Industrial and commercial South America

by Annie S. Peck

The business section of Valparaiso is on a narrow strip of shore between the bay and the amphitheatre of hills, the level sector varying in width from two blocks to half a mile. Climbing up the slopes and crowning the hill tops is most of the residential district. The business section, largely destroyed by an earthquake in 1906, has been rebuilt in a more substantial manner, and it well compares with other cities of its size. Ascensors run by cable on inclined planes are in general use for the ascent of the bluffs, though paths and a few carriage roads wind steeply upward in the cañons here and there separating the hills, some of which rise to a height of 1000 feet. The suburb of Viña del Mar, population 34,000, a fashionable summer resort with a fine beach and club house, distant a half hour by rail, is much frequented by the foreign devotees of golf, tennis, and other athletic sports.

Other Ports. Of the other principal ports we have observed that Arica is the terminus of the Arica-La Paz Railway, that Iquique is important for nitrates, Antofagasta for nitrates, copper, and as the medium of commerce with Bolivia by the old railway to Oruro and now to La Paz; Coquimbo as the port of a province with both mineral and agricultural wealth. Below Valparaiso are better harbors. Concepción, the largest city south of Santiago, 350 miles distant, is spoken of as the outlet of the rich Province of that name, but being 12 miles from the mouth of the Bio-Bio River it is not a real seaport and is served by Talcahuano, 9 miles away, which has one of the best harbors on the coast. For this reason, though a much smaller city, population 24,000, it was selected as a military port and for the Government dry docks. A little farther south on Arauco Bay are Coronel and Lota, both important coaling stations, at one of which all steamers call; Lota, the larger city, has all conveniences for shipping. At the tip of the mainland in the Straits is Punta Arenas, not visited by the regular coasting steamers, but a port where every passing ship is likely to make a brief call.

Railways

While the Chilians have always cultivated a taste for the sea, for strategical more than commercial reasons railway construction has of late been strongly favored. In this medium of traffic Chile in proportion to her area is far ahead of the other West Coast countries. It is true that the difficulties of topography are less. The oldest existing line in Latin America was here constructed in 1849 by a Bostonian, William Wheelright, who later founded the Pacific Steam Navigation Company, the earliest giving regular steamship service to Europe from the West Coast. This first railway line was from the port Caldera to the mining town Copiapó. The line from Valparaiso to Santiago, also constructed by Americans, was finished in 1863. Government ownership is popular in Chile, and of the 8000 miles of road in operation the State owns over 5000, with considerable extensions planned. Unfortunately six different gauges have been used, varying from 2 feet 6 inches on the Antofagasta Bolivia Line to 5 feet 6 inches on the Central Railway.

The Central Railway. This is a Government Line connecting Valparaiso with the capital Santiago, express trains with American parlor cars making the run of 117 miles in four hours. The road is now to be electrified. South along the rich Central Valley, the same Railway runs through sleeping cars to Valdivia and to Puerto Montt, the latter city 750 miles from Santiago. This section is well worth a visit, whether from a scenic or a business point of view. A bridge 1400 feet long and 300 above the bed of the Malleco River cost over $1,000,000.

There are many branches from the main line, some of these privately owned; most of them to coast ports, a few towards the Cordillera. Valdivia is the most southern ocean port to which a branch extends. Farther north, the third city of Chile, Concepción, is favored, and Talcahuano near by. From Concepción a coast road leads south to Lota, Coronel, and beyond. From Talca a line goes to Constitución, of some importance for agriculture, shipyards, and gold mining. Another branch goes to the port Pichilemu; from Santiago one extends 72 miles to the port San Antonio, nearer the capital than is Valparaiso but a secondary port to be improved by the building of docks. The Central Railway obviously forms a very important part of the real longitudinal railway, but the section which has the name Longitudinal begins farther north.

