CELEBRATED MINES OF BOLIVIA--THE CERRO DE
POTOSÍ--HUANCHACA SILVER MINES
[Illustration: ENTRANCE TO PULACAYO MINE, HUANCHACA.]
Few events in the history of modern times have been so universally
recorded as the discovery of the mines of Potosí. In the middle of
the sixteenth century, when the ships of Spain arrived with the first
treasure from the silver mountain, all Europe became interested,
and excitement grew as the abundance of the marvellous Cerro proved
apparently unlimited and inexhaustible. It became the theme of courtier
and poet, and eclipsed every other event for a time. The victories of
the Holy League, the proclamation of His Catholic Majesty’s coronation,
and even more important occurrences of the latter part of the sixteenth
century, were hardly welcomed with greater _éclat_ than the
announcement of a new cargo of treasure received from the American
mines; and the fame of the wonderful land beyond the sea continued to
increase, as each arrival of silver-laden ships brought fresh stories
of the marvellous mountain called Potosí, out of which the precious
white metal poured in never-ceasing streams. Fabulous tales and
fanciful legends were related everywhere regarding this famous mine.
All the world talked of its riches, poets wrote stanzas inspired by
visions of its opulence, and lovers dreamed of bestowing its abundance
on their dear ones. It was an extravagant serenader who offered his
lady love the wealth of Potosí for a kiss:
“Te diera, si me dieras
De tu linda boca un sí,
Las aromas de la Arabia,
El Cerro de Potosí.”
[I would give, if you would give me
From your pretty lips a “yes,”
All the perfumes of Arabia,
The Cerro de Potosí.]
At the time when Spain found her new treasure in America, chivalry
had not yet lost its romantic influence and charm, and many a knight
made his way across the sea and over the snow-covered passes of the
Andes in search of adventure by which to prove his devotion, or,
perhaps, to find riches that would mend a broken fortune and entitle
him to sue for the hand of some noble lady of his choice. For, in the
unwritten law of chivalry, poverty was counted, as it is to-day under
a more modern code, if not a crime, at least a bar sinister on the
escutcheon of sentiment. In the written romances of those days, the
popular hero returned unexpectedly from Potosí with untold treasures,
which he laid at the feet of the queen of his heart after destroying
his rival and achieving renown by many brilliant deeds of valor. The
author of _Don Quixote_ naturally refers to Potosí as a synonym
for fabulous wealth, and there was hardly a writer of the time who did
not find occasion to use the name of the silver mountain to illustrate
the idea of lavish abundance. The news that the city of Potosí, which
received the name of Villa Imperial by order of King Charles V.,
spent ten million dollars in the festivities of the coronation of
his successor, Philip II., created no surprise, since millions were
supposed to roll like pebbles into the lap of that famous city. A
chronicler of the sixteenth century estimates at six million dollars
the amount of the “royal fifth” paid in taxes annually, and, knowing
the facilities that existed for evading the tax, he adds: _Y que
seria lo que se dejó de quintar!_--“And what must that have been on
which the ‘fifth’ tax was not paid!” Improbable as some of the stories
related of the Cerro appear, there is more truth than fiction in the
accounts of extravagance and luxury that have been handed down to us
in the _Annals of the Imperial City_. It is recorded that the
amount of silver which was taken out of Potosí from the date of the
discovery in 1545 until the beginning of the nineteenth century was
three billion three hundred and ninety-four million dollars, and a
liberal estimate gives nearly four billion dollars as the total output
of silver from the Cerro de Potosí up to the present day. Curious old
documents relating to the history of this great silver mountain have
been collected and published by Señor Don Vicente Ballivian y Rojas
in a volume of fascinating interest. In one paragraph we are told
that “in 1566 a Spanish noble, who was entering the Cotamito mine
with his Indian laborers, stumbled against an object which proved to
be a magnificent crucifix of pure silver, the arms and legs being of
_rosicler_, evidently formed by nature under divine direction.”
It became the subject of much speculation, and was held to be a sign
that the powerful hand of God would work for the future prosperity of
this particular mine. The crucifix was sent to Spain and placed in
the church of San Agustin, of Barcelona. Another chronicle relates
that one of the rich owners of the Cotamito mine, Don Antonio Lopez
de Quiroga, paid in fifths to the King of Spain not less than fifteen
million dollars. According to this authority, the great millionaire was
once paying a visit to the viceroy at Lima, when an officer of the
household remarked that the expenses of the viceregal establishment
amounted to the exorbitant sum of four hundred dollars a week, which in
those days was considered a great extravagance. “Well, I spend the same
sum for candles in my mines of Potosí,” responded the visitor!
