The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1914-03-01
ny FRANK q. CARPENTER.

4 WANT TO give you birds eye
1 view OF this wonderful land OF Peru.
that Is to be made our next door
neigh6or by the opening OF the Pan
anna Canal.
l; Is one OF the chief countries of
South America. but parts Of 1t are as
unknown as the wilds OF Tibet. Ii is
right at the front doorstep OF Eastern
North America. close that If Uncle
Sam took walk. using his thousand
league boots. he would stub his toe
upon 1t before he got three steps away
from our Gulf port OF New orleans. I
am writing al Lima. the capital An
express steamer can cover the distance
between here and the canal in less
than three days. and when the fast
Atlantic liners from New York enter
the Pacihc they will lie able TO come IT,
Callao. the port Of Peru, quite as quicl.
i rs they now cross over 10 Ham.
burg or Bremen. The actual distance
from the Balboa docks to thos. OF
Callao Is l,346 miles. and the regular
vessels which call at the coast port 5
make the trip in live or six days. Even
now one can 40 from New York to
Lima. crossing III" isthmus lay rail
in less than two weeks. and when the
canal Is completed the whole trip can
be easily made by ship IN that time
have spoken OF Peru as unknown.
The most of tile country has never
been prospcctcd. II lies here in the
heart OF Western South America TAX
ing UP about one-fourth OF the whole
1000 miles along the dry. thirsty Goa st
and an equal distance through the
rainiest region OIL Garth, on the oppo-
site side OF the mountains.
Peru Is more than 1000 miles long.
and In places IL is more than 700 miles
wide. II YOU laid IL down in the Mis-
sissirp! Valley. with the chilean bound
AIRY at New Orleans. the Ecuador line
would b. somewhere near Minneapolis
and I, would almost au the whole val
ley from the Mississippi River TO Pitts
burch.
The country contains about $4,000
square miles. 1t is equal TO more than
one-nfth OF the area III the United
States proper. Is six times as large as
Great Britain and Ireland, and Is
larger than Germany. France and tho
Spanish peninsula combined. There is
enough OF II 10 make fourteen States
as big as New York. nftccn as big as
PENNSYLVANIA, or seventeen OF the Size
of ohio. The country has ore pro
vince, tho name 81 which many OF YOU
have never heard. which is larger than
Texas. This Is Lorcto ut the head
waters of the Amazon. The Province
of Cuzco is in Southern Peru. and the
most OF IL hieii mp In the Andes. IL l.
bigger than California and there are
other provinces that would make siz-
able American states.
The whole OF Peru Is divided mp into
three zones. IL all lies in the tropics.
but the climatic Influences are such
that most Of il forms a iii home for
white men. The first zone is that OF
the desert. The second that of the high
Andean valleys and plat"aus, which
are upheld by the three parallel ranges
of these mighty mountains. and the
third Is the country that slopes down
from the mouniains and forms "a part
Of the Amazon Valley. The desert
zone would he "a hot as the sahara. but
ii is tempered 10y the Antarctic cur
rent, which flows UP this coast from
near the South Pole, This makes IL
cool and hoalthful all the year around.
The second zone Is the platenus of
the Andes. These highlands form a
region 500 miles wide. They have from
1000 10 i4.00o feet elevation. and are
looked down upon by some peaks. al
most four miles in height. They are
so high that IL is ''cool and healthy
throughout tho year, They have sum
niers thar VIII ripcn the hardest