The South Longitudinal. From Calera on the Valparaiso-Santiago Railway a branch leads 45 miles to Cabildo, where begins the Longitudinal proper. This because of construction difficulties is of narrow gauge, one metre. On account of poor equipment and service, and the competition of steamship lines along the coast, its traffic is at present small; but with better facilities and increase of population it will be of much value. At last accounts there was weekly service to Antofagasta with two changes of cars, not counting the one from Valparaiso or Santiago in order to reach Cabildo. Here, three hours from Santiago, the South Longitudinal is taken to the city of Copiapó; for the Longitudinal has two sections. The ride is through a fairly pleasant country with varied scenery, the region being partly agricultural and partly mineral. In this section are heavy grades, rising to 6 per cent, requiring 28 miles of the rack system. Branches or other connecting lines here and there reach the sea. The road passes through the important port Coquimbo, and the adjoining Serena, at which point, 200 miles from Valparaiso, the desert land begins; though in river valleys there is still some verdure. From Vallenar on the main line a branch runs 31 miles to the port Huasco. A private line from the port Carrizal, 92 miles north of Huasco and 73 south of Caldera, crosses the Longitudinal. At Copiapó we come to the old line from Caldera, a fairly good port, shipping copper and doing considerable other business, though not a port of the first class. A branch in the other direction extends to San Antonio.

The North Longitudinal. At Copiapó we change to the North Longitudinal from which there is a branch to Chañaral, about 50 miles north of Caldera, on a large but exposed bay in one of the richest mineral districts of Atacama, with large smelting works, and exporting gold, silver, and copper. A private (British) railway system of 184 miles, crossing the Longitudinal, serves a nitrate district and the port of Taltal, 100 miles south of Antofagasta; a primary port on a well protected bay, with piers fitted with steam cranes, a centre of the nitrate and copper industries. Taltal is a modern town with important business houses. Besides gold, silver, and copper, the Province has some undeveloped nitrate land.

Farther on at Aguas Blancas, a railway belonging to the Bolivia-Antofagasta Company runs to Caleta Coloso, a port six miles south of Antofagasta and connected by rail with that city as well as with various nitrate properties. Farther still the Longitudinal crosses the Antofagasta-Bolivia Railway at Baquedano, where some traffic is exchanged. It is the intention of the Government to construct its own line to Antofagasta and to the port of Mejillones some miles north. Beyond this crossing, from Toco on the Longitudinal, the Anglo-Chilian Nitrate and Railway Company’s Line branches to the port of Tocopilla. At last Pintados, the one time terminus is reached, where connection is made with the Nitrate Railways, which go on to Iquique and Pisagua. But in spite of this the Government Line is now being prolonged to the former city. It is intended ultimately to extend the main line to Arica, 175 miles farther, a section likely to be unprofitable commercially but desired for other reasons. From Arica there is a railway to Tacna, near the Peruvian border, hence on completion of this section there would be through rail service from near the northern border to Puerto Montt in the far south, a primary port on the Gulf of Reloncavi. The length of the road from Puerto Montt to Jazpampa the present terminus, east of Pisagua, is 1902 miles; to Taratá, the most northern town in the mountains, the distance is 207 miles more.

The Antofagasta-Bolivia Railway. The Bolivian section of the important Antofagasta Railway has already been referred to. That in Chile deserves further consideration. British owned, like most of the Chilian railways not belonging to the State, it is the longest and most important of these. Although uncommonly narrow with a 2 foot 6 inch gauge, the sleeping cars are more comfortable than some with double the width. The road operates 835 miles of main track to La Paz, 518 of these in Chile. There is semi-weekly service to La Paz in practically two days, besides local trains. One thousand, two hundred and fifty miles of track are controlled by the Company. The climb begins at once, the road in 18 miles getting 1800 feet above the sea. At km. 36 a branch 70 miles long goes to the Boquete Nitrate Fields, altitude 5622 feet. At Prat, km. 59, a branch goes down to Mejillones, a new port, opened by the Company in 1906, called the finest harbor on the coast, capable of holding the fleets of the world (it was said when these were smaller) and so protected that shipping suffers no inconvenience from bad weather. Tocopilla, 37 miles north of Antofagasta, has direct rail connection with that city by a line 43 miles long. The main Antofagasta line, crossing the Longitudinal at km. 96, at km. 116 enters the principal nitrate district of this region and leaves it 35 miles beyond. In this section are 24 oficinas, as the nitrate plants are called, some of them models of their kind.