For centuries Bolivia occupied third place among the silver-producing
countries of the world, the annual production at one time amounting to
ten million ounces of silver. Even with such an enormous yield, the
mines were only superficially worked by very primitive methods; and of
the ten thousand abandoned silver mines which are to be found scattered
throughout the country to-day, not one was exhausted, the obstacle to
continued production being in every case a lack of means to protect the
mine from inundation, or insufficient capital to buy new machinery,
etc., as was the case after the War of Independence.
[Illustration: PORCO, SITE OF THE OLDEST SILVER MINES IN
BOLIVIA.]
While the exploitation of the mines was at its height in the sixteenth
and seventeenth centuries, the most absurd and fantastic extravagance
prevailed; and no provision was made for a possible period of
depression, which came later in the form of plagues, inundations, a
lowering of the price of silver, increased cost of transportation, and
similar contrarieties. Although the famous Cerro de Potosí no longer
produces the enormous quantities of metal which history records of
former days, it is not by any means exhausted, the value of the silver
taken from its mines from 1895 to 1902 being nearly four million
dollars in gold. It is claimed that about seven thousand mines have
been opened in the Cerro since the discovery of its wealth, and the
records show that up to the middle of the nineteenth century five
thousand mines were registered as being in operation at some time on
the famous mountain. About seven hundred are worked at present for
both silver and tin, and five thousand laborers are employed. The
Cerro presents a unique spectacle as seen from a distance, towering
behind the city in the shape of a carefully chiselled cone, of the
dark red-brown color that suggests metallic composition, and marked at
intervals all over its surface by gray and yellow patches that show
where a _boca-mina_, or opening to a mine, is located. In the
early hours of the morning when the Indians are on their way to work,
the Cerro is alive with moving colors, the bright yellow, red, or
green skirts and _ponchos_ giving a kaleidoscopic effect to the
scene. Both men and women work at the mines, the women being engaged
in pounding and sorting the ore which is deposited in sheds for the
purpose. Although most of the mines are located at an altitude of
seventeen thousand feet or more, the people seem to be so accustomed
to the rarefied atmosphere that they do not notice it, and it is a
remarkable fact that at the altitude of twelve thousand five hundred
feet at Lake Titicaca one suffers far more difficulty in breathing
than at the much greater height of Potosí. There is something quite
picturesque in the appearance of the Potosí miner, whose garb is a
mixture of European and Indian dress, and even the little tallow dip
which he wears in his cap attracts attention, not only by its shape,
which is like a tiny tin jug with the wick lying over the spout, but
because it is invariably ornamented by a small cross which stands up
from the rim as a conspicuous adornment.
[Illustration: SILVER AND TIN MINES, REAL SOCAVÓN, POTOSÍ.]
[Illustration: ESTABLISHMENT OF SOUX AND HERNANDEZ FOR
VARIOUS TREATMENTS OF TIN ORES, POTOSÍ.]
[Illustration: ASSORTED TIN ORES FOR TREATMENT AT HUAYRA,
POTOSÍ.]
A traveller riding up the winding heights of the Cerro de Potosí is at
once struck by the prevalence of great masses of petrified lava that
are seen everywhere around the base of the mountain, and at each turn
the impression grows stronger that the huge pyramid, constituting a
solid mass of metal, is an upheaval from the very centre of volcanic
energy. Though the Spaniards mined only for silver, the Cerro contains
also quantities of copper, iron, and lead, and it is to-day one of
the chief centres of the tin-mining industry, which, by the enormous
abundance of this important metal, promises to make Bolivia as
famous commercially in the twentieth century as Alto Peru was in the
sixteenth. Although only a few mines have been opened, Bolivia already
ranks high among the tin producing countries, and new discoveries of
the deposit are constantly being made. Many mine owners of Potosí are
devoting special attention to the tin ores and are treating the silver
production as of lesser importance for the time being until conditions
become more favorable to resume this mining as the principal industry.
