The San Francisco call., 1908-12-20
FCUADOR'S RAILWAY
MARKS A new ERA
American Consul General De-
scribes Conditions in Capital
OF Southern Republic
Road From GuayaquiI to Quinto
Reduces Time OF Travel
Ten Days

The following information concern
ing the capital of Ecuador is furnished
by Consul General Herman r. Dietrich
as of interest to Americans having
commercial intentions in that country,
where the United States supplies the
| largest share of the imports;
/ The city of Quito lies about $500
feet above sea level and Is miles south
/ of the equator. The streets are mostly
straight, but very uneven, on account
/ of the variance in elevation in different
! parts of the city, and are from 20 to
81 feet wide; they are paved with cob
Bile stones, but small portion is now
/ being repaved with larger stone. The
sidewalks, which are generally narrow.
are paved with building stone. The
houses are usually two stories high
/ ca small per cent three). built of stone
and adobe. with moderately fat roofs
covered with tiles. In addition to re-
ceiving the light from the street they
also receive light from an inner court
yard which is surrounded by balconies.
The entrance to the courtyard. which
also leads to the main entrance of the
/ building, is generally high enough to
/ admit mounted horseman. Heating
is not provided for. though sometimes
the temperature drops almost to freez
ing point
LIGHT AND WATER
The city is generally lighted by
electricity, although many residences
still use candles and kerosene. Never
| theless it has three electric light COM
panies which are striving hard to do
away with the use of candles as
means of light in residences offices. etc.
Water is obtained from an adjacent
mountain and delivered TO the. city
/ through public fountains. 1t is gen
] orally considered necessary to boil and
filter it before using it for drinking
purposes; it is also led into and
through the city in several open
bitches, that portion of the ditch which
passes through the city being covered,
| but with movable covers at places in
order that access may be had to the
/ water which is used for various pur-
poses. Ice is brought from the noun
tain, but is also manufactured in the
city. Drainage is facilitated by the
inclination of the streets. the number
of natural drains, and the heavy rain
! fall
PUBLIC BUILDINGS AND PARKS
quito has three palaces: The ma
| tional palace. that of the archbishop
and the palace of justice. Other gov
| ernment buildings are: The municipal,
the university. the astronomical OBJ
servatory, national library, general
! telegraph office. Meija college, Provi-
deneia college. Sacred Heart college,
Good Shepherd college. Angel of
| Guards college, normal institute for
boys, normal institute for girls, school
! of arts and trades, conservatory OF
music. house of the sisters of char
| ity, Sucre theater. presidents resi-
dence. hospital of St. John of God, in
sane asylum. lazaretto. home for
orphans hospital for foundlings. poor
| house, penitentiary. police station. etc.
OF plazas or squares the city has Is,
three of them large and II small;
botanical garden and park (combinedD,
| a hippodrome, three public libraries.
| two museums OF natural history. two
\ chemical laboratories, an arsenal, five
hotels, several hospitals. one bank
! (capital s50O,000). one private banking
corporation intended for industrial
and two public promenades, the larger
being shaded with eucalyptus and
other trees.
/ SCHOOLS AND CHURCHES
There are four classes or kinds of
schools in Quito-national, municipal.
conventual and private. 1t has five coll
| leges Zone of them military college),
| two normal Institutes Zone of them
| for girls), a university. a medical
school, two seminarles, a theological
school. an institute Of science. a school
of arts and trades, three schools for
/ young ladies and three kindergartens.
There are six monasteries. seven
/ converts, two seminaries, seven par
ochial churches. 15 conventuaI churches.
a cathedral and a basiliea. and 13
chapels, covering nearly one fourth of
the city's area The Franciscan monas-
terry is said to be the largest in the
world and it's building covers a space
/ of several acres.
TELEGRAPH, PHONE, RAILWAY
A telephone service is maintained in
the city and suburbs, with long dis
tance connection with Guayaquil and
other cities of the republic. The long
distance service to Guayaquil is being
reconstructed with modern equipment.
and 1T is also reported that the city
service will at an early date be re-
! placed with new and modern tele-
| phones The city also has railroad and
| telegraphic connections. OF recent
years there has been much improve
ment going on.
The Guayaquil and Quito railway
i company completed the construction Of
it's line from Guayaquil to Quito on
June 25. and since that date trains
have been running regularly (both
passenger and freight) between Quito
and Guayaquil. The regular passenger
/ trains only run during the day and
make the trip (297 miles) in two days,
when formerly by mules and on foot,
| it was not uncommon to require II and
Is days in going over the same route.
Since the completion OF the railway
the people of Quito and OF the whole
republic are looking forward to a new
era of progress.
YACHT MAYFLOWER
SINKS IN CARIBBEAN SEA