Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1914-09-03
PEACE PRODUCT
TO SUPPLY THE
DEATHDEALER

Where Il an the raw material enH,.
ing from Tor the vast amount of pow
der that viii be needed in the great
European war? That is a question
that South America can answer. &C.
.cording TO a news note In . recent
number OF the Monthly Bulletin of the
Pan American Union, WASHINGTON.
D. G..
Strange b. say, the one country IN
the world which IN times OF peace sur
plies the greatest agent to Increase
the productIveness OF the earth. VIII
nov be called upon for identically the
SINE agent to supply the means OF
destruction That country Is the Re-
public OF chile. and the product which
has now assumed such tremendous inl-
portance Is the nitrate OF soda which
II supplies TO the world. The nitrate
fields OF Chile form wonderful asset
in the national economy. and this news
note states that the government sold
nc public auction, ON August 10, IN the
city OF Santiago, certain nitrate lands
located in the Province Of Tarapaca.
thus opening up for development ed.
dttional areas containing this remark
able product.
The greatest nse In recent years OF
Chilean nitrate has been to maize two
blades Of grass grow where but one
grew before, and in this capacity y
has been a blessing to humanity. The
use of nitrate OF soda as fertilizer,
though very general now has been
known TO our civilization less than 2
century The story goes that On old
scotchman who lived near the present
nitrate fields about 1916. spread some
soil containing white crystals over part
of his garden. Things planted tn this
particular spot grew wonderfully, sam
plps of the soil were sent to Scotland
for ANALYSIS. and the nature of the sub.
stance and its value as fertilizer was
soon established According tn tradi
ton. however, centuries before the
Spanish conquest, the Incas of Peru
and some OF the natives OF Bolivia
knew of the fertilizing value OF the
white crystals, and are supposed To
have known how TO produce them from
the crude material
Today Chile enjoys practically 9
worfd-nlonopoly IN the production OF
nitrate, and its use is constantly grow
ing. In 1913 the exports reached the
hieh-water mark Nearly s,000.e0V
tons were shipped from the various
ports of the country and went to In.
crease the produetiveness of the soils
AZ many different nations. Incidentally,
chile derives golden harvest from
the product The revenue derived
from the export duty on nitrate, i
equally distributed among the ihnabi-
tants of the country, would give evert
man. woman. and child no less than
SO annually. This great revenue III
being used to build railroads, improve
harhors foster educ ton. and to build
IN the nation generally: and. taking
into consideration the number Of I've
inhabitants. makes Chile one Of the
richest countries irAthe world
The Chilean nitrate beds are ienha
in a strip OF country about 500 miles
long. Of 4 distance varying from 70 20
On miles from the Pacific coast. Ihu
deposits lie in great beds. or stfash
and the product Is easily mined. Inc
everything strata are penetrated ny
small shafts or drills on through ths
natural nitrate beds TO the underlying
hed.roe,s or sfbstratum OF clay or graF'
eli AT the bottom Of the shafts charges
Of powder or dynamite are placed,
which. when exploded break up ana
scatter the surface layers and the ~.
trate. The fragments Of nitrate are
then gathered from the debris ana
carried in carts or small cars 20 INC
oficinas. or factories. which tonFett
the natural product into the white etys,
tails OF nitrate OF soda. sack them, aha
then transport them to the neaFess
port for shipment
I,at nov. however. the greatest &c,
mand for nitrate will be 10 make poW
dor and other explosives. Nitric aeia
i neaded TO manufacture nltro-glyee,
yIne dynamite. smokeless powder anu
tha various kinds Of high exploaives
,sssa in these modern times Even II
tInes az peace the United States uses
for manufacturing explosives tnree
times the amount of nitrate used IN
the production OF fertilizer In times
~ war no estimate cen be made as =
the amount the world viii demand, ana
doubtless the price Of Chilean nitrate