Omaha daily bee., 1914-07-05

paln IS spent M this, tnt g.ty
- Of peace. The capital OF
I3lSS3tk, Bolivia is one Of the most
S@%@@J interesting OF all the South
American cities. and sunday is its
great DAY OF the week The town lies
far back from the ocean. across the high
est of the Andes, and ON one OF the hish--
est plateaus Of the earth In the Gulbert
hotel where ! am writing. I am almost
TWO miles and half above the sea. and
can see from my window the perpetual
Slows or Mount Illimani one of the high
est peaks of this hemisphere All about
are other high mountains. and walling me
in are the great ramparts. three times
- high as the Washington monument,
that guard the basin in which la Paz
lies. / have climbed the walls Of Jeru-
salem, and have tramped for miles upon
the great wall of china that separates
that country from Mongolia. Neither Of
these walls is over fifty feet high The
walls Of L. Paz are thirty times higher
They extend upward for 1,5OO feet and
i'm a plateau that is more than 1S 900 feet
above the level of the ocean. The plateau
OF Bolivia is as big as either Virginia,
Ohio or Kentucky, and on one side OF
II are mountains, some Of which are
more than -four miles IN height. The city
lies in depression in that plateau. II is
IN little hollow, way up here on the
tcpmost roof Of the world. Mr. John ID.
G Rear, our American minister SAYS the
site of the town is shaped like wash
bowl whose top Is three miles in diameter
and whose SIDES are 1850 feet deep. This
bowl is almost circular except for one
end, where is a great crack, out OF which
the La Paz river runs And. indeed,
that gives a fair idea of the city. Its
site was depression in the bed of the
great inland sea that once covered this
mighty plateau Then the earth rose aud
the water broke through at the crack
and ran out, leaving the dry hollow that
now holds the capital of the Bolivian
republic
Now Have Railroad.
When 7 last visited la Paz I rode from
Lake Titicaca across the plateau on the
top of e stage drawn by eight mules
which were changed every three hours
This time l came on the railroad / took
the train at Guaqui, on Lake Titicaca
and within three or four hours had
crossed the high plains l could see no
sign of a city until the cars stopped at
the Alto This is at the edge of the
basin, where the motive power for the
train is changed from steam to electric
ity. Here our engine pulled up on the
brink of the precipce, and there below us
was this mighty hole peppered with
houses, rooted with red tiles and galvan-
lied iron We could see the walls Of
green, made by nature, and the patches
OF cultivation Clambcrng their Sides and
right in the center, away down far below
ms, were the two and three-story houses
and the churches and the public buildings
that make up the city.
We rode down the sides of the walls on
an electric trolley in winding curves, our
train zigzagging this way and that Here
the cars flew around a loop, and there
they cut a great figure 8, while further
on we could see a half dozen tracks above
and below us. AS we descended the town
grew larger, and the buildings that were
merely toy houses when viewed from the
Alto, became of respectable size. We could
now pick out the streets as they climbed
down the hills, and could recognize the
buildings about the great central plaza,
where stands the national capitol in
which congress meets We could see the
palace where the president lives, and ct
its left the unfinished cathedral upon
which the people have been working for
two generations, and where / am told
they will still be working for generation
TO come. At the same time we began TO
notice the crowds of the streets, and our
eyes caught the maze of bright colors,
which, of a Sunday, paint waving ribbons
on the thoroughfares of La Paz,
Big Business ON Sunday.
On week days La Paz has a mixed pop
ulation of perhaps $4,000. On Sundays this
number is increased by tens of thousands
of Indians. The Aymaras come in for
many miles ever the country around
choosing this Lords day of all others as
their one and only trading day of the
week.
/ have seen most OF the great market
sights Of the world. 1 have haggled over
the prices in Calcutta, Bombay and Ben
ares, / have dickered with the orientals
in Cairo and Tuns and have fought
with the Slavs at the fair of Mini Nov
gorod on the Volga where Europe and
Asia annually meet to buy and to sell l
have seen the open-air markets Of Africa
and the mighty bazaars of Siam and
Burma, but nowhere have I found so
much activity as right here in La Paz.
The Indians are dressed in the gayest
of reds, yellows, purples and greens.
They bring their families with them and
there is a mass of moving men, women
and children which. throngs the streets
from one end to the other Every one
has merchandise with him and many
have travelled forty, fifty or more miles,
carrying their wares on their backs In
addition TO the crowd on the cobblestone
ToadwRys are two long lines of women
sellers who take up the sidewalks.
Every one sits down where she is and
spreads her wares out before her, so that
there are literally miles of vegetables and
goods on one kind Of other lining the
streets. In addition to the Indians are
the many Cholos or half breeds, and
mixed with the whole is the white pop
uation Of the Bolivian capital. women
and men who have come out to buy or
see the strange sights.
All Wear Bright COIOrs.
The chief colors come from the dress OF
the Indians. The children. and grownups
wear about the same costume. and even
the babies are clad like their parents
The men and boys have on ponchos
which cover the upper parts Of their
bodies, The poncho is a blanket of the
brightest OF colors with short slit N
the middle through which tho baad -apas