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Show : -v f ;orif, iw tic sum 4 Rv ELMO SCOTT WATSON t4 ' J V. -IY4 ;vv i , Yo-v3j " VTY 7 1' HERE in North America there S I I I a republic poetically hailed as 'Co-t. 'Co-t. 4 I lumbia, the Gem of the Ocean ' rV'Lffll tne United States. Down m South "2 America there s another republic ysj whose real name differs in the spell- W ing bv only one letter from the po- . etical name of her sister in the ' north and there s more than one 1 4 ' reason for hailing it as ''Colombia A Gem 'Tween Two Oceans." Both of them trace their name back to one man, the daring navigator who is commonly regarded as the "discoverer" of the New World Christopher Columbus. Co-lumbus. Within the last year two events have turned the eyes of the North' American republic toward to-ward the South American. One of them was the dispute between Colombia and Peru over the violation of a treaty whose purpose it was to define the boundary between the two countries. The headwaters of the Amazon river are far up in the eastern slope of the Andes which forms the back country of Peru, Ecuador and Colombia. In 1922, however, a treaty was signed defining defin-ing the boundary, which for the most part followed fol-lowed the Tutumayo river, a northern branch of the Amazon, which it joins in Brazilian territory. terri-tory. In order to give the Colombians access to the Amazon, Peru ceded to Colombia the narrow nar-row corridor from the Putumayo along the Brazilian Bra-zilian frontier to the Amazon and including the Amazonian port of Letieia. Despite their resentment at this arrangement, it was accepted by the Peruvians of this eastern back country of which the Amazonian port of Iquitos is the principal center until revolution overthrew the government of President Leguia, who had made the treaty. On the morning of September 1 of last year the Peruvians seized Letieia and drove out the Colombian officials. At first President Sanchez Cerro was inclined to disavow this action, but later supported it, alleging that the treaty of 1922 was not valid because it had never been put up to his people, although the treaty was ratified by the congresses of both countries. Thereupon the League of Nations took a hand In the affair. After an examination of the beginnings be-ginnings of the conflict it issued a report which condemned Peru's attitude and asked for the restoration of the seized territory to Colombia. President Sanchez Cerro refused to comply and thus brought Peru into conflict with the league. The league council at length proposed a plan j which, on May 25, was accepted by both eoun-j eoun-j tries, whereby Peru will evacuate Letieia and the corridor, turning the jurisdiction thereof over to a league commission which will act to enforce order and use therefore such international interna-tional forces as it may select; the entire expense ex-pense of this operation being born by Colombia. The four members of the commission. Col. Arthur Ar-thur Brown, representing the United States, Capt. Francisco Iglesias, representative from Spain, Dr. Armando Mencia of Cuba, and Lemos Basto, the league representative from Brazil, are now on their way to Ieticia to fulfill their duties ' as league administrators. Along with international praise for the efforts of the league in effecting an amicable settlement of the situation, credit also belongs to the successful suc-cessful negotiations between Peru's new president, presi-dent, Dr. Oscar Benavides. and Dr. Alfonso Lopez, Lo-pez, Colombian minister to England, who, with President Enrique Olaya Herrera of Colombia, have established a closer earnest accord between be-tween the two nations. The other event was the celebration last January Jan-uary of the four hundredth anniversary of the founding of Cartagena, Colombia, with a program pro-gram of festivities and an elaborate exposition designed to recall the wealth and romance and travail which four centuries had brought to this "Cartilage of the New World." A port of call for noted navigators of the world, from Columbus to Lindbergh, Cartagena has had a history more colorful and turbulent in capturing the city, held it for a short period and abandoned it with booty valued at more than half a million ducats. French adventurers also succeeded in capturing the city after strenuous strenu-ous siege, and departed with even greater treasure. treas-ure. In spite of temporary capture, Cartagena continued to remain Spanish, for, although some of the besiegers were successful, their stay was only long enough to plunder and sack, Not only is Colombia rich in historic associations associa-tions such as those connected with the ancient city of Cartagena, but it is also ncn in beauties beau-ties of nature which justify the characterization of "A Gem 'Tween Two Oceans." One of those beauty spots is the famous Tequendama waterfall wa-terfall and connected with it is an interesting legend of the Chibchas, the native inhabitants of Colombia. Bocliia was their protective deity and Chihehacum. a subordinate deity, was the god of farmers, merchants and silver workers. The Chibchas, like some other peoples of the earth, had their universal punishment or flood on account of their many sins. This flood took place in the great inundations of the Sopo and Tbito rivers, tributaries of the Funza, the inhabitants in-habitants of the lofty plateau of Bogota having only the tops of the trees in which to take refuge. This great flood had been ordered by Chibchacum. their subordinate god. But the survivors turned their eyes to Bochica, their ever-protecting deity, and the latter, appearing one evening at sunset above the rainbow and with a golden scepter in one hand struck such a blow with it upon the rocks of Tequendama that they split in two and through the opening thus made the waters held on the savannah or plain of Bogota were released, leaving it more fertile than