The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1898-04-24
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y k&.-Though the equator cuts
II . Ecuador. the bulk OF its people
IL II have az fine a climate as those
~ Of any other part of the globe.
They are sky dwelers- Nine
tenths OF them live among the clouds.
There are dozens of towns here which ara
twice as high as Denver. and there are
cattle T.:-~i.:>s IL, the Andes at an altitude
Of L. GO feet On about the latitude OF the
Congo. quito has more temperate eli
mate than that Of Washington City. Here
at Guayaquss the climate IS that or the
tropics: in some of the Andean valleys
Il is like an Ohio June all the year around.
and on many of the peaks the snow never
melts.
Quito. the Highest Capital City.
Quito is the highest capital city on
earth. Ii Is situated on the roof OF the
world. 1t is more than half a mile higher
up In the air than the City or Mexico. ara
more than a thousand feet higher than
the Mount Of ST. Bernard. In the Alps,
which is the highest point in Europe where
men live all the year around. Quito Is.
am told. going backward. 1t IS represent
ed as having about $1,000 people. 1t Is q
question whether it has 5000. AID IL had
its greatest number over $50 years ago,
before the country was discovered by the
Spaniards. Then 1t had several hundred
thousand people. who had a better civiii-
Ecuador have today. There was town
on the site of Quito. according 10 ira
dition, a hundred years before Christ was
born. and Ii is known that city existed
there In 1000 A. ID. Atahualpa, he Inca
monarch who was conquered and muir
dered by Pizarro. had a palace at Quito.
the roof of which. ii is said, was covered
with pure gold and of the treasures which
were hidden by the Indians at this time
II Is believed that vast quantities were
buried in Ecuador.
Owing to the rainy season l have not
been able TO make my way 10 the Ecua-
dorian capital. The route is flooded and
the mails are now fifteen days in coming
a distance of less than 800 miles. The city
lies over the Andes in a valley between
two ranges. and you ride on mules about
the PERCEPTIONS slopes of these great
mountains to reach 1t. In good weather
the trip may be made in eight days; now
the mules must wade through the mud up
10 their bellies, and in descending some OF
the decliyities they sit down and slide.
There are here however, many people who
have lived in Quito, and my information
concerning the city will give you an idea
of the place as it is today. Quito is about
q mile square. 1t would just cover four
l60-acre farms. The streets are land out at
right angles. but are very narrow and are
such that the man who introduced the
carriage INTO tue tOWn nhu 20 ger u
permit to do so. Just back of the city is
the active volcano. Mount Pichincha. and
all bout II on the sides of the valley.
wall!ng IL in, as Ii were, are some of the
highest peaks of the Andes. Mount
Pichincha is snow-capped, and its peak is
80 near Quito that the ice used for max
ing the ice cream of the city comes from
there. Mount Pchincha has a crater half
a mile deep. and a mile wide at the bot
tom. L, is mile higher up in the air
than Mount Aetna, and its fires are such
that IL has been said that Fesnvius would
be a portable furnace beside ii. The top
OF this mountain can be reached by horses
in a five hours ride from Quito. Standing
OH the slope OF Mount Pichincna, Quito
l.es IN the valley below you. II is a city
Of white adobe two-story houses covered
with red tiles. The houses look low and
squatty. and you see among them a large
number OF converts, monasterles and
churches. Fully one-fourth of the town
Is taken up with church establishments
and there are as many priests and nuns
to the square as you will find in the city
of Rome. Quito has always been great
supporter of Rome. and It's contributions
TO the Catholic church have been SO many
that ii has been called THE little mother
of the pope"
The Government of Ecuador.
Until lately the government OF Ecuador
has been largely union OF church and
state. and today the priests have great
influence. Catholicism is the only religion
Of the country. and by Catholicism l do
not mean the liberal religion Of Arch
bishops Ireland and Gibbons, but the
Spanish Catholicism. which is as had al
most as that OF the days of the inluisition
and OF the middle ages. Ecuador is. you
know. nominaily a republic. but voters
must belong TO the church and must be
able TO read and write. Not more than
one-tenth o. the people can do the latter.
so the educated whites practically control
the elections-I should rather say tina: the
officials control them. and that there Is
no such thing as a fair election i'll Ecua-
dor The land is one of revolutions. The
present president Don Alfaro. has been a
revolutions; all his life. and has AT last
gotten into power. He has had a number
Of narrow escapes. some OF which Capt
Power. the commander OF one of the little
Ecuadorsn men-of-war. has described to
me- At one tine when Power was with
Alfaro his boat was captured by the
enemy and Aifaro escaped by swimming
30 the shore on a barrel and al another
tine he lived for weeks In the wiids OF
Ecuador and Colombia, hunted by the
state troops. President AIfaro has limited
somewhat the power OF the priests. al
though | am told that he * afraid of
them He is progressive in his views. and
ae is VERY DESTROYS that foreign capital
should come 10 Ecuador and develop it,
The president lives at Quito. HE has
salary Of Pan sucres. or about sl2.0n
year. and his term OF office Is for four
years He has cabinet. one of the minis
tiers OF which represents the church. In
addition 10 the president. the government
consists Of a congress. a system of courts
and az governors OF the various provinces,
who are appointed by the president. and
may he renewed by him.
Taxes and the salt Revenues.
Ecuador has a very small national deb,
and IT'S direct taxes are low. Much OF the
government income IS derived from the
iarir on imports. which covers almost
everything, and also from the tax on salt
Salt Is government monopoly here.
Every city has its government salt ware
house where the merchants or private
consumers must come 20 buy, and where
they paw several times as much for very
poor article as they would II salt were
free I visited suck warehouse at the
Gown Of Bodegss the other day. There
were hundreds of tons Of dirty salt banke4.
IN in large barn-i!ke rooms. and | saw
some being weighed OFT TO purchasers on
= mir NJ American scales IL casts .ka