The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-29
Copyright, 1914. by Frank G. carpenter5

Copyright, 1914. hv Frank G. Carpenter.
 Cerro De Pasco, Peru. fSYy1WANT to give you some pie E1eE lures of Cerro de Pasco, thc k.4s.sssssssssSSS highest mining town of th' sSpSsEg world. 1t is situated here in tho tops Of the Andes on the very roof oi feet above the sea There are snow capped mountains about it, and the towr lies in a valley which runs north ans south between two mighty ranges. The mountains are filled with minerals. There are copper and silver and vanadium with in a few miles, and rlent under the city are great beds of ore which is almost pure copper, but with a slight mixture of silver and gold
 This great plateau. which runs north and south through Peru, contains large part of the population of the republic. It is divided up into enormous haciendas ano other lands, upon which are squat ters who have great herds of cattle and sheep, They also raise some barley and in the deep valleys that sink down into the plateau are regions growing all kinds of temperature and tropical fruits. We are here just about as far south of the equator as Panama is north of 1t, but at this altitude of almost three miles in the air the climate Is more like Canada than that of Jamaica There are ire quent snowstorms in ths winter, and at night the thermometer then goes down almost to zero. In the summer it rains s the afternoon, but the mornings are clear. and for about siN months of the year the sun shines all the day through.
 shall first show you something of the native parts of Cerro de Pasco. The town has about 15,0oO Cholo and Indian residents. The most of them live in one story houses that are made of adobe and plaster outside. The buildings are in blocks, walling the streets. They are painted in the brighest of colors. One house may be bright green. the next may he blue. and the next red or golden yellow or white. The houses have roofs of thatch or galvanized iron that eX- tend out over the sidewalks. There arc no drains from the roofs, and when it rains the water pours down the back of your neck as you go through the streets. The sidewalks are narrow, and the principal roadways are paved with oobbles, with a gutter Of slabs about 10 inches wide and six inches deep that runs through the middle of the street They do not put the gutters at the sides of the roadway as at home. The streets all slope to the center, and the sewage runs off through this gutter.
 As l walked through the town, I ob- served that the woodwork was freshly painted. and the American who was with me told me that the law is that all houses facing the street must be painted once every two years. If they are not the owners are fined He said that the painting time had just passed, and there fore the city looked fresh.
 Strolling up the main street We passed the principal stores. They open out on tie sidewalks, and are filled with goods from Europe and the United States I saw canned fruits from California and salmon from Oregon, cotton cloths from Massachusetts and sewing machines or well known American makes. There were also many articles of native manufac- ture, such as ponchos made from the hair of llamas and sheep, rude sandals used by the Indians and shoes so clumsy that l know they could not come from Massachusetts. Over some of the doors l noticed tassels and fringes of tissue paper. l asked what they meant and was told that they were the signs of chicha saloons.
 The scenes are interesting. The crowd was typical of backwoods Peru There were better class Peruvians, dressed as we are; there were scores of Indian C;o- los or half breeds. and there were Indian men and women who had driven their llamas in from the country about, with goods and vegetables and other freight of one kind or other. There were many cargadors with great loads on their backs. Indian women and girls wearing big hats on their heads, shawls around their shoulders, and such bunchy skirts that they made me think of the song of Miss Hook of Holland in which she tells of her petticoats, the gifts of her lovers: I have one red petty from Peter,
 And another green petty from John, And one colored yellow, from some other
 fellow,
 And one that l haven't got on.
 I am told that neither the Cholo nor the Indian female ever changes her skirt She puts one on and keeps it there until it is worn out As it grows thinner, she adds others, until at last she reaches the dimensions one sees on the street She wears her shawd and hat in house and out. and in hiring servant 1t is diffi- cult to persuade her to remove these garments while at her work.
 The Indian men and boys wear ponchos and hats, with coarse suits of clothes under them that are of the same size for children and grown-ups. They have san dals, or go barefooted. The streets swarm with children Babies are plentiful and nearly every woman and girl has a child tied to her back. Sometimes the baby is on the outside of burden, and it bobs up and down as the mother carries the heavy load over the road. She bends half double as she goes on dog trot, and covers much ground.