The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1891-04-19

these decidedly unpalatial hotels The
hotel Colon is the best in Valparaiso--as
good, perhaps as afourth-rate house in New
ork; but the charges are tremendous. 1t
is kept by
AN AGED HEBREW NAMED KERBERNHARDr
an uncle, so he tells me, of the illustrious
actress, Madame Sarah, who dropped the
ker from her cognomen when she went on
the stage in defiance of the wishes of her
family
The Gillian elections have been set for
the last Sunday in this month-church 60
ing IN the morning, politics in the afternoon
ana maybe numbering and rioting by moon
nght. Congress has been called for April
2Oth, instead of on May 1st, as the constitu-
ton expressly provides. That venerated
document, the constitution, does not receive
much attention in these unsettled days, but
frequent edicts and proclamations begin
with the significant words ''The exlgencies
Of the occasion demand" etc.
As we shall not revisit northern Chilli,
may as well tell you something about the
country we passed through between Tacna
and Valparaiso. The first port south of
AREA, and the principal one in the famous
Iaragaca province, is Pisagua. Its bay is
the largest on the northern coast, and in
times of peace
DOZENS OF SHIPS
may always be seen at anchor on it, await
/ ing freight; but now the blockade has driven
them all away. During the war between
Peru aud Chill the town was entirely de-
St"oyed, and has since been rebuiltln rather
more modern style. Its wooden houses are
perched upon range of hills so steep that
| one wonders what hiDders them from slid
ing OH into the sea, The NEST conspicuous
object in the place is big marble monu-
ment upon conical hilloch in the central
plaza, erected in memory of the soldiers of
both sides who fell in the Peru Chill con-
fiict Pisagua has about $500 inhabitants,
and two daily papers are pnblished-one of
them social journal. There are also two
Tree schools and seminary, a pu bic library
containing more than a thousand volumes,
a club, a benevolent association, a hospital,
and one of The finest mercantile plaZas in all
! Chill. railway connects the town with
lqulQui and the interior. But the great
drawback is lack of fresh water, none being
found anywhere in the neighborhood.
MUCH OF THE SUPPLY
is brought in boats from africa, sixty five
miles away, and stored in public reservoir;
and there is also a machine in operation for
condensing sea water, the product of which
sells for three-fourths Of a centavo per gal
lon, and is considered much better than that
| from africa.
Before its recent destruction by the reb-
els, Iquiqui had the most foreign aspect of
any of Chii's coast cities, having broad,
maCadamized streets, wide sidewalks and
shop signs in English more numerous than
those in Spanish. Though grotesque archi-
tecturally, with huts of mud and bamboo
sandwiched between more substantial
houses, it was well lighted by gas and ex-
EXCEPTIONALLY clean. Besides the preponder-
ating English element there were more
French and German residents than Chilians
to the manor born. Having been several
times destroyed in the past by earthquakes
and CONGREGATIONS it had been almost en-
tirely rebuilt of pine wood and plates of gal
vanized iron, and had the general look of
San Francisco, California, in
TIE EARLY DAYS OF THE GOLD FEVER
There was fine new custom house, all of
stone; several churches, schools and col
leges; theatres, banks, club houses, hospi-
tai, cas- works, extensive mills, machinery
for making thread, condensing sea water,
amalgamating metals, etc.-all Of which,
together with most of the private residences,
were reduced to ashes the other day by this
causelesS revolution. A few weeks ago the
population of Iquiqui was something over
twelve thousand-and out of that number
5000 were killed in the recent battles. This
port which is sos miles north of Valparaiso,
was known IN the earliest years of the con-
quest, and as far back as 1906 was celebrated
for its adjacent silver mines. In the sum
mer of l7l2, the great engineer, MIR. Francis
Frazier, came here, and made the waters of
the Rio Pisagua available for the use of the
people This laudable enterprise first
brought into notice the valuable guano de-
posits on the nearby Isle de Iquiqui, which
in those days was
USED ONLY BY THE INDIANS,
who transferred little of the fertilizer on
the backs of liamas to their ranches in the
mountains
Sailing due south from Iquiqui some two
hundred miles, and having crossed the
Tropic of Capricorn, one comes to Antofo-
gasta, the capital and principal port of the
rich department of the same name. Its ar
chitecture is also grotesque and its streets
irregular, but its green gardens ana fiowery
plaza present a beautiful contrast to the
arid hills that environ them. The town has
a population of not quite five thousand, yet
the value of property IL it, including the nj
trate works, Is estimated at So, 000, 900.
There is an immense nitrate factory, some
extensive copper and smelling works, three
hotels, two newspapers, free schools, pri-
vate seminaries, night schools for artisans
philharmonic society, town band, etc. The
freight commonly taken on at this port is a
quantity of silver in large bars. A railway
runs to Caracoles, the celebrated mining
district
Then there is Cobiia, the little sea port
that
FORMERLY BELONGED TO CHILL
now dead beyond hope of resurrection
Caidera is another ocean-side hamlet, and
!, from it railroad runs inland about fifty
miles TO Copiapo. This railway is interest
| ing from being the oldestin South America
yet it dates back only forty-one years. Co
piapo is the capital of the department OF
} Atacana, and has $4,000 people. 1t was once
: one Of the wealthiest cities in Chilli, and has
many elegant casas and magnificent public
edihces, In the days of the Incas this val
! ley was called Copayapu; and about the
year 1920, the Inca Y upsnaqul caused a road
, TO be built through it, running from the in
terror beyond the mountains to the sea. In
, 1865, Don de Almargro tarried here awhile
and FIVE years later all the peighboriug
, tribes were subdued by the conQueror, Pc
, dro de Valdivia. The Spaniards dubbed il
lei Vale de POSSESSING and afterwards
, it was known as the Valley OF Turquoises
, on account of some blue-green pebbles thai
! were found in the neighborhood.
Coquimbo comes next, with the first bit OF
green coast we have seen since leaving
GuGyaquil, thousands of miles to the north
ward; and IN a few hours more we react
, Valparaiso.
FANNIE B, WARD.
EXPERIENCE OF CONSCIENTIOUS WOMAN
: Mr.. Wisdom. Dear Sir-I beg to THANK
you for the delightful and refreshing 'sRob
/ ertinen you so kindly sent NE. / have uset