El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1914-08-15

z A PAZ, Bolivia, Aug. 16.-Lyine in
the middle Of the South American
continent, separated from the Pa
cific ocean by a trackless desert, which
belongs TO Chile. with great wall Of
mountains and pIateaus running
through it from north to south, Bolivia
until now, has been practically a hermit
land
It has no seaport, and until within
the past generation it had no railway
connections with the rest Of the world.
Today the best part Of It is unknown. I
refer to that on the eastern slope o.
the Andes. The discoveries so far have
been confined TO the high plateau, up
held between the two ranges Of noun
rains- This plateau is on the roof OF the
world 1t is a great plain as big as the
state Of Ohio. situated at q height of
from two and a half to three miles
above the sea.
It IS walled in by mountains. and so
poorly watered that It produces only the
scanty grass upon which the alpaeas
and namas feed It is bleak and barren
and the winds that sweep over It are so
cutting that I often wear a face mask
10 protect my complexion This is
knitted Of alpaca wool It covers the
whole Of my head, having only small
hoIes for my eyes and mouth
Is n Treasure Vault.
Nevertheless, this plateau is one OF
the treasure vaults Of the world, con-
tanning vast deposits OF silver and gold
copper and tin. West Of this plateau
IS the desert, descending into the borax
lakes and nitrate fields Of Chile, and
east Of 1t is the main wall OF the Andes,
on the other side Of which are the vast /
plains that slope gently TO the Amazon
and Parana river systems
Bolivia is wonderful country. It |
mas all told an area Of more than 7OO,-
600 square miles You could put New
and all of the southern states except |
Texas inside ii, and there would still /
be more room 10 spare. Nevertheless,
II has only about as many people as
Chicago, and its pure whites do not
number more than the population OF
either Memphis, Tenn, or Birmingham,
Ala The country has altogether some
Ihlng like one million semi-ciVilized /
indians and some hundreds Of thousands 1
Of ChOlOs or halfbreeds. These people I
all live on the high plateau Of the
Andes, regions that has all the cities
and towns, and that practically in
cludes the whole Of Bolivia as the world
knows il today.
In the BackWOOds Country. /
East Of the Andes is another Bolivia
This is the frontier or backwoods OF
D
Few thousand saVages- Nevertheless It |
contains half Of the area Of the repub-
lie, and is said to be one Of the rich
est lands Of the world
Eastern Bolivia is one-tenth as large
as the United States proper. It is equal ! {
TO SIX states the size OF Illinois, and is
one-third larger than either Germany 4
or France The most Of this vast ter / /
ritory is well fitted TO be the home Of
q civilized people. The land consists Of
fertile plains that slope from the An
dean wall toward the east south and {
north, and gradually fall to a general /
level where the highest points are only
about 1900 feet above the sea. The !
plain fades away at the north into the I
south into those OF the Paraguay and /
2arana- I
Filled with Wild Cattle.
The country is in fact a continuation ! {
u the great cattle fields Of Argentina, Z
'araguay and Matto Crosse, and IL may Y
eventually be one Of the great meat / /
baskets Of the United States The land :
llready swarms with wild cattle, and {
1anks Of the Pilcamayo and on the Dor {
lers OF the Para guayan Chaco. There I e
IRE Wild cattle also in northern Bolivia. L
leXt TO Brazil, very near the tract Of S
I've million acres taken UP by Mr.. Muir n
10 Mackenzie and the Brazil Land & o
attic company That tract has the o
est Of pasture. and It Is already o
tocked with 10000 beef cattle.
Has Petroleum Deposits. e.
One Of the great possibilities lies in ! o
he petroleum deposits. Eastern Bolivia ! 2
as a strip OF land running north and ] b
ourh for distance OF 200 miles where [ I
be oil OOzes out OF the ground and Z a
here il has been used by the indians | a
Dr generations for lighting and burn / Il
lg. A number OF oil companies have ! a
READY been formed for the exploita- G
on OF these deposits, and concessions a
ave been granted to Americans and d
Tiers to develop some OF them. {
Among the foreigners who are inter
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