The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1892-03-26
The Chill of Today.
waverly Magazine.

gree true tIat we OF une OnGeu DtateS
have very faint idea of the resources of
the Chilian country. Situated where it is,
in the extreme south and west of South
America, out of the lines of travel and un-
approachable except by sea, it has been
skipped over by travellers. We know
Chill as a long yellow mark on the map.
We think of her as a barren republic, cling
ing tooth and nail to the Andes mountains
to save herself from tumbling into the Pa
cifc ocean. We think of her people as
partly civilized half breeds, swarthy Of face
and slender of limb, who live in straw huts
and work in gold mines owned by Europe
| ans.
Perhaps it will be news to most Ameri-
cans that Chill is in some respects the
greatest nation in South America. That
she is the most powerful will stand undis-
puted. That she is universally feared by
her neighbors is fact. That she is hated
follows naturally Chill is large country.
She is small on the map because her sisters
are enormously large, but her territory is
extensive. She is larger than any country
in Europe except Russia. She has two
thousand five hundred miles Of sea coast.
If she were plucked loose from her Andes
and laid down over our Atlantic coast her
most northern province would cover Maine,
and her rock-bound southern extremity
would blot out of existence the peninsula
of Florida. With that length Chill has a
breadth of from fifty to two hundred miles.
Perhaps it will further surprise most Amer
leans to know that Chill is probably the
most advanced nation on her continent.
Her railroad, telegraph and telephone sys-
tens are of the best. Her method Of gov
ernment is superior to any. Her schools
and universities are in the van of educa-
| ton. In methods of farming she equals
the United States. In manufactures she
far distances every South American coun-
| try, and she is q model for any new born
nation in the world. Her mining opera
| tions are modern and extensive. Her
commerce is far extending and increasing.
Chill is not a tropical country it must be
remembered. She occupies the same zone
that we occupy. The only South Ameri-
can rival which she has in matters of civil
lizatiou and progress is that amazing repub-
| lie of Argentine, just across the Andes, a
republic which is surprising in growth the
best efforts of our own wonderful country.
Few Americans will be prepared to be-
lieve that the Chilians are pure white
race, strong of body, sturdy of will, bright
of wit, people of great courage, determi-
nation and patriotism. They are unlike
any other South American people in these
respects, and that is why they are feared
They are smaller in stature than Ameri-
cans, but larger and sturdier than their
neighbors. The masses, those who make
up the bulk of the population and the rank
and file Of the army, are of mixed race,
largely Indian. They are people of great
strength, endurance and ferocity,
Chill is more blessed in scenery than
Switzerland. There is no spot in all her
great territory which huge mountains do
not overlook, They are among the high
est in the world Aconcagua rises twenty
two thousand four hundred and twenty
seven feet into the air, The two dozen
other volcanoes, not so ambitious, are of
enormous heights also. Below the sum-
mits the rugged and notched ridges of the
mountains glisten Whitley till they subside
into pale blue below the snow line.
But travellers tell US that the beauty Of
the country passes all description, that the
country from end to end presents a mag
nifcent and bewildering spectaole,a glorious
panorama of sunshine and shadow, of par
adise and desert, Travellers also tell us
that the country is wonderfully inspiring.
Its climate is everything one wants. If
you want warmth, so north to the land of
figs and oranges, If you want cold, move
south to the vast pine forests. IF you are
not particular, settle anywhere between
these extremes. In Santiago, the capital
the temperature is never higher than seven
ty degrees and never lower than fifty-two
degrees. 1t never rains there except dur
ing the four months of winter, but dews
always keep the atmosphere moist and
pleasant There is no country more health
ful than Chill, the travellers say who have
soiourned there.
Chill has enormous natural wealth. The
wealth is of various sources, which will be
understood best by dividing the country
into sections or belts which represent differ
ent kinds of produce. Beginning in the
north, the first is the mineral belt. The
next is the agricultural belt. The third is
the timber and fisheries belt, and includes
all the southern end of Chill, with prim-
tive forests, islands and lakes. The most
northern or mineral zone is Chili's strong
hold of wealth. The treasures she digs
out of the earth make her great nation,
place her name in the third class-along-
side of France-in the table in which the
nations of the earth are enumerated COM
paratively, according to their national debts
and the nature and disposition of their re-
sources.
In the mineral belt gold, silver, copper,
lead ,antimony, cobalt, zinc, nickel, bismuth,
iron, molybdenum and nitrate are found in
great quantities and the mineral operations
are extensive. The silver mines are among
the richest and most extensive in the world,
fact not generally known,
The great mineral wealth of Chill, how
ever, comes from the nitrate of soda depos-
its. The yearly output of nitrate of soda
is enormous, and hundreds of vessels are
engaged in the traffic of carrying it from
the deserts of Chill over the world. Brit.
ish capital chiefly is employed in the great
industry,
The nitrate is found from one to ten feet
below the soil, mixed with extraneous mat
ter. In that form it is called calfche.
The beds Of caliche are four to six or
eight feet in thickness, and extend over
vast areas of territory. The Tarapaca
desert is especially rich in it. The caiiche
is obtained by blasting, the powder being
packed in deep holes, or tiros, extending
through the upper soil and the cdiiche
itself. 1t is then loaded on cars and taken
to the shore by train, where it passes through
the purifying process of dissolution and re-