Historical sketch and guide to the Alamo . mplete. The Alamo is seventy-five feet long, sixty-two feetwide, its walls are at present twenty-two feet high andfour feet thick. They formerly extended three or fourfeet above the roof, forming a parapet of stone frombehind which the Americans fought so azotea, or roof, had afforded the monks a breath-ing place where they were safe from intrusion, asalso from the arrow of the savage and the stray shotof the marauder. Could the secrets of this chapel be told, the secretsof the Franciscans in their solitude, of the Indians intheir sup
Historical sketch and guide to the Alamo . mplete. The Alamo is seventy-five feet long, sixty-two feetwide, its walls are at present twenty-two feet high andfour feet thick. They formerly extended three or fourfeet above the roof, forming a parapet of stone frombehind which the Americans fought so azotea, or roof, had afforded the monks a breath-ing place where they were safe from intrusion, asalso from the arrow of the savage and the stray shotof the marauder. Could the secrets of this chapel be told, the secretsof the Franciscans in their solitude, of the Indians intheir superstitions and fears, of the Mexicans in theirhatreds of the Americans and the Americans in theirhatreds of the Mexicans, could the heavy walls speakand tell the tales of anguish, sorrow, suffering anddeath that have been a part of their history, what a vol-ume they might produce! The deeds of valor, the min-istering kindnesses, the religious consolation, the wor-ship of God, that have been a part of the lives of those 90 2 ^ Z, K^ Z p. o. walls, of that roof and floor, of that altar and thosedark rooms, make up a record not often assigned to asingle church. The Alamo stands for a great dealmore than the thoughtless citizen and the careless vis-itor give heed. To-day its portals are opened wide toevery one who cares to enter within the sacred pre-cincts of Americas Thermopylae. HISTORICAL SKETCH NO. 2. The small room to the left, as the visitor enters theAlamo, is where Bowie lay sick, convalescing frompneumonia, under the care of Madame Candelaria dur-ing the siege. He was too ill to take an active part inthe conflict but fought to the last when the enemyforced itself into the chapel, after he had been movedacross the way to an opposite room. Bowies troop were volunteers and preferred not toserve under the command of Travis, who had charge ofthe regulars. The latter wanted harmony and gra-ciously submitted to an election by the men to see whoshould be commander-in-chief, he be
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