The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1917-10-03
BUSTING CITY
IN DISTANT SOUTH
Seventeen Thousand People in Punta
Arenas Living Up-to-Date Lives
-Neighbors to the Pole.

Canadian territory OF uk0n, IS prom
ably the northarnmost town of conse
quence in America; Pumta Arenas. on
the mainland side of the Strait of Ma
gellan. is the southenmoSt. Over 5000
miles lie between the two. Dawson, in
the DAYS OF its highest prosperity, had |
about 5000 inhabitants; its population,
owing to a continuous exodus of gold |
/ hunters, has dwindled to less than 5000. /
| But it is, nevertheless, a sturdy town, |
and likely to grow in the years to come,
since its foundations are stronger now |
| than they were In the days Of the long |
! trail Punta Arenas had an earlier start |
| Il was founded by the Chileans i'll 1910 !
/ Today il has population Of about |
/ Il 900. composed Of Spanish Americans, !
natives and descendants Of natives of
the United Kingdom, and of Austral |
ians, French, Germans and Russians. 1t
] rs worthy Of remark that, while the nu
Imcrcallv dominant race is Spanish, the
| English -spea king inhabitants practically
control its business interests. More
over. seafafing people, regardless of the
name on their charts and maps, almost
| invariably speak Of the port as SANDY
Point. which is the English eouiva-
i lent of the softer Latin name Of the
city.
At all events, away down there, in
i the sub-antarctic regions of the Ameri-
cas-. is a city quite as busy and busting,
1 and quite as ~ to-date as places Of sim
liar size ON the coasts OF the United
states and Canada. Punta Arenas has
It's churches and its schools, its public
buildings its electric Lights, its motion
uicfaee shows, lis automobiles. all the
modern conveniences, and, OF course,
al the modern impediments aud disad-
vantageS. Great steel steamships call
there regularly, TN route from one hem
isIhcre to another, for the Panama canal
has not destroyed the commerce of the
strait, and much tonnage still goes that
way. Rut ia the euyirons Of the mod
ern city may bc found primitive dug
OUT swarming with nearly naked saw
aces from the forests Of TERRA del
rucgo. a land in sight across the Ma
rc!lan It'd. Nowhere are the extremes
# modern civilization move eh" alv con-
rasted with savagery than in Punta
Arenas.
Formerly. and especially az to thc
opening Of the Panama canal, Punta
Arenas was one OF the most important
roalu2 stations of the lower continent,
to- i. supplied with fuel vessels constant
! ~ moving between Europe and the west
coast Australia, New Zealand and Ash
Z attic ports. The canal has not deprived
it altogether of Importance in this par
!. tiru'ar, but the chief commercial inter-
= est OF the city ut present lies in wool
? aud mutton Ii is the ocean outlet Of
. the great grazing plains of southern Pat
agonia. Chilean and ArgentHian capi
:, tai has gone, and is constantly going,
: extensively into irrigation projects and
the development of the sheep industry.
Figures that would hardly be long re
membered by the average reader tell of
immense expectations of sheep, mutton,
+ wool, and general hy-products of this
industry, to European points. and TO
r iports in the United States This BUSH
ness contributes toward making Plnta
!, Arenas a point of ready money distribu-
ton, for the employees of the meat
II packers and exporters are numerous and
well paid.
7 Punta Arenas had natural site 70,
:, a coaling station but it could never
have been much more than a coalin4
:. station had it not been for the devel
= opment of the agricultural region il
its neighborhood. The Chilean govern
ment played a large and farsighted part
'e in this work. It established settle
'c ments of its people in the wild region
gave them financial aid annually. unit
Il. they could do for themselves; and thel
n it did everything possible to establish
markets and obtain custom for the pro
IN ducers. The Territory OF Maoellancs
H. together with the Territories of Liam
quihue and Chloe. were thrown one,
rr for presumption and immiqrants flock ),
IN in from the north. For a long time. an,
!up to 1912, Punta Arenas enioyed IN
h advantages of a free port In the yea
Il named q custom house was estallishc,
there. .a.,.
II The early settlers have, i'm many in
-, stances, become wealthy, owing to tn
9 great market for their products, as wei
as to the immense enchantmcnt in Ian
ny values. With the rise in the price an
~ demand for mutton. increased facilitie
for shipping it have had to be provided
and the frozen meat industry of Punt
III Arenas is yearly assuming greater an
fR greater proportions Already there an
IS four large frozen-meat plants in tn
city and it is limited that the pac kin
industry of the place is not entirely OF
of touch with the packing interests &
en- the United States.
it'll Punta Arenas, for some time aft,
the introduction OF the meat industr,
of was disposed to boom. " IT il qrov
w. ing rapidly now. but along conservati,
g and enduring lines. 1t IS taking ON a
air of permanently. There is observ.
"a Die in the city growing civic prd
which is expressing itself in a demal
- for better streets and better building
~, as well as for driveways and parks. I'll
city has three comfortable hotels, 70
banks, as many newspapers, and sever
clubs, which a.e invariably volunte
fire companies.
ter. When the ideal intercontinental hia
an way shall have been constructed, il
not impossible that auto communicate
Mr.. will be established between Pun
Arenas and Dawson, if for no 9th
than social purposes, and to cmphasi
the unity Of all the Americas i