Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1921-05-20
REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA
Mighty EXpanSe Of UndGVGlOped Re.
sources.
TWICE As LARGE AS STATE OF TEXAS
Capable. of Producing Millions of Cat
tIe-Souree of Much Goid-Trans-
portation Facilities Very Poor.

tleNoourCe OF muCn Solo ans
portation Facilities Very Poor.
Colombia, the country to which the
United States has just engaged by
treaty to pay s25,OOO,O0O and the scene
of some Of the principal exploits Of
Simon Bolivar, ltberator Of the north
ern states of South America, whose
statue was recently unveiled in New
York city, Is the subject of the fol-
lowing bulletin issued from the Wash
ington, D. c., headquarters of the Ma
tional Geographic Society:
COLOMBIA, which occupies the north
eastern corner Of South America and
forms the southern 'abutment of the
Isthmus Of Panama, is typical of the
entire northern and northeastern por-
ton of the South American continent"
says the bulletin. 1T is tremendously
rich in all sorts. of natural resources.
and almost wholly undeveloped.
"It has an area of nearly half mil
lion square miles, which means that it
il almost twice the size of Texas; yet
it has less than one-twentieth of the
railroad mileage of that state. To put
it differently, there is mile of rail-
way in the United States as a whole
for every 49, square miles of area.
while in Columbia there IS only mile
of railway for every 600 square miles
of area. Most Of the Colombian rail-
ways are of narrower gauge, by a foot
or more, than those ofothe United
States. They do not form. a system
but for the most part are in lengths
of 25 to 100 miles. scattered about the
country.
Capital Difficult to Reach.
"Bogota. the capital of Colombia, is
situated between ranges of theTrAndes
on plateau at an elevation Of more
than a mile and half 1t is approXi-
mately $50 miles from the Caribbean
Sea along the most accessible route,
and 200 miles from the Pacific across
the Andes It has no rail connection
with either sea- To reach it one must
travel for more than 500 miles up the
winding course of the Magdalena River
by boat, skirting rapids by means OF
short length of railroad. and finally
cover the last so miles from the head
of navigation by rail. The trip some
times requires several weeks. Trans
,portation of supplies throughout much
of the interior is by means of mule
back along rough, narrow mountain
paths. The few carriage roads are IN
the Magdalena delta near the coast AND
in the vicinity OF! Bogota on the plat
eau.
More than half of the area Of COL
ombia lies east Of the three ranges OF
the Andes and consists of plains coun-
try sloping toward the center of the
continent and drained. by the head
waters Of the great Amazon and ORR
noco river systems. Covered with sue
culent grasses. these plains form an
unsurpassed stock-raising country. 1t Is
largely unutilized and is to be COM
pared with the plains OF Rhodesla'
South Africa, as one Of the richest un-
occupied regions suitable for cattle
raising remaining in the world. 1t Is
estimated that more than ten million
head of cattle could be pastured on
these llanos' of eastern Colombia.
Lack Of Railways Boosts Grain Prices
"Colombia's climatic conditions vary
from the sub tropical near the shores
of the Caribbean, to Alpine in the high
er Andes. Forests cover millions o!
acres. the deltas and river valleys yield
cotton, tobacco, >cacao, bananas, rub
her and other tropical and sub-tropl-
cal products, while on the h!llsides
coffee thrivcs. On the plateaus grain
and other temperate zone products
may be grown. The need for railroads
ir Colombia is indicated by the fact
that, though considerable quantities of
grain are produced on the interior
platcaus. il has always been cheaper
to buy grain from the United States in
the Colombian coast cities after it has
been shipped thousands of miles, than
to transport the domestic grain the few
hundred miles from its place OF pro
duction.