Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1903-06-27

Bogota, Colombia, April 2j,--Facata-
tiya is quite a town They claim $4,000
people. The town is old Spanish style,
though here / see many adobe houses.
The streets are narrow ana dirty It
Is market day, and several thousand
people are ON the plaza, buying ana
selling There Is a narrow guage rail-
way connects Facatatlya with Bogota,
which lies across the valley to the
southeast "a miles ! am at the sta
tion early for ! have learned that even
In rainoading In South America there
is not the hustle and hustle there j.
with us ! get in line al the ticket
window ana stand an hour before | get
q chance TO buy a ticket IL costs me
s35 for one first ana one second class
ticket to Bogota. The latter by the
way Is for my Indian boy who Is my
companion. They charge another - for
my baggage and allow me TO take the
gun in the ear. Baggage IL Way-bllled
here. and handled just as we handle
freight at home There are six coach
rs on the train two Grst-cass, two sec
ond class and two third class. The
first class coaches are upholstered and
would be comfortable were they not
damned so full OF people all Of whom
men and women, smoke In the car we
left Facatativa at $3.50 p. m, our course
takes us out past two small hills ana
then straight across the beautiful level
valley. nearly all OF which is now un-
der cultivation We can see them with
oxen blowing with q bent stick as In
Mexico. There are hundreds OF men and
women in the fields noeing with hoes
made something after the fashion Of
our adze There are very few trees on
the plains and what are here are q spe-
cies OF willow. They grow straight and
tall and resemble our California pop
lar
Just out from Facitatlya ! noticed a
number OF mounds near the creek banks
that impressed me as being artificial
Since ] reached Bogota ] learned that
Facatatiya was an important Indian
center IN the early days, and on one OF
the hills we passed coming out Is a cliff
OF granite In which they cut out seats
for their priests and whore they were
accustomed from time immemorial 70
hold great festivals. A great many old
relics are found there.
ARRIVAL AT BoGoTA
We reached Bogota at $3.50 p, m. It
was growing dark and in my anxiety to
get my baggage and reach my hotel |
didn't pay the Difference to the police
officer that he thought his uniform mer-
tied He grew angry and said some
thing awful in Spanish, but / was I'M
movable. lie then rushed off. l
heard him whistling for assistance, and
in a minute three or four OF them ap-
peared with guns and bayonets and
for minute | thought | would be de-
clared In a state Of rebellion, especially
as | carried a Winchester. They herd
ed US all out Of the baggage room anG
we just sat down and waited an hour
for our grips.
Bogota s quite a city. | walked all
over IT, and then climbed the hill and
took a brdseye view Of a. The houses
are all brick on stone with tile roofs
The streets are narrow and paved with
stone. | can't say they are exactly
clean, not all Of them anyway There
ate few closets in the city and as a
result you will see the pedestrians on
many OF the principal streets hold their
noses and hurry along like they were
going 10 see a fire. There are many
sights here. too. that might shock the
modesty OF some OF our Utah people,
but one soon learns IA take every
thing here as matter Of course They
have fair water system A horse car
line that connects the depots with the
business center, There Is an electric
light plant but Il is not used for street
lighting nor does il seem TO be much
patronized by the merchants. why
should It be? All stores close at p. n..
and very few Of them have show win
dOws Seventh avenue leading down
from the plaza and cable 70 seem 20 Do
the principal streets In the plaza Is n
little park and statue Of Bolivar. The
band plays there In the evening. The
south side Of the plaza is occupied by
the capitol, a large unfinished stone
building The ground slopes and there
are steps along its front Soldiers in uni
form are always stationed there. on
the east side Of the plaza is the cathe-
dral. very large and credltable build
ing. II has some beautiful paintings
and decrations In Silt and gold. Along
the front OF the cathedral Is a broad
promenade Up the street one block
from the capitol Is the palace. II isa
rather unpretentious building outside.
but Is richly furnished inside There are
several soldiers always on guard az the
entrance. In one OF the rear windows
Is a tablet marking the spot where Roll.
var escaped when persued by his enc.
mics. Opposite the palace Is the Grand
opera House. The other public build.
inCs are ordinary. The postofice being
the best
A RELIGIOUS COUNTRY.
This Is a religious country and Bogota
has many churches. There Is a custom
na,e The signlflcance OF which | have