El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1915-05-29

~TEAMSHIP SAN MARTIN, on the
Paraguay river, Nay 29--For the
- past five days 1 have been steam
fnr M the Parana river. I am in the
heart Of the Parana basin, which is po-
tentiaHy one Of the worlds greatest
meat baskets Of the future It has al
ready supplied vast quantities Of beef
and mutton for the warning armies Of
Europe. and it is also shipping meat
northward for Uncle Sans stomach.
As I left Buenos Aires I saw one OF
the Lamport & Holt steamers loaded
with chilled beef starting out for New
York, and sailing up the Rio de Ia Plata
I passed the mouth Of the Uruguay
river, that. carries down the cattle OF
Uruguay and the Argentine Mesopota-
mia to Buenos Aires and Montevideo.
The next morning we anchored in
front OF the Rosario, on the Parana'
several hundred miles from the ocean
There the vessels were taking on in
dian corn for the horses Of the armies
now fighting in France, and all the way
up the Parana proper, a distance as
great as from New York to Chicago, I
passed estancia after estancia upon
which thousands Of beeves were fatten-
ing on the rich grass. In some places
I saw droves Of horses similar to the
hundreds which are now going by ship
loads TO Europe, and flOcks Of sheep
which will soon be frozen mutton In the
friserificos Of Buenos Ares
At Corrientes I was near where the
Alto-Parana flows into the main stream
and a little later on entered the Para
quay, which extends from here more
than 1900 miles northward, opening up
another vast meat supply
Watered BY Great Rivers.
The Paraguay river has its source in
the highlands Of Matte Crosse, the
mighty plateau that forms the height Of
land Of the South American continent
The region corresponds to the great
lakes region Of North America, and II
is covered with pastures. The Paraguay
flows through grass lands and Forests
for a distance as great as from Phlia-
delphia TO the Rockies. Not far north
from where am now is the mouth OF
the PilcOmayo river, that rises IN tne
Andes and passes through the cattle
lands Of eastern Bolivia, flowing IN
.tortuous course OF 1900 miles through
uneLplored wilds before IL comes into
the Paraguay. The Pucomayo flows
between the ChacO Of Argentina ana
Para euav countries that have pasture
lands scattered here and there through
them The pastures are now BENG
stocked. and they viii add greatly TO
the meat supply Of the world
The system Of rivers is immense
Travelled four days and four nights on
the Rio de la Plata and Parana in com
ing from the ocean to the mouth Of the
Paraguay The Rio de Ia Plata, where
II empties into the ocean, IS vast
estuary, 1S6 miles wide and II Is Iully
thatslong to the point where the Uru-
quay and Paraguay join
The Parana proper to where II IS
formed by the Alto-Parana and the
Paraguay is 500 miles long, and Il IS
from 10 to IS miles wide throughout
that whole length. II you viii imagine
a stream on the average about II miles
wide running from Philadelphia almost
TO Chicago, YOU may have some idea OF
the Parana proper
Inland seas Of Liquid Mud.
Both the Parana proper and the Rio
de Ia Plata are more like inland seas OF
LIQUID mud than like rivers. / took a
bath one morning on a steamer IN the
Rio de Ia Plata, just before coming into
the DOrr of MOutevideO. The river there
is 65 miles in width and IL IS Jhe color .
of pea soup. AS I stood in the tub
opened the spigOt and let the water run 4
out In a short time I was standing IN 8
mud and when I stepped out my tracks .
on the bottom Of the porcelain tub We're 4
as plain as that which scared Robinson ]
Crusoe on the shores Of his desert 4
island
The silt Of the Rio de Ia Plata discol- !
orS the Atlantic for IS miles out AT sea I
The Parana brings down a quarter OF I
a million tons Of mud every day, and it I
has so filled up the channel near Bue- /
nos Aires that that city has had to {
spend more than S4O.O00,000 in making !
the docks and dredgiRgs that enable II T!
10 be one of the grea4est ports Of the I
world.
Mud Makes Multitude Of Islands.
The water continues muddy all the /
way from Buenos Aires to where the
Paraguay flows in There is so much
mud that il has built up. tens Of thou I
sands OF islands. The channels through I
which the steamer goes are everywhere Z
q bout as wide as the Mississippi proper Z
but they wind their way in and out (
among these islands. There are times 3
when you cannot see the mainland at
all, and other times when you behold
only hay line Of blue over these low
expanses Of green. the blue being the
highlands of the opposite shore. Now
YOU seem TO be far out on sea OF
liquid mud. now you are close to the I
islands and now near the shore Of the !
mainland.
The country is so low that the Islands /
seem to be floating, and in flood times {
there are really floating islands, con- (
sisting Of great masses Of vegetation