Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1925-07-22
View Of Punta Arenas.

~ ASSiStohCc' 4He great GRADS
caught IN the nearby frigid waters
furnish a characteristic Punta Arenas
dellcacy. These creatures are two
feet over ALL Only the legs are eaten,
and their meat is like that of the best
lobster
The Punta Arenas of today boasts
paved streets, good ships and build
lngs of brick and stucco. Much cor
rugated- iron is still used on the out
skirts of the town, however. There
mas not been an entire break with the
past. Motor trucks find oxcarts still
competing with them in hauling the
never-ending stream of wool bales that
pours out of this far-away port.
Sea influences moderate the climate
OF Punta Arenas, which may be said
to be on the climatic border between
temperate and Antarctic conditions.
Overcoats are necessary even during
the southern summer (our winter).
The average summer temperature is
about 81 degrees Fahrenheit. The
winters, however, are not so harsh as
those of Canada.
Sheep Bring Prosperity.
The islands to the south of the
/ strait have the mildest climate of the
entire region, and the sheep lands of
TERRA del Fuego are higher priced
than those of the mainland. There
are nearly 100000 sheep in the Chill
can portion Of the Patagonian region,
and the vast expanse of Argentine
Patagonia to the north support other
millions. One of the Patagonian
| sheep magnates" is said to have an
income of over $1,00O,0OO a year and
a single company owns more than
100000 sheep.
Wool Is the great money crop, but
| the flocks must be kept within bounds,
so there Is great by-product indus
try in mutton, hides and grease. These
products are taken care of in great
| freezer plants, numbers of which,
many owned by sheep-raising corpora
tons, are scattered about Chilean Pat
| agonia. A trip through one of these
establishments dramatizes the Pata-
gonian sheep industry for the visitor
as nothing else can.
A typical plant is situated at Puerto
Bories, about $50 miles northwest of
Punta Arenas on one of the great
arms of the sea that penetrate far into
the land, Last Hope inlet. At this
| freezer 36 butchers work on the
stream Of carcasses at the rate of II
per minute. The carcasses then pass
| V1yhi hot
washed and dressed, and wind up in
the cooling chamber, where they re-
main day. Leaving the cooling
chamber on a conveyor, the carcasses
are weighed and then passed on to
| tagging machine. On some days the
| dressed sheep pass over the scale at
| the rate of 1900 per hour. In the
Puerto Bories plant $4,000 sheep can
hang at one time in the freezing cham
bers. Four thousand per day is the
average kill during the butchering
season. In the cold storage compart-
ments something like 100000 carcasses
can be stored. The cold storage de-
partment adjoins the docks, where
ocean-going freezer steamers tie up,
directly into holds.
Ranches Are Very Large.
The ranches of the Patagonian re-
gion are huge affairs like those of Aus
tralia, and are chiefly under wire
fence. Scotchmen from the Falkland
islands introduced sheep ranching into
Patagonia, and the shepherds today
are largely Scotch. The grass Of this
far southern land is most nourishing.
The sheep grow so fat that If they
roll on their backs they cannot right
themselves, and fall an easy prey to
foxes and wild dogs.
Rabbits, the pest Of Australian
sheep ranchmen, are not present in
Patagonia but the country is infested
by rats which cause heavy losses.
They eat the grass and also destroy it
by burrowing among its roots. The
large numbers of wild geese that
alight in the region also prove trouble
some. They browse like the sheep
and in direct competition. Three or
four of them will make away with as
much grass as sheep.
Argentine Patagonia is not so well
supplied with slaughtering establish
ments and freezing plants as Chilean
Patagonia, fact which is causing con-
siderable economic difficulty just now.
Sheep are raised on the huge Argen-
tinIan ranches of the south primarily
for their wool Last season the fiocks
reached huge proportions and during
the present season the pasturage has
not been as good as 1t was hoped 1t
would be. The ranchers are therefore
faced by dilemma, and serious con-
sideration Is being given TO a plan to
kill off and bury thousands Of sheep.
The situation may result in the extern
sion of. freezer facilities to large
area of lower Argentina.