The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1914-09-08

tIlnS ~ liz OtNdu Oh
bolivia as the Bed of an Ancient
Sca-Thc Great BOrax Lake of tie
Chilean Descrt-The Mighty Vol
canoes of st. Peter and St. Paul and
Their Vast Beds of Broken Lava
Two Hundred Miles for a Drink
Cyuni and Its Tin ard Silver
Mines.
copyright, 1914, by Frank G.. Car
penter.)
A~ntofagasta, Chile.
have just had a mighty slide from
the roof of the world to the level of
the sea. ! have come from the top
of the Andes, in Bolivia, to the Paci-
tic ocean, in Chile, and am now writ
ing in Antofagasta, the chief port of
one of the most desert parts of the
world. This town lies half way down
the great South American desert. 1t
is 2.i00 miles from Panama, and
two days and more from Valparaiso,
the New York of Chile. 1t belongs
10 Chile. and it forms it's chief gate
way to Bolivia and the mighty trea-
sure vaults of the Andes. 1t is also
the gateway to the nitrate fields and
TO other wonders of this arid part Of
the world. Through it flows most Of
the borax used by mankind, and out
of it comes vast quantities Of copper
and tin.
Within a few miles of Antofagasta
IL lhIu NbNi tiS
helm syndicate has some of the larg-
est deposits of low-grade copper on
earth. They can be worked at a pro-
tit and will soon be supplying the
greatest part of the copper from The
South American continent. Further
north, at Uyuni, are tin mines, and
down the same rOad comes the tin Of
Potosi and Oruro. Indeed, a i've
If minerals is already flowing through
the port. and the outlook is that the
stream will increase with the develop
ment of the enormous deposits of the
interior. Antofagasta is also the be-
ginning Of the new Trans.Gndine road
that is to cross the continent by way
OF Uyuni, TopiZa and the Argentine
system. Only about a hundred miles
Of this railroad remains to be built.
and when it is completed travellers
can go from here to Bennos Aires in
three or four days.
The Antofa gasta of the present
shows the hope of the future. 1t grows
like the thistles on the mountain farm
Of Virginia. and today looks more like
an American town of our arid south
west h anything | have yet seen
in South America The houses are
mostly of wood, rooted with galXaniZ-
ed iron. The streets are wide ana
many Of them unpaved. The popu-
tation reminds one of our frontier.
The characteristic sights q the Andes
have disappeared. There are nc
~blanketed Indians and no Ilamas
Wagons, carts and cabs have taken
their places. The town is cosmopli-
tan. You hear every language spoken
ac you love through the streets, and
are Jostled by British and Germans
Austrians and French. There is also
u large proportion of Chileans. The
people are whites, and the red anC
mixed races seem to be confined tC
the Andes.
The harbor of Antofagasta is poor
but il is filled with shipping and Tho
Mharves are piled high with goods
Ihere are stacks of Oregon pine, piles
oil bags of American iour and cord:
OIL steel rails and structural stee
brought in by our steel trust. The
place Is the busiest Of all the port:
between Valparaiso and Panama, ant
now that the canal is completed, i
VIII send ~northward the nitrate, boraX
copper, tin and other minerals nov
pouflng into it from the regions be
hind.
came TO Antofagasta from J.;
az. My route was the one tina t
tVok h1teen years ago, when / rod
.hfee days across the plateau on tn
Iop OF the wagon that carried tn
BOWMAN mails. This was from L.
sS0 70 Oruro, a railway station abOu
IVY miles from where / now am. w
peited the mules ears with stones an,
.ept them on the gallOp from daylight
20 dark. 1t was cold and we almos
aoIe at the rude inns Of the high
nus. From Oruro to the sea I cam
on the train.
my Journey this year was all tn
\ t raoS IN a comfortable car, and tn
rap 10 Antofagasta took only tw
aays. Our train had Bolivian millio0
cn,s, English, Austrian and America.
derclal travellers. miners of a hal
~ ol1erent na%tionalities, and
Six "per OF tourists. We stopped 70
Sin hours at Oruro and there &c
u,eVplng compartments for the rest q
m Journey. We had dining cars O
ualns and we travelled in com
mnch me same time the fares wer
cos,a cheaper. Our sleeping berth
~kI1& Dr