SOUTH AMERICA: CHILE. 



363 



The Antofagasta and Bolivia Railway Company and the various 

 concerns of the district have well-equipped shops and find no trouble 

 in doing most of their work with natives, employing only a limited 

 number of foreigners. If paper and pulp mills were established, 

 native workmen here, as in the south, would operate them. 



CONSUMPTION AND PRICES. 



The same conditions and wants are found here as in our own 

 mining districts, and the same rules as to cash and credit sales. 



There are no firms or brokers dealing specially in papers; all 

 kinds are sold by general jobbers and retailers. 



Sterling prices now ruling for sundry sorts are: 



Stationery, fair, for offices, etc., 6s. ($1.46) per ream. 



Italian wrapping, is. 8d. (40.5 cents) per ream. 



German wrapping, is. 2d. (28.3 cents) per ream. 



Foolscap, average about 75. ($1.70) per ream. 



Wall paper, 3d. to 6d. (6 to 12 cents) per roll of 9 yards by 21 

 inches. 



Printing paper, 4d. (8 cents) per pound. 



There are usually 4 newspapers in the district, and all do job 

 work ; also 3 lithographers, who undertake all sorts of work. 



Great Britain supplies most paper of all classes; next comes Ger- 

 many and then France. From the United States, very little comes. 



WATER POWER AND RAW MATERIALS. 



The river here offers ample power, but the water is bad and 

 might not answer. As there are no raw materials, however, no mills 

 are erected. 



IMPORTS. 



The statistics for 1897 the latest give imports as follows: 



The foregoing are direct imports, but a considerable quantity is 

 bought by dealers here in Valparaiso, the principal distributing point 

 on the coast. 



Central and southern Bolivia import supplies via Antofagasta; 

 but all is in transit, and no details are known. 



