MEXICO CITY 



3776 



MEXICO CITY 



struction, and some of the older buildings lining 

 the business streets present a curious contrast 

 to the newer ones by reason of their leaning 

 walls, rocked out of plumb by repeated shocks. 



The city is laid out with regularity, and the 

 streets in the newer districts are paved with 

 stone and asphalt and lighted with gas or elec- 

 tricity. A visitor strolling down San Francisco 

 Avenue, the main business thoroughfare, might 

 well fancy himself in some fashionable quarter 

 of an up-to-date Spanish city. Here are lo- 

 cated the finest shops, hotels, restaurants, busi- 

 ness offices and clubs. The most aristocratic 

 street of the city, and the center of its social 

 life, is the Paseo de la Reforma, a magnificent 

 boulevard lined with handsome residences and 

 fine trees. 



Of the many squares and open spaces, the 

 Alameda, or public gardens, covering an area 

 of forty acres, and the Plaza Mayor are of 

 special interest. The latter, a plot of fourteen 

 acres, beautified by trees, flowers, marble foun- 

 tains and statuary, is surrounded by a great 

 Roman Catholic cathedral, the National Pal- 

 ace, the municipal buildings and some of the 

 largest retail stores. On this square are held 

 the patriotic celebrations, military concerts and 

 various outdoor spectacles in which the Mexi- 

 can people take great delight. 



The cathedral, built on the site of an ancient 

 Aztec temple, is one of the largest and most 

 elaborate churches in North America. There 

 are in the city about sixty other Roman 

 Catholic churches, and a number of Protestant 



THE CATHEDRAL 



houses of worship. The offices of the President 

 of Mexico, the Senate Chamber, the War and 

 Finance departments and the national Treasury 

 are located in the National Palace, while the 

 city government offices are housed in the 

 Municipal Palace, which faces the cathedral. 

 North of the National Palace is the National 



Museum, containing, among other important 

 collections, a group of Aztec relics of priceless 

 value. Notable among the city's modern build- 

 ings are the Legislative Palace, built at a cost 

 of 10,000,000 pesos (in normal times about 

 $5,000,000) , the central post office, costing nearly 

 $2,000,000, and the finely-equipped national 

 penitentiary, located on the eastern border of 

 the city. Of special interest among the older 

 buildings are the National Picture Gallery, the 

 National Library, containing over 200,000 vol- 

 umes, the Hospital Jesus Nazerino, established 

 by Cortez in 1524, and a small building in 

 which was done the first printing in America. 

 See AZTEC; CORTEZ. 



Education and Industries. The educational 

 interests of the city are well provided for. The 

 Mexican government maintains the University 

 of Mexico, which, as reorganized in 1910, is at 

 the head of the educational system of the re- 

 public. Under government control also are a 

 large number of primary and secondary schools, 

 an excellent college-preparatory school, techni- 

 cal, professional, normal and industrial schools. 

 There are in addition about 200 private schools. 



Industrially, Mexico City has developed 

 notably within recent years, largely because of 

 the development of electric power. There are 

 at the present time over 150 manufacturing 

 establishments in the city, producing linen, cot- 

 ton and silk fabrics, leather, boots and shoes, 

 liquor, flour, tobacco goods, furniture, pianos, 

 matches, glass, soap and other commodities. 

 Trade interests are chiefly in the hands of 

 French, German and English merchants. There 

 are fifteen public markets and several highly- 

 capitalized banks. 



Health Conditions. Though the climate of 

 Mexico City is moderate and healthful, the city 

 long bore an unfavorable reputation as to health 

 conditions. Its annual death rate was formerly 

 forty to every 1,000 inhabitants. This was due 

 to inadequate sewerage and drainage systems, 

 a soil polluted by the refuse of several cen- 

 turies, and unwholesome living conditions in 

 the poorer districts. In 1900 the government 

 completed a magnificent sewerage and drainage 

 system, and the death rate has since then 

 greatly decreased. Epidemic outbreaks among 

 the ignorant and poorer classes, however, are 

 still a source of danger. 



History. About 1325 the Aztecs, looking for 

 a place on which to build a city, saw an eagle 

 on a cactus devouring a snake. Interpreting 

 this as a favorable omen, they settled on the 

 site of the present city and called the place 



