El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1914-09-05

of stunted evergreens, each as big
around as your finger They had been
grubbed from the mountains and
packed up in bundles about three feet
square and two feet in thickness
Further down the road we saw great
piles of peat-mOss, another fuel that
grows in the Andes. The moss is Of
a woody resinOus nature, and when
lighted gives out a great heat II
grows on the top Of the ground in
disks ranging in size from the dame
ter Of tin wash basin TO that Of a
tube.
All along the railroad we could see
also the piles of English or Australian
coal used by the engines This IS in
the shape Of Driquettes, laid up IN
regular order. At UyunL where the
new road for the Argentine IS TO join
the La Paz-AntOfagasta line, 1 saw
thousands Of these bricks They We're
corded up, as II Were ana around the
edges of the pile 1 noticed that a white
band had been painted / asked the
reason, and was told that II was TO
prevent the indians from stealing the
coal Such fuel in the high Andes is
worth $50 a top
once a Vast Inland Sea.
Our ride over the Bolivian plateau
was through q country as smooth as
a floor The plateau is covered with
stones. It is supposed to have been at
one time a vast inland sea- and sea
shells are often found upon IL. Pro-
level Of the ancient Andean sea was
800 or 400 feet higher than the pres
ent level Of the platea- If so, It has
all disappeared. as today the only
large bodies of water found there are
in the lakes, Titicaca and PoOpo. The
latter is a brackish lake Joined TO
lake Titicaca by the river Desagua-
dero- It is only about one-third as
large as lake Titicaca- Lake PoOpo is
the home OF many wild fowl and the
region about IL is filled with birds
Of many kinds including wild ducks
and flamingoes- The lake has no Wis
ible outlet but the waters from Tit
caca are always flowing into it and
there must be some underground chan
mel that carries the surplus away.
OrurO is SO hours from AntOfagasta-
It is a thriving mining town, situated
1880 feet above the sea in the heart
OF the Bolivian desert It has about
10000 people, and IL does a great trade
with the tin mining regions OF the in
terror. Its population rises and falls
as tin goes up and down The town
has a government palace, q theater, a
public library and a mineral museum.
It has many business houses and
some very respectable stores The
streets are paved with cobbles, and a
rickety carriage carried me at a cost
OF 50 from one end Of the town to the
other It has a plaza upon which the
public buildings face, but altogether
1t is exceedingly dreary
Sees Great BOraK Lakes.
The trip from OrurO to the sea is
over one Of the most picturesque
way is bleak and desertlike but one
sees several smoking TocanOes and
also great salt lakes with green
islands apparently floating uDou them
After crossing the Chilean boundary
we came to the great borax lakes
These are owned by the bOrax trust
and they supply the greater part Of
that mineral for the whole of the
world There fact n~.1r
or four places on earth where borax
IS found IN large quantities The most
important is these lakes Next in size
are some mines on the plateau Of Tibet
In Asia, and last are the deposits
found in Death valley, California The
Chilean lakes seem TO be covered with
snow, and the snow is the borax that
rises TO the surface and forms a
blanket or crust on the water SO firm
that men can walk on IL. 1t looks like
ice, and you feel like stopping the
train for q skate In some places the
crust has been broken up into float
ing cakes and in others fl is being
taken out TO be refined and shipped
to the markets Some Of the boraT is
as clean as the Whitest OF spun silk;
other pieces are dirty and look like
snow that has lain for some time On
the shores Of the lake are galvanized I
lron-rOOfed refineries, in which the
stuff is prepared for the market. We
were over an hour going by the larg-
est Of the lakes It is right near the !
railroad. It is "a miles long and is /
the greatest reservoir Of borax in the
world Indeed, it is the chief source /
Of the worlds bOrax supply
Volcanoes Are Interesting.
Shortly after leaving this lake we /
came TO the highest pass on the rail- /
road This pass crosses the coast /
range at about half a mile below the 4
highest altitude Of the road from /
Lima TO lCerro de Pasco, and 1900 feet /
less in height than that OF the Pc /
ruvian Southern on its way to lake /
Iiucaca- Nevertheless, the height is /