Omaha daily bee., 1914-08-16

ccption OF the southern connection with
the Argentine system, are In the future.
However, the Bolivian government has
decided that the Andean regions and the
eastern plains must be united and II Is
planning railroads "a that end. The Argen-
tine government Is anxious to build It's
railroads into it's undeveloped territories
known az the Chaco. and Paraguay has
been invited to extend the railway from
AsunciCn into eastern Bolivia with a ter
minal at santa Cruz.
At the present time eastern Bolivia Is
practically Inaccessible and Il cannot be
opened up to colonization until railroads
are built There e. no way to get into
the country excepting on foot or on mule
back, and no way to Get the crops out
When the railroad Is completed 20 CO.
rumba tho cattle can be driven there and
shipped TO the markets OF eastern Brazil:
hut Just now it Is not possible TO send
them down to Buenos Aires on account Of
tho heavy freight rates on the steamers
on the Paraguay and Parana rivers.
Confined 60 Plateau.
So far all of the Bolivian railway
building has been confined to the plS-
teau and its connections with the Pa
ciflo coast. The most OF the cities are
still inaccessible except upon mules and
there are towns OF 9O0o0 and 5000 and
more that can be reached only by mules
Away from the railroads there are prac.
tically no hotels 1T for a white man to
live in. The country inns arc more like
stables than anything else. and in the
Cut-of-the-way places Il Is almost inn
possible TO buy food % the Indians or to
obtain quarters in their huts for the
night. The beds OF tho inns are plat
forms made Of stone or sun-dried brick
and the bedding Is often lousy and dirty
one should carry q camp bed. and he
should be supplied with rugs, heavy boots
and rubber coat or poncho. lie should
also carry along some prov lsicns.
During my stay here 1 have gone over
the exhibit that Bolivia has prepared for
the San Francisco exposition A large
part Of this comes from eastern Bolivia.
IL includes with other things. samples OF
fine timber found there About one-flfth
Of that wholo country Is covered with
trees The area Is as large as the state
OF Missouri and the timber is about the
finest In South America Some OF II Is
so hard Il will turn tho edge OF an ak,
and great leal OF II takes beautiful
polish. The cabinet WOODS include ebony
walnut, mahogany, cedar and lignum-
vitae Some OF the trees arr of great
girth and height. AMI the wood is so
heavy that II win not float. It will re-
quire railroads or steamers to bring II
to the markets, There are also many
rubber treasures that bear the silk
cotton and those producing vegetable
wax. Samples u all these products viii
be sent to San Francisco
Future Corn Country.
Among the exhibits from the same
region are cacao and tobacco, and also
Indian corn. Eastern Bolivia promises to
be one of the great corn countries OF the
future. Corn grows well not only In the
low valleys, but everywhere throughout
the plains have described. Tho samples
prise twenty-five different varieties, some
grains being not bigger than popcorn,
while others are as large as the largest
thumb nall and quarter of an inch
thick This latter kind grows on the
plateau, where the elevation Is not too
great. The color Is snow white. and the
corn is so soft that II appears to be made
of flour pressed into shape Another
variety Is jet black, and others are red
ana pink. II is possible that some OF
these could be crossed with our American
corn to advantage.
Eastern Bolivia may be one of the cot