before, thanks to the slime that had accumulated. This was the divine origin of the marvellous Tequendama waterfall. In the old days it was gold and precious stones which constituted the sought-after wealth of Colombia and even today, in addition to being be-ing the world's largest producer of emeralds, that republic leads all other South American countries in the production and export of gold. But her greatest treasure Is gold of another sort three kinds of "gold" in fact. They are "white gold" or platinum, in the production of which she ranks second; "black gold" or oil; and "green gold," or coffee. The world's largest producer of fine coffees and second in world coffee production, Colombia has a leading role among the South American countries in being purveyor to the enormous coffee pot of her neighbor on the north, the United States. In 1932 that giant coffee pot poured out approximately 87,000.000,000 cups of America's national drink, enough to give every person In the United States 725 cups per year or almost two cups a day, and SO per cent of the billion and a half, pounds of coffee now Imported Im-ported annually for American coffee lovers comes from the South American states with Colombia as one of the chief sources of supply. Just as the United States looks to her sister republic in the South for a warming, invigorating invigorat-ing drink, so does she also look to her for a cool, comfortable type of headgear. For It was during the construction of the Panama railroad rail-road across the Isthmus of Panama, then a part of Colombia, that the term "panama" as applied to hats originated. While that work was In progress, several of these native hats found their way Into Panama City and were purchased by tourists and by workmen. Owing to the rapid and profitable sale of those few hats larger quantities were brought in and sold. Tourists who carried these lints away with them, when questioned as to their origin, very naturally replied that they came from Panama and It was therefore generally assumed that tliey must lie a product of that part of Colombia and since they were procured in Panama, (hey must needs be known as "panama "pan-ama bats." Thus without further Information as to lis origin, the term "panama hat" was accepted as correct and thus it lias remained. j ( by Western Ni'wsi'Hior UnUni.) j 1. Four centuries after the eyes of the Spanish Span-ish conquistadors first widened at South America's Amer-ica's coastal beauty, such tropically wild garden spots as the Bay of Pinorroa remain unchanged and lovely. Part of Colombia's virgin coastline, it may have been the haven for more than one buccaneering crew sailing the seas in search of the storied wealth of the Spanish gold fleets. 2. Painting by Leudo, Colombia painter, in Hotel El Salto at Tequendama Falls, showing Bochica after smiting the rock that caused the rushing forth of Tequendama Falls. 3. Branches drooping with the weight of ripe-red ripe-red clusters of coffee cherries; this coffee tree is ready for the pickers who harvest one of the most important crops of Colombia. 4. "Panama" hats in the process of manufacture. manufac-ture. 5. An air view of the modern waterfront of Cartagena, Colombia, one of the oldest cities in the New World, which was founded 400 years ago, in 1533. It was from here that the treasure-laden Spanish galleons set sail for the Old World as far back as the middle of the Sixteenth century. $ perhaps than that of any other city in the New AVorld. The early Spanish conquistadors discovered discov-ered the harbor and decided to establish a city there, through which the Spanish fleet might maintain contact with the rich New World over which their dominion was rapidly becoming established. es-tablished. But the native Indians thought otherwise, other-wise, and it was only with the greatest difficulty that they were subdued. On January 21. 1533, the first stone of the new city was laid by Pedro de Ileredia in the name of Spain. Thereupon, its fortresses and towers rose quickly, at a reported expense of $SO,000,000 and thousands upon thousands thou-sands of lives, perhaps the costliest city in men and money since the building of Rome or Athens. Spain's determination to build strongly and to hold the city against all comers was not without with-out logic. Shiploads of gold, silver and emeralds, costliest of jewels, In the mining of which Colombia Co-lombia still leads all other countries, were dispatched dis-patched to the Old World. Caravans of priceless booty flowed into Cartagena by mule-back and other means of primitive transportation. English Eng-lish and French rapidly learned of the treasure land, and Spain, unwilling to share the bounty of discovery, fortified and fortified mightily. Like Carthage of old. Cartagena withstood many a mighty siege and was the site of the greatest battles of those times. And like Cartilage Cartil-age of old, Cartagena fell before Invading conquerors. con-querors. The most famous assault of all lias an indirect but picturesque connection with United Unit-ed States history and with one of Uncle Sam's own most precious of national shrines. In the 1740s a British fleet stormed Cartagena under command of Admiral Vernon. It was one of the most stupendous and enduring sieges of the military history of that day. The final stages of the siege found the would-be invaders under command of one Capt. Lawrence Washington. Upon Captain Washington's return to Virginia In 17-12. lie found a new house awaiting him. the centra portion of the present mansion, and lie gave it the name of Mount Vernon in lienor of the admiral under whom he sailed for Cartagena. Upon his death, the property became that of George Washington, his half-brother. During the period 1511 to 1S15, Cartagena was attacked eight times, hy pirates and buccaneers, buc-caneers, among lliem the Englishman. Drake, and his countryman, Hawkins. These succeeded |
