Omaha daily bee., 1914-09-06
Anagasa and It's New ansconnena Route Across South America

rock looks as though II had been broken
into pieces by the hammers OF giants and
piled up by some intelligent force. II is
q wonderful sight.
have seen all of the great mountain
ranges that wall the western side OF this
continent. The Andes are said to he the
last OF the great mountain masses showed
up out OF the sea; and OF all the high
lands they are In many respects the most
wonderful From Panama to Patagonia
they form a 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 be-
yond description. Parts OF the Andes
are more descrt-lIke than the wids OF
Arabia or the Sahara. They show you
how the earth was made, and the terrible
throes involved In it's making, AZ times
you seem TO be travelling upon the very
bedrock OF the world, and again as though
old mother earth, In her original naked
ness OF bare rock, were laid out before
you upon the dissecting table. The walls
OF broken lava OF which have been writ
ing are perhaps 300 feet high. The stones
are dark red and they are piled up In
regular masses. forming altogether a
whole an hundred times the volume OF
our excavations at Panama. In other
places the volcanoes have vomited sand,
| Again they have thrown out deposits OF
! rock the size OF a walnut, and still again
| mighty powders OF a seml-metallic ma
ture.
| All about these volcanoes of st. Peter
| and st. Paul the scenery Ii magnificent,
and right between them is low crater
! as Numerically shaped as though cut
! out by a sculptor. THIS Is OF a dark red
color.
| Close TO the volcanoes are the reser-
voirs that give Antofagasta Its water
supply. The water comes Prom the roof
OF the continent. and tho pipes, carrying
II down are 1893 miles long. The reservoirs
are at an altitude higher than tho top OF
| Pixies peak. The place is known as the
! Slloll spring II has n flow OF about 500
tons OF water per day. the most OF which
goes to the towns on the ocean in pipes
that are eleven inches in diameter.
Desert to Coast.
| After leaving Bolivia, the whole way
down to the seacoast Is through the des
ert. The only green spots are the rail
way stations watered by the pipeline
from the reservoirs above. The most i'm
portant town is Uyuni. II has abou
5000 inhabitants, and II is the poln
where the branch road. now building e
connect with the Argentine system, be
gins. Uyuni has also other roads 20 th'
great tin and copper mines nearby. tn,
ore being shipped from there over th'
main line 10 the sea.
Some OF the tin and silver still comes II
, on the backs of llamas. and that evel
from Potosi. which is 125 miles away. Tn
, llamas come In troops Of 100 or more, AM
take fifteen days on the journey A rail
, way to that part is almost completed. !
private railway connects Uyuni with tn
mining town OF Pulacayo. which has 800
Inhabitants. This is the center for IN
Huanchaca silver mines, now owned h.
: a French Chilean company. The Huan
chaca mines are said to have given [
the world near 5000 tons OF silver within
the last twenty-five years, and they ar
still yielding enormously. The compan
uses electricity, getting its force from tn
Nura river. which has fall enough 1
develop 5000 horsepower The mine
have twelve miles OF tunnels. and the
employ several thousand workmen.
Going up from Uyuni down to the coasi
we stopped at Ollague, where a branol
line runs off to the Collahuasi ceppe
, mines said to be among the richest Il
, South America. This branch line reache
a height Of 1850 feet and that OF Po
, tosi north OF Uyuni. reaches an altltud
of 1854 feet. Both OF these roads ar
higher than any other railroads OF 5outl