El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1914-12-19

and all the Iaborers who worked on it
were imported from Buenos Aires or
Santiago. The house cost something
like 100000, and is still the wonder
OF this Fart of the world.
Half rs Big rs Ohio.
TERRA del Fuego is half as big as the
state of Ohio and the greater part OF
it is made up of plains and wide
stretches Of moorland covered with
grass, which is green in the summer
and reddish brown when winter comes
on. This grass furnishes good grazing
all the year round In the winter the
sheen sometimes dig down through
the snow and as rule the SHOWS melt
soon after falling.
The grasses of the Strait are noted
for their richness and sweetness They
are excellent for the production OF DoIn
mutton and wool and they would reed
far more stock than they 90 were II
not for the rats. AS it is, this pest is
so great that it now takes three or
more acres to support one sheep. me
rats not only eat the grass, but they
burrow through the earth to an extent
that 1t is impossible to drive over the
plains with a wagon, and on horseDack
one has to ride very carefully. Cattle
are used as rat eXterminators Ihey
are driven over the ground and the rats
in their burrows are tramped to death
by them
much like those of Australia are
fenced with wire, and the sheep are
kept in large paddocks.
The most of the shepherds are
Scotchmen, who came to the Strait OF
Magellan on five year contracts. They
receive about $50 or $40 month, ana
have in addition house rent, fuel and
heat. Their houses are TWO or three
room shacks scattered over the farm:
The fuel comes from the woods, and
their meat is mutton from the flocks
they herd. On the whole the farms
are almost self-supporting.
shearinE Is Big Task.
The most important part of the year
at the Strait of Magellan is when the
shearing is done. This season begins
in January, and on the big ranches 1t
may last for two months Much OF the
work is done by professional shearers,
although the shepherd comes in to help
handle the animals. On some Of the
farms this work is paid for by the
fleece.
The present scale of wages fixes the
rate at Sab per hundred, or little
more than cents per fleece. When a
man begins to shear he is given book
let, in which is recorded the number Of
animals he shears during the week and
the amount to his credit. If any dis
pute arises it is to be settled by COM
mittee composed equally of the own
ers and employees. The company fur
nishes the shears. and every man gets
three pairs Of shears at the start and
an additional pair for each thousand
animals. At 4 cents a sheep the man can
make very good wages.
SOuthernmOst City Of World.
The capital Of the Chilean territory |
of the Magellans is Punta Arenas. This |
place has now 10000 inhabitants and |
it is the metropolis of the Strait It is \
on the mainland, facing the ]
great island of TERRA del Fuego, just |
about half way between the Atlantic |
and the Pacific oceans. It is more than /
a hundred miles north of Cape Horn, |
and it has the whole length of the con- /
tinent between it and Panama.
PUnta Arenas is the sOuthernmost /
city of the world. South America ex-
tends more than a thousand miles |
Punta Arenas is 1900 miles farther /
south than Cape Town. There is no
city Of any size within a thousand miles
Of it, and it is now reached only by the
steamers that pass through the Strait
of Magellan In the far future it may
have railway connections with the rest
of Chile.
Is New Town.
Nevertheless, Punta Arenas is an up
todate municipality. Fifteen years
ago the greater part Of it was still in
the woods. Stumps still stood in the
principal streets, and in the rainy sea-
son the roads were rivers of mud To-
day the town is well paved, and 1t has
a plaza surrounded by good houses and |
stores. The streets are lighted by cleo
tricity, and there are churches and