El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1914-06-27

z a PAZ, Bolivia, June FL have
just met the grand lama Of the
South American Tibet His name
is senior Don IsmaeI Monies He is the
president Of the republic Of Bolivia, and
his capital, La Paz. might be called the
high Andine Lhassa- It is a city built
in hole in the mountain. In his con-
duct president Monies pursues much the
same policy as his prototype Of the Him
alayas. He keeps 10 himself and does
not give out newspaper interviews Tor
publication He governs his people in
his own way, and practically without
let or hindrance. Like the centurion OF
the Scriptures, He says unto this man,
come, and he cOmeth, and 10 that man,
90. and he gOeth, and TO third, do this,
and he COeth it." I am not sure as to
the wording Of this quotation, but it
describes president Monies BE is the
big man of Bolivia and / am told he
the lines Of development Of its great
natural resources
Has Many Schemes
Like president Wilson, he has all
sorts Of new schemes under way. He
is building railroads establishing banks
and playing with other financial mat
tiers in such a way as to cause great
annoyance TO the bankers and brokers'
He Is like our president also IN that ne
has big things TO play with Since /
J
voted M time TO learning about the
country and people. I have met men
from every large city, and with the
maps before me have gone over the
country with Don Manuel Vicente BO-
livian, the chief Of the bureau Of sta
tistics. I am surprised at the size OF
the republic, and at its enormous IN
developed resources
Bolivia is the Tibet Of South America
OF all the lands upon edrtn II Kisses
the sky next below the Himalayan high
lands. It has more high mountains than
any other country outside OF Asia and
its mighty plateau is eXceled in alt-
tude only by that of Tibet. Within its
tains that approximate four miles IN
height, and upheld by these, great
tableland twice as far up In the air as
the high plateaus of the Rockies
Overlooking the plateau from the west
are the snOwclad peaks Of Pomerape,
ParinacOta, Sajama and Huallatlrl, all
ranging from 10000 to 2l,6OO feet hlgn,
and there are four other volcanoes thar
are almost as high on the way TO the
ocean you pass several smoking vol
canoes; and scattered over the country
are mountains that surpass anything on
the North American continent excepting
Mount Mckinley. Alaska The plateau
itself Is almost 1900 feet high ana IN
many places ii rises far above that
Is Great Country
Bolivia, situated here in the heart
Of the continent. with a great desert
between it and the ocean, is the third
largest Of the South American repuD-
lies 1t contains altogether more than
100000 square miles. Il is one-fourth
as DIG as the United States proper, SIX
times as large as Great Britain and
Ireland, more than three times the size
OF Germany or France. and three times
as big as Australia Hungary or the
Spanish peninsula The republic eX-
tends from north to south as far as
from Canada TO the Gulf of Mexico, and
it is almost as wide as from New York
TO Detroit All of our New England
ana middle states and all Of the south
ern states except Texas, taken to-
getner- would just about cover Bolivia,
and the nigh plateau upon which am
writing IS so large that it would make
more than eight ssachusetts. with
out touching the slopes of the mighty
peaks that skirt some Of its edges.
But One Large Town.
bolivia has no large cities. The town
OF La Faz has perhaps $4,000. and the
next town in size. Cochabamba, has