The morning call., 1891-12-27
WEALTHIEST
WOMAN.
The Valuable Possessions of the
Countess of Monte Crist0."
The Magnificent Palace of Sonora Isadora
Cousino in the Most Aristocratic
Quarter of Santiago

AS the Osiris was compelled to call here,
writes Fanny Ward in her Chilean letter,
we disembarked at Coronel and went by
rail to Lota, another famous place for coal
and copper, only about four miles distant,
but fronting little bay of its own High
bluffs surround its roadstead. except in one
level corner, where the town has been set,
containing two enormous smelling works, a
bottle factory, tile works, coal offices and
workmen's houses. 'Fhe most interesting
thing about the place is that the mines and
smelters, the manufactures, the pier, the
shipping, every house in the village and all
the land In sigh: is the sole property of a
wOman-the celebrated widow, Sonora
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 ex-
travagance, the people delight to call her
the Countess of Monte Cristo" Besides
very extensive and valuable mines of silver,
copper and coal, she possesses millions of
money, millions of acres of land flOcks and
herds that ars numbered by millions, whole
blocks of real estate in Santiago, Valparaiso
and other cities, whose rentals amount tc
several hundred thousands of dollars per
annum. She is the principal stakeholder in
the largest bank of Chile, she owns a rail-
road, fleet of iron steamships. and other
odds and ends in the way of productive
property, which brings In. all told, pit
tance of many millions year. From her
coal mines alone she realizes not less than
$50, 900 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 and as far as
Panama, and southwark through the Strait
OF Magellan to Buenos Ayres and Monte
vldeo. As return cargo, those coaling yes
sells bring down ore from Upper Chile,
Peru and Ecuador, for smelling in her sill
yer and copper works at LOta, while those
that go around to the eastern side come
back with beef, -four, coffee and mereban-
disc for the consumption of her people.
Lota contains 1900 Inhabitants, and among
them she distributes in wages over 500, 600
per month. Though it is only a mining vii
lage, as smoky and dirty as any in the coal
regions of Pennsylvania. the Sonora prefers
living here to any place this side OF
Paris. She has magnificent pal
ace In the most aristoeratic quarter
Ocho-which is splendidly furnished
and is the show place of that city
OF palaces We went to see 1t, as all tray
elers do who can obtain the necessary per-
mission. and spent hours in its countless
luxurious apartments, its well-appointed
picture galleries and music rooms and
libraries, its gardens, beautifed by statuary,
fountains and flowers. marveling how its
owner could bear to see 1t shut up year after
year, while she spent most of her time in
stuffy European hotels. Size owns another
estate an hours drive from Santiago, named
Macul pronounced Maf-cooD, which is said
to be the finest estancia in all South America
Its boundaries stretch from the Chilean
capital far into the Cordilleras, whose gilt
terlng caps of eternal snow mark the limits
OF her land. Her orchards, vineyards and
fields OF grain are in its valleys and her
focks and herds feed on the foothills.
THE MACUL VINEYARDS
Supply nearly all the markets of Chile
with claret and sherry, and the cellar of the
place-an enormous structure, 500 teet long
by 100 feet wide-is kept constantly filed.
All the wine-bottles, as well as those for
the celebrated Cousfn0 beer, are manu.
featured in the glass works at Lota, but tile
labels are mostly made In France On this
farm the Sonora keeps some valuable horses
and cattle. and her racing stable is one of
the most extensive on the Continent. She