The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1898-04-09

Is the upper part Of the Cauca river. Tho
Cauca rises in the southern part OF the
country, near Ecuador. and lows 90 miles
north and empties into thu Magdelena.
During the first part Of Its course IL has
waters which contain II parts Of sulphur
ic acid ard parts OF hydrochioric acid in
every thousand 1t Is so sour within some
miles Of its source that no fish can live In
Ii and IL goes by the name CT the Rio
vinagre. which means the Vinegar river.
The Magdaiena. the chief river Of Colon
bia. corresponds with our Mississippi. 1t
is more than loo miles long. II is as
wide, bur not so deep. as the Mississippi.
but IL cuts the country right In two.
Steamers of light draft sail weekly from
Barranquilla. on the Caribbean sea, up the
Magdaiena TO Hondo. where YOU take
nudes and climb up to the great plain Of
Bogota. on which Bogota. the Colombian
capital. is situated. Then there are
branches OF the Amazon and OF other big
rivers in Colombia. 80 that the country Is
the little steamers on the Colombia were
made at Pistsburg and brought from New
York In pieces and here put together.
Bogota.
Just q word or so about Bogota- It is
town OF 100. 900 inhabitants. and It has cleo
trio lights and a street railroad which
were put in by Americans It has a uni
versity ninety-five years old. national
theater, q library of $4,000 volumes. an as
Economical Observatory and a poorhouse
The town IL ON a plain about half q mile
higher mp in the air than Denver. and it's
climate is, am told, much the same. This
is the headquarters Of the army. and the
scene of q revolution now and then.
A Land Of Fat Concessiens.
1t Is at Bogota that the president lives.
and here the congress meets. 1t is here
that the fat concessions are given cut.
Colombia is q land OF concessions. I have
told you OF the big fortunes which Ameri-
cans have made out OF the Panama rail-
road, which now pays a quarter Of a mill
lion dollars a year to the government.
Another valuable concession is the salt
monopoly. No salt can be sold excep. by
the party owning this concession. AT
present the owner is Mrs. Nunez, the
widow of the late President Nunex. She
has salt mines. and furnishes the 100000
people Of Colombia with a very poor arti-
Gle at very high prices. Tobacco is an.
other concession. and playing cards an
other. The gambling houses at Panama
pay $4,000 year for the right to keep
other people out Of the business. and as
far as l can learn they are glad to do 1t.
There is. Of course. pothing like the money
afiodt now that there was during the old
canal days. but every once I'm a while they
catch sucker, as they did just before l.
arrived, when young Irishman lost $500
in one night at roulette. Another conces-
sion at Panama is the lottery. This is
owned by a stock company. which has
capital OF 100000. The stock pays divi-
dends OF is per cent. year. and 10000
tickets at a dollar apiece are sold every
week. The prizes range from 5000 down.
ward. You see the lottery ticket peddlers
everywhere. Men. women and children.
a<.tr rrxLs& t. a.. -,
on the streets and in the railroad trains.
and offer you chances for the next draw
ing. / happened to be passing the lottery
Office on Sunday when the drawing was
going on and stepped in. A little boy Of
about years of age had been picked out
OF the crowd and put upon table. In
front of him was a revolving wire basket
filled with hollow ivory balls, each con-
tanning one OF the numbers from / to 10.
The basket was whirled and the boy picked
out ball. The number in It was the
thousands OF the prize, another whirl gave
the figure for the hundreds. third for the
tens and fourth for the units. The whole
thing was fair enough. only. as the alcalde
or city Judge In charge told me. there was
only about one chance in i've hundred CT
ticket holder drawing anything. The
president OF this company - q naturaiixed
American citizen named Duque. He Is the
owner OF the only paper In Panama, and
his profits from his $50 600 worth Of lottery
stock are about $4,000 In silver a year.
There is a chance for a concession hero
for water works. Panama Ii now supplied
With water by peddlers. who 90 about
through the streets seated on barrel carts,
each of which Is pulled by mule. In tho
wet season the city relies on the cisterns.
There Is. am told, good water In the hills
twelve miles away, and II could easily ba
piped TO the city. Panama has about q. 900
people.
The Gold Mines Of COl0mbia.
The idea prevails in the United States
that the greater part Of South America is
low. moist and unhealthfuI. This is not
SO. There are vast areas here which are
as salubrious as any part of North Amer
lea. Mr.. Kennedy. an American mining
engineer. who has prospected in all parts
OF our continent, as well as In many parts
OF this. tells me that for every habitabie
square mile there Is an equally rich and
healthful square mile here. and that south
Of the equator there are vast areas Of UNI
developed agricultural territory which
have not been touched. He says this Is
the Klondike of the future in gold as well
as In other things, and predicts that the
eyes OF the world will soon ne turned
southwark. In Colombia the most OF the
people live back from the coasts, where
there are plains and valleys OF vast extent
from 500 TO 5Uu ana more feet above the
sea. Colombia Is land Of gold. 1t Is like
Alaska In that you cannot wash the soil
anywhere along the rivers without finding
what the miners cali color. / saw men
washing the sands OF the sea In the bay OF
Panama, and though they said they did
not get much. l am told that they have
been doing the same work for years. It
was here that the 9paniards got some Of
their first gold. and since the conquest an
aggregate of Goo,0o.o0o worth OF precious
metals has been taken out OF Colombia.
A great deal or mining Is now going on in
the department or state Of Antigua. which
ss reached by going several hundred miles
up the Magdalena river. Here small dia-
saonds are sometimes found with the gold.
English parties own a number Of the best
fniues in this region. and much capital IA
invested. There are now between 30 and
4u1 gold mines being worked In Colombia.
A Golden Cure for All Diseases.
Nearly all OF the Indian tribes have more
or less gold | have been told OF curious
method which the church has OF getting
tie Indians 10 give up their gold They
are prone 10 hoard II, but as they are very
superssstious the priests have in some Of
the churches the images Of certain saints
who are supposed to cure diseases. but to
f~~t 10 IN t.