The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1914-01-06
KINGSTON, Jamaica.

KINGSTON, Jamaica. |
have stopped off at Kingston. on
the Island Of Jamaica, on my way to
south America. / am now in the
center of the Caribbean sea- TWO
days later I shall be at Panama and
within a month l shall be amid the
volcanoes and SHOWS on the top Of the
Andes. / am just starting out on d |
tour Of Is, 900 miles through our great
sister continent, to write a series OF
letters for this paper. l expect 10
visit the principal countries OF South
America, going down the west coaSt
from Panama to atagonl traVeling
for months in the Andes, investigating
the possibilities of the South Amer
lean desert, and writing of all the
countries which face the Paclhc- La
=. ter in the year | shall go around
through the Strait of Magellan, or
over the mountains to the great re-
publics which lie on their eastern
slopes, traversing the mighty plains
and travelling up and down the pr1n-
cipal rivers.
During this journey l shall describe
the countries us they are today, and
the mighty changes now going on in
.heir civilization and industrial de-
Nelopment. expect to travel over all
Nhe nav railroads to describe the new
. factories and mills, to go down into
the mines, and to show the wonderful
increase and the enormous poSslbll-
tiles of South American trade.
The Continent Of the Future.
The new South America. The
words make my blood Jingle when l
think of it's future. South America is
the greatest undeveloped world Of the
nineteenth century. 1t il the treasure
of the universe and n mighty COM
;Sng bread basket of the human race.
Argentina alone could supply enough
wheat TO feed all mankind. The pla-
teaus OF Bolivia and Brazil added to
Uruguay and the Argentine may in
the future be our chief sources of
meats. and the minerals of the Andes
silver, gold. copper. and tin-are
practically inexhaustible. AS TO Guilt
Sable land, South America far sur
passes our own great continent which
lies at the north. North America has
the more square miles. but a vast part
of it is all snow and ice. South Amer
Sea is good all the way through from
rae in Venezuela to Punta Are
"A on the Strait OF Magellan. The
distance is $500 miles, or as far from
San Francisco to Japan. The coun-
try Is flat from east to west. AT its
greatest breadth it is 500 miles wider
than the United States from Boston
10 San Francisco, ana the most of i
consists of mighty plains SO fertile
that they rival the valleys Of the Mile
or the Gauges in their potential pos
sibilities.a
Some Big Things i'm South America
We are accustomed to boast that w.
have the greatest country on earth
North America seems about the onl.
big thing on our hemisphere and tn,
United States, in our opinion, standi
out as prominently there as the boi
on ones nose. We LAY no concep
ton Of the immensely OF the vast con
tinent which lies at the south, no
Df the mighty countries which ar
there in the making. The man on tn
street thinks Of Brazil only as a far
OFF locality, of minor extent, from
where come the coffee he drinks Of
morning and the rubber tire Whic'
eases his motor car ride to his bust
ness. The truth is Brazil is so big tina
1t could cover the whole of the Unite
States proper as with a blanket an
have good lands left over equal t
ten states the size or Maine to tue
En- around the edges. Little Ecuado
as twice the size of Missouri, and tn
low shoe-string of Chile. if laid OF
sn one block would more than equ:
seven states as big as Ohio, Virgins
or Kentucky. Argentina has one
third as much land as the Unite
states, and nearly every DOT Of 1t wi
raise grass, grain or meat Bolivia
ten times as big as the whole of Ne
England and Columbia is bigger tina
France or the Spanish peninsula
The most OF these countries a.
white mems countries. Even tho.
which lie in the tropics have va
tracts of and so high above the s,
that their climate is delightful all II
year round. The whole Of central al
eastern Brazil is one vast plateau, a,
the southern part of hat county
noted for cattle and grain. It is
popular with the Germans that tn
have settled there by the hundre
OF thousands. The country has b
come known as West Deutschland g.
~ hoc Cn~pon rS<;oC .~A <u~c -.