Omaha daily bee., 1898-10-30

a bit Of liquid refreshment. The club Is
also the fire company, for here, as in many
of these South American cities, the fire
company is composed of the best men in
the place. In Punta Arenas the club par
lOrs are over the engine room. They are
well furnished. They have two billiard ta-
bles, two poker rooms, reading room and
last but not least bar. The bar is to be
found in every club and in every hotel in
South America. 1t is as a rule, much pat
ronized. At the German hotel where l am
living in Punta Arenas you can get any
thing from a bottle of champagne to a
Manhattan cocktail, from a sherry and bit
ters to a glass Of vermouth or a pousse
cafe. There is a great deal of drinking at
the hotel. We are so far south here that
it is dark now at p. m. The guests have
no loafing place but the bar room and
every night at about sheep farmers, mer-
chants, clerks and others drop in to
get their nip before dinner. AS dinner does
not come until $50 they have plenty of
time to fill up before that The favorite
method Of buying drinks Is by each man in
the party throwing dice and the loser pay
ing the BILL Liquors are very high here.
This is so, Notwithstanding that Punta
Arenas is free port and no duty is charged
Champagne costs twelve silver dollars a
bobIIt' MS idSI L huO" " my SoIloN,
for in a generous mood while talking sheep
with a number of farmers last night l or
dered champagne for the crowd. The bill
was astounding.
Sheep Farming In TERRA Del Fuego.
You can't tell man down here by his
clothes. One of these sheep farmers, a
young fellow of thirty, whose income runs
into the tens OF thousands year. wears a
faded so velveteen suit, 75-cent wool
shirt, slouch hat and a pair of high boots.
Half the time his shirt is unbuttoned at the
neck and to look at him you would not
think him worth cent. His sheep farm is
as big as an Ohio county and at the last
counting his sheep numbered 10000 head.
Another of the party was a young English
man who was dressed in a costume that
would not have been out of place in Hyde
Park. He had swell riding boots, with
well-cut suit of Scotch tweed. He was only
an empfoye at a big sheep station. A third
man was dressed much like an American
business man. He was the manager OF the
biggest sheep ranch in TERRA del Fuego. He
had the supervision Of more than hundred
thousand sheep and a grazing territory of
two and one-half million acres of land.
Sheep farming has now become the great
industry OF this part of the world. a large
part of lower Patagonia is given up to it
and all OF the available lands in the Chilian
territory of the Maglllans, including TERRA
del Fuego, have been either bought or
leased. 1t will give you some idea of the
growth of the industry when | tell you that
in 1878, Just twenty years ago, there were
only ls5 sheep in all the Magellans. Seven
years later there were 10000, and in 1892
the number had increased to 4S0 0O0 In
1895 II was estimated that there were 900,-
2 nd islo
considerably more than 1000 600 sheep The
! sheep farmers originally came here from
! the Falkland Islands, but since then Aus
! tralians, French, Germans, Russions and
| others have joined with them in gobblng
| up the lands. The majority, however, are
! English and Scotch. one Of the largest
owners of sheep here is our American con-
| sui, who is also interested in many other
! things. His name is Maurice Braun. He is
d Russian by birth, but most OF his life has
been spent In the Magellans. He has 3i0,-