Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-03-21
NITRATE OF SODA.
Some Interesting Facts Concerning
This Very Valuable Commodity.
GREAT CHANGE IN IQUIQUI.
From Peaceful and Prosperous City the
Worlds Principal Nitrate Port IL n Burned.
and Battered Ruip-Revenue From the Nj
trate Industry.
From the Stars Travelling Commissioner.


one of the most peaceful and prosperous cities
| OF Chili-a seaport second only to Valparaiso
| In population and commercial importance, in
WIDE contrast to the burned and battered ruin
the rebels made of it on their recent raid. As
most Of my readers are aware it has long been
the great shipping point of the world for nj
trate OF SODA vast business, prac tically con-
troiled by English capital, and therefore in the
eyes of Englishmen Iquiqui is of more conse-
quence than all the rest Of Chill put together.
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 pro-
nounced E:kee-kee, accented on the middle
syllable.
HARD FIGHTING IN THE STREETS.
On the 18th and Goth of last month there was
hard fighting in the streets of the town, between
| the rebels and government 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 trying to defend
IT. Every building in the six principal squares
was completely destroyed. The insurgents
se1zed the custom house. pillaged private resi-
dences, and finally set fire to the business
quarter and reduced it to ashes The terrified
women and children. who were hidden in the
| and flying bullets. had the walls burned or
pulled down over their heads during the sack
ing process, and in this way several hundred
defenseless creatures persisted like rats in q
hole.
SOLDIERS WORSE THAN sAvAGEs.
Low-class Chilians are proverbially cruel, and
| the soldiers, having once had taste of blood.
are worse than so many savages. This was
| many times proved in the war with Peru. After
two haffl he
knowing what to expect if they fell into the
! hands OF the merciless enemy-when defeat
| was certain, 1eaped into the sea or killed them
| selves with their own bavOnets There is small
| need OF a hospital service the part of an
| army engaged against Chill, for if the latter
country comes OIL victorious there never
| any wounded to be nursed. Disregarding all
rules of civilized warfare, as well as the COM
mon instincts Of humanity, the bloodthirsty
| wretches, assisted by the rabonas degraded
| 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 "cutthroat' ap-
plies well to the CHILEAN soldier for every one
| or them carries short. curved knife--snarp-
! ened on the inner side Of the curve-that Just
| fits human neck and is terribly expert in its
| use. Not long ago We were entertained in the
| house of a wealthy citizen of Santiago. when
| he showed me, with great pride and satisfac-
| ton, glass case containing upwards of 200
| gold and silver medals, such as these southern
governments delight to bestow upon their SOL
| dlers for distinguished bravery and related how
they were ali torn from the breasts of dead or
| wounded officers on the battle fields Of Peru.
Today there is hardly family in Iquiqui
that Is not mourning for some of its members
The hospitals are crowded to their utmost
capacity, and are all the churches and
bouses that remain standing, for every body in
this hour OF sorrow is doing all he car to assist
his fellow sufferers. A great many women and
hQy lost flnfr
their natural protectors, are temporarily shell
| tered on board ships in the harbor, being still
too frightened to go ashore. Comparatively
few OF the foreign residents were killed. though
the loss OF property among them (they being
generally the wealthiest people in the place.
was much greater than among the native
citizens.
REVENUE FROM THE NITRATE INDUSTRY.
For more than year past the nitrate people
have been doing little profitable business, prin-
cipally on account of the government troubles
and consequent strikes among the laborers and
also because the English market is overstocked
with the commodity, and therefore its price is
correspondingly low From this nitrate indus
try alone the CHILEAN government has been col
lectng revenue Of about 5000 900 per an
mum in export duties. Some eight months ago,
when workmen were striking all over the cOun-
try, on account of hard times, Occasioned by
the persistent refusal Of Congress to pass the
appropriation bills these Iquiqui laborers made
great deal Of trouble. They had no particu-
lar interest in the questions ut issue. and were
affected by them only III the consequent low
ness of exchange; but the latter phase of the
middle was a serious matter, especially to those
foreigners whose families remained in the
mother country and could receive no support
from the bread winners i'll Chill.
ALL THE woRKMEN STRIKE.
The workmen had been receiving from "a to
$40 day in Gillian 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 instead Of in paper, as formerly which
woud III reality about double their wages
This the nitrate companies refused to do. be-
cause they were making no money themselves
and the established rate OF payment was excep-
tioually good-for Chill. Then the laborcrs
struck en- masse and threatened to burn
down the works and ware houses -<nless their
demands were acceded to. There was rot
sufficient military or police force at hand TO
afford the companies any protection, and after
a few incendiary blazes the managers to save
their property from further damage. ostensibly
gave in &c the strikers meanwhile importuning
the president to send troops to their ASST stance
But the government was 50 distracted with its
own troubles and the reyolts that were SPRING
ing up all over the country, that aid was not
dispatched to Iquiqui in time to do much
good. The consequence was that severa! of the
largest nitrate companies were cOmpeled to
suspend work entirely to their own ruin and
the suffering of hundreds of poor families and
the loss to Chili's treasury at q critical time
when she can i'll afford it,
AN INExKAUsTIBLR DEPOSIT
Perhaps the greatest natural curiosity on the
southern continent is this inexhaustible de-
post of nitrate of soda Beds of it a-e strewn
along the western coast for 500 miles. and
throughout all that distance the physical aspect
of the country Is the same-eyerywhere ar arid
range of hills from four to six thousand feet
high. rising abruptly out of the Pacific, backed
BIZ a desert pampa tpiain) from, 80 to 100 miles
wide. which gradually ascends to the foot OF
the snowy Cordiliera. Nowhere else in the
world except in this particular pampa are
nitrates fonnd i'll Quantities worth mentioning
And here they exist under variable conditions
For example. in that part of the desert known
as the Pampa Tamarugal all the great
English companies have their factories and the
British public has millions of pounds sterling
invested-the deposit lis found only on the sea-
ward edge of the desert Oil the first slopes OF
the coast range. In the Noria district thew lie
in the most depressed portion OF the plain in a
kind Of basin between the hills. and above
Antofogasta they line the sides of IA dry river
bed.
No BIRD OR BEAST CAN lIvE THERE.
But everywhere the Pampa presents the same
! desert type That above Iquiqui derives its
name from the tamarugal bushes with which it
is sparsely covered. Further north. above
| Tarapaca. the bold features OF the Cordillera
add some beauty to the landscape. while inside
from Autofogasta. in the great desert Of Ata-