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Show THE NITRATE OF CHILE Not nian people in this region know the hlstorj of the nitrite industry. in-dustry. It s given in the South American. Condensed, it 19 as follows Some years ago a Smn hman residing In a northern city of Chile noticed that plants whlcll be was only able to coax and nurse to ma'turltj in a cultivated cul-tivated patch of his gardeu throve exceedingly without his help on certain cer-tain stretches of ugly looking whitish soil He sent several sacks of this to a brother-in-law in Scotland, who distributed i' among his farmer 1 . i'Mids Then mil acle took place rhe results were wonderful. The subsiance was nitrate Then a demand de-mand was made which now gives em-I em-I ! ment to U.,:si Chile-:ns with "n unsatisfied demand for 1(7,000 more The yield will this year be over 3,000,- 000 tons (60,000,000 quintals) Thl3 will be distributed through many countries the United States taking .'11 per cent The industry represents repre-sents an Investment of 1127,000.000 of j which 53 500,000 is English. $52,500,-nun $52,500,-nun js Chilian, $2 1 hid.ouO German. Here is a paragraph which ought to be of interest to American prospectors pros-pectors Now, nitrate is not just shoveled out of the ground and sacked far j from It In the first place the nitrate beds general lie about a foot below the surfa-e First comes the ehuca and then the costra. both of which or worthless, and then the nitrate beds j In the form of a er hard brownish -r.iy rock or caliche. This extends I down about three feet further, at I which point the bedrock or gova is ; found The usual process is to drill 'a hole to bedrock, which is then Ichaiged with gunpowder made right Ion the ground -and exploded The caliche Is thus broken ii and li is shipped to the oficinas or reduction works (of which there were l8 In operation in 191m on one of the many narrow gauge railroads that extend from the coast up into and " ross the nitr.jte fields "On arrival at the works the mass I is crushed Into a fine powder, washed wash-ed and boiled. The water is then drawn off and allowed to cool, the nitrate being precipitated When drv it is in the form of a whitish crystal powder that is then sacked ind shipped to it-; destination, mstly 1 iv English bottoms." Thai awakens a thought that possibly possi-bly 1 he region between the Sierra Nevadas and Rockies maj have more nitrate than Chile has. Would it not be wonderful if it should be found that the waste has. through the ages, been holding l Its barren breast the material to fertilize the soil of half the republic'' Nitrate Is not only valuable as a fertilizer From it gunpowder and nitric acid are made and Iodine Is a . by product Of this $1,500, worth Is sent away annnalh though the unount Is restricted re-stricted in order to hedd up the price The discovery has had the usual effect The fortunate ones are making mak-ing a great display of wealth and-even and-even the government has become ex travagant because of it? vastl Increased In-creased revenue. Chile is naturally a proud and grasping country and this discovery of nitrate should be a new notive to Tern and Boliva to keep the peace or the stuffy republic t. the south will be liable to take them both In Telegram. |