The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1891-11-15

to Talcahuano, the port Of Conception
which my readers and have visited thor
oughly before and may now pass without
notice. From Talcahuano to Coronell, the
next port Of importance,i is q journey ofonly
few hours, but Is generally very sea-
sick one, for hereabouts we are entering
the region Of turbulent waters which rem
der the name Pacific misnomer. Coronel
occupies the northeast corner of Arauco
bay, from whence is shipped nearly all the
coal that is used in Chile, besides vast
quantities of copper. There are two long
piers at Coronel, with tramways and
wagons. The adjacent mines belong to
what is known as the Puohoco company
and if need be 500 tons of coal can be fur
nished along side any ship in the bay WITHIN
the space of twelve hours. The Pacific
Steam Navigation company, English, take
all their coal from Coronel, and it is also
frequented by H. H. ships for the same
purpose, so that it Is not an uncommon sight
to see eighty or ninety Golfers anchored at
once off Puchoco, besides ste IN vessels
taking on coal. The price of coal at the
mine averages Sc per ton, but sells in Val
paraiso al 500 and $50 per ton. C0ronel is a
rare town for Spanish America, being built
entirely of wood, from the timber which
grows abundantly hereabouts. 1t stands
about a mile east of the Puchoco wharvas,
and contains 10000 inhabitants. Though
such a desglate, lonesome-looking, little
place, it is by no means isolated from the
world, being regular port Of entry for
four lines of steamships having Geographic
and cable communication with Europe aud
all parts of Chile, a railway TO Conception
and so on northward, and another to Lota.
AS the Osiris was compelled to coal here,
we dlsembarked at Coronel and went by
rail to Lota, another famous place for coal
and copper, only about four miles distant
put fronting little bay OF its own. High
bluffs surround its roaGstead, except in one
level corner where the town has been set,
containing two enormous smelling works,
g bottle factory, tile works, coal Offices and
workmen's houses.
THE MOST INTERESTING THING
about the place is that the mines and smelt-
tiers, the manufactures, the pier, the ship
ping, every house in the village and all the
land in sight is the sole property of wo
man-the celebrated widow, Seiiora IsadOra
Cousino pronounced CoW-seen- yo) who is
about the wealthiest individual in the
world. She can afford to be eccentric, and
there being no end TO her money and no
limit to her extravaganza, the people de-
light to call her the Countess of Monte
Cristo" Besides very extensive and valu-
able mines of silver, copper and coal, she
possesses millions of dollars of money, mil
lions of acres of land, focks aud herds that
are mum bered by millions, whole blocks of
real estate in Santiago, Valparaiso and
other cities, whose rentals amount to several
hundred thousand dollars per annum; she
is the principal stakeholder in the largest
bank Of Chile, she owns railroad, q feet
of iron steamships, and other odds and
ends in the way of productive property,
which bring in, all told, pittance Of many
millions year. From her coal mines alone
she realizes not less than $1,000 month.
Her steamships, eight in number, each of
5000 tons capacity, were built in England,
and are used to carry the coal northward to
Chile as far as Panama, and southwark
through the strait of Magellan TO Buenos
Ayres and Montevideo. As areturn cargo,
those coaling vessels bring down ore from,
upper Chile, Peru, and Ecuador, for smelt-
ing in her silver and copper works at Lota
while these that go around to the eastern
side come back with beef, flour, coffee and
merchandise for the consumption of her
people. Lota contains $500 inhabitants,
and among them she distributes in wages
over 100000 per month. Though 1t is only
a mining village, as smokey and dirty as
any in the coal regions of Pennsylvania, the
seflora prefers living here to any place this
side of Paris. She has magnificent palace
in the most aristocratic quarter of Santiago
in the Gale de Diez y ocho-which il
splendidly furnished and is the show place
of that city of palaces. We went to see il,
as all travellers do who can obtain tha
necessary permission, and spent an hour in
ITS COUNTLESS LUXURIOUS APARTMENTS,
its well-appointed picture galleries and
music rooms and libraries, its gardens
beautifed by statury, fountains and flow
ers, marvelling how its owner could bear tc
see it shut up year after year, while she
spends most of her time in stuffy European
hotels. She owns another estate an hours