The Mount Holly news., 1919-11-11
is UNKNOWN LAND
Much of South American Cont
nent UnexpIored.
Room There, and Natural Resources,
to Furnish Living for Millions
Now IN. overcrowded Parts
of the Globe.

The undiscovered continent is South
America. 1t is far less known geo
graphically than Africa, and much of
what appears on its maps is derived
from the imagination of the cartog-
, rapher.
Most of the interior of South Ameri-
ca has never been explored. Civiliza-
ton might be said to occupy not much
more than the edges of the continent,
which. as whole, is sparsely populat-
ed relatively to its vast area.
From this time on, however, a flood
of people from overcrowded parts of
the world will doubtless pour into it !;
for it has not only plenty of room to
offer, but also fabulous wealth. The
natural resources of other terrestrial
areas have been to a great extent used
up, but those of South America are
virtually untouched.
Its tropical regions no longer defy
settlement by white men, because of
deadly fevers. We now know how to
clean them up and make them health
fully habitable. The jungles of the
interior harbor many tribes of savages,
some of them reputed cannibals, but
those of them who do not accept con-
troll will be quickly wiped out
The most highly developed country
| in South America Is Argentina. It's
heart (meaning the state of Buenos
Aires and adjacent territory is a good
deal like our own Kansas plains
grassy and treeless. Farther to the
west and northwest is a region resem-
bling Arizona. Still farther, along the
foothills of the Andes Is a very rich
agricultural belt, much like southern
California.
The River Platte affords more ex.
tensive system of unobstructed naviga-
ton than any other stream In the
world. 1t offers greater number of
miles of navigable water than all the
rivers of Europe combined. Steamers
of 20-foot draft can go 2.70O miles into
the interior, those loading for Europe
being able literally to enter the wheat
fields and ranches to take aboard their
cargoes.
From the Rio Negro south to Ma
sallan straits stretches an enormous
territory-1,0 600 miles in length-called
Patagonia, the interior of which Is
mostly unexplored desert. Wandering
tribes, semi-civilized. inhabit 1.-THE
tallest people in the world, whose
stature (the men often, exceeding six
feet by several inches) caused Magel-
Ian to describe the country as the home
of giants.
South of Magellan straits is TERRA
Jel Fuego, triangular island nearly
as large as New York state. Though
IN frigid latitude, the interior is now
largely fenced off into great sheep
ranches. The aborigines-whose smoke
signals caused Magellan to bestow the
name Land of Fire-have been either
killed or reduced to Servitude.
Paraguay (not far from the middle
Of the continent) has the most valu-
able forests in the world, called the
Gran-Chaco, or Great Woods. Full of
pumas and other huge cats, monkeys
Of ever so many species and gorgeous
birds, they are composed largely of
precious woods, particularly those that
will not float in water, such as iron
wood and black palm.
In the very far north of South Amer
lea is the Orinoco. one of the great
rivers of the world. From it there are
waterways through which vessels can
actually make their way nearly 5000
miles southwark into the River Platte
Or much shorter trip will take them
into one or another of the affluents of
the Amazon, in the mouth of which lies
an island as large as Denmark.
South America today invites the en-
terprising young man as does no other
part of the world. But he will make
mistake to go there unless he has some
money and enough Spanish to get
along with.