The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1901-01-26
SILVER KING OF CHILE.
ROMANTIC CAREER Of THE RICHES
YANKEE IN SOUTH AMERICA.
How Geo. B Chace Found Mine Through
Friendship With Spanish PrIest-Has
Been Grateful for the Favor Which Cave
Him Wealth.

| friendship With Spanish preSt-Has
Been Grateful for the Favor Which Cave
| Him Wealth
| "The most successful North Ameri-
can In Chile. and probably the wealth
| lest Of all the Yankees who have sought
| fortune in the southern continent, is
George b. Chace, known In the mineral
markets Of the world as 'Chle's Sill
yer King" writes Douglas White In
Ainslee's Magazine.
"But Mr.. Chace was not always n
| Croesus. Thirty five years ago he left
| California after long and futile
search for 4 paying prospect. In ls6o
he landed at Iquique, Peru. From
| there he went to Tarapaca, chile,
where he got work in the nitrate beds.
He made friends with old Padre Mi
| guel, who read mass in the little
| church at PoZo Almonte, a little town
in the interior surrounded by the great
nitrate deposits. The priest taught
| Chace the Spanish language and helped
| him to acquire an acquaintance win
the geography of the locality. AS soon
| as Chace had laid aside sufficient from
| his earnings he would start on pros
| pecting tour. For nine years he search
| ed and toilcd in vain. Chace was be
| ginning to lose heart. One day when
| he was talking to Padre Miguel about
| his luck, the old priest told him OF a
wonderful silver mine In the neighOor-
| hood that had been worked by the
| Spaniards 4 hundred years before.
| Where was this wonderful mine| was
| ChaceS first query. And the old priest
told Of its location somewhere to the
northwest of Pozo Almonte. exactly
where Miguel could not say,
but if memory served him right
| ly, there was among the archives
of the little church map
| Of the mines location. The Spanish
| discoverers in their gratitude had
given to the church an interest in their
| fortunate find, and with much devo-
ton christened it FL Minas de San
| Pedro san Pablo (The Mine OF ST
| Peter and St PauD. Sc 1t happened
| that the map was filed in the old
| church at the corner of PoZO Al
monte's plaza. The old priest glad
| ly promised to look up this map on the
| morrow.
The following day from the
| church's archives was brought an old
sheet Of parchment, yellow with age
traced with the rough outline of a
| mining location. Down in the corner
| were the names Of the original owners,
| the date Of discovery, and the dedica-
ton Of portion of the mines produc-
| ton to the church. One line, and one
| only, gave anything like distinct
clew by which the mine might be
| traced and that was a stra Ggling mark
| stated to be the road to Huantajaya.
| "Chace presented Il request for a
| tracing Of the map, the padre accom-
| modated him, and with the next dawn
| the prospector was away on his search
| The antique map-makers had draft
ed better than first appearances indi-
Gated. and further to aid the seeker af-
| ter wealth, there had been no change in
the trail leading from HuantaJaya
| past the mines location. Fortune was
| at last with the Yankee miner In
side of three days his pick was delvinS
| into the abandoned and forgotten pile
| of tailings The mine itself was uncov-
| e jnl-
| Of underbrush Delirious with his great
| find, Chace made his way back to PozO
Almonte, and thence to the coast.
IAN assay proved that the half
| worked tailincs Of the San Pedro y
| San Pablo were richer than many
original discoveries. and it was not a
| hard matter to secure the required
| capital for working the find. But the
| tailngs. With his now plentiful sup
ply Of money. Chace reopened the mine
itself. and with little trouble picked up
the lost lead For years the once aban-
doned property has paid sums even
moro fabulous than in the days when
the Spaniards crushed their ores under
the pressure of patient huTros' hoofs
and stamp mills were unknown even
to the inventive American.
"The relocation OF San Pedro Y San
Pablo WAS but the beginning Of III"
Chacc millions, To- in the past twenty
| five wears he has located several prop
critics which have rivaleI the old Span
| ish find Among these may be men
| toned the Discobrad0ra and San
| Augustin mines i'll the interior of the
Province of Antofagasta, both Of which
have yielded millions. His latest en-
terprise is a bunch of claims in what
| is known as the CLuluicumata. a
wonderfully rich mineral district We'll
| back in the mountains of Antofagasta.
| These claims promise to be the richest
| of the Chacc properties when their eX-
tent is considered, as they number
| twenty claims in all.
| with all his good fortune, Chile's
| silver king has not been allowed to &C
r1mulate his millions in peace. First
came the change in government. When
| { rt'or1nnca nosCc1 ,SfpIu