THE HIGHEST TOWN IN THE WORLD.

Otago Witness, Issue 2895, 8 September 1909, Page 77

THE HIGHEST TOWN IN THE WORLD.

Cerro de Pasco is the highest town in the world. The remarkable broad-gauge railway by which it is reached passes over a higher altitude— about that of Mont Blanc — and there are mining camps and Indian villages at greater elevations. It is also true that there are higher railway stations, for on the Arequipa-Puno line the station of Crucero Alto attains the stupendous elevation of 14,660 f t; but at 14,200 ft above the sea-level there is no other real town of eight thousand inhabitants, jFith a railway station,, telegraphs-, telephones, churches, shops, clubs, hospitals, and Viceconsuls. It is a wonderful example of American enterprise. The section of the railway which runs from Oroya. to this town belongs to the Cerro de Paeco Mining Company, and is extremely comfortable, smooth-running, and fast, considering the gradients. It passes through fine grassy, valleys grazed by countless herds of llamas ; and the blue sky, the sparkling streams, .the .. snow-pe&ke combine with the green pastures to give a delightful, variety of colours which afford, a striking contrast to the uniform, brown hue of the barren Chilian Amides. It. njay be added that this line is a section of .the shadowy Pan-AnnerJcan railway. As far as Peru is concerned the following figures will show how far from realisation is this colossal project: — Lines working, 430 kilometres ; lines in construction, 596 kilometTes ; lines projected, 1527 kilometres. To get a fair view of Cerro de Pasco it is necessiary to go to the top of a. high rock near the railway station* Th© town, with its little thatched houses and narrow streets, lies in a large undulating basin, in which th© chief features are the tall chimneys and other buildings belonging to th© mines. In the distance a large lake can be seen, and all around the horizon is studded with enow-oapped heights. At our feet is a busy scene. The useful Indian is everywhere — nor driving herds- of llamas, the universal mountain carrier, now riding mules or driving email carriages over the undulating roads — and all his business is a part of the great work of extracting copper and silver from the deep shafts. The rosy cheeks of the Indian children, whose' healthy colour shines through their brown skin, is an unusual sight in sallow South America, for the climate is healthy and invigoi'aiing. In the winter there is a great deal of rain and sleet, but the summer is bright and crisp, and all the year round the temperature is equable, one of moderate cold, in which the thermometer seldom falls much below freezing point. In this part of Peru the Andes are enormously rich :n: n copper,* silver, and other minerals. A few years ago this splendid mining estate was purchased by an American company at a cost of over five millions sterling, and a year or two ago the railway from this town to Oroya was finished. Consequently at the town and at the smeltry the A ~an citizen greatly predominates, but district is by no means exclusively developed by him. There are mainy English copper and silver mines, an English gold mine, and an English sheep farm, while there are many Germans and Austriaois engaged in various industries. But everything at Cerro de Pasca is "run" by the American. There is a spacious club where bowls are played nightly, and in the hollow be-low there Is a baseball ground. Both theee games arc characteristically American ; they are played at high pressure the whole time ; the biggest match can be played in about an hour and a-half, and the players ar« near enough to the spectators to hear the comments, encouraging or otherwise, that are liberally bestowed. The hospitality of the Americans is unbounded, and the life is one of tli3 utmost crood feeline and good fellowship The only drawback to the visitor's enjoyment is the soroche, or mountain sickness, which is almost certain to attack a newcomer unless he ascends by very gentle stages, and it is strongly reminiscent of the Bay of Bisea.v. Apart from this, Cerro de Pa^ro Is a place to which one looks back with great pleasure, and whether we consider the immene© production of silver, copper, and coal, the fine railway, or the attractive social life, with its comforts and amusements, which has been raised up among th&?"» inlio.spitp.ble surroundings, it must be -loknov.-ledfred that th* mining town of Cpito d.c Pr-sco is one of the mo->t remark-abl-e monumcints of human energy. — W. A. Hirst, in the Spectator.