El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1914-09-05
Chilean Desert Once the Bed Of
Great Lake; Now Rich With BOrax
Frank G. Carpenter
Copyright. 1914, by Frank
G. Carpenter.)
From Ann Heights

found it bitterly cold at the crossing
The mountains on each side were DUST
ed with snow, and beyond them were
several great peaks covered win ga
clers- On the way we passed tne lW0
mighty volcanoes Of san PeoIo anu
san Paulo. or. as we should call then
IN English, St Peter and St PauL d
Peter is now active, and from II goes
up a constant column Of smoke WINE
along its sides runs great oeu u
lava that looks as fresh as InouSn II
had not long since come from lne
crater. This lava is broken INTO NIL
lions of, fragments 1t extends Tor sew
eral miles along the slope OF the
road.
St Peter IS one Of the most symmet-
rical Of the worlds great mountains.
II Is as beautifully shaped as r 9gly-
anna in Japan, Mount Cook IN New
zealand. or Mount Moyon IN Luzon-
The mountain rises directly up from
the plain. The plain IS level Win
only here and there a few PEBBLES or
Doulders in sight It IS perIectly
smooth except for these mighty wind
rows Of lava, containing hundreds up
on hundreds Of millions Of tons Ihe
rock looks as though it had been brok-
en- into pieces by the hammers OF
giants and piled up by some intelli-
gent force. It is a wonderful sight
1 have seen all Of the great noun
tain ranges that wall the western side
u TINS continent Inc ANUS al c 1eAAA
to be the last Of the great mountain
masses showed up out Of the sea; and
Of all the highlands they are in many
respects the most wonderful FROM
Panama to 8atagonia they FORM
mighty geological garden such as can
be seen in no other part OF the world
The combinations Of desert and rocks
and sky give scenic effects beyond
description. Parts Of the Andes are
more desertlike than the wilds OF Ara
nfH. the 1huwa Thew show how
the earth was made, and the terrible
throes involved in its making
At times you seem to be travelling
upon the very bedrock of the world,
and again as though old mother earth,
in her original nakedness Of bare rock,
were laid out before you upon the dis
secting table. The walls Of broken
lava OF which I have been writing are
perhaps 800 feet high The stones are
dark red and they are piled up in
regular masses. forming altogether e
whole a hundred times the volume OF
our excavations at Panama In other
again they have thrown out deposits
Of rock the size Of a walnut, and stiu
again mighty powders OF a semi
metallic nature
All about these volcanoes Of St Peter
ana st Paul the scenery is maEnifl-
cent and right between them is a low
crater as symmetrically shaped as
though cut out by a sculptor. This is
OF a dark red color.
close to the volcanoes are the reseF-
voirs that give Antofagasta its water
supply The water comes from the roof
OF the continent and the pipes carry
ing 1t down are 1913 miles long. The
reservoirs are at an altitude higher
than. the top Of Pixies peak. The place
Is known as the Sioli spring. 1t has
flow oof about 5000 tons Of water per
day, the most OF which goes TO the
towns on the ocean in pipes that are
II inches in diameter
LlamaS Garry Out Ores.
After leaving. Bolivia. the whole way
down to the seacoast is through the
desert The only green spots are the
railway stations Watered by the pipe
line from the reservoirs above. The
most important town is UyunL It has
ABOUT 5000 Inhabitants, and II IS the
point where the branch road now bufId-
ing TO connect with the Argentine svs-
TEN. begins Uyuni has also other
roads 10 the great tin and copper mines
nearby, the ore being shiDDad tor,
there over the main line to me sea
some Of the tin and silver still comes
IN on the backs OF llamas. and thar eya-,
from Potosi, which is 125 miles avay-
ne Aanas come in troops OF 100 or
more, ana take 10 days on the journey.
A railway TO that point is almost COM
pIeleQ- A private railway connects
Uyuni with the mining town of PuIa-
Gayo' which has 5000 inhabitants. This
.s-- 100 -oI lne Euancnaca silver
mines now owned by a French Chilean
company The Huanchaca mines ara
sad 10 have given to the world nearly |
5UUO tons Of silver within The mast 25
years and they are still yielding enor- |
nously- Inc company uses electricity
getting its force from the Yura river ]
which has fall enough TO develop 5000 I
horsepower. The mines have 10 miles I
OF tunnels. and they employ several 1
thousand wOrkmen.
Going from J-vunf doyvr 70 -, ,,,.,-+ /
We stopped at Onague. where a branch /
line runs off to the Collahuasf COPPER !
mines, said to be among the richest IN ]