THREE MILES UP.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 92, 25 May 1914, Page 6

THREE MILES UP.

HIGHEST MINING TOWN IN THE WORLD. (Special Correspondent "Chicago Tribune.") CERRO DE PASCO (Peru), March 1. Cerro de Pas£o, the highest mining town in the world, is situated here in the tops of the Andes, on the very roof of the South America, at an altitude of 14,200 feet above the sea. There are snowcapped mountains about it, and the town lies in a valley which runs north and south between two mighty ranges. The mountains are filled with minerals. There are copper and silver and vanadium within a few miles, and right under the city are great beds of ore, which is almost pure copper, but with a slight mixture of silver and'gold. This piateau, which runs north and south through Peru, cont ins a large part of the population of the Republic. It is divided up into enormous haciendas and other lands, upon which are squatters who have great herds cf cattle and sheep. They also raise some barley, and in the deep valleys are regions growing all kinds of temperate and tropical fruits. Climate is Like Canada. We are here just about as far south Of the equator as Panama is north of it, but at' this altitude of almost three miles in the air the climate is more like Canada than that of Jamaica. There are frequent snowstorms in the winter, and at night the thermometer then drops almost to zero. In the summer it rains in, the afternoon, but the mornings are clear, and for about six months of the year the sun shines all the clay through. I shall first show you something of the native parts of Cerro de Pasco. The town has about 15,000 residents. The most of them live in onestorey houses that are made of adobe and plaster outside. The buildings are in blocks, walling the streets. They are painted in the brightest of colours. One house may be bright green, the next may be blue, and the next red- or golden yellow or white. Houses with Thatched Roofs. The houses ha;ve roofs of thatch or galvanised iron that extend out over the. sidewalks. There are no drains from the roofs, and when it rains the water pours down the back of your neck as you go through the streets. The sidewalks are narrow, and the principal roadways are .paved with cobbles, with a gutter of slabs about 10 inches wide and six inches deep, that runs through the middle of the street. They do not put the gutters at the side of the roadway as at home. The streets all slope to the centre and the sewage runs off through this gutter. As I walked through the town I observed that the woodwork was freshly painted, and the American who was with me told me that the law is that all houses . facing the street must be painted once every two years. If they are not, the owners are fined. He said that the painting time had just passed and therefore the city looked fresh. Goods From All Over World. , Strolling up the main street we passed the principal stores. They open out on the sidewalks and are filled with goods from Europe and the United States. I saw canned fruits from California and salmon from Oregon, cotton cloths from Massachusetts and sewing machines of well-known American makes. There were also many articles of native manufacture, such as jjonchos made from the hair of Hamas and sheep, rude sandals used by the Indians, and shoes so clumsy that I know they could not come from Massachusetts. The scenes are interesting. The crowd was typical of backwoods Peru. There were better class Peruvians, dressed as we are; there were ' scares of Indian Cholos or half-breeds, and there were Indian men and women who had driven their llamas in from the country about, with goods and vegetables. There were man cargadors with great loads on their backs. Skirts Worn for Keeps. Indian women and girls Avear big hats on their heads, shawls around their shoulders, and bunchy skirts. I am told that neither Cholo nor the Indian woman ever changes her skirt. She puts one on and keeps it there untilit is worn Out. As it grows thinner she adds another until at. last she reaches the dimensions one sees in the streets. The Indian men and boys wear ponchos and hats, with coarse suits of clothes under th'ein that are ox the same size for children and grown-ups. They have sandals, or go barefooted, j The streets swarm witli children, j Babies are plentiful, and nearly every woman and girl has a child tied to her j hack. Sometimes the baby is on the outside of a burden, and it bobs up rind down as the mother carries the i.eavy load over the road. Very few of the women are beautiful, and they all iook dirty and rather repulsive. Llamas Carry Ore. Cerro de Pasco has a plaza, about; Avhich the chief buildings face. There is a church at one side, and as I went through I saw here 150 Hamas lying down on the stones and resting. Each beast had a package of ore strapped to his back; they had probably come in from the mines, and were on their way to the smelter. They will carry merchandise to the homes of their OAvners. As I looked some of the llamas got up. They rest much like camels, putting their knees under them and sitting flat on their bellies. Most of the beasts were chewing their and I could see their jaws moving back and forth, showing the teeth. Some of the Lamas Avere as white as snow, Avhile others were brown, and some Avere black brown, and white and yellow, being spotted like a calico pony. The animals are as observing as a fox terrier, and turn their heads this Avay and that for every new thing in sight. Their wool looks like that of the Angora goat, but it is coarser. It is used chiefly by the natives, and is not exported. Taking ponies in company with J. T. (Hidden, the assistant superintendent of the Cerro de Pasco mines, I rode through the city, visiting the outskirts and some of the* natiA r e mines. Cerro de Pasco is situated on a great shell of rock, from beneath which sevoral hundred millions of dollars' worth of silver and vast fortunes in copper have been taken, and from where they are taking millions more hoav. Town Honeycombed with Mines. The streets and back yards are honeycombed with mine holes, many of which

