Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1892-10-19
IT is NEARCAPE HORN
AN INTERESTING COSMOPOLITAN
CITY IN SOUTH AMERICA.

tember and Winter Com m en- ces In June.
The Inhabitants Are Made Up Of Many
Nationalities-The Patagoniahs.
Away down near the tip end of the South
American horn we find one Of the end
towns of the world-Punta Arenas. 1t is
located in lat So. 10, on the New Brunswick
peninsula, in the territory of Magellanes,
Chilli. Its name is derived from its situa-
ton. as Punta Arenas is the Spanish for
Sandy point.
Just back of the town large fields that
were formerly covered with timber, but
that had been burned away, are now COW
cred by thick growth of moss, except
where the frugal and industrious settler
has cleared the ground either for grazing
or for agricultural purposes, and still back
of these fields snow capped mountains rise
to an altitude of 900 feet or more OPP
posite the point and just across the Straits
of Magellan is the island of Terra del
Fuego or 1.-The land q fire." Magellan, it's
discoverer, so named it because on the
night of his discovery there was an almost
continuous string of fires dotted along its
entire shore. These fires were no doubt the
signals the natives used to warn one an
other of he approach of strangers.
Punta Arenas was founded in 1913 as
convict settlement, and continued as such
until the European steamship lines adopt
ed the route through the straits; then iJ
became coaling and supplying station,
taking the place of the Falkland islands,
500 miles distant. AS it is practically the
only town in southern South America, the
distance from the nearest town on the
Pacific coast to the nearest on the Atlantic
being about 4,oG0 miles, Punta Arenas soon
became quite an important station of call
and supply, and necessarily following an
important town in both commercial and
manufacturing aspects.
The sending of convicts was stopped
after the steamships adopted it as a coal
ing and supplying station, and in their
stead were sent 800 immigrants with
governor to take possession of the terri
tory. The military guard was also with
drawn during the war with Peru, a ticket
of leave being granted to the convicts who
consented to serve in the Gillian army
After these undesirable occupants left the
population steadily increased, until in 1855
it reached the sum of 2,O00 in all
Here also the daily formula of affairs
with which we are accustomed to in steady
going New York is turned upside down
and backside foremost, although the
changes are by no means as startling as at
Hammerfest. Think of spring commenc-
ing in September, summer in December,
autumn in March and winter in June;
think of speaking of the heats of Decem-
Der and the cold, boisterous winds of June;
Oh IL lHat men
and almost seven feet high.
The climate is of course the first subject
for our consideration. Though it is often
cold and chilly and very nearly always
wet, yet it is very healthful, in fact the
wet provinces are the most salubrious,
and what i'll health there is is generally
owing to some fault of the people One Of
the most fatal diseases is dysentery aris-
ing from too free consumption of the
watermelon, and next in rank owing to
the bad system of sewerage, are gastric
typhoid and typhus fevers. The sewers
generally consist of partly opened channels
passing through the houses, sometimes
with running water and at other times
nearly dry. The most healthful period is
just before the rain sets in during the
month of April, when the death rate is Il
per thousand; the most unhealthful isdur-
ing the heats of December and January,
when the death rate reaches 90.
Punta Arenas is distinctively cosmo-
politan town. Every race, every nation,
every class has its representative the
Chinese, The negro, the freshman, the Pole,
the Englishman, the Italian the German,
the Russian, the Portuguese the Hebrew
the Spaniard. All these are represented
by ex -convicts, fugitives, castaway sailor
deserters, and last, but by no means the
least, the legitimate merchant, with
legitimate business and legitimate pur-
HoSt- I1ut the natives are the HdLa-
gonians and the Spaniarls, bearing re-
spectiveiy the same relationship to their
country and to each other as the Indians
do toward Americans and the United
States. The Patagonians, numbering
about 10000 in all, inhabit the territory
of Magellanes and the island of Terra del
Fucgo, and in stature are the giants of the
world. In fifty ordinary men the average
height was feet ~ inches, the tallest
being feet So inches, and the shortest
being feet II of an inch. There is moth
ing odd about their religion. They wor-
ship deity called Coche, and also believe
in the Immortality of the soul But al
though their religion does not forbid it,
they do not practice polygamy-quite an
unusual thing among the South American
Indian tribes.
The Spaniards are the same Spaniards
we know in sunny Spain, except that their
instincts and language are slightly modi-
fed by Gdmixture with foreign nations.
The rules of society life are practically the
same as in France or Catholic Germany
They dress about the same; they live about
the same; they are amused about the same,
and their inclinations also run in about
the same direction. Sunday is spent a
holiday, at which time the people indulge
in balls, receptions, dinners, theaters and
operas. but the Sunday that stands out
beyond all others, the great fete day of the
year, is the one on which occurs the bull
fight. the sport par excellence of all the
Spanish nations Athletic sports are I'M
known, but good horsemanship is com
mon. The Americans with their usual go
ahead spirit, have introduced and con-
structed railways, telegraphs. flour mills.
etc.
One of the most interesting but at the
same time most dangerous physical fea-
lures is the earthquake. All Chill is sub
ject to frequent light earth shocks that
cause great alarm lest they should be fol-
lowed by the earthquake" itself. The
shocks cause little if any danger and are