The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-05-12

to me two very deep lakes, where 1t is
 fallen They looked very dark, as if they were huge patches of molten lead and their surfaces seemed to have lost all power of reflection
 At the opening of the larger body of water was a steep, narrow gorge called the Salto do Soldado Soldiers Leap), so
 ramed from a legend connecting it with
 the impossible leap of a fugitive soldier across the abyss Here my guide stopped
 suddenly and asked: Senior do you
 hear 1t whstling; listen; do you hear it?'' listened as attentively as possible, but I heard nothing and inquired what kind of a bird he expected me to hear. No bird at all, he replied. "rhe cliff is whisting; q caravan is coming. It never fails" l was inclined to think him temporarily demented, but I recalled that there is a mountain range on the northern edge of the Desert of Sahara, not so very far from Alglers, which is said to possess a similar characteristic and that the natives oi a neighboring city are always advised hours in advance of the approach of a caravan by the whstling mountains. heard no such noise and I was primarily inclined to doubt that my guide did, but I must have been in error, for not long afterwards we encountered a small cara van moving slowly toward us
 The caravan consisted of a Frenchman
 and his family, with the usual guide, pack mules and teamsters. Monsieur | headed the line, with Madame immediate l ly behind him, dressed In pair of black velvet trousers and riding astride of her
 mule, a style not so common for eques- triennes in those days as it is now. Then
 followed a mule with a hamper on each
 side and in each hamper was child, brother and sister, aged and years re- spectively. The baggage animals brought UT the rear, with the muleteers at their heels. The mountain had not lied. At the foot of the abyss I noted a
 stream or bubblng spring that encruste1
 with transparent coating all objects
 with which it came in contact I saw a
 tin can, the printing on the label of which
 was plainly legible through half inch of crust and even a newspaper that might be similarly perused.
 On the eastern slope of the Andes l
 was amazed at the reprehensible waste and neglect in the great quantities of machinery for railroad building, which | had Been abandoned and permitted to | rust away
 While I have never experienced any thing in Alpine climbing so thrilling as my crossing of the Andes l do not be-
 lieve that I would care to repeat the ex- pertinent.
 When I returned to Buenos Ayres I took
 occasion to run over to Montevideo. the capital of Uruguay. While the River
 Plate is 1S0 miles wide at it's mouth. it
 rapidly narrows, so that it is just 6
 miles across to the chief city of the Oriental Republic, as Uruguay is fondly called by the natives. peculiarity of | Mcntevideo at that time was the prepon- derence of the female sex and the en- gazing in all kinds of business by the | women of the land. The men had nearly all been killed off in the disastrous wee
 between that country and Brazil. The street car conductors were all women
 women did police duty acted as hackmen
 and titled the soil It was magnificent | opportunity for bachelors and many
 wealthy senhoras were waiting and anx-
 icus for husbands to take charge of their 1 large fazendas.
 | The streets of Montevideo are very
 crooked and street cars upon approaching
 a corner give notice of their vicinage by the conductress Justify blowing a large COW horn. But like the men of South | America they are extremely cruel tc
 dumb beasts and as many of the tram
 mules were too thick of hide to respond | to the whip, sore places were kept con-
 stantly raw upon their hips. upon which l sores they were continually prodded by
 an iron pointed bludgeon.
 l Before returning to my post I spent a fortnight in Buenos Ayres The Jockey club Is the leading social organization 1 of the city. It's annual dues are higher l than those of any club in New York and while it's membership is restricted to Ar 1 gentinians exclusively, diplomas are ac- corded honorary association. and l was | It's guest for the time of my visit. The | club has more money than it can dispose | of. It donates half million dollars an
 rually to charity and not long ago it dis
 cussed the plan of buying dozen busi-