New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-09-29
THE REPUBLICOF COLOMBIA
SOME FACTS ABOUT ITS RESOURCES AND
INDUSTRIAL CONDITION.
lFRoN AN OCCASIONAL CORRESPONDENT THE TRrBusgl

lFRoM AN OCCASIONAL CORRESPONDENT or THE TRibUNEl
Bogota U. s. Of Colombia. Sept s.
or the countries of south America, Ecuador ana
Colombia are probably the least known to Americans.
Colombia, with 400 900 inhabitants, with an area OF
522 600 square miles, and lying at very doors is
less known TO than much Of the interior OF africa
This is chiefly due the lack Of roads, both from the
coast and between the cities Of the INTERIOR what
roads they have chiefly bride roads, badly laid
out and badly managed with little effort being made
to improve preserve them In travelling one has
TO provide ones self with saddle mule and with suf-
fcient cargo mules to carry luggage, which should
be packed nearly possible in l00pound pack
ages the latter must not be bulky but near like
sateroOm trunk Is possible. Then bed and befdng
and very often food have be provided as the accom-
moda SINS 70" travellers outside the larger cities are
msrr:.Jle. Many and many time one has to put
up with cOwhlde spread the earth floor OF dirty
howell with dogs cats, chickens and guinea pigs as
sharers VI his quarters.
The road between the city Of Quito in Ecuador and
the city of Bogots in Colombia is called National
road, and Is fair sample of them all. You cross
and recross tho Cordera of the Andes at times along
ridges narrow two cannot ride abreast and with
sheer fall Of 900 1000 feet each side of YOU
At times you are going down mountain passes so
steep that 1t requires all your efforts TO prevent oeS
pitched over your mules head. Then you find your
self and your mule climbing the side OF a mountain
like flies, and you keep calculating how long II VIII
Dc before ne VIII turn "a SOntfsdult Ddch""l" VNOi
you Then again you find yourself riding over table
lands 5000 TO 5000 feet above the level Of the sea-
amid such profound solitude, such awful desola
ton, as words fail TO describe. Below you is cloud
land and st above you rises tho mountains, thelf
peaks crowned with everlasting snow, not sign OF
civilization to be seen anywhere and the stiffness IS
intense you can almost touch IT, After four or
five days Of this of travelling you begin TO de-
scend into the regions, and at one place you
IN riNcr uhIch n crOS a times
within an hour; IL It is the dry season, you are
lucky, you It at once but II 1t IS the wei
you have to camp on the river bank, ana wait
from weeks a month for the river to fall sur
fcently TO allow you to ford 1t.
Once across, you ride charming country
especially tho valley OF the Cauca, which is most
beautiful to travel through. AS to the road bed, IN
dry weather II not very bad. You encounter
at times good many stones and boulders, cspeciaiJ
In the passes, and the balance of the road bed
consists oil clay, black mould or adobe. ana cay
rock that is very difficult to stand upon In wet
weather, it being slippery as grease. During the
wet season It is almost impossible to travel through
the country, as very lirtle care is taken of tho
roads, and they become beds Of miro white the brooks
and rivers become roaring torrents, dlnicmt ana
dangerous TO pass through.
FIeas swarm in the cooler regions. Here. also,
are TO be found nguas' or jggers,' that are
smaller than neas, and deposit their eggs in the
under the toe nails Once one has had an experience
with these "jlggers' he readily recognizes their
presence It seems as II your shoe was unduy pressing
on that part and it is buC the work of second 10
rout them out with needle Fortunately, thes'
insects not numerous, or they would depopua'o
the country, the eggs become grubs, and As they
grow they keep eating their way into the flesh.
During my residence there was bothered Only thfee
times by them, and Of the foreigners had never
been mOlested.
The temperature of Colombia varies considerably
In the owlands it is equal to that of our southern
states, while in the uplands you have temperature
of from 55 to 20 degrees the whole year rounh mo
change in the temperature between day and night
does not exceed 10 degrees; where I was living 1t
did not exceed 5. The cooler regions are remark
ably healthful old people are TO be seen in every
house. and for the healing of pulmonary troubles the
climate is unsurpassed Mr. Wheeler the Acting British
Minister at Bogoa after travelling nearly all over
the globe selected Bogota his residence, and has
experienced a great deal of benefit by so doing
Agriculture as a science cannot be described, as
It does not exist except in isolated cases pronged
stick sho with iron the plough, branch or two OF
tree serves for harrow, and sometimes they use
a clumsy hoe but more often they do not TO thrash
out wheat the rich have circular brick hoor; the
poor use the hard earth, and on these hoors the
wheat Is threshed out by the feet OF oxen as they
ara driven over it, The winnOwing is done by means
the air thereby getting rid Of the chaf, but the stones
and dirt remain, and they endeavor to pick them
out by hand, always leaving largo percentage TO
be ground with the -four IL does not require much
imagination to imagine the quality of the -four made
from such wheat.
The -four mills OF prehistoric times, consisting
of two large stones brought from the mountains,
rounded and faced by persons who have never seen
a mill no boltcrs no scparators, no ceaners-these
are the mills of the country. In the whole Oh
Columbia there are but seven or eight burrstone
mills and Of roller mills there are burt two incom-
plete sets, and these have been in the course OF
erection for the last four years. Sugar cane mills
are the only kind of machinery in general use and
these arc made of WOOD the weight Of the cylinders
nrcventing them from Transporting chilled iron ones
Consul Whclpley in one Of his reports 10 The
state Department in speaking OF the agriculture OF
Colombia substantially states can only be spoken
Of IN the future tense it does not exist in tha
present and was unknown in the past. or course
there are exceptions to this. Mr. Goschen. son Of
tho great English fnancler represents English |
syndicate who own an immense coffee, sugar and |
tobacco plantation and running a tobacco and |
cigar factory for the products OF which the demand
Is larger than the supply Then several other gentle
men of English birth or parcnage own fine farms |
v,cu stocked with improved agricultural machinery !
and cattle These men have all been well repaid |
for reIr enterprise. and people are beginning to see
rhe advantage of an improved system.
The soil Is prolific, raising good crops OF rice, |
sugar tobacco coffee cocoa, wheat and barley corn, |
besdes fruit and vegetables of the different zones
OF course. II they hal improved implements |
and systems. their crops would be fourfold greater
Sugar cane grows pepetuay, rcplan'ing Is unknown.
Coffee grows Wild as also does cotton. The latter
Is not a pant but tree, and the FIBRE whii' |
not fine or long still sufficiently long to permit It's
beinr spun The coffee and cocoa of Cauca receive |
the hest prices in the different markets Of the world,
and tberc are millions Of waiting 10 be Guilt
waited by energetic capitalists.
Mining is extensively carried on in all sections /
of the country. one German company IS working
mine. and seem well satisfied with the
results: another German company has Just begun |
operations on an emerald mn' An English company
IL clearing 10000 per month on lOw-grade ore