Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 13.djvu/461

* MEXICO. 421 MEXICO. of Mexico, which of itself covers some twenty square miles. The piesf^ut governing body of the municipality is the Ayuntamitiilo Const it ucional (Constitu- tional City Council I. under the direction of a president. Among those who within recent years have filled this station with credit are General (lonzalez Cosio, the present Minister of War, who has the reputation of having completely changed the appearance of the iMe.xican metrop- olis. I''(]|lciwiiig him Scfior Callardo began the great Drainage Canal. When the latter was transferred to the headship of the whole Federal District, he was succeeded b}- Don Sebastian Camaeho, who is laboriously continuing the good work of his predecessors — which work is but a jjortion of the lieneficial policy of President Diaz. As an indication of recent municipal progress it may be noted that the revenues of the cities of the Federal District (and those of Mexico City are bv far the largest) have increased from $1,332,403 in 1884 to $3,395,638 in 189.5; while the expenses have shown a corresponding in- crease. The same figures for the past seven years would show a still greater contrast. History. The city dates from about a.d. 132.5, %'lien the .ztecs, looking for a favorable site, saw perched on a cactus an eagle devouring a snake. The omen was interpreted to mean that this was to be the site of their city; hence its original name, Tenochtitlan, 'cactiis on a stone,' changed later (o Mexico in honor of the war god 5Iexitli. With the progress of Aztec culture the city ex- jianded and improved, and about 1450 tradition reports that the mud and rush houses were re- placed b}' solid stone edifices built partly on piles amid the little islands of Lake Texcoco. The Aztec city was an imposing spectacle at the time of the arrival of the S|ianiards in 1519, when it is reported to have contained at least 50.000 buildings and several hundred thousand inhabit- ants. It was about twelve miles in circumfer- ence, everywhere intersected by canals and con- nected with the mainland by six long and solidly constructed causeways. It was thus essentially a lacustrine city, but the subsidence of Lake Texcoco has left the modern city high and dry, with the lake two and a half miles away. The Aztec city was almost wholly destroyed by Cortes, ho, in 1521. employed the friendly na- tives to rebuild the city on the same site. Under Spanish domination the city in 1600 contained about 15.000 inhabitants, which number gradu- ally increased to 120,000 two centuries later. The city w-as captured by the United States forces after the battle of Chapultepec, on Sep- tember 13, 1847, and by the French forces under Marshal Forey in 1803. With a history extend- ing from the uncertain past of Aztec tradition thrnugh three centuries of Spanish dominion and six decades of spasmodic revolution, the centre, subsequently, of a politi<-al system unique on the American continent and of an intellectual and industrial development unparalleled in Latin America, Mexico is to-day at once one of the most interesting and most promising cities of the Western continent, BinrjOGRAPUY. Cavo, Tres siglos de Mexico niexico, 1836-38) ; Bandelier, MexKo (Boston, 1SS5) ; Charnay, Ancient Cities in the 'Xrie World (London", 1887) ; Curtis, The Capitals of Spanish America (New York, 1888) ; Howells, Mexico : Its Progress and Commercial Possibili- ties (London, 1892) ; Cubas, Mexico, trans, by Thompson and Cleveland (Mexico, 1893) ; Below, Mexico (Berlin, 1899) ; Bercival, Mexico City (Chicago, 1901). MTEXICO. A towii of Luzon, Pliilippines, in the Province of Pampanga (Map: Philippine Islands, E 4 ) . It is situated on an arm of the Pampanga Delta, about 5 miles northeast of Baeolor. Population, 17,099. MEXICO. A city and the county-seat of .udrain County, Mo., 110 miles northwest of Saint Louis, on Salt Kiver, and on the Chicago and Alton and the Wabash railroads (Map: Mis- souri, E 2). It is the seat of Hardin College for Women (Baptist), founded in 1873, and of the Mssouri Military Academy. There is a consider- able trade in horses and cattle, and the manu- facturing industries include flour mills, a foundry, and fire-brick, marble, stove lining, cigar, plough, and wagon works. Settled in 1833, Mexico was incorporated in 1852. The govern- ment is administered under a charter of 1893, which provides for a mayor, elected biennially, and a unicameral council. Population, in 1890, 4789; in 1900, 5099. MEXICO, Gulf of. A partially inclosed basin of the Atlantic Ocean, having the United States on the north and Slexico on the west and south. It has an extreme length from east to west of about 1000 miles and a breadth from north to south of SCO miles; its area is estimated at 600,000 square miles (Map: North America, .J 7 ). The opening of the gulf eastward is nar- rowed by the peninsulas of Florida and Yucatan, which approach within 450 miles of each other. Near the middle of the outlet lies the island of Cuba, forming two passages — the Strait of Flor- ida, 125 miles wide, between Florida and Cuba, and the Yucatan Channel, 120 miles wide, be- tween Cuba and Yucatan, The northern entrance connects with the Atlantic, and the southern with the Caribbean Sea. The basin of the gulf attains a maximum depth of 12,700 feet, while a large proportion of its area exceeds 10,000 feet in depth. From Florida west to the Mexican boundary the shores form a part of the coastal plain and slope so gradually that the 100-fathom line is distant 100 miles or more from land. Off the Mexican coast, however, the basin rapidly sinks to the level of the submarine jilain known as Sigsbee's Deep, which has an average depth of 12,000 feet. The passages leading to the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic are relatively shallow. The gulf contains few islands and these are located in proximity to the coasts; the Florida Keys, the delta of the Mississippi, and the islands on the coast of Yucatan are the most important. Numerous small bays and innumer- able lagoons inclosed behind sandbars give re- lief to the coast line, which is otherwise quite reg- ular. The Bay of Campeachy, between Yucatan and the main mass of Jlexieo. is the only broad indentation. Owing to the low shores, good har- bors are not numerous, the best being those of Vera Cruz, Galveston. Mobile, Tampa. Pensa- cola, and Havana. The principal rivers flowing into the gulf descend from the United States, and include the Mississippi, Rio Grande, Colo- rado of Texas. Brazos. Sabine. Mobile, and Appa- lachicola. The gulf is visited by violent gales, which are reflex storms from the tropics, and which prevail mainly in the winter time. The