Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1924-10-29


prepared by the National Geographic So
ciety, Washington. D. c.
Chile, which has come into the
world news by the unusual procedure
of banlshing it's President for six
months, is as interesting geographical
~ as politically. The best way to see
this shOe-string of country is to trav-
ell on the longitudinal railway, from
Its beginning in the dreary desert to
It's dropping-off place on the wooded
shore of the Gulf of Ancud. Few,
save the Chileans themselves, make
this comprehensive Journey from the
rainleSs region of the north to the
rich agricultural heart of the coun-
try, and on through the magnificent
forest and river lands, long held by
the valiant Araucanian Indians, to
that enchanting mountain and lake re-
gion unrivaled in beauty the world
over.
The "longitudinal's" beginning is at
Pisagua, port north of AntOfagasta.
africa, still farther north in disputed
territory, is not yet connected with
the Chilean railroad system, being be-
yOnd the nitrate zone.
1t takes a drab pencil to draw pic
tire of the country crossed the first
two days out from Antofagasta. One
looks in vain on the monotonous, tree
less plain for so much as a cactus
plant, and the line is too far inland
for one to glimpse the restless, blue
Pacific, whose tempestuous surf enliv-
ems even the most coIorless of the des-
ert ports. To the east bleak gray
hills shut off the Snow-crOwned Andes.
Near the railroad the traveller sees
deeply furrowed patches of white
earth resembling old salt deposits.
These mark the sites Of former nitrate
workings. Nitrate of soda, Chile's
chief source of revenue, of which the
country has virtually a world mo-
nOpoly, is obtained from the rough
rock known locally as caliche. It is
dug or blasted from the earth, in
some places lying near the surface, in
others 20 to 80 feet below ground.
The nitrate deposits lie from 10 to 80
miles inland from the coast, at an al
titude varying from little over 81
600 to 1900 feet.
AS one continues south from Co
piapo, little by little the desert flora
grows from tufts of grass and stunt
ed bush to tall algarobas and cacti of
many varieties, one with a great red
bloom. At Vallenar the railroad en-
tiers a wide, irrigated valley. emerald
green with alfalfa, and vines heavy
with luscious white grapes whose
equal it is difficult to find in any 9TH
er part of the world.
Coqumbo a Mining Center.
At the river Elqui the longitudinal
railway gives a twist seward to serve
the charmingly situated town of La
Serena and Coquimbo its port. For
a century and a half Coquimbo has
been famed as a mining center. One
of our North American steel compa-
MES has developed a remarkable iron
property in the gigantic Toto mines,
where ore taken from a mountain of
iron by steam shovelS is conveyed
by an electrically operated railroad to
the pier and loaded directly, through
chutes, into specially constructed
steamers.
1t takes six days Of daylight travel
from Antofagasta to Calera. Here we
meet the lateral railway in the Aeon
cagua valley, connecting the town of
Los Andes, at the foot of the noun
tains, with Valparaiso.
The Aconcagua valley is Chile's
gem, a lovely vale where a merry lit
tie river dashing down from crystal
line heights, is bordered by velvety
green hills. This is the rich agricul-
tural region which stretches far south
10 the Bio-Bio river This and adjoin-
ing valleys, the biologists tell us, are
the remains Of ancient fjords like
those we see in far southern Chile.
Where the coast range of the Andes
dips it's feet in the sea, Valparaiso,
South Americas chief port on the Pa
cific, rises like an amphitheater from
the crescent shore.
This city somehow does not seem
typicalIy South American or even dis
tinctly Chilean. There are so many
Britishers and Chileans of British
blood here that the place has much in
common with British colonial ports.
Like Hongkong, Valparaiso is
formed of few level streets on land
In part reclaimed from the sea. and a
residential section on the hills above.
Elevators on inclined planes. known