Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1914-09-20
The bread wagon
copyright 1914, by Frank c. carpenter)


MI paraiso has plans out for
W improving It's harbor'; and now
that the Panama canal is
hESIBS9 completed it will he able to
Ssss2as take care of all the increased
traffic that comes here from the opening
OF that great waterway. AS it Is now, 1t
is one of the chief ports of the world
1t is the New York of the west coast OF
South America, and it does more business
on the western Pacific than any other
town except San Francisco. 1t Is nearer
the isthmus of Panama than our great
port of California. and in the new direc-
ton Of trade through the war in Europe,
it will be almost as full of American YES
sells.
You all know of Valparaiso but 1 doubt
II many of you realize just where it is.
1t is about as far south of our great canal
as Boston is distant from Salt Lake City,
and to equal it's length you would have to
add 700 miles to the distance between
Boston and Panama. 1t is right in the
central part of the coast of this long re-
public of Chile, and 1 should say at a
guess about 1900 or /, 400 miles from the
Straits of Magellan. Valparaiso is the
port nearest the capital Of the republic,
and also the chief commercial gateway
to the great central valley which forms
the chief agricultural region of the coun-
try. Chile has q foreign commerce of
more than $3.50, 100000 per year, of which
more than one-half is made up of i'm
ports which until now have come largely
from England, France and Germany. The
bulk of this goes through Valparaiso The
town has 200, 600 inhabitants and is grow
ing fast. 1t has gained enormously since
the earthquake of 1906, and. notwith-
standing it's losses of a similar kind in
the past, it's people go on building as
though there would be no earthquakes
in the future.
City Has Many Back Sets.
Valparaiso has had many experiences
in the field of bad luck. 1t was founded
only fifty-ope years after Columbus dis
covered America, and 1t had many adven-
lures with pirates before the earthquake
of IT30 destroyed the place and its forth
fications. 1t was soon rebuilt and another
earthquake came in 1922. Two decades
after that it had fire that burned up
$1,0o0yoo0 worth of its property and a little
later It had another fire at a cost of
e5,0o0000 Then it was bombarded by the
Spaniards. who destroyed its property to
the value of S10.oOOOOo, and on top of the
whole came the earthquake OF eight years
ago, which Is said to have cost $50 600
At that time 1t is estimated that 5000
persons were killed, and that at least 1OO,-
900 were rendered homeless. The whole
of the city along the edge of the sea was
laid low; and nevertheless it is that part
of the town that is new covered with the
best business blocks. Wide avenues have
been laid out through it, and the city is
larger and more handsome than ever
As 1t is. a great part of Valparaiso has
been reclaimed from the sea by filling in
earth and rock from the highlands. This
was before the earthquake occurred, and
1t is made so by the recent improvements
Many of the new streets are now so high
that one has to go down steps to get
into the older buildings still standing.
HarbOr Not Always Safe.
The harbor OF Valparaiso, as 1t is now,
is not safe in certain weather. 1t needs
breakwaters and other improvements.
The large ships anchor some distance
out from the shore and goods and pas
sengers are landed in boats. The scene
coming into the harbor is beautiful. The
city is built about bay OF the shape of a
half moon. The big warehouses and most
important business blocks are on the edge
Of this bay. and back OF 1t, rising almost
straight UP from the water. is an am
phitheater of hills, covered with houses.
These hills are so steep that the houses
are built on terraces and the people go
from level to level on cog railroads. These
roads are much like elevators. save that
they go up on the slant, instead Of per-
RI fE Of 4hapa Of
every few blocks. and you can pick them
out with your eyes as you come in on
the steamer. At night the view from the
ship is especially beautiful The houses
on the hills and on the walls Of the
amphitheater are ablaze with lights, and
in addition are electric lights on the
maze Of great fireflies moving about
over the black walls of the hills
The moment We came into the port
- our ship was boarded by fleteros or
boatmen, who demanded to take our
selves and trunks 10 the shore. I had
already been posted as to the prices and
arranged with one at a cost of $25 in
chilean money TO take me through the
customs house and to the hotel. This is Just
about equals s. American. moment
later my trunks had been lowered over
the sides and I was moving in a boat
through the busy harbor. We had to
watch out for the launches. of which
there were scores flying this way and
that; we passed great bsrges of goods
being towed to and fro and wound our
way through many great sailing craft.
some OF which were loaded with lumber
from California and Puget sound. We
passed one Chilean man-of-war. went un-
der the shadow OF a dry dock containing
a steamer and finally came TO the wharf
just opposite the Intsndencia or gov
ernor's palace. II took but a short time
20 go through the customs and a little