Omaha daily bee., 1914-03-01
Peru an Empire of Undeveloped Resources
tconrrirhted. 1siA hr Frnnh a, Cnrnent,

L{lk<&llI neighbor by the opening
go the Panama canal II Is o.
Of the chief countries OF South Americ
but parts Of II are as unknown as IL
wilds OF Tibet II Is right ct the frot
doorstep OF eastern North America,
close that n Uncle Sam took walk us
ing his thousand-league boots. he woulC
stub his toe upon II before he got thre.
steps away from our gulf port OF New
orleans. l am writing at Lima. the capt
tai An express steamer can cover IN,
distance between here and the canal II
less than three days, and when the fast
Atlantic liners from New York enter the
Pacific they will be able TO come to Cal
lao. the port OF Peru, quite as quickly as
they now cross over 10 Hamburg or Bre-
men. The actual distance from the Bal
boa docks to those Of Callao Is 1,st0
miles. and the regular vessels which call
at the coast ports make the trip In five
OF six days. Even now one can so from
New York 70 Lima, crossing the isthmus
by 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 the country has never been
prospected. II lies here I'm the heart of
! western South America, taking up about
one-fourth of the whole range Of the An
des and extending for 1000 miles along
the dry. thirsty coast and an equal dis
tance through the rainiest region on
earth, on the opposite side of the noun
tains.
Peru is more than 1000 miles long, and
in places II Is more than 100 miles wide.
II you laid II down in the Mississippi
valley, with the Chilean boundary at
New Orleans, the Ecuador line would be
somewhere near Minneapolis, and it
would almost fill the whole valley from
the Mississippi river to Pittsburgh.
The country contains about 6sOOW
SQUARE miles. II IL equal to more than
one-fifth OF the area Of the United states
proper, is six times as large as Great
Britain and ireland, and is larger than
Germany, France and the Spanish pen
insula combined. There is enough OF II
to make fourteen states as big as New
York, fifteen as big as Pennsylvania. or
seventeen the size of Ohio. The country
has one province. the name OF which
many Of you have never heard, which Is
larger than Texas. This Is Loreto, at
the headwaters Of the Amazon. The
province OF Cuzco is in southern Peru,
and most of It high up In the Andes II
is bigger than California, and there are
other provinces that would make sizable
American states.
Divided Into Three Zones.
The whole of Peru is divided up into
three zones. 1t all lies in the tropics
but the climatic influences are such that
most of II forms q fit home for white
men. The first zone is that of the desert,
the second that Of the high Andean val
leys and plateaus. which are upheld by
the three paralleI ranges of these mighty
mountains, and the third is the country
that slopes down from the mountains
and forms q part of the Amazon valley.
The desert zone would be as hot as the
! Sahara, but is tempered by the Ant
arctic current which flows up this coast
from near the south pole. This makes 1t
cool and healthful all the year round.
The second zone is the plateaus Of the
Andes. These highlands form region
800 miles wide. They have from 1000 to
1900 feet elevation. and are looked down
upon by some peaks almost four miles
in height. They are so high that 1t Is
cool and healthy throughout the year.
They have summers that will ripen the
%
viii, grow all kinds of semi-tropicai
fruits. 1t is rather cold there In the
winter ana the snow often falls, but the
summers are not unlike those OF the
Rockies.
Famous for Live stock.
This region IL famous for live stock.
1t provides the meat and wool for the
whole Of Peru, and 1t has large tracts
of grazing lands where sheep and cattle
grow well. An extensive wool and meat
I industry might be developed, and that
with a view of supplying American mar
kets.
Upon the highest plateaus are found
the llama, alpaca and vieuna The
uamas are used as beasts OF burden, but
they produce a great deal OF wool. and
also are eaten. The alpacas are smaller
than the llamas. They are herded, ana
they furnish excellent wool. The vicuma
wool is even better. II Is as fine as SILK
and is worth four times as much as the
alpaca. Within the past few years some
| OF the wool growers have been trying
to cross the vicuma ana alpaca. and
have developed q new breed OF animals
which they call ''pacovicuns-"
The third zone OF Peru Is that which
| lies east of the Andes. 1t begins about
a mile or a mile and a half above the
sea on the slopes of the mountains and
runs down to the tropical forests OF the
Amaxonian headwaters. This region Is
densely wooded. and its vast forests con-
tain rubber and other valuable trees.
1t has also some open country. and there
are lands which win produce coffee,
cacao and sugar as well as every sort
OF tropical fruit
l. Part of IL UnexDlOred.
II is East Andean Peru that IL almost
unknown. Many parts OF II have never
been prospected, and Il Is still unin-
habited except by wild Indians. with here
and there q few rubber hunters. There
are no large towns, and Iquitos on the
Amazon. is the chief port OF the northern
J section. 1t is 1000 miles or more from the
sea.
There is no doubt that East An
dean Peru viii eventually be reached
I from the Pacific. II Is only about 900
miles from that ocean and there are
now railroads going TO the tops Of the
mountains that might be extended to tap
parts OF It, The oroya road just back
| of Lima Is one. that has already been
surveyed TO the headwaters of the
Amazon This road begins at Callav,