South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1921-05-18
COLOMBIA IS LAND
OF RICHES, ALMOST
ALL UNDEYELOPED
Country Bolivar Liberated /,
Twice Texas Size, But
Has Few Railroads.

WASHINGTON. May 17.-Colom-
pa the country 10 which the United
safes has just engaged by treaty 20
pay S25,000.000. and the scene Of
some OF the principal exploits OF
S4mon Bolivar. liberator OF the nor
thern states OF South America. whose
STATUE was recently unveiled IN New
York city. IS the subject OF the fol-
lowing bulletin issued from the
washington headquarters OF the Ma
uonal Geographic society.
Colombia. which occupies the
o7theaster1 corner Of South Amer
ca and forms the southern 'abut-
lent OF the Isthmus or Panama. IS
typical OF the entire northern and
northeastern portion Of the South
American continent" SAYS the bulle-
TIN 1T is tremendously rich in all
sorts Of natural resources. and al
most wholly undeveloped
IL has an area OF nearly half
million square miles. which means
that 10 f. almost twice the size Of
Texas. vet Il has less than one
twentieth OF tho railroad mileage Of
that state. To put g. differently.
there Is mile Of railway I'm the
United States as a whole for every
15lz square miles OF area. while IN
Colombia there is only a mile Of
railway for every 500 square miles
or area. Most Of the Colombian rail-
ways are OF narrower gau-1. by a
foot or more. than those Of the
United States. They do not form a
system but for the most part are in
lengths Of % to- 100 miles. scat
tered about the country.
Capital Difficult TO Reach
"BOgota. the capital Of Columbia.
IL situated between ranges OF the
Andes on a plateau or ar elevation
OF more than "A mile and a half. II
IS approximately $50 miles from the
Caribbean sea along the most ac-
cessible route. and 200 miles from
the Pacific across the Andes. Il has
10 rail connection with either sea.
To reach il one must travel for more
than 500 miles up the winding course
OF the Magdaiena river by boat.
skirting rapids by means of a short
. length Of railroad( and finally cover
the last 90 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 ia the vicinity of
Bogota on the plateau.
More than half Of the area of
Colombia lies east of the three
ranges Of the Andes and consists
Of plains country sloping toward the
center Of the continent and drained
by the headEaters of the great
Amazon and Crinoco river systems
Covered with succulent grasses, these
plains form an unsurpassed stock
Ia Using country. II is largely un-
utilized and is 20 be compared with
the plains Of Rhodesia. South Africa,
as one Of the richest unoccupied re-
gious suitable Tor cattle raising re-
naming i'm the world. II is esti-
mated that mere than 10 million
head of cattle could be pastured on
these llanos OF eastern Colombia.
Railway Lack Boosts Grain Prices.
"Colombia's climatic conditions
vary from the sub-tropical near the
shores OF the Caribbean, TO Alpine
in the higher Andes. Forests cover
millions OF acres. the deltas and river
valleys yield cotton. tobacco. cacaO,
bananas. rubber and other tropical
and sub-tropiCal products. while on
the hiUsides coffee thrives on the
pleatcaus grain ard other temperate
zone products may be grown. The
need of railroads in Colombia is in
dictated by the fact that though con-
siderable quantities of grain are pro-
duced ON the interior plateaus it has
always been cheaper 20 buy grain
from the United States in the Colon
bian 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.
"Gou has always been one OF the
important products of Colombia.
Since the coming Of the Spaniards at
tho beginning CT the 18th century
approximately $500. 100000 worth
OF gold. 80 is estimated. has been
mined from the country Between
s5.000.O goo and S6.00O.000 worth is
produced annually AZ present Iron
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