Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1914-09-06
Andean Gateway


widened to a gauge of 40 inches, which is
the standard gauge for this part of the
world. The main line starts at Antofagasta
and crosses pass of over $4,000 feet at
distance of 223 miles from the coast. 1t
then descends to level of more than $1,000
feet, which it keeps practically all the way
north to Oruro.
The trip from Oruro to the sea is over
one OF the most picturesque routes of the
Andes. The most of the way is bleak and
desertlike, but one sees several smoking vol
canoes and also great salt lakes with green
islands apparently floating upon them. After
crossing the Chilean boundary we came to
the great borax lakes These are owned by
the borax trust, and they supply the greater
part of that mineral for the whole OF the
world. There are, in fact only three or four
places on earth where borax is found in
large quantities. The most important is
these lakes. Next in size are some mines on
the plateau of Tibet in Asia, and last are the
deposits found in Death valley California
The Chilean lakes seem to be covered with
snow and the snow is the borax that rises
to the surface and forms blanket or crust
on the water so firm that men can walk on
it. 1t looks like ice and you feel like stop
ping the train for a skate In some places
the crust has been broken up into floating
cakes and in others it is being taken out to
be refined and shipped to the markets. Some
OF the borax is as clean as the whitest Of
spun silk; other pieces are dirty and look
like snow that has lain for some time On
the shores of the lake are galvanized iron
rooted refneries, in which the stuff is pre-
pared for the market We were over an
hour going by the largest of the lakes 1t is
right near the railroad. 1t is "a miles long
and is the greatest reservoir of borax in the
world Indeed, it is the chief source of the
worlds borax supply.
Shortly after leaving this lake we came to
the highest pass on the railroad This pass
crosses the coast range at about half mile
below the highest altitude of the road from
Lima to Cerro de Pasco, and 1900 feet less
in height than that of the Peruvian Southern
on its way to Lake Titicaca. Nevertheless,
the height is $4,000 feet above the sea, and
we found it bitterly cold at the crossing
The mountains on each side were busted
with snow, and beyond them were several
great peaks covered with glaciers On the
way we passed the two mighty volcanoes of
San Pedro and San Paulo, or, as we should
call them in English, St. Peter and ST. Paul
St. Peter is now active, and from it goes up
a constant column of smoke, while along its
sides runs great bed of lava that looks as
fresh as though it had not long since come
from the crater This lava is broken into
millions of fragments. 1t extends for sew
eral miles along the slope of the mountains
in plain view of the railroad
St. Peter is one of the most symmetrical
of the worlds great mountains. 1t is as
beautifully shaped as Fujiyama in Japan,
Mount Cook in New Zealand, or Mount
Moyon in Luzon. The mountain rises di-
rectly up from the plain. The plain is level,
with only here and there a few pebbles or
powders in sight. 1t is perfectly smooth
except for these mighty windows of lava,