belong to the natives. The have bought what they could, but some ot the miners would not sell. They keep on burrowing away, taking out the ore by old-fashioned methods and carrying it to the surface in rawhide sacks, laced together with thongs. There are mines of this kind in the midst of the houses, with people living so close that a baby crawling out of doors might fall into a mine and stay there until one of the Indians brought up a load. To-day the prosperity, of Cerro de Pasco, and, indeed of this whole mining region, is dependent upon American capital. The Americans have already paid out millions, and they are now spending thousands of dollars a month for wages and native supplies. They are employing 8,000 or 10,000 people, and the money they spend goes from here out to the villages of the high Andes and down into the Chaucho Mavo valley, as well as to Orova, which is situated seventy-live miles from here at the other end of the Cerro de Pasco road. The freight supplied" by these mines is the chief support of the .Central railway, which comes over the mountains to Orova, and, in fact, the mines have added largely to the prosperity of all Peru. Miner's Wages 75 Cents. The American company pays higher wages, than any other institution in the republic, and it works.its men on shorter time. At present the working day is eight hours, and the ordinary wage for natives is about 75 cents a day. It ranges frohi that up to 200 dollars per month, which' is the. aniount paid to some of the Peruvian foremen. In addition, "the company is building homes for its native employes. It has two classes of houses, one of adobe and another of brick. The rent is a nominal one of 50 cents per month. This is charged in order to keep .the property, for if it were. furnished rent free the' native would think he owned it and would sue the company on the- slightest pretext. The foreign colony here is quite as interesting a,s that of the native. Here at a distance of more than 3000 miles south of the United States, almost three miles above the sea, is an American industrial centre. I call it American, for it is run by American money, but, in fact, the foreign employes comte from all over the world; We have Australians, Germans, Austrians, Irish, and Danes. We have graduates of the Boston Tech. of M'Gill college in Canada and of the leading universities of Germany, and, in short, the experts of a half dozen different nations. The manager of the mines and two of the doctors are Canadians. The head of the company hotel at Cerro de Pasco is Mr. Tocci, an Italian, and the manager of the hotel at. the smelter, seven miles off, is a Mormon, Mi- Spillsbury, whose native home is Salt Lake City. .Most of the Americans and other foreigners who< v live here in the Andes tell me they are healthy, and that tliis is so of men, women, and children. There ire, however, some who come who cannot stand the rarity of the air, and many are afflicted with pneumonia and have to be sent back post haste on special trains. I know of employes who liave come up three or four different times, and, going down sick, have at last had to give' up in despair. Mountain Sickness Annoys. As to soroche, or the mountain sickness, that seems to attack every one when he first reaches an altitude , of " > miles or more above the sea. Evc*ry foreigner I have met has been more or less afflicted with it. It usually, comes the first two or three days or two weeks. Those who'have weak hearts are likely to drop / insensible and it sometimes causes death.'' As' a rule, most, people get over it, although it will return at any over-exertion or imprudence, and that after months. of freedom and health. The first symptoms of this illness are nausea and pains in the head. Then comes vertigo, dimness of si£ht and hearing. Fainting fits may follow, and the blood may -flow from your, eyes, nose, and lips. Those who have weak lungs are liable to hemorrhages and many tell me they have a jpain at the heart. I had my first attack fifteen years ago, when I stayed over night at the Casapalca smelter, which is less than 14,000 feet above the sea. I thought I was safe at Cerro de Pasco, although it is 200 feet higher, but the morning after my arrival, after a sleepless night, I felt as though the top of my head was being pried off witli a crowbar, while a steam .engine was running away inside my brain. When I tried to get up I almost faiuted, but 1 persevered and that afternoon I was able to go about by resting every few steps. As it is now, my boots are heavy and my five pound camera weighs a ton. En riding my mule over the mountain chis afternpon I made him go on the walk, and when lie once started to gallop my heart seemed to be hitting the; crown of my head. . .