The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-12-06
THE RICHEST OF ALL WOMEN.
Wondrous History of Nine. Cousino, Who
Has Millions on Millions of Money.
The Parks, Mines, Mansions, Ships and Manu-
factories of the Wealthiest Lady in South
America-Her Costly Fancies.
,antiapo rchiu, Letter in New YORK sur

Donna Isadora Cousno, of Santiago Chill and
there are few men or women in the world richer
than she There is no end to her money and no
limit to her extravaganza, and people call her
the Countess of Monte Cristo She traces her
ancestry back to the days of the conquest, and
has the record of the first of her fathers who
landed in the new world His family was al
ready famous, for his uncles and sire fought
under the ensign of the Arrasons before the
alliance with CASTLE. But the Spanish branch
of the family was lost in the worlds great shuttle
two or three centuries ago, and none of them
distinguished themselves enough to get their
portraits into the collection which Sonora Cou-
sino has made of the lineage she claims.
Like hers, the ancestors of her late husband
came over early, and in the partition of the
lands and spoils Of the conquest both got large
share, which they kept and increased by adding
the portions given to their less thrifty and less
enterprising associates. until the two estates be-
came the largest most productive and most val
liable of all the haciendas of Chilli and were
finally united into one by the marriage, twenty
four years ago, of the late Don and his surviving
widow. While he lived he was considered the
richest man in Chilli, and she the rich
est woman. for their property was kept
separate, the husband managing his estates
and the wife her own, and people say she was
altogether the better administrator of the two.
This fact he acknowledged in his will, when he
beaueathed all Of his possessions to her, and
piled his Pelfon upon her Ossa, so that she has
millions of acres of land millions of dollars in
money, f1ocks and herds that are numbered by
the hundreds of thousands, coal, copper and sill
yer mines, acres Of real estate in the cities of
Santiago and Valparaiso feet of iron steam
ships, smelling works, railroad, and various
other TRIES IN the way OF productive property,
which yield her an income of several millions
year, that she tries very hard to spend and, under
the circumstances, succeeds as well as could be
expected.
From the coal mines alone Sonora Cousino has
an income of $50. 600 a month. and there is no
reason why this should not be perpetual, as they
are the only source from which fuel can be OBJ
tanned in all South America, and those who do
not buy Of her have to import their coal from
Great Britain. do not believe there are any
mines in the world which pay SO large profit
upon the capital invested and the labor expend-
ed They lie at the extreme southern limit of
the populated district of Chilli, just above where
the archipelago that you will notice on the map
begins Talcahuano is the nearest port of i'm
portance, but the towns at the mines are Lota
and Coronel, The coast is quite abrupt here,
and the mines are entered by shafts that are i'm
med'atey over the water of Lota bay, SO that
the coal is drawn on trucks to the mouth of the
mines, and dumped into launches and lighters,
which are towed out to the anchorage of ships.
1t is SAID that 1t costs only ST. IS a ton to mine
and deliver this coal on shipboard, and she will
Lot sell an ounce OF 1t at price less than ST. so
ton just a shade lower than the cost of import
ed Cardiff. AS the deposit is inexhaustibe, and
the widow has monopoly it will be surmised
that this portion of her property will yield
enough revenue to keep the wolf from her door.
She has fleet of eight iron steamships, of
capacities varying from 1000 to $500 tons, built
in England, and used to carry the coal up the
coast as far as Panama and around the straits
OF Magellan to Buenos Ayres and Montevideo.
At Lota she has copper and silver smelling
works, besides the coal mines, and her coaling
ships bring ore down the coast as a return cargo
from upper Chilli, Peru and Ecuador, while those
that 60 to Buenos Ayres bring back beef and
flour, and merchandise for the consumption of
her people. Nine. Cousino owns every house in
the town of Lota. and every of its six or
seven thousand inhabitants is dependant upon
her for support In Coronel her proprietorship
is not quite so complete, but nine-tenths Of the
people, and there are 5000 there are on her
pay-rolls. She has brick kilns and potteres, as
we'll as smelters, and makes all the tiles and
earthenware used on the west coast. 1t is said
that she pays out from 500, 900 to 1920 900 a
month wages in these two towns most of
which comes back into her pocket through the
supply stores, where she sells food and clothing
to her own people.
Although Lota is only mining town, as
dirty and smoky as as any of its counterparts in
Pennsylvania, it's the Widows favorite place of
residence, and she is now building mansion
that will cost a million dollars at least The
architect and chief builder are Frenchmen whom
she imported from Paris, and much of the ma
terial is imported also. Not long ago she ship
ped cargo of hides and wool in one of her own
steamers to Bordeaux. and it is to come back
laden with building supplies for this mansion.
She has no time go across the herself and
the captain of her ship will bring with him
decorators, and designers, and upholstery men,
who are to take look at things and finish
the interior for her occupation regardless of ex-
pense.
This m ansion stands in the center of what is
undoubtedly the finest private park in the world
including $50 acres of land. laid out in the most
elaborate manner, filled with statuary, fcunt-
aims, erottos, caves, cascades, and no end of
beautiful trees and plants. The improvement of
the natural beauty of the place is said to have
cost Sonora Cousno nearly million dollars, and
she has force of thirty gardeners constantly at
work The superintendent is Scotchman, and
he told me his orders were to make the place a
paradise, without regard to cost In this park
are many wild animals and domestic pets. not
only natives of the country, but imported from
other lands. and the flowers are wonderful
At present the madam is living in a temporary
structure, but remains constantly on the ground
to superintend the construction of her new
home. She has another park and palace an
hours drive from Santiago-the finest s'estancia"
or plantation in Chill, perhaps in all South
America and do not know of one in North
America or Europe that will equal it, This is
called 'Macul," and the estate stretches from the
boundaries of the city of Santiago far into the
Cordilleras. whose gllstening caps of everlasting
snow mark the limit of the Widows mite In
the valleys are her fields of grain, her orchards
and her vineyards, while in the foothills of the
mountains her focks of sheep and herds of cattle
feed. Here she gives EMPLOYMENT to 300 or 400
men, all organized under the direction of super
intendents, most Of whom are Scotchmen. She
has one American in her employ at 'sMacul,"
whose business is that of a general farmer, but
his time is mostly occupied in teaching the ma
tives on the place how to operate labor-saving
agricultural machinery.
Farming in Chill is conducted very much as
it was England in old feudal times, each estate
having its retainers, who are permitted to use
tenements, or homes built there for that pur-
pose, and are paid for the amount of labor they
perform. These poems are not permitted to &C
cept employment from any except their own
landlord and are always subject to his call for
mn n 4 tv cai1