Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1895-09-19
LIFE AMONG THE CLOUDS.
Inhabitants of Bogota Breathe an At.
mosphere of Rare Purity.

Hampshire, who has just returned
from Bogota, where he has been
United States minister for two years
spins a tale that is full of interest
He is a typical New Englander with
keen appreciation of the humorous
side of things; shrewd, energetic,
thrifty-in fact, with all the qualities
which are in direct contrast to those
which go to make up the Spanish
character. Yet, with all this difference,
Mr.. Mckinney seems to have got
along famously with the Colombians.
He likes them and they appear to
have liked him. Mrs. Mckinney, who
has been with him, has also made lots
of friends.
'"The very first thing | had to learn, -
said Mr. Mckinney, was not to hur-
ry. When a 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
to breathe. His heart pumps faster,
and any undue eXertion brings on
vertigo. Some years ago, as | learned
after one or two experiences, an Ital-
ian minister in Bogota lifted a trunk,
and died in an hour as the result Of his
eXertiOn. When | reached B0gOta
wanted to buy a 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 l
tried to follow her. | felt the most
curious sensation something entirely
different from any previous feeling,
and | think if | had not stopped l
would have dropped in the street.
Since then [ do not hurry. If you
were to see me on the streets of Be-
LATEST man alive"
rs BogOta hard to reach?'
'There is but one city more mac
cessible in the world, and that is
Quito. 1t takes nearly a month for a
letter to 90 from BOgota to New York,
and the same time for it to return
SO that two months are sure to elapSe
before you get an answer to q letter
written to the United States. The city
is 700 miles from the coast. Of this
distance the greater part is travelled
up the Magdalena river until the An
deS are reached, and then you travel
for three days over the mountains on
mules. 1t takes a week to get to Bo-
gotta from the coast. The trip over
the mountains, though, is so sublime
that it cOmpenSates for all the in
convenience and annoyance. You can
see for 100 miles, and the mountains
siEn oh +l,N Dtl, 4, IL,
in some instances, of 10000 feet. The
snow line is at 14,000 feet The road
is at times narrow and dangerous, but
the mules are Sure-fOoted and the
guides careful. Finally you reach the
railroad that Tuns down to B0gOta,
and you descend into a beautiful
plateau, guarded by two mountains,
La Guadalupe and Mont Serrato.
reached there on the Fourth of July
and the United States flag was waving
over our legation l always thought
the stars and stripes were beautiful
but just how beautiful | never real
lied until l saw them against the SKY
in BOgota.'
rs the city pleasant place of resi-
dence?"
Il have found it so. The houses are
all one or two story buildings, made
of brick. The house which | have
rented is seventy feet front, with i'm
mense rooms, and with a court in the
center where the flowers bloom all the
year round. One curious thing about
the house is that there is no wood
uSpI i'm it's con tba
floors are of brick arches and tiliug
The people are divided into two classes
the rich ariStocracy and the poor
paeons. The rich people are highly
educated and live we'll. The poor are
in the depths of ignorance and pow
erty. The prevailing type, of course,
is Spanish, but there is Il Sprinkling
of foreigners. Some twenty Ameri-
cans, for instance, live 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 a good cigar in Bogota for 81 80
per hundred. | undertook once to
smoke Il pipe, bU, it created such
sensation on the streets that now
when | indulge in such luxury | stay
III 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 inter-
Gsting is that no ladies appear alone
on the streets after dark, although
hundreds of men will be out walking
The young women are most carefully
guarded. When a young man lis court
ing 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 al
lowed to see her in the presence of
her family. If he wants to take her
to the theater he must hire a box and
take her father, her mother, her sis
terS, 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"
Washington Post
BIKE AND BLOOMERS.