VESTIBULE OF THE BANK OF LONDON AND PERU, LIMA.
The manufacture of cotton goods has progressed with remarkable success since the establishment of the first cotton factory in 1874. Five large and flourishing mills of this kind are now located in the environs of Lima, besides several in other cities, of which the most important are those of Arequipa and Ica. From these factories, Peru and Bolivia are supplied with cotton materials, duck, drills, etc., and since their advent, the importation of cotton cloth from Germany and England has notably diminished. The annual output of Peruvian cotton factories is about twenty-five million yards, the consumption of clean raw cotton being from two to three thousand tons annually. The capital employed is estimated at between four and five million sols. The Victoria cotton factory of Lima is one of the most modern establishments of its kind in Peru, and a visit to the various departments inspires one with admiration for the systematic and orderly appearance of the place, as well as the quality of the work done, which is equal to the best turned out from similar factories in Europe and North America.
The silk industry is still in the experimental stage, so far as the making of fabrics is concerned, though Lima has a practical school of sericulture and the Department of Abancay is giving especial attention to this branch of industry. The making of Panamá hats occupies a considerable number of the population in Catacaos, Eten, and Moyobamba, though there are no large establishments having charge of their manufacture exclusively. For the preparation of cereal and other food stuffs, several mills and factories have been opened in Lima and Callao. The flour mills of the Santa Rosa Company and the biscuit factories, fruit-preserving works, chocolate factories, etc., of these and other cities employ modern machinery and are successful enterprises. Lima, Callao, Arequipa, and Cuzco have large breweries and cigar factories, the latter being also an industrial feature of the towns of Trujillo and Piura.
Trujillo has, in addition to its other factories, extensive works for the elaboration of cocaine. This drug has grown greatly in demand within recent years, and is now prepared in twenty-five Peruvian factories, some of them located in the region of the coca trees. The factory of Monzon is among the most important of these enterprises. Peru produces enough cocaine to meet the world’s demand, the annual output approaching a hundred tons. It is remarkable that so few of the medicinal plants and dyewoods of Peru are elaborated in native establishments. Sulphuric acid could be produced at low cost, and there is a promising field for the manufacture of dyes. Among the minor manufactures are paper, matches, leather, cotton seed oil, lumber, ceramics, and similar useful articles of universal necessity or artistic value.
The Santa Rosa works, inaugurated by the Associated Electric Companies of Peru, or, as the syndicate is sometimes called, the “Electric Trust,” is a manufacturing industry of the greatest importance. It is established for the purpose of generating electricity for the entire service of electric lighting and the system of railroads and street cars in Lima, Callao, and Chorillos. The capital employed in this gigantic enterprise is more than ten million dollars gold, and it is owned and controlled by Peruvians. The offices of the company are located at Santa Rosa, in the outskirts of Lima, and the central generating station is in Chosica. This immense establishment is, to-day, capable of providing fourteen thousand horse-power in motor force. Nearly all the electric material for the enterprise was purchased in the United States. The Associated Electric Companies represent the first appearance of the modern “trust” in the Andean republic of the Pacific.
PERUVIAN COTTON IN THE FACTORY.
CHAPTER XXXVI
THE PASSING OF THE OLD PERU—ITS LEGACY TO POSTERITY—THE DESTINY OF THE NEW PERU
