The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-08-28

region has, in fact, an almost perfect
ciilnate, and this is so in all of the
provinces OF north and central Chile.
THE RICHES OF CHILE,
me long sausage which comprises
the rand OF Chile Is full of excellent
meat. Ihere are few countries of It's
area which have such wonderful nat
uTal resources. 1 have written of the
nitrate helds, which have already pro-
ouceo nuhdreos OF millions of dollars,
ana winch nave asupply which cannot
be exhausted for half century tn
come. A member of the Chilean con-
gress, Senior Roberto Edwardson
Meeks, with whom l talked last night
tells me that there are deposits of qua
no near the nitrate beds which surpass
those of the islands Of Peru, and which
are worth thousands of millions of dol
lars. He says they lie several feet be-
low the surface, and that they are on
the mainland. All of north Chile is
full of minerals. In coming to. Val
paraiso l stopped at a number of ports
which have copper and silver smelling
works. AT Antofagasta there is
smelter which is said to be the largest
in the world. 1t Is used to smelt the
ores Of only one mining company, and
when l visited it l saw several acres
covered with bricks Of silver ore which
had been ground to dust and put into
this shape that they might be the more
easily smelted. That is perhaps the
most valuable brick yard on earth.
At Iquique there Is snelter which
belongs to an American, Mr.. George
Chase. He comes, 1 think, from New
York, and he has, am told, some Of
the most valuable silver mines in
South America The ore is almost
pure. The mines are so profitable that
they have made him rich, and have,
1 am told, netted him so much that he
has laid aside three million pounds
C$15, 000) as a reserve fund In the
Bank Of England. This seems to me
a big story, but there is no doubt that
Mr.. Chase Is worth his millions. One
of the chief copper ports of Chile is
Coquimbo, a town of 1000 people, lying
on a beautiful bay about 100 miles
north Of Valparaiso. 1t Is in the CEN
ter of one Of the richest copper de-
posts of the world. The metal is near
ly pure, and some of the mine owners
tell me that there are almost mex
haustible quantities of it. Chile has
already produced about four billion
pounds of copper.
In 1895 1t shipped about fifty million
pounds, but the most Of this went to
Europe, as we have all the copper we
need of our own. From Coquinlbo they
are now exporting something like 1000
tons of copper month and several
srelters are kept busy turning the ore
into bars. Chile has also large deposits
Of iron, manganese, quicksilver and
lead. There are number Of geld m mes
in the south. and much gold washing
is done in the streams of TERRA del
Fuego. There is also gold in the north,
and 1 am told that large part of the
mount aims have not been we'll prospect
ed, and that the mines SO far develop
ed have been worked after the most
wasteful methods, so that the waste ore
on the dumps could be smelted with
profit AS to the agricultural condition
of the country, I will write after 1
have visited some of the great hacien-
das. The central valley, which lies
between the range of mountains that
borders the coast and the main range
Of the Andes. is 500 miles long, and it
is divided up into vast estates, upon
which all sorts Of fruits and cereals are
grown. Chile produces more than 49,
600, 900 bushels of wheat year, and
she ships her products to the other
countries of this part of the world by
the thousands of tons. 1t has thou
sands Of acres Of vineyards and ex-
ports great deal of wine. The cattle
consumed at most Of the coast ports
ccne from Chile, and the best horses
to be found in South America are
Chilean bred Frank G. Carpenter.