Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-07-13
SOUTH AMERICAS WEST COAST.
4 RainIess sky and Arid Fieids-Water
3 Cents Glass.
FtoM "a M ~ ~ .

VALPARAISO, May 9.--All along the
coast from Guayaqull to Coquimbo, Chill,
the Andes run almost down to the sea,
and snowy peaks stand like a line of ma
iestic giants on dress parade. The shore
Is bleak and desolate, lined with cliffs OF
barren rock or strips Of desert sand Ihis
is the rainless region of South America,
/ on which the sky sheds no moisture, and
where only occasionally little stream,
snow-born in the mountains, comes down
across the desert, and leaves a green trail
/ along it's course Wherever water can be
had for irrigation the soil produces pro
I nsely, but below Callao there is not a
green thing for 1000 miles. Back OF
the coast, from five to ten leagues, are
the nitrate beds, and at every available
harbor stands mud.built town, connect
ed with the mines by little narrow gunge
railways, which bring the nitrate 10 the
/ ships. All Of these towns are supplied
/ with water only by artificial means. sea
water is the best for reducing the nitrateB,
as IL contains Just the proper amount Of
salt, but for food OF men aud animals IL
| has TO De condensed and the salt extract
/ ed, very expensive process. At all Of
/ these mining towns filtered drinking wa
! ter is sold over the bars like beer, at .
/ cents a glass, and bucketful for dOmes-
tic purposes or for watering animals costs
: cents Trains loaded with tanks Of
water are constantly shipped to the mines
from the condenser, and at some places
pipes are laid.
There Is peculiar phenomenon at Cal
lao which il said 20 exist nowhere else
In the world, and is the cause Of an i'm
mense amount Of profanity among skip
pers who come this way. II is called the
"CallaO painter" and is sort Of black
dew, which arises from the water and
clngs to the surface 0i everything it
touches like frost. Unlike frost, it will
not melt, but dries in the sun, and has to
be scraped of with good deal of elbow
grease and holystone. ship cap
tains are naturally very much
aggravated to have their wood
work painted with this nasty stuff, which
has repUlsiye smell, and for days after
leaving Callao the crew Of every ship is
kept busy scraping it off.
There is a difference of opinion as TO its
cause and character, and doctors differ,
as usual. Some say it Is solution Of
guanO, forced up by gases from the bot
tom OF the sea. Others argue that 10 is
volcanic dust, lifted from the bottom by
suhterranean forces; and there are
decayed spawn Of whales wiped off the
face Of the water by rising dew; but
whatever its origin It's something nobody
likes.
africa, town about half way from Cal
lao to Valparaiso, is famous for its tidal
waves, which usually occur once in seven
years, without any premOnitiOu, and
sweep into destruction everything that
comes in their way. In 1868 there were
two United States men-Of-war In the haT-
Dor, the Wateree and the Fredonia, when
IA wave sixty feet high came sweeping in
from the ocean and wiped the town out
OF existence. A loaded railway car, with
the locomotive and tender attached, were
lifted by the force Of the water as itTeced.
ed. aud We're carried bodily upon n rocky
rect hall mile from shore. The FredO-
mia was dashed against the rocks and
shattered, while the Wateree was carried
inland about mile and left high and dry
on the sand. Every soul on the former
vessel was lost, but about half Of the Off
GERS and crew Of the latter survived the
deluge All the other shipping in the
harbOr was destroyed.
During the recent war between Peru
and Chill africa was the scene of a memo
rable hand-to-hand conflict, resulting ia
enormous loss of life. At one end Of the
town il a prOmOntOry with a precipice
looking sheer downward 600 feet to the
sea, and sloping OF at steep grade to
the plains behind. Upon this point the
Peruvians erected a battery 10 defend the
harbOr, but the Chilians landed a force of
1000 men at a small town some miles be-
low, and marched them overland during
the night toward africa. When morning
broke the Peruvians found themselves
surprised by Il charging army coming up
the slope behind them, and cutting them
of from retreat. Their guns were useless
as they had been planted so as to only
command the harbor, and they were short
OF small arms. The Chilians killed 100
of them, 100 having been crowded over
the precipice during the struggle,
their bodies being afterward found in
the surf.
At Antotagasta, town which looks
like an Arizona mining camp, without a
drop OF fresh water within fifty miles, the
war began over the refusal Of a Gillian
nitrate company TO pay a duty of l0c.
a hundred weight on its exports.
The Gillian government sent a man-Of-
war up To protect the company in its re-
fusal, and the affair ended by the anneXa-
ton OF the whole territory to Chill, and
a duty ROf 81 60 upon every hundred
weight Of nitrate exported. The company
thinks It jumped from the frying pan into
the fire.
When COquimbO Is reached we find an
international naval station, where five
English men-Of-war are gathered prepar-
ing for the fight with Russia. The old
frigate Shenandoah, Of the United States
navy, lies at anchor as a stOre-ship,
boarding coal and food for the South Pa
clic squadron. The English government
has purchased from Chill the famous Es-
meralda, just completed at the shipyards
on the clyde, and said TO be the finest
cruiser atiOAt; also two torpedo boats,
and two OF the fastest vessels OF the Pa
cifc Steam Navigation Company, capable
OF making rs knots an hour, which
are being rapidly Oyerhauled and armed
90 protect the British shipping along :he
South Pacific coast.
Here the coast begins to show a little
vefdure, and we enter the area OF good
butter and fresh milk. From New Or
leans TO COquimbo, between the TrOpiC of
Cancer ana the Tropic OF Capricorn, all
milk is boiled az soon as il comes from
the dairy and treated TO secure A. against
the weather. Condensed milk from swift
Zerland Is preferable to the boiled stuff,
and cream rs unknown. The butter used
in the tropics comes from Holland In cans,
aud good bread is better without IL. But
at Coquimbo the dairy farms OF Chill be-
gin, fresh milk and cream are brought
aboard In bottles and Jugs, and rolls Of
fresh, laweet butter make hungry Ameri-
can think of home.
There IS system Of what is called
"deck trading" along this cOast, by which
] "a ka aIa Nasf "a.