Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1922-06-23
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prepared by the National Geographic
Society. Washington. ID. CD
Chile, whose diplomats are In con-
ference In Washington with those Of
Peru in an effort to solve the Tacna-
africa problem, might be called "the
South American California" 1t Is
long and narrow, and It's region Of
greatest development and population
is q great, rich valley with low noun
tains separating 1t from the coast, and
with a steep, snow-capped range tow
ering above it to the east.
; Chile is the longest and narrowest
of all the countries Of the world. It
stretches 300 miles, from Cape Horn
to the deserts of Tarapaca and TacnA,
within the tropics. It's width is rare
ly more than 125 miles from the. ocean
to the Andean crest. If we were to
place it upon similar stretch of coas.
in North America, 1T would cover Low.
err California, California Oregon,
washington. and British Columbia to
the st. Elias district of Alaska. y
Chile is divided into three sections
by the natural features OF, the Pacific
slope Of the Andes. The northern is
that of the semi-arid and desert re-
gion, which reaches from Peru south
ward to Valparaiso. 1t Is an utter des-
ert in the north and becomes less in
hospitable toward the south. 1t is
traversed from the Andes to the coast
by short, deep valleys, separated by
high spurs of the mountains, and COM
munication from north to south has
always been exceedingly difficult. Ney'
ertheless, the Chilean engineers found
a route by which to. extend the state
railway which links Puerto Montt, liz
a latitude comparable to that of New
York, with Pisagua in the territories
conquered from Peru, which has lat
itude comparable to that of Mexico
City. M t3#
Heart Of the Country.
The central section of Chile exterds
through nine degrees of latitude for G
distance of about 600 miles from Val
paraiso to the island of Chloe, soutf
of Puerto Mont. This is the hear
of Chile, the only portion of the coun
try which can support sufficient pop
ulation to. constitute a nation. Th'
area is not large, about 100000 SQUARE
miles, and much of it is occupied b,
mountain ranges of great height ar'
ruggedness.
But between the Andes and the coas
range there extends in this section |
valley similar to that of California
which is the seat Of the Chilean pen
pie. Many rivers rising in the Ande
descend to 1t and meander more 0
less directly westward through tn
coast range of the Pacific; but the In
! tervening divides are nowhere Of sue
altitude as to interrupt the continuit
of the great valley that extends fror
north to south. Santiago is situate
at its northern end, and fiourishin
cities are located at each favorabl
point on the railway that connects tn
capital with Puerto Montt.
The climate as we go from north t
south becomes ever more humid, an
we pass from the irrigated lands abou
| Santiago to the dense forest swamp
of the southern portion of the distric
While much of the land has bee
cleared or is in the process of clearing
In q state which reminds. one OF OF
own Pacific coast 80 years ago, othe
areas remain impenetrabie forest
still unexplored after nearly 400 veal
of occupation Of the country.
The third section of Chile, extendin
southwark from Puerto Montt throue
I. "A degrees of latitude to Cape Hor
is like our southern Alaskan coast
tstretcfr Of islands and peninsulas brol
en- by intricate channels and .profour
fiords that penetrate far into the Ian
Tumultuous rivers descend from II
Andes and idebouch into the fiords
! swampy deltas which are covered vii
dense forests.
The large Island Of Chloe, whit
was conquered by Valdivia before Il
middle of re sixteenth century,
weil populated and occupies positi'
with reference to the more frequent'
northern coast similar to that whit
Vancouver island holds to San Fra
: cisco. Farther south the populate
becomes very scanty, glaciers q
. scend from the Andean heights. a
the savage but majestic scenery
Smythe channel and the Straits
Magsllsn suggests that e the inla'