The Republican., 1900-12-06
CHILI'S SILVER KING.
Through the Friendship of
Spanish Priest.

all the Yankees VINO nave sought 1Or-
tune in the southern continent is
George B. Chace, known in the mineral
markets of the world as Chili's silver
king, writes Douglas White, in Aims
| lees.
ButMr. Chace was not always Croe-
sus. Thirty-Ave years ago he left CAL
| ifornia after a long and futile search
for a paying prospect. In 1865 he land
ed at Iquique, Peru. From there he
went to Tarapaca. Chill. where he got
work in the nitrate beds. He made
friends with old Padre Miguel, who
read mass in the little church at Pozo
Almonte. little town in the interior,
surrounded by the great nitrate de-
posits. The priest taught Chace the
Spanish language and helped him to ac-
quire an acquaintance with the geog-
raphy of the locality. As soon as Chace
had laid aside sufficient from his earn
ings he would start on a prospecting
tour. For nine years he searched and
toiled in vain. Chace was beginning to
lose heart. One day when he was talk
ing to Padre Miguel about his luck,
the old priest told him of a wonderful
silver mine in the neighborhood that
had been worked by the Spaniards
hundred years before. Where was
this wonderful mine?" was Chace's
first query. And the old priest told of
its location somewhere in the north
west of Pozo Almonte. exactly where
Miguel could not say. but if memory
served him rightly, there was among
the archives of the little church a map
of the mines location. The Spanish dis
coverersin their gratitude had given to
the church an interest in their FORUM
ate find, and with much devotion chris
tened it "El Minas de San Pedro San
Pablo" (the Mine of st. Peter and ST.
Paul..
The following day from the old
church's archives was brought an old
sheet of parchment, yellow with age,
traced with the rough outline of a min
ing location. Down in the corner were
the names of the original owners, the
date of discovery, and the dedication of
a portion of the mines production to
the church. One line and only one,
gave anything like a distinct clew by
which the mine might be traced, and
that was struggling mark stated to
be the road to Huantaiaya.
Chace presented a request for trac-
ing of the map, the padre accommodate
| ed him, and with the next dawn the
prospector was away on his search.
The antique map makers had draft
ed better than first appearances in
dicated and, further to aid the seeker
after wealth, there had been no
change in the trail leading from Huan-
taJaya past the mines location.
Fortune was at last with the Yankee
miner. Inside of three days his pick
was delving into the abandoned and
forgotten pile of tailings. The mine
itself was uncovered from the midst
OF thick growth of underbrush.
Delirious with his great find, Chace
made his way back to Pozo Almonte
and thence to the coast.
An assay proved that the half
worked tailings of the San Pedro
San Pablo were richer than many
hard matter to secure the required
capital for working the find. But the
| good fortune did not end in the pile
of tailings. With his now plentiful
supply of money. Chace reopened the
mine itself. and with little trouble
picked up the lost lead. For years
the once abandoned property has paid
sums even more fabulous than in the
days when the Spaniards crushed
their ores under the pressure of pa
tient burros' hoofs and stamp mills
were unknown even to the inventive
| American.
The relocation of San Pedro y San
Pablo was but the beginning of the
! Chace millions. for in the past 25
years he has located several proper
ties which have rivaled the old Span
ish find. Among these may be men
toned the Discobradora and San Au-
| gustin mines in the interior of the
province of Antofagasta, both of
which have yielded millions. His lat
est enterprise is bunch of claims
in what is known as the Chuquicu-
mata, wonderfully rich mineral dis
trict well back in the mountains of
Antofagasta. These claims promise
to be the richest of the Chace prop
critics when their extent is consid-
cred, rs they number 20 claims in all.
With all this good fortune, Chili's
silver king has not been allowed to
accumulate his millions in peace.
First came the change in govern
ment, when the province of Tara
paca passed from the hands of Peru
into those of Chill at the settlement
of the devastating war between these
two republics. This meant an over
hauling of titles and consequent dis
! putes. One of these centered on
Chace's properties, with the resul,
that he has during the last 12 years
spent more time in the courts of
Chill than he has at mining. and aft
er a long, tedious legal battle has at
last wiped out any possible question
against his ownership. Meanwhile
his great properties have been pro-
ducing wealth, and in spite of the
fact that a Chilian lawsuit is even
more expensive than a struggle of