Kansas City daily journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.) 1892-1897, 1895-07-22
IN The HEART OF The ANDES
RARITY OF rHE ATMOSPHERE, CATS
ISG SLOW MOVEMENT.
Curious Customs Among the Bogotans-
Adventure In Jungle e-Reyoiutions
Quite Common but Not
Dangerous.

: 'h' Ul'lf matter OF absence Tor a couple
OF years, ne lives among people Of whom
, very little is known. i'm "A city I'm the
heart of the Andes, and 5000 feet up in
the air his life is apt to he very differ
ent from the daily existence Of an every
day American citizen.
II Is no wonder. therefore. that when
Representative Mckinney. of New
Hampshire, who has Just returned from
BoEota, where he has been United states
! minister for two years begins to talk
about his life IN that city. he spins a
tale that is fun of interest He is a
, typical New Englander. with a keen APP
rreciatiou of the humorous side Of
| things. shrcwd, energetic. thrifty--in
fact with all the qualities which are in
direct contrast to those which 60 to
make III the Spanish character Yet,
I with all this difference Mr.. Mckinney
seems To have got along famously with
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 hurry.
When a person gets 5000 feet up IN
the air he Is sure to find the atmos-
rherc a good deal rarer than that which
ne has been accustomed TO breathe. His
heart pumps faster, and any undue eX-
ercisc brings on vertigo. Some years
ago an Italian minister in BoEota lifted
a trunk and died in an hour as the re-
| suit of his cNertion, When | reached
] tNStld l wanted To hlN nat. y llttIp
girl at the hotel volunteered to guide
| me TO store. She went ahead like Il
| deer for she was acclimated, and I
tried to follow her | felt the most Gu
| rious sensation. something entirely diff
fcr,nt from any previous feeling. and
j 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 | was the LATEST man alive"
EIIN IDfIrI1TI" ACCESS
Us Bogota hard to reach?"
There Is but one city more inacccssi-
| bic i'm the world, and that Is quito. 1t
. takes nearly month for a letter to go
/ from Bogota To New York, and the same
! time for it to return. SO that two months
are sure to elapse before you yet an
/ answer tp a letter written to the United
/ States The city is 200 miles from the
! coast. nf 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 a week
/ to- get to Bogota from the coast. The
! "trip over the mountains, though, Is
/ sublime that II Compensates for all the
/ inconvenience and annoyance. You can
/ see for a hundred miles, and the mount
/ aims rise one above the other to the
/ height iu some instances, of 49, 600 feet.
/ The snow line is at 14,0oO feet. The road
/ is at times narrow and dangerous, but
| the mules are sure-tooted and the
| guides are careful. Finally YOU reach
/ the railroad mat runs down to Rogota,
! and YOU descend into a beautiful plateau
| guarded by two mountains, La Guada-
| lupe and Mont SerratO. / reached there
/ on the Fourth of July and the United
/ states nag was waving over our lega.-
/ ton always thought the stars ana
/ stripes We're beautiful hut just how
[ beautiful ! never realized until | saw
/ them against the sky in Bogota."
| rs the city pleasant place of resi-
| dencc
| Il have found II so. The houses are
| an one or Two story nulIdlhES MADE or
/ brick. me mouse Whlch i nave rented
is seventy rect 'front.' with immense
rooms and with Il court in the center
where the flowers bloom all the year
round. one curious thIhS ABOUT the
house rs mat there Is no WOOD used
i'm it's constructions Even the iioors are
| of brick archeS ana lllnE' me people
| are DIVIDED lnLo NV" classes-the rlch
| arstocraCy ana the poor poems me
rich people are highly educated and live
Well me poor are IN the depths or
Ignorance and poverty. The prevailing
type, OF course, Is spanish, but there Is
a sprinkling OF foreigners, some twenty
Americans, for instance, live there all
the year round beng engaged IN Dusl-
ness. The customs are very unique.
All the women smoke cigarettes, ana the
men smoke cigarettes ana CIGARS; we
buy good cigar in Bogota for Sl,SO per
hundred. / undertook once to smoke |
a pipo, hut it created such a sensation
on the streets that now when | indulge !
i'm such a luxury | stay in my own |
rooms, where no one will see me. think |
| must have been the first person 10 |
smoke pipe i'm that place.
GUARDING THE LADIES.
Another thing which is interesting is |
that no ladies appear alone on the street |
after dark, although hundreds of men |
win be out walking. The young women |
are most carefully guarded. When a |
Young man Is counting girl in Bogota |
ho stands 10y the hour outside 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 |
hDV family If he wants to take her to |
the thcaier he must hire a box and take |
her father, her mother, her sisters her |
brothers. and her cousins, and her |
auut-. If Sc has any That might not |
suit the Young American, but in Bogota |
II is "a very rigid custom"
"What DO the people do for living?"
"'Fhc country around Bogota is very |
fertile ana wheat and barley are sue
oa-sfully cultivated. There is considera-
BE manufacturing in the city The cur
Ilucy rs paper and a dollar in gold is
worth nearly Sc in paper When ones |
expenses are reduced To gold they do
not scrm large For instance take this
s,,it an, ,,,,,,, u-aarinp II is WADE 30 |