A LONGITUDINAL JOURNEY THROUGH CHILE 



223 



electricity passing through moist air, by 

 combination, formed nitric acid ; this in 

 turn, impregnating the flood waters of 

 Andean streams and coming in contact 

 with the limestone of the rocks, formed 

 nitrate of lime ; another step in Nature's 

 laboratory brought this nitrate of lime in 

 contact with sulphate of soda, forming 

 the caliche we find to-day. 



The nitrate fields stretch for several 

 hundred miles along the pampas' western 

 rim, which marks the edge of the ancient 

 flood waters. 



THE NITRATE PROCESS IS SIMPLE 



The process of production is simple. 

 The loose rock is carried by mule teams, 

 or cars suspended to cables, to the little 

 railways which circulate through the ni- 

 trate establishments, and on to the crush- 

 ing plant, where, after being broken into 

 small pieces, it is thrown into iron vats 

 and boiled until the dissolved saltpeter 

 can be filtered. 



When crystallized it is cleaned, and the 

 finished salitrc, or nitrate of soda, packed 

 in bags and sent to the nearest port. The 

 greater portion now comes to the United 

 States to enrich our soil and to be used in 

 the manufacture of explosives. 



Iodine, precipitated from the nitrate 

 solution, is the most important by-product 

 of the caliche rock. By agreement among 

 the nitrate establishments, its production 

 is limited to every sixth year, that the 

 market may not be overstocked. 



Operated for the most part by Chilean 

 and British capital, 129 of these nitrate 

 establishments, or oficinas, as they are 

 known locally, are scattered over the 

 pampa back of Pisagua, Iquique, and 

 Antofagasta, their tall chimneys dominat- 

 ing the plain. At night, from our south- 

 bound train, the myriad twinkling lights 

 of these strange desert towns spoke of 

 life and industry in a region altogether 

 dependent for sustenance on the world of 

 trees and pastures beyond the far horizon. 



A LONG JOURNEY "jUST TO SEE RAIN" 



At a dreary, sun-baked station, where 

 one ugly galvanized-iron building broke 

 the monotony of the plain, the khaki-clad 

 British manager of one of the nitrate es- 

 tablishments boarded our train. He was 

 going south, he said, "just to see it rain." 



Drawn by James M. Darley 

 A SKETCH MAP OP CHILE 



