Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1912-12-13
. LETTER INTERESTING TO ALL
Frank S. Beck Writes from far off
Bolivia.
Cochabamba, Bolivia
November 4, 1912.


Through the kindness of the Editor
of the LEADER l want to tell you a
little about a country of which the
, world knows little on account Of it's
isolation from the other nations. Geo
graphically Bolivia is situated in the
tropics but because of the differences
in altitude the various sections differ
in t~empreture from very warm to ex-
IRENE cold.
The valley and city of Cochabamba
has no connection with the outside
world except by stage. In the rainy
season, which is now on, when the
valleys become rushing torrents, our
connection with the coast is complete
ly cut Off with the exception of a
rude trail owe the mountains.
This city has a population Of 100000.
A large percentage are Indians but
the Spanish W a greater part of the
property. The city is nearly surround
ed with mountains and many of the
pecks have perpetual snow. For this
reason we are greatly isolated from
the other sections of the country.
The trip from the point of the rails
between Oruro and Cochabam ba is
very interesting. A regular stage con-
meets the point with this city. Eight
mules are hitched to each heavy wag-
on and make the best possible time
between divisions. Each division is
about fifteen miles and when the road
is good in the valley the mules are
compelled to run at full speed. The
stage starts from this point about
five in the morning which is an hour
before day light. 1t often makes u
hold his breath as the lead team
plungeS into the river in the dark,
which has to be crossed so many times
on the way, but they know the way
better than we do and there is little
danger.
We have a very delightful climate.
1t is just like a warn day of spring
in South Dakota the year round.
Tropical fruits are abundant. The
principle ones are oranges, lemons,
peaches. pears, ounces, grapes, figs
and six different kinds of bananas be-
sides great quantities of the smaller
fruits. 1t is summer now and the
trees are loaded with these different
varieties of fruit.
The scenery in this tropical country
Is very beautiful. We can walk for
miles along roads boardered by ger
aneums and large rose bushes. The
bushes grow very large and often it is
quite difficult to reach the great
large clusters of flowers, The flowers
growing almost wild here are more
beautiful than those raised in green
houses at home. There are flowers
blooming here the year round.
Our buildings are all made of mud.
In fact l have not seen a wooden
structure since leaving Panama. They
have not yet learned the art of wood
work but the soil is of such a plastic
quality that it serves the purpose
very well. The houses are from one to
two stories high and are covered with
tiling similar to that used in the
States. Therefore there is no need for
fire departments in Bolivia. There
are very few barns for the house Of
the lower class serves the same pur-
pose as a barn, living room, ben house
hog house, and sheep pen. In each
house there is usually n large room
and this room serves for all of these
purposes.
What lumber is brought to the city
Is very expensive as it has to be sawed
by hand and then transported on the
backs Of mules. We are not skilled
carpenters but are making our own
furniture. The red cedar for this work
costs US twelve dollars gold for four
| planks eight inches wide and eight
feet long. No machinery of any kind
is used here yet. A German Company
imported a lot of modern farm nipple
ments but now they are on exhibition
because they could persuade no one
to use them.
The products are transported on
mule back and the large two wheeled
carts are used for the articles too
heavy for a mule. They still use the
old fashioned pillow with just the small
fat iron shoe and one handle and all
of the harvesting is done with the
small hand sickle. They sit down to
NOW which makes it a very slow
method. Oxen are used entirely for
farm purposes. The main reasons for
the backwardness Of Bolivia along
commercial lines are: The poor meth
DDS of transportation, the high i'm
port duty on all articles, which is
about one third of their value, and
because indian labor is so cheep the
average wage of a boy is about twenty
four cents gold a day for the hardest
kind OF labor and that of men not
much more
The principle product for feed pur-
poses is alfalfa. Through a rude sys-
tenn of irrigation this product is pro-
duced the year round and makes very
good feed. There are very few cattle
a., n 10 coofinn Of tho oo,,ptrr W. -.