Gilpin observer., 1919-12-18
INTERESTING LETTER
Walter Funk Writes of Mining in
South America.

mining engineer OF the Gilpin-
Clear Creek district, who is now
connected with big company op
Grating in the Guamoco district,
Magangue, Colombia, S. A., writes
very interesting letter to the
Siftings-News of Idaho Springs,
describing the difficulties encoun-
tered in mining in that southern
country. He says:
"To begin with, one is complete
ly isolated here from the rest of
the world, all mail and papers be-
ing from month to six weeks
old when received, and a descrip-
tion of the route necessary to take
to get here easily convinces one
of the truth of this.
"The United Fruit liner lands
you at Cartagena, from whence a
rattle-trap railroad takes four
hours to take you sixty miles to
Calamar, a village on the great
Magdalena river. From thence
by means of an old fashioned
stern paddle-whael river steamer
you poke along for 250 miles up
the Magdalena and two of it's
branches, the Canca and Nechi
rivers.
"The scenery is wonderful all
along. the route, but the heat al
most unbearable. Large alliga-
tors bask in the sun along the riv-
er banks, while beautiful birds of
many descriptions are abundant.
Insect life of all kinds abounds to
the extreme annoyance of the
traveller.
Accommodate on these boats
is poor. One must carry his own
bed everywhere in this country,
but fortunately you don't need
much. 1t takes four or five days
to make the river trip to Puerto
Andes, on the Nechi river.
From here it requires two
days by canoe up beautiful little
stream called the Santa Isabel, a
trip highly interesting and excit-
ing, many rapids and falls having
to be passed. The natives are so
skillful at handling these canoes
that it is extremely rare when one
is overturned. Two natives pole
the canoe by means of long poles
while another sits at the stern
and steers and paddles.
"The canoes are 40 to so feet
long and will easily transport a
ton of cargo. At the falls, all of
this cargo must be- transferred
from point to point on the natives
backs. Wild game abounds and
one puts in his time advantag-
eously with shotgun while wait
ing for the portaging process.
Eat Catalina, where the canoes
land, the company maintains a
small farm where we raise corn
and sugar cane to feed the mules,
besides having a good sized pas
ture here.
From here passengers and
cargo must all stand 40-mile
mule back trip to the mine. This
requires two days travelling over
q trail which must really be trav-
eled over to be appreciated. 1t
has practically been cut directly
thru the jungles, and crosses
mountains and valleys and noun
tain torrents. 1t is of course a
very tiresome and wearisome trip.
Landed finally at the Chicago
mine, one sees collection of a
dozen bamboo shacks in a little
depression in the famous Cordil-
leras, at an altitude of not over
$500 feet, and yet with delight
fully cool climate and no mosquit-
oes. We are only seven degrees
north of the equator, yet / have
never seen the thermometer over
80 degrees nor under 60 degrees.
The nights are cool and at least
two blankets are required to keep
out the chill due to the humidity,
"The native shacks consist of
long buildings with four to six
rooms in each, which will house
as many families. One room to a
family of four or eight is ample,
as they sleep on rude beds or the
dirt floor and cook in an open fire
place in the corner. There is no
furniture of any kind; they sit on
the floor, and eat on the floor, and
sleep on the floor. The rooms are
separated by bamboo stats so
there is no privacy. The children