Bisbee daily review., 1914-09-01
POWERS DEPEND ON CHILE FOR POWDER
 USED IN FIGHTING

strange to say the one country in the world which in times of peace supplies the greatest agen to in- crease the productiveness of the earth. will now be called upon for identicaHy the same agent to supply the means of destruction. That coun- try 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 econ omy. and this news note states that the Government will sell at public auction .on August 10, in the City of Santiago. certain nitrate lands lo- cated in the Province of Tarapaca, thus opening mp for development ad- ditonal areas containing this TO- markable product
 The greatest use in recent years ol Chilean nitrate has been Ito make two blades of grass grow where but one grew before and in this capacity 1t has been a blessing to humanity The use of nitrate of soda as a fertil- izer. though very general 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 1S16,
 spread some soil containing white crystals over part of his garden
 Things planted in this particular
 spot grew wonderfully. Samples ol the soil were sent to Scotland for anayysis. and the nature of the sub. stance and its value as a fertilizer was soon established According to
 tradition however. centuries before the Spanish conquest. the Incas of Peru and some of the natives of Bo- llyia knew of the fertilizing value of the white crystals. and are supposed To have known how to produce them from the crude material
 Today Chile enjoys practically a world monopoly in the production of nitrate. and its use is constantly growing. In 1913 the exports reached the high-water mark Nearly 3,o00,- GOO tons were shipped from the var lous ports of the country and went to increase the productiveness of the of many different nations Incident ally Chile derives a golden harvest from the product The revenue de- rived from the export duty on nitrate, if equally distributed among the in- habitauts of the country, woul dgive every man, woman and child no less than Sl0 annually This great reve- nue is being used to build railroads improve harbors. foster education and to build up the nation generally; and, taking 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 800 miles long. at a distance varying from 15 to 90 miles from the Pacific coast. The deposits lie in great beds LOT strata, and the products is easily mined. The overlying strata are pen. etrated by small shafts or drills on through the natural nitrate beds to | the underlying bedrock or substra
 tum of clay or gravel. At the bottom of the shafts charges of powder or ! dFnamite are placed. which. when
 exploded break up and scatter the surface layers and the nitrate The
 fragment of nitrate are then gath
 cred from the debris and carried in carts or small cars to the ofinas, or | factories. which convert the natural
 product into the white crystals of ni
 trate of soda, sack them, and then
 transport them to the nearest port
 for shipment
 Just now, however, the greatest de
 mand for nitrate will be to make pow
 der and other explosives, Nitric acid | is needed to manufacture nitro-glycer l inc, dynamite, smokeless powder and | the various kinds of high explosives
 used in these modern times Even in ! times of peace the United States uses |! for manufacturing explosives three | times the amount of nitrate used in
 the production 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 win soar.