valley of Mexico, with its lakes, while far, far away the faint out- line of the Cordilleras was perceptible in this clear atmosphere. If by an effort of the imagination we were to recon- struct this dead city, restore its dwell- ings, temples and pyramids, coated with pink and white outer coatings, surrounded by verdant gardens, inter- sected by beautiful roads paved with red cement, the whole bathed in a flood of sunshine, we should realize the vivid descriptions of Torquemada. “‘All the temples and palaces were perfectly built, whitewashed and pol- ished outside, so that it gave one a real pleasure to view them from a littie dis- tance. All the streets and squares were beantifully paved, and they looked 8o daintily clean as to make you almost doubt their being the work of human hands, destined for human feet. Nor am I drawing an imaginary picture, for besides what I have been told, I myself have seen ruins of temples with noble trees and beautiful gardens full of fragrant flowers, which were grown for the service of the temples.’ " This q@iotation goes far to prove that the ruins are not so ancient as some writers have maintained, but that tem- ples and palaces were extant at the time of the conquest, and that pyra- mids were repaired by the successiveoc- cupants of the soil,even during the wars which a displacement of races natural- 1y entailed. The outline of pyramids is everywhere visible and serves as a bea- con to guide the traveler to the ruins of Teotihuacan. Besides these there are some smaller mounds to the south, in- dicating that the ancient city extended as far as Matlacinga Hill, which bounds the valley on this side, while it stretched six miles to the north. No_excavations have been made in the Pyramid of the Sun, but Max- milian caused extensive excavations to be made in the Pyramid of the Moon with the hope of finding treasures and was disappointed. But little work on the pyramids has been done. Professor Saville has found in the pyramids of Monte Alban tombs, and Mr. Thompson in Yucatan a few months since exca- vated a pyramid in the center of which he tound an opening below twenty-five feet deep with human bones, and still below it another fifty fee* deep with human bones. sWHEN 106 308 308 06 300 300 008 0 X INCE the Dunning poisoning case the name of Lucrezia Borgia has frequently cropped up as being modern historians declare that Lucrezia Borgia has been a very much maligned woman. Historical evidence does not support the charges of poisoning made against her, but on the contrary Shows that her life was free from blame. After her marriage to the Duke of Ferrara's son her career was prosperous, but un- eventful. She died in 1520, universally respected and admired for her piety and prudence and her patronage of men of letters. Lucrezia Borgia suffered vi- cariously for her father and brothers. Even if it were true that Lucrezia Borgia was guilty of all the crimes she is generally credited with her record as a poisoner would pale into insignifi- cance when compared with that of the Marquise de Brinvilliers. Yet in the popular belief the Borgia overshadows all other masters in the art of secret poisoning. It was during the time of Louis XIV that a reign of terror was inaugurated in Paris through the instrumentality of two Italians. A short time prior to their advent, however, had occurred the sudden and mysterious death of the Princess Henrietta, sister of King Charles II of England and wife of Monsieur the Duke of Orleans, brother of the King of France. On Sunday, June 29, 1669, while at St. Cloud and in good spirits and in her usual health, she asked for a cup of succory water, which she drank, and after taking dinner she lay down upon a pile of cushions, scon falling asleep. Mme. de la Fayette, happening to look at her, was struck by the livid and ghastly appearance of her face and was at a loss to account for the sud- den change in her beautiful counte- nance. At that moment the Princess Henrietta awoke in great distress and exclaimed that she was dying. She de- clared that she had been poisoned, and at once summoned her confessor. Mean- time she embraced her husband, assur- ing him that although she knew he had the arch flend in that line, but. 25 Found on This Continent, oR-F-F-F-3-F-2-F-3-3-3-3-3-F-F-3-F-F-F-F-F-3-3-F-F-3-F-F-3-3-F-F-3-1-3-3-3-3-3-F-F=3=3 -3 -3 -3 -] THE POISON MANIA HELD SWAY. Famous Instances Suggested by the Dunning Case. long since ceased to love her she was not in any degree gullty toward him. Having confessed herself and parytaken of