The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-08-04
a CITY IN THE CLOUDS.
Queer Features of Life in the CaDit,,
of Colombia.
From ID Mashinrton -


Ex-Representative Mckinney of New
Hampshire, who has just returned from
Bogota- where he has been United S-a+ss
minister for two years, spins a tale thar
IS Iqi Of interest. He is a typical New
EnSlander, with a keen appreciation If
the numerous side Of things; shrewd. en-
ergetic, thrifty-in fact, with all the ouai-
tiles which are in direct contrast to those
which go TO make up the Spanish char
acter. Yet, with all this difference Mr.
Mckinney seems TO have got along IA
mously with the ColOmbians He likes
them, and they appear to have liked hin,
Mrs. Mckinney, who has been with MIN
has also made lots Of friends.
The very first thing l had to learn
said Mr. Mckinney, was not to hurry.
When person gets 5000 feet UP in the
air he is sure TO find the atmosphere A
good deal rarer than that which he. has
been accustomed 10 breathe His heart
pumps faster, and any undue exertion
brings on vertigo. Some years ago, as I
learned after one or two experiences. an
Italian minister in BOgota lifted a trunk.
and died in an hour as the result of His
eXeruon- When ! reached Bogota
wanted 10 buy hat A little girl at the
hotel volunteered TO guide me to a store.
She went ahead like a deer, for she was
acclimated, and 1 tried 10 follow her. I
thing entirely different from any previous
feeling. and 1 think If / had not STONED
l would have dropped in the streets.
Since then l do not hurry. If you were
10 see me on the streets of Bogota now
you would think l was the LATEST man
alive"
rs Bogota hard TO reach?"
There is but one city more inaccessi-
bic in the world and that is Quito. II
takes nearly a month for a letter to 50
from Bogota to New York, and the same
time for 1t to return, so that two months
are sure to elapse before you get an an
swer TO letter written TO the United
States. The city is 200 miles from The
coast. OF this distance the greater part
is Travelled up the Magdalena river
until the Andes are reached, and then
you travel for three days over the noun
tains on mules. 1t takes q week 70 gee
10 Bogota from the coast. The trip over
the mountains, though, is so sublime that
it compensates for all the inconvenience
and annoyance. You see for a hundred
miles, and the mountains rise one above
the other TO the hight, in some instances,
of 1900 feet. The snow line is at l4O)0
feet. The road is at times narrow ana
dangerous, but the mules are sure-footed
and the guides are careful. Finally you
reach the railroad that runs down to Boz
gotta, and you descend into a beautiful
plateau, guarded by two mountains, La
Guadalupe and Mont Serrato. l reached
there on the Fourth of July, and the
United States flag was waving over our
legation l always thought the stars
and stripes We're beautiful but just how
beautiful l never realized until l saw them
against the sky in Bogota."
rs the city a pleasant place of resi-
dence?"
u have found it so. The houses are all
one or two story buildings, made Of
brick. The house which l have rented IS
seventy feet front, with immense rooms,
and with court in the center where the
flowers bloom all the year round, one
curious thing about the house is that
there is no wood used in it's construction.
Even the floors are of brick arches and
thing. The people are divided into two
classes-the rich aristocracy and the poor
poems. The rich people are highly edu-
Gated and live well. The poor are in the
depths Of Ignorance and poverty. The
prevailing type, of course, is Spanish,
but there is a sprinhling of foreigners.
Some twenty Americans, for instance, i've
there all the year round, being engaged
in business. The customs are very unique.
All the women smoke cigarettes, and the
men smoke cigarettes and cigars We
buy good cigar in BogOta for $3.50 per
hundred. l undertook once to smoke
pipe, but it created such a sensation on
the streets that now when l indulge IN
such luxury l stay in my own rooms,
where no one will see me. L think l
must have been the first person TO smoke
a pipe in the place. Another thing which
is interesting is that no ladies appear
alone on the street after dark, although
hundreds of men viii be out walking.
The young women are most carefully
guarded. When a young man is court
ing a girl in Bogota he stands by the
hour outside of the barred window OF her
parlor while she remains on the inside.
If they are engaged he is allowed to see
her in the presence of her family. If he
wants TO take her to the theater he must
hire box and take her father, her moth
er, her sisters, her brothers, and her
cousins and her aunts, If she has any.
That might not suit the young American
but in Bogota it is a very rigid custom.