There is an abundance of tin in the Cerro, where it is found in layers
between the veins of silver, as, for instance, silver is found near the
summit, then, lower down, there are tin mines, and below them again are
veins of silver. The mines of the Real Socavón, or Royal Silver Mines,
are located near the base of the mountain and yield both silver and
tin. There are only two important mines near the foot of the Cerro,
the Real Socavón, which is the property of an English company, and
the Socavón Porvenir which belongs to Señor Don Juan M. Saracho, the
Bolivian minister of public instruction. These two mines perforate
the mountain from east to west, having the great advantage that they
cut through all the veins, which run from north to south. Though the
work has been delayed through lack of sufficient capital and because
of the more rapid returns which the mining of tin brings at present,
they offer great promise with the investment of larger funds. The
Royal Silver Mining Company owns, in addition to the Real Socavón,
the old mines of Cotamitos, Forzados, and Candelaria, higher up the
Cerro. In fact, nearly all the mines now in operation in Bolivia are
the same properties as those worked under the Spanish viceroyalty,
except that the present system is more modern and the mining is
not so superficially conducted. The Real Socavón has all necessary
conveniences for the work, such as a railway through the various
galleries, and air tubes for ventilation. It is possible to ride on
horseback through the principal corridors, so high is the tunnel. The
rich vein in this mine produces daily three _cajones_, equivalent
to five thousand pounds each, of silver metal of a standard of fifty to
sixty _marcos_, a _marco_ being equal to seven and one-half
ounces troy, and about twenty per cent tin, and the output will be
increased, with the completion of certain improvements, to eight to
ten _cajones_ of a standard of fourteen to fifteen _marcos_
and eight to ten per cent of tin. The same process of treatment for
extracting the silver and tin is in vogue in all the more important
_ingenios_, or mining establishments, with variations according
to the predominating quality of ores. When the ore is taken from the
mine it is transferred to the furnaces or kilns, where the excess of
sulphur is extracted, and the process of crushing facilitated. After
being calcined in the furnace, the metal passes to the crusher, from
which it is taken to another furnace to be chloridized. For very high
grade ores, which show a large percentage of precious metal, smelting
is the preferred process, but where the grade is lower the system of
lixiviation or concentration is used, as in the _ingenios_ of
Velarde and Huayllahuasi, where both silver and tin ores are treated.
These establishments, which are owned by Messrs. Soux and Hernandez,
are worked in connection with the company’s mines, which are counted
among the richest of the Cerro. In the _ingenios_ of Bebin
Brothers, known as Santa Rosa and Huayra, the smelting process is
used in the former, and concentration in the latter establishment.
The minerals from the mines of Señor Matias de Mendieta are treated
by concentration, as are also those of the Ingenio San Marcos, owned
by Mr. Robert Scott. In the establishment Quintanilla, the property
of Señor Juan Rubarth, both smelting and concentration are used in
the treatment of the ores. These firms are all engaged chiefly in
the exploitation of tin mines, but they regard the silver production
as an assured source of wealth, only held in reserve for the time
being, while tin is so much more in demand and brings better prices.
Señor Don Juan Ugarteche, managing director of Bebin Brothers, mines,
estimates the entire production of the Cerro de Potosí, at present, as
four million bolivianos annually, and he places the gross average grade
of the metals as twenty per cent pure, though he says a great deal of
it is sixty per cent pure, and is exported to Europe without previous
treatment of any kind.
[Illustration: BARS OF TIN PREPARED FOR SHIPMENT, MINES OF
BEBIN BROTHERS, POTOSÍ.]
It is interesting to visit an _ingenio_ and to follow the various
methods by which the ore is treated before it comes out of the last
ordeal a shining block of silver or tin, ready to be loaded on the
backs of the mules, llamas, and donkeys, to be carried to the railway
station or to the seaport of Antofagasta for shipment. The large sacks
which contain ore to be shipped in crude condition, just as the mineral
is taken from the mines, are sometimes loaded on muleback, but the
square blocks, weighing about twenty-five pounds each, are generally
carried by llamas. The courtyard of an _ingenio_ presents a
busy sight on shipping day. It is particularly entertaining to see
the _arrieros_ being photographed at the Huayra and Santa Rosa
establishments before they set out with their cargoes. One after
another, they face the camera, with their numbers held in plain view
so that there may be no mistake. The purpose of this is to enable the
company to identify an _arriero_ in case of his absconding or
deserting his cargo. There is no danger of his stealing the silver or
tin blocks, but there is always the possibility that he may grow tired
of his task before he gets to his destination, and leave cargo, mules,
and llamas in the road while he seeks more congenial employment. By
means of the photograph, such a delinquent may be easily traced; at any
rate, it has proved to the employers an excellent system