Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1886-06-05
a PICTURE or pseoLATIoN


A PICTURE or pseoLATIoN. =.
mo Paclne Coast Of sohth AmesleA-4
saitpetsr and ouano Bedk - =
fchili Cor, Inter Ocsan.l
The coast from Callao TO Valparaiso
Is a panorama of desolation--a constant
succession of bleak and barren, cliffs,
with not a green or lovely thing. for
1900 miles. The vessels steaming up
and down always hug the shore, within
hearing of the bark OF the sea lions and
the screams of the water birds, millions
Of which haunt the coast, and have GOV.
cred the rocks with the guano that so
long enriched Peru. Nowhere are birds
and seals so numerous, and their bones
and excrement, with the decayed fish
they have carried upon the rocks, are
often found in masses, hundreds of feet
deep, baked hard like clay, in region
where the sun shines twelve hours each
day and rain never falls. This is the
guano of commerce, millions OF tons OF
which have been shipped to Europe TO
enrich the impoverished soil Of that
continent.
Within the coast from ten to fifty
miles, and stretching for hundreds Of
miles, are the famous beds of nitrate of
soda, which purified is saltpeter, being
in themselves an inexhaustible source of
revenue to their owners, and containing
enough Of the material to supply the
world for 1000 years. These deposits,
more profitable than silver or guano,
were discovered accidentally by va
grant Englishman named George Smith,
but were not operated to any extent
until recent years. Now nitrate having
been found valuable component of 100
chemical forms, is in demand the world
over, and millions of dollars worth is
shipped from the ports along the coast
annually. Before its value was fully
known a number of far-sighted men To-
Gated Claims" after the fashion in
vogue in mining camps everywhere, and
then the government stepped in,
and forbid any further presumption.
But the original locations cover enough
of the deposit to supply the market for
a century or two, and to keep up prices
they have formed pool, a monopoly
combination, under which they charge
from So to SO per cwt. for what costs
them about 10 cents. These owners
live in London and Paris, and count
their profits, while the mines are worked
by superintendent or administrators. "
There is apparently no limit to the
stuff, the bed stretching up and down
the coast from 800 to 400 miles The
surface of the country is as complete a
picture of desolation as nature ever
| framed. On one side is the Pacific
ocean, with its great swells sweep
ing almost around the globe, as
regular and constant as the throb-
bings of the human pulse. On
the other side the impenetrable
Andes rise in range whose altitude
averages $4,000 feet, and whose peaks
tower 10000 and $4,000 feet above the
sea. Between the ocean and the noun
tains for 1000 miles, with a varying
width from twenty to fifty miles, lies a
strip of drifting sand which no rivers
water and where rain never falls. All
the water used by the inhabitants is
taken from the ocean. That for me-
chanical purposes being used in its nat
ural condition, and that used for food
being condensed into steam and purged
of its salt by machinery. There is not
a we'll or spring along the coast, and
drinkingwater is an article of merchan-
disc like leo or flour, costing about Z
cents gallon to the consumers.
Under the sand of this desert, which
drifts before the wind like snow, nature
has laid the bed of nitrate. No one
knows how it was formed, and man has
not attempted to measure its extent
The sand is first shoveled off, and ther
q crust of sun-burnt clay from four tC
twelve inches thick is removed. Thi,
discloses q bed of white material that
looks like melting marble full of mOis
ture, and as soft as cheese. The strata
is often four or five feet thick, and aver
ages two or three feet. 1t is broken
up by crowbarS anal shoveled into carts
in which it is taken to crushers, which
grind it up into particles as large al
pebbles. These are lifted by elevators
into great watts, where it is boiled un
til dissolved in ordinary sea water
Then the solution is run of into a serie
of shallow iron watts, exposed to the
dir, which being moistureless, and
heated by constant sunshine, causes
rapid evaporation. The salt from tn
water mixed with the nitrate cause
Capitalization, and after certain pc
riod of exposure to the air and sun tn
watts are found to be covered UPON tn
bottom and sides with white sparkln,
crystals, like alabaster, under blush
yellowish liquor This liquor is care
fully drawn off, for it is even more valu
able than the saltpeter, and is conducte'
by pipes to another crucible where it i
boiled and chemically treated until
produces the iodine of commerce, usefu
for a hundred medical and chemica
purposes aud costing as much per ounc
as the saltpeter brings per 100 weight.
The liquor having been withdraw
the saltpeter is shoveled upon drying
boards where it is exposed to the SUI
for awhile, then put into bags an
shipped to Europe and America. 1t j
graded like wheat and corn, accordin,
to quality. The highest grade goes t.
the powder mills, the next to the chem
ical works, and the third to the fertil
izer factories, where it is made int
manure. The iodine is packed in littl
casks and covered with green hides
which shrink with drying until they ar
, as tight as a drum head. and keen on