the sacrament she retracted the ac- cusation of poisoning, as she feared to cast suspicion ugon innccent persons. She died a few hours afterward. Every one around her seemed inactive and in- different, with the exception of the King, wHho 'insisted that something should be done for her. Among those at whom the finger of suspicion was pointed was her hus- band, with whom she had had a long conversation just before her fatal ill- ness, and in the course of which some bitter things were said. The Duke be- came somewhat embittered against her because she had kept from him the secret of her mission to England, she having negotiated with her brother, the King, that treaty which made him a dependent and pensioner of France. King Louis charged him with the mur- der of Henrietta. The Duke de- clared with the most solemn oath that he was innocent. The King, still in doubt, made a strict investigation of all the circumstances. He discovered that the succory water, the favorite drink of the Princess Henrietta, was kept in a china jug, alongside an- other of pure water, used for diluting the former. Both vessels stood in a closet. It was learned also that on the very day of Henrletta's death the Marquis d’Effiat, one of the favorites of the Duke of Orleans, was found in this closet by a footman, who demanded his business there. The Marquis, not losing his presence of mind for an in- stant, calmly replied that his intrusfon was excusable by reason of his thirst. Knowing that water was always kept in the closet, he said, he could not re- sist a drink. The Marquis then passed into the salon of the Princess, where he remained for an hour in conversa- tion with his fellow courtiers. Convinced that Purnon, comptroller of the Princess’ household, must know something about the mysterious affair, the King had him brought into his presence. Under promise of full par- don—so the story has been told—Pur- non confessed that Henrietta was a victim of poison, sent from Rome by the Chevaller de Lorraine, with a gen- tleman named Morel, who was innocent of the nature of his commission, and by whom it was delivered to the Marquis de Beuvron. ‘While Henrietta was dy-- ing her husband suggested that the succory water be tried on a dog to ascertain its effect, but Mme. Des- bordes, her first femme de chambre, said that she had prepared the drink;. she would prove by swallow- ing a glassful herself that the water contained no poi- sonous ingredient. She did so, and the water had no unpleasant effect upon her. This fact now puzzled the King, who asked Purnon how he accounted for thi Purnon replled that the Marquis d’Effiat, having foreseen the possibility of just such an occurrence, had not poisoned the water, but the Princess’ cup by rubbing the poison on the inside. Following close upon the tragical death of Henerletta there came many others, all in rapid succession, and all sudden, mysterious and inexplicable. All attempts to detect foul play failed, but no one doubted that the instru- ment of death was some subtle poison. Everybody was. terrorized, and no one felt safe. At length, under the seal of confes- sion, the Grand Penitentiary of Paris learned that the mysterious deaths were due to poison, and he informed the authorities, who upon investigation discovered that two Italians, named Exili and Destinelll, who had bank- rupted themselves in the vain pursuit of the philosopher’s stone, were en- deavoring to recuperate their fortunes by compounding and secretly selling fatal poisons, which left no outward visible trace. These Italians were im- prisoned in the Bastile, where Desti- nelli soon afterward dled. Exili re- mained in prison, having been convict- ed of nothing more than selling em- pirical drugs for the cure of various - diseases and practicing astrology and divination. He was given consider- able liberty, and from his prison he continued to trade in his murderous. se- crets. It was at this juncture that the Mar- quise de Brinvilliers came Into promi- nence as a poisoner. Her maiden name was Marie Marguerite d'Aubray, - daughter of Dreux d’Aubray, municl- pal lieutenant of Paris. She was a gay and beautiful girl when she attracted the attention of the Marquis de Brin- villiers, who married her in 1651. Sonte. vears later her husband introduced her to an officer named St. Croix, for whom she soon conceived an uncontrdllable passion, the result being an intrigue that was carried on between them for a long period. It was interrupted tem- Continued on Page Twenty-six. TEMPLE CROWNED PYRAMIDS OF PALENQUE, MEXICO.