Delaware gazette and state journal., 1895-09-26
BOGOTA,, "A CITY IN THECLOUDS
Interesting Talk by ex- Repre-
sentative Mckinney.
THE CLIMB OVER THE MOUNTAINS
A Place Where Physical Exer-
ton is Deadly.
Appearance of the City = Com Portable
Houses, Built without wood-A Pleasant
Place to Live-Good Cigars Very Cheap
The People and Their Customs,

Washington Post. f4t
Ex-Representative Mckinney oi
New Hampshire, who has Just re,
turned from Bogota, Colombia, where
he has been United States minister fol
two years, spins tale that is full oi
interest He is a typical New Eng.
lander, with keen appreciation oi
the humorous side Of things; shrewd,
energetic thrifty-in fact, with all the
qualities which are in direct contrast
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. Nc
Kinney, who has been with him, has
also made lots of friends.
1.-THE very first thing had to learn"
said Mr.. Mckinney was not to hurry.
When a person gets 5000 feet up in
the air he is sure to find the atmos-
phere a good deal rarer than that
which he has been accustomed TO
breathe. His heart bumps faster and
any undue exertion brings on vertigo.
Some years ago, as | learned after one
or two experiences, an italian minister
in Bogota lifted trunk and died in an
hour as the result of his exertion. When
| reached Bogota l wanted to buy a
hat. A little girl at the hotel voltn-
teered to gui'e me to a store. She
went ahead like deer for, she was
acclimated and | tried to follaw her.
| felt the most curious sensation, some
thing entirely different from any pre-
vious feeling, and think il had not
stopped ! would have dropped in the
street. Since then do not hurry. II
you were to see me on the streets of
Bogota now you would think 4 was
the LATEST man alive.
Is Bogota hard to reach?"
"There is but one city more inac-
cessible in the world and that is
Quito. 1t takes nearly month for a
letter to 60 from Bogota to New York
and the same time for it to return SO
that two months are sure TO elapse be-
fore you get an answer to a 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 Andes
are reached, and then you travel for
| three days over the mountains on
mules. 1t takes o week to get Ia
Bogota from the coast. The trip over
the mountains though, is so sublime
that it compensates for all the incon.
venience and annoyance. You can see
for 100 miles, and the mountains rise
one above the other to the height in
some instances, of 1900 feet. The
snow line is at 1900 feet. The roao
is at times narrow and dangerous, but
the mules are sure footed and the
guides are careful. Finally you reach
the railroad that runs down to Bcgota,
and you descend into beautifu
plateau, guarded by two mountains, Lit
Guadalupe and Mont Serrato.
reached there on the Fourth OF July,
and the United States flag was waving
over'our legation. always thought
the Stars and Stripes were beautifu
but just how beautiful never realized
until | saw them against the sky in
Bogota. "
us the city pleasant place of resi-
dence?"
81 have found it so. The housei
are all one or two story buildings
made of brick. The house which
have rented is 10 feet front, with i'm
mense rooms, and with a court in tn,
centre where the flowers bloom all tn,
year round One curious thing about
the house is that there is no woot
used in its construction. Even the
floors are Of brick arches and tiling
The people are divided into classes
the rich aristocracy and the pooi
poems. The rich people are highly
educated and live well. The poor arc
in the depths of ignorance and poverty
The prevailing type, of course, il
Spanish, but there is sprinkling oi
foreigners. Some 20 Americans, fol
instance, live there all the year round
being engaged in business. The Gus
toms are very unique. All the womer
smoke cigarettes and the men smoke
cigarettes and cigars. We buy goot
| cigar in Bogota for 81. so. per hundred.
| undertook once TO smoke a pipe, but
it created such sensation on the
streets that now when | indulge il
such luxury stay in my own rooms
where no one will see me. think
must have been the first person t.
smoke a pipe in the place. Another
thing which is interesting is that nc
ladies appear alone on the street after
dark, although hundreds uf men vii
be out walking. Tho young womer
are most carefully guarded. When {
young man is courting a girl in Bogott
he stands by the hour outside nf the
barred window of her paror while she
remains on the inside. II they are en-
| gagged he is allowed to see her in the
presence of her family. II he wants tt
take her to the theatre he must hire 9
box and take her father, her mother
or her sisters, her brothers, and hel
cousins and her aunts, il she has any
That might not suit the young Ameri
can, but in Bogota it is very rigiC
custom. "