El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1914-02-14

Z unfolding between them series Of beauti-
J ful valleys. in which about nine-tenths Of
the natives now live.
These valleys are higher above the sea
than Mexico City, and they have a climate
more like that Of New York or Ohio than
Of the equator. Quito. the capital is sif11-
ated in one Of the highest Of these Andean
valleys. 1t is $500 feet above the sea or
almost two miles above the altitude of
is like october. or our indian summer. all
the year round.
On the eastern side Of the Andes the land
slopes from this temperate zone to a trop-
ical wilderness 1t reaches the tributaries OF
me Amazon, ana some OF the streams of
ecuador LoW into that mighty river. Indeed.
il is said that Quito is only four davs bv
mule from streams that flow into the ANA
ION system The government is now build
ing railroad from the plateau to one of
the Amazon tributaries, and this road viii
open up a rich mining region with lands
suited for sugar cane, cacdO and coffee
Has Huge Volcanoes.
Ecuador has some Of the greatest VOL
canoes on earth The great series of valleys
OF which nave written, is walled by q
peaks. ranging in height from three to four
miles, and there are II other peaks which
are more than two miles, in height. When
I last visited Guayaquil the air was filled
with ashes that came from one Of Ecuador's
ten active volcanoes For this reason the
houses have to be small They are built ia
Withstand, the earthquakes the wooden TIM
bers being so Joined that they cam SWAY
with the trembling Of the earth and not
break
by way of Panama to the Bay of Cara0uez
and the tourists will go over the French
railroad, a distance Of 1876 miles up to the
capital or they viii come to Guayaquil and
take the American built road from here over
the Andes.
The Quayaquil-C,uito road is now fl. oDers-
ton The fare is $3.50 each way. and the
trains require two days for the journey You
cross the Guayas river early in the morning
and by o'clock are moving from the rails
road station at Duran through 20 miles OF
tropical lowlands. There are pastures con-
loaded with their squash like frl1if which
hangs close to the trunks and branches and
many little villages with houses on piles so
that the first floors have to be reached By
a ladder
leaves tied to a framework Of bamboo cane
The floors are Of cane and the cracks are SO
many that the women 40 not need to sweep,
for the dirt OF the household falls through
to the ground the water You mass little
banana plantations, go through forests load
ed with orchids, and finally stop at Bucay,
which is 81 miles away The speed Of ne
train so far has been not quite II miles an
hour and you have risen to an altitude Of
less than 1000 feet In the next three hours
you rise 5000 feet, to Huigra and from there
20 on up, up until at last YOU reach TTr-
This is the highest station on the road Won
stop over night during this journey, and it
come to Quito, the Ecuadorian capital
Preparing for a Boom.
Quito is preparing for a boom when the
canal is completed. It hopes to become a
tourist resort for both winter and summer
II IS one OF Lle ueaiLuleSL cities earth.
and if J. c. White & Co. can make a healthy
gate to it, it viii no doubt have visitors and
excursions from an over the world The
city has now 100000 population 1t has
several hotels. 1t has electric lights and
telephones, and there is talk Of putting in
a street car line to be run by electricity
generated from the rivers nearby.
The town lies on the slope Of a volcano.
and there are a dozen other volcanoes in
sight among which are Cotopaxi and CHM
borazo, each Of which rises about two miles
above the piatealn. 1 am told that you can
take an automobile in Quito and ride to the
crater Of the volcano behind it.
Quito has 1lne government buildings and
churches and converts. 1t has col
leges, a cathedral and a theater subsidized
by the government with trOupes that come