The Rathdrum tribune. (Rathdrum, Idaho) 1903-1963, 1924-11-21

Prepared BY the National Geographic %
cisty Washington d. CO
| To show that ocean to Great Lake
traffic Is possible. newspaper heau
line declared not long ago that shil
had sailed from Bogota, Colombia, u
lChicago. Doubtless not one person IL
la hundred who read the words recog
mixed their absurdity in so far as the
|'port" of origin Is concerned, such !.
the lack of knowledge In the Unltec
Estates In regard to the by no means raj
removed republic of Colombia. IN
REALTY the headline could be no more
Justified than one clubbing Reno, Ne
lvada, a port" because. goods from that
lefty, carried q hundred miles by rail-
were shipped at Sacramento.
Bogota lies on great plateau
mile and three quarters above sea
level and thousands OF feet above the
rapids that mark the head OF navlga-
ltion for steamers on the Magdalena
river, a hundred miles away. Because
LOT this high location Bogota Is one OF
the most delightful capitals OF South
America-a temperate zone city deep
In the tropics, barely 800 miles from
the equator. There, on a site de-
pendent on mule-back transportation
until few years ago, has grown up
a city comparable In size to New
Haven, Conn, or Memphis, Tenn. 1t
is q city of beautiful homes. colleges
and schools, and has club and social
life that put Il on par with some
European capitals.
! 1t would be difficult to choose more
delightful setting for a city than the
site Of Bogota. To the east rise high
mountains; to the north and south
stretches an extensive, fertile upland
plain; and at some distance to the
west are hills and beyond more high
mountains. Bogota's rather paradox
zeal situation in the shadow Of the
equator yet essentially in the tenn
perature zone, is proved by journey
over Its adjacent plains where the po-
tatoes. corn and other grains and |
vegetables of our Middle West flourish. !
The testimony Of the thermometer i
is equally eloquent. The mean tenn
perature is about 90 degrees Fahren-
heit, the mercury seldom rising above
rs degrees or falling below SIS de-
grees A reasonable amount of rain
falls and altogether the city is blessed
with q white mans climate"
CoIombIa's Stronu Points.
The republic Of which Bogota is the
capital may some day be one of the
most important countries Of South
because Of Its unique and
convenient location, its vast resources,
md its climatic assets. 1t Is the only
country Of the southern continent that
las coast line on both the Atlantic
md Pacific oceans And both ocean
outlets are extensive; the country Dor
lers the Atlantic for more than 800
niles, while its Pacific seaboard Is
My slightly less in extent. On both
ceans are several good Iorts, and MI
nerous others that engineering skill
an make useful. {
Colombia covers close to half mil
on square miles, region about as
reat as all the southeastern section
the United States east of the Mis-
ssippi and south of the Ohio river
nd the southern line Of Pennsylvania.
nd thanks to Its great mountain [
asses and plateaus, Its lowlands and $
alleys, it has a range of climatic con-. t
itons that could be approached In Q
lie United States only by journeying O
ON the tip of Florida to the northern d
)undary Of Maine. b
The Andes, which are fairly compact ii
Ecuador, separate into three
'anches In Colombia, the western, V
ntral and eastern cordillera. The Il
al heart of the country in population O
I'd development lies between the two II
ter cordilleras In the great Cauca d.
Hey to the west Of the central ridge, IN
ID the greater Magdalena valley and II
e Bogota plateau on It's other side. 81
re steep Pacific slope on the west tr
,rd side OF the western cordilIera Is II
yet little developed, largely. no r,
ubt, because Of its tremendous rain nj
u. There is no seasonal let-up In In
9 precipitation In this strip of terri TT
y: the rain falls almost continuous m
and at one station thc annual total is
more than 30 feet. A,
largely because of saturated ground, tn
DDS and rank jungle growth, 1t re- be
red 40 years to build rs miles of cit
lroad through the western strip of ey
Iombia from the Pacific port, Buena- ha
ltura. to Cali. Riding along on lif