Omaha daily bee., 1898-08-14

merce is made from this nitrate liquor. 1t
is an element separate and apart from the
nitrate of soda and it forms another valuable
product of the nitrate fields. 1t is
precipitated in tanks by means of bisulphite
of soda, and is drawn off in the shape
of a dirty black powder. The powder Is
washed and filtered and is then put into
iron retorts and heated. 1t soon turns to
vapor, which is conducted into pipes of fire.
clay, in which as it cools it changes into
crystals of a beautiful violet color. These
are packed up and shipped to our country
and to Europe. The sale of iodine is a
monopoly in the hands of Anthony Gibbs
& Co. of London. The different companies
have formed a trust which controls the
product of the world and dictates just how
much each factory may make every year.
The price is now, l am told, 8 pence per
ounce.
What it Costs to Make Nitrate.
People who think that money is easily
made in nitrate are much mistaken. The
business requires large capital and the
most careful management. The prices of
nitrate lands have steadily risen of late
years and today the only properties to be
gotten outside OF those in the hands of the
seventy-nine factories which are now in ex-
istence are from the Gillian government,
which only sells at auctions, which are
periodically held. The last auction was held
in 1894. when 1000 acres were appraised at
So, 500, 900, and sold, l believe, for more than
their appraisement. Another property was
appraised at SO, 500, 900 of our money. There
is a limited demand for nitrate of soda and
while 1t is believed that the amount in
sight will last the world at the present rate
for fifty years and more. the Gillian gov
~ nnf 10 onyinItc mot tp ruin tho hnclnecQ
out of which it gets so great a revenue by
throwing more lands Just now on the mar
kets. Even after the lane is ought it
costs an enormous amount to establish a
nitrate factory. Take that of Aqua Santa.
1t has a capital of SO, 900, 900 in gold, and
1t pays dividends of 10 per cent, or $1,000 900
a year. The factory alone cost $685., 900 and
in addition there has been put in a West
inghouse electric plant at a cost of $4,000
more. 1t has buildings which cost $212, 900
and its water supply cost $51 1000. 1t Is now
employing 800 hands, who receive 6 1000
a month, and it supports about the works
a colony of more than 5000 souls. 1t owns
a railroad to the seaport of Caleta Buena,
which port also belongs to it, and from
which 1t ships its nitrate. Like all of the
factories, 1t has a large store connected
with the works and a great part Of the
wages of the men are spent upon the ground.
Cities In the Desert.
This Is only one of the great establish
ments which the nitrate rock has built in a
desert, 1t has built numerous other facto-
ries, and it is now keeping tens Of thousands
of men at work. All along the nitrate rail-
road there are towns containing houses of
corrugated iron, with hotels and stores, and
at the s~eacoast, which is, II anything, more
barren ana desert-like than the nitrate fields
themselves, there are a number Of thriving
cities, all Of which depend entirely upon
these nitrate deposits. Take ~Iquique, for in
stance. 1t lies on the edge of the sea, right
under the ragged hills which fringe the
coast. There Is not a blade OF grass about
it, and not a drop of water, save that which
is brought here in ships or in the iron pipe
line, seyenty-iye miles long, with which it
has been connected with the springs OF Plea,
in the interior. Still, Iquique has 10000
people. and, next to Valparaiso, IT is the
most thriving seaport in Chill. 1t has wide
streets, telephones and electric lights, and a
street car line, with Gillian maidens as con-
ductors. 1t has newspapers, a theater and as
good an English club as you will find along
the west coast Of South America. II has
good stores and markets, and though 1t pro-
duces almost nothing but nitrate OF soda. II
has everything from the outside, and you
can live as well here and have as great a
variety Of eating as any place in South