Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1906-08-21
Mistress Of Southern Pacific
Valparaiso. Vale of Paradise, Has Been City of
Many Vicissitudes

miles, and the sailing schedule is thirs
five days. The vessels touch alternate
~ at the Falkan islands, both for mail
and for the cargo of wool. They coal
at Montevideo, Rio Janeiro and in the
Madeiras.
The hay of Valparaiso is discour-
aging one. 1t Is surprising that such
with such poor facilities. The shipping
approximates 100000 tons yearly.
The engineering difficulties in the way
of creating real harbor are well UNI
derstood. though not easily overcome.
The rains wash the hills down into the
sea, but the retritus or silt does not
fill in what seems to be the bottomless
bed of the ocean, so profound is 1t.
There is no breakwater.
Has Dangerous Bay.
AT the beginning of every winter
season the question Is raised-what
will be the harvest of DISASTER II
tons could be lost in this bay. but that
Is what has happened. In May. 1903.
when voyaging down the coast in tbs
Tucapel, we We're told that the Are
quipa, Of 5000 tons burden, was the
next ship following us. She arrived
two or three davs later, and took on
cargo and passengers for the returnl
trip. One night savage tempest arose
and many of the smaller were wrecked.
and the Arequipa foundered and vent
down with the loss of 100 lives. Two
weeks later from my hotel window 4
watched the wild bay, and waited
three days for chance to get off oni
the Oropesa, one of the big ships that
run between Valparaiso and Liverpool.
The immense floating decks tossed
about as If they We're eggshells; thsf
buoys bobbed like dancing water
sprites; the schooners plunged their|
noses into the angry breakers until the'
mastheads dipped. In the period from,
show loss Of 37S water craft in the
bay 1 Valparaiso. of which 100 wered
rowing and sailing vessels. Tho money!
loss was incaculable. 4
Huge Harhor Works.
THE Chilan government, after
many discouragements, accepted the
plans of Jacob Kraus. the Holland en-
gineer, for conquering the difiicultiesl
which nature had placed in the way
Of making Valparaiso hospttable in-
stead OF hostile to the ships that boar
the commerce of many seas. The es-
timated cost of the harbor improved
ment Is $4,000, 900 gold although the
| initial provision was for $11,000, 000.I
The scheme cortemplates the construct
! ton OF a series Of sea walls In thas
bay. The water is so deep that 1t Isl
| SSiioiNViSu u uuiIO Al
single breakwater across the mouth Of,
tie harbor 1t is believed that the sew
eral sea walls constructed In the man-l
ner proposed will protect the vessels
and the merchandise from the terrible,
seas which drive In during the storms.
OF the winter months. A dry dock 10.
included In the proposition"
Port We'll Fortified.
The port is well fortified with heavy
land batteries, and the hay Is sheltered
on three sides by ranges of hills ris- u
Ing from 1900 to 1.700 feet in height
On their slopes a considerable portion|
: of the city itself including the resi- j
dence section. is built. On the south
side of the bay are the specious SUI
burbs Of Nueyo La Malecon and Grana
Avenida, out Of which leads the finest
thoroughfare Of Valparaiso-the Ave-
nida de las Delicias. The lower oen1
trail section Of the city >is called tho
Almendral. 1t has regular and attract
; tive streets, and contains the principal
), business houses, the park, the Plazad
Victoria and the national theater. TOD
! the northwest Of this section Is thal
i quarter known as the puerto, or port1|
:, In which are situated most of the pub Il
lie buildings, and the warehouses which,
line the docks and quays. Many OIL
!, the streets In this part are narrow and
crooked, but the new seotions have AMI
attractive. modern appearances, the
business blocks being massively built
The city has various academic and
} collegiate institutions, a naval school,j
school for marines, a museum OF
natural history, a photographic bu-l
reau ETC. Its Industrial establish !
ments include boundaries, railroad and
: machine shops, sugar refineries. brew3
cries distilleries, bottling works and
factories of all kinds The lower part
: of the city Is connected with the SUI
burbs and villas on the heights with
3 elevators or ascensors.
!. Shocks Are Frequent.
1 1t Is common belief in Chill that
. when shocks are frequent there is lit-
\ tie danger Of damaging earthquake 4
( and past experience has shown this
i belief to be well founded. 1t Is calcu-
8 lated that bad earthquake Is due to-
a visit some part of Chill once In ten
years.
n Gillian earthquakes manifest them
selves by a quick horizontal and some-
n times rotary vibration, and when the
!. focus is near the sea the water also
Is agitated. The ground undulates, but
n very rarely bursts open, and even the
: most violent shocks are over in a few
seconds. For some time afterward,
however, at gradually lengthening in
a tervals. from twelve hours, there Ia q
; succession of gradually lessenina
shocks.
= Some remarkable manifestations
q have taken place during CHILEAN earth
t quakes. By the quake of February.
1885, the Isle of Santa Maria was up
: lifted an average Of nine feet, but it
q subsidized a few weeks afterward and
: even lost a part of its previous eleva-
ton. During this earthquake two great
: waves rolled over the town of Taica-
huano, the deep sea clOSe in shore
was dry for few moments and smoke
burst from the surface of the water.
s During very smart earthquake at
a Coquimbo, in November, 1S49 the sea
g retired about 15o yards and then rolled
: back about IL feet high. An English
d ship anchored in seven fathoms of
i water in the neighboring bay of Her
!. radura nearly touched the bottom
4 from the receding Of the sea, the water
:, 90 I'm To ard