The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-04-04

ruvians literally Ego hungry" because of their scarcity and high price inland due to the problems of Icing and trans portation.
 A few miles off the coast. the re- turned explorer said. he let down net and drew 1t out of the sea filled with four varieties of the most de- licious edible crabs. These crusta- ceans, he said, would furnish the basis for big canning industry. both for home and foreign consumption, vast quantities of such seafood now being annually imported by the United States from Japan
 The wonderful fish mad bird life" of Peru. Mir Murphy attributed to the Humboldt current. cold body of oce- anic water which flows along 1900 miles of the coast. He made many observations of this current he said following those of Alexander Agassiz and Rr. Robert F. Coker of the United States fish commission, pioneers in such work. Although Perus proximity to the equator, he said would cause one to suppose that it might have tempertaure like that of Florida it's actual temperature was more like that of Boston. The result of the interest," | ing correlation. betweeV the Humboldt current and the abundance of fish and bird life, he said. he has covered in more than 800 pages of data. He also brought with him sixteen cases and crates in many of which are specimens of curious marine and feathered crea- lures.
 MT. Murphy called attention to tho
 guano or fertilizer deposits of Peru. which, he said, may be doubled by the 1 conservation methods devised by Fran . cisco Ballen Peruvian who he de- scrlbed as "one of the most far-sighted 1 and able economists in the world" In furtherance of Mir Ballen's plans the
 explorer said, he advocated increasing
 the breeding area of the guano pro. ducing birds, at present confined to ! tlfteen islands, the largest of which are the Chinchi and Lobos, and where 1 deposits of fertilizer 150 feet in thick
 ness have been found
 The value of the guano deposits. he | said. was also due to the action of
 the Humboldt current. the cold winds 1 from which. blowing over the arid land, preserved the fertilizing qual- ities of the bird lime. Mir Murphy. 1 whose work was aided by the Peruvian n l government. said the islands might be 1 enlarged by dynamiting the cliffs into 1 tie sea He also urged the stoppage
 guano gathering during the court ! ship of the birds. The guano. he said ! is dug by natives in the interior of the w 1 ears to the coast, where it is put 1 aboard ships. Expoi ration of the fer i t;1izer. he said. was being held up on laccount of high ocean freight rates. 1 The guano birds were enumerated ' by MT Murphy as the white breasted ] ccrmorant (comm erciallv worth s15 a pair in Lima); the pelican and two ! species of gannot. By actual computa- tation of the nests of some of these ! birds per metre on one of the islands he estimated that more than 1000 of 1 that one species inhabited it. MT. | Murphy said the ancient Incas of Peru highly prized the guano birds and pen i s1ized with death anyone who killed one. Many of the motion picture films he brought back he said showed the life history of the seabirds as well as the native fisheries and the guano in dustry
 i Tn the period from 1S4O to 1908. Mir Murphy said. many of the birds were killed and it is only in recent yea $ that efforts have been made to con serve this important resource of Peru 1 President Leguia and other prominent
 men, he said have encouraged foreign
 scientific men to visit Peru for the f purpose of ascertaining the best con
 servation methods. A steam trawler < and two launches were placed at Mir
 Murphy's disposal upon his arrival at
 Lima. and from these he conducted his + researches and experiments. Guano
 he said is the best fertilizer known
 for sugar cane and before the war vast quantities of it were shipped to the
 United States through Charleston, S c. Peru herself, he said. is now util-
 izing the fertilizer not only for grow
 ing sugar cane but for rice and cot
 ton.
 Ocean freight rates Mir Murphy said
 -l,4 f.a A1- ! Ia s-r
 which has sprung up since the close oi
 the war Within the last six months
 he said. eight or nine steamship lines Dutch. French. Italian. British and