The Hartford herald. [volume] (Hartford, Ky.) 1875-1926, 1914-09-30
Must Now Go For War
Munitions.
CHILE IS THE GARDEN SPOT"
For Production OF This Fa'
nous Salt Used In
Powder Making.
USED MOSTLY IN Explosives


Strange to say, the one country I'm
the world which In times of peace
supplies the greatest agent to in
crease the productiveness of the
earth will now n called upon for
identically the same agent to sup
ply the means of destruction. That
country is the republic of Chile, and
the product which has now assumed
such tremendous Importance is the
nitrate of soda, which it supplies to
the world The nitrate fields OF
Chile form a wonderful asset in the
national economy.
The greatest use in recent years
of Chilean nitrate has been to
make two blades of grass grow
where but one grew before" and In
this capacity it has been blessing
to humanity The use of nitrate of
soda as a fertilizer. though very gen.
eral now, has been known to our
civilization less than a century. The
story goes that an old Scotchman
who lived near the present nitrate
fields about 1916, spread some soil
containing white crystals over part
of his garden. Things planted in
this particular spot grew wonder
fully. Samples OF the soil We're sent
to Scotland for analysis and the
nature of the substance and its
value as a fertilizer was soon estab-
lished According to tradition, how
ever. centuries before the Spanish
conquest, the lncas 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.
To-day Chile enjoys practically a
world monopoly in the production
of nitrate, and its use is constantly
growing. In 1913 the exports reach
ed the high-water mark. Nearly 81
O00, 200 tons were shipped from the
various ports of the country and
went to increase the productiveness
of soils of many different nations
Incidentally Chile derives a golden
harvest from the product. The
revenue derived from the export
duty on nitrate, if equally distribute
ed among the inhabitants of that
country, would give every man,
woman and child no less than $40
annually. This great revenue is be-
ing used to build railroads, improve
harbors, foster education and to
build up the nation generally; and.
taken into consideration the number
of its inhabitants, makes Chile one
of the richest countries in the world.
The Chilean nitrate beds are found
in a strip of country about 500 miles
long, at distance varying gfrom 10
to 80 miles from the pacific coast. |
The deposits lie in great beds, or
strata, and the product is easily
mined. The everything strata. are
penetrated by small shafts or drills
on through the natural nitrate beds
to the underlying bedrock or sub
stratum of clay or gravel. At the
bottom of the shafts charges of pow
der or dynamite are placed, which,
when eXploaded. break up and scat
ter the surface layers and the nj
trate. Entertainments of nitrate are
then gathered from the debris and
carried in carts or small cars to the
oflicinas, or factories, which convert
the natural product into the white
crystal of nitrate of soda, sack
them and then transport them to the
nearest port of shipment
Just now, however, the greatest
demand for nitrate will be to make
powder and other explosives. Nj
tric acid is needed to manufacture
nitroglycerin. dynamite, smokeless
powder and the various kinds Of
high explosives used in these mod
ern times. Even in time of peace
the United States uses for manufac-
turing explosives three times the
amount OF nitrate used in the pro-
duction of fertilizer. In times of
war no estimate can be made as TO
the amount the world will demand,
and doubtless the price of Chilean
nitrate viii soar - Bulletin Pan
American Union.