The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-10-30

city of the world. 1t is at the bottom
OF the South American continent, 1900
miles nearer the south pole than Cape
Town, at the lower end of Africa. 1t
is 700O miles south of New York. and
Its latitude is that of Labrador. Still
1t winters are warmer than those of
Washington city, and just now, at its
coolest, everything is covered with
green.
Situated on the northern coast of the
Strait of Magellan, midway between the
Atlantic and Pacific oceans, more than
q hundred miles north Of Cape Horn,
Punta Arenas is the commercial cap
ital of a vast region of sea and land
which is almost unknown to the rest
Of the world. From where l write l
can see the blue forests of TERRA del
FUegO on the opposite side of the strait.
There are a vast number of smaller
islands about it, and behind me,
stretching away for hundreds of miles,
are the mountains and sheep farms of
Patagonia. There is no town of any
size within 900 miles of this We have
no Geographic connection with the rest
of the world, and the only news we
get comes from the steamers passing
through the Strait of Magellan.
All Of the supplies are brought in by
steamers, and many of the ships stop
here to lay in new stores as they go
OF their way from Australia to Europe
or in passing to and from the east and
west coast of South America The city
does a big business as a coaling sta
tiCn, and it scruples not to put on
the prices whenever it can. When the
Oregon COaled here on her way home
from the Pacific at the breaking out
of the war she was charged 80 shillings,
or about $22, ton for coal, and her
bill was more than $4,000. Punta
Arenas is a free port, and quantities of
provisions and other stores are brought
here to supply the steamers and sail
ing vessels which pass through the
Strait of Magellan. Just now there are
English and German steamers on their
way to and from Europe in the harbOr
loading and unloading freight. An
American schooner from Boston, with
a party of a dozen men en- route for
the Klondike, is taking in provisions,
and one of the ships of Grace & Co.,
bound for New York, passed by this
morning. A steamer from New Zea-
land with cargo of frozen sheep for
London left yesterday There are a
number of wool schooners in the har-
Dor, and the little steam tug which
carries passengers three times a week
to and from TERRA del Fuego is just
putting across the strait.
ON THE SOUTHERN FRONTIER.
Punta Arenas lies right on the Strait
of Magellan. There is a good harbor
at this point, the land about which
slopes gently upward from the water.
Upon this has been built a struggling
town more than a mile long and a
quarter of a mile wide. Back of it
there is a hill perhaps 100 feet high,
and farther away in the rear you can
see the last OF the Andes, which here
rise 5000 to 5000 feet above the sea,
their tops covered with snow. The city
has been cut out Of the woods, and as
you enter il you are reminded of the
settlements of our wooded frontier of
the Northwest. 1t is just now one of
the boom towns of this continent, and
It's houses are scattered along wide
streets with many gaps. These streets
are a mass of black mud, through
which huge oxen drag neavy carts,
pushing them along by yokes fastened
TO their horns. Here the sidewalk is
Of concrete, there it is of wood, and
little farther on you find it of mud and
must balance yourself on q log as you
make your way over it. Many Of the
houses are built Of sheets of corrugat-
ed iron, their walls Wrinkled up like a
washbOard, and all have roofs Of this
material. A few are painted, but near
~ all are Of the galvanized slaty color
of the metal as it comes from the fac
tory.
None of the cheaper houses has a
chimney. The stovenipes, which stick
UP through the roofs and which you
see here and there coming out through
the windows with upturned elbows.
take their places. There is plenty of
building space, but when you ask the
prices of the vacant lots you find that
property is very high. What would be
$50 shanty in America is here worth
$500, and a good business corner will
sell for several thousand dollars. New
ertheless within a few years these
same lots were given away for a reve-
nue. stamp. The Chilean government
was anxious to increase the size of the
colony and it offered building sites to
all who would erect houses and pay
the scent stamp which the law pro-
Vides shall be upon every deed THAT
lot, said man to me today, as he
pointed to corner just above the Kos
mos hotel, cost me a postage stamp,
and I hold it now at $1,000 The days
for such Investments however are
past, and better buildings are going up
every year. Now every inch of town
property has a fixed value, and there
are several business blocks which
would not be out Of place in an Amer
lean city.
THE PALACE OF THE MAGELLANS
There Is one residence here which
would be mansion in the best part
of Washington city. 1t is by all odds
the finest house near the south pole.
1t has cost more than 100000, and it's
owner is millionaire widow, young,
beautiful and accomplished She is the
sister of our consul here and the
daughter Of a Russian who made a
large fortune in sheep raising She got
another fortune with her husband. and
she now owns thousands of acres of
land and tens Of thousands of sheen.
Her house is situated on the plaza or
public square. This is a grass plot of
about two acres, fenced with a wooden
paling. 1t has wide pathways running
through it and band stand in the CEN
ter. On the north side of 1t is the gov
ernor's house, long, brown, two-story
structure, with wall of glass in the
rear. On the west is a large frame
building, the new barrackG of the ma
tional guard, and on the east are some
stores and the palace Of this millionaire
widow. 1t is made of red brick COW
cred with stuccO, SO finished that it
locks like light brown stone. 1t has
two stories and a mansard, with sew
eral towers and plenty Of gingerbread
work
The artists are now decorating 1t.
They were imported from Buenos Ayres
for the purpose, as were also the car
penters, the bricklayers, and, in fact.
all of the laborers connected with it.
The bricks were also imported. Every
bit of the furniture will come from
Europe, and the house when finished
will be as comfortable as any in Paris.
1t is, however, the only house of it's
kind in Punta Arenas, the most Of the
other dwellings being one-story struc-
lures which could he hI1i1+ for FROM