The record-union., 1891-03-22
NITRATE OF SODA.
Some Facts Concerning the Valu.
able Commodity.
Tho Worlds Principal Nitrate Port
Tho Burning and Sacking of the
Town of Observation-Disclosures of De-
fcnselcss People Butchered.

Especial Correspondence OF SUNDAY UNION.
IouIoUE. Chile, March, 1891.
When we first saw Iquique, little
more than half a year ago, ii was one o.
the most peaceful and prosperous cite.
of Chile-a seaport second only te
Valparaiso in population and com.
mercial Importance, in wide contrast
TO the burned and battered ruin
the rebels made of it on their recent raid
AS most of my readers arc aware, it has
long been the great shipping point of the
world for nitrate of Soda vast bust
ness, practically controlled by English
capital; and, therefore, in the eyes oi
Engiishmen, Iquique is of more conse-
quence than all the rest of Chile put to-
gether. By the way, the queer name
which on foreign tongues sounds like the
quacking of a duck, is of Aymara Indian
origin and should be pronounced E-kee
kee, accented on the middle syllable.
On the 18th and Goth of last month
there was bard fighting in the streets OF
the town between the rebels and Govern
ment troops, being attacked by soldiers
in the rear and bombarded by the fleet in
the bay-both parties struggling to gain
possession of the Intendencia, and the
doomed city suffered little more from the
foe than from the friends who were try
ing to defend it. Every building in the
six principal squares was completely de-
stroyed. The insurgents seized the Gus
tom-houSe, pillaged private residences
and finally set fire to the business quar-
ter and reduced it to ashes. The terrified
women and children, who were hidden
In the inner rooms of their houses to
escape bombs and flying bullets, had the
walls burned or pulled down over their
heads during the saclling process, and
In this manner several hundred defense
less creatures perished like rats in n hole.
Low-class Chileans are proverbially
cruel, and the soldiers, having once had a
taste of blood, are worse than so many
Savages. This was many times proved in
the war with Peru. After one or two dis
astrous battles, the Notwithstanding
what to expect if they fell into the hands
of the merciless enomy-when defeat was
certain, loaped into the sea or killed them
selves with their own bayonets. There is
small need of hospital service on the part
of an army engaged against Chile, for If
the latter country comes of victorious
there are never any wounded to be
nursed. Disregarding all rules of civ
iliZed warfare, rs well as the COM
mon instincts of humanity, the blood
thirsty wretches, assisted by the rabonas
tdegraded women who follow the army.
make it point of duty to go over
the field, rob the dead and murder their
wounded enemies. The term cut
throat" applies well TO the Chilean sol
dier, for every one of them carries n
short, curved knife-sharpened on the in
ner side of the curve-that just fits hui
man neck, and is terrible expert in its
use. Not long ago we We're entertained
in the house of n wealthy citizen of Santi-
ago, when he showed me with great pride
and satisfaction glass case containing
upwards of two hundred gold and silver
medals, such rs these southern Govern
ments delight 10 bestow upon their sol
diers for distinguished bravery, and re-
lated how they Were all torn from the
breasts of dead or wounded officers on
the battle-tields of Peru.
To-day there is hardly family in Iqui-
que that is not mourning for some of It's
members. The hospitals are crowded tc
their utmost capacity, and so are all the
churches and houses that remain stand
ing. for everybody in this hour of sorrow
is doing all he can to assist his FELLOWSHIP
ferers, A great many women and chill
dren, having lost their homes as well
rs their natural protectors, are tenn
porarily sheltered on board ships in the
harbor, being still too frightened TO &c
ashore. Comparatively few of the for
cign residents We're killed, though the
loss of property among them they being
generally the wealthiest people in the
placel was much greater than among the
native citizens.
For more than II year past the nitrate
people have been doing little profitable
business, principally on account of the
Government troubles and consequent
strikes among the laborers, and also be-
cause the English market is overstocked
with the commodity, and therefore its
price is correspondingly low. From this
nitrate industry alone the Chilean Gov
ernment has been collecting a revenue OF
about S20,oO0,0o0 per annum in export
duties. Some eight months ago, when
workmen were striking all over the
country, on account of hard times occa-
stoned by the persistent refusal of Con-
gress To pass the appropriation bills
these Iquique laborers made great deal
of trouble. They had no particular in
terest in the questions AT issue, and were
affected by them only in the consequent
lowneSs of exchange; but the latter phase
OF the muddle was n serious matter, espe-
pecially TO those foreigners whose fam
lies remained in the mother country
and could receive no support from the
bread-winners in Chile.
The workmen had been receiving from
81 TO $40 day, in Chilean paper currency
worth about one-third the amount in
United States or English gold; and
when exchange dropped lower and lower,
they demanded to be paid in silver. in
stead Of in paper, as formerly, which
would in reality about double their wages.
This the nitrate companies refused 10 do.
because they were making no money
themselves, and the established rate OF
payment was exceptionally good-for
Chile. Then the laborers struck en-
snGSse, and threatened to burn down the
works and warehouses unless their
demands were acceded to. There
was not sufficient military or police
force at hand to afford the companies
any protection, and after few incen-
diary blazes, the managers-to save their
property from further damage, ostensibly
gave in TO the strikers. meanwhile impor-
tuning the President to send troops to
their assistance. But the Government
was so distracted with its own troubles
and the revolts that were springing up all
over the country, that aid was not dis
patched TO lquique N time to do much
good. The consequence was that several
of the largest nitrate companies were
compelled to suspend work entirely, to
their own ruin and the suffering of hun
dreds of poor families, and the loss to
Chile's treasury mt a critical time when
she can i'll afford il.
Perhaps the greatest natural curiosity on
the southern continent is this inexhaust
ible deposit of nitrate of soda. Beds of i,
are strewn along the western coast for five
hundred miles; and throughout all that
distance the physical aspect of the country
is the same-everywhere an arid range OF
hills from four TO six thousand feet high
rising abruptly out of the Pacific, backed
by a desert pcmpd (plain) from fifty to l0(
miles wide, which gradually ascends tc
the foot of the snowy Cordillera. No
where else in the world, except III this
particular pampa, are nirates found in
quantities worth mentioning. And here
they exist under variable conditions. Foi
example, in that part of the desert known
as the Iampa Id,aaragdl--where all the
great English companies have thei,
iactories and the british .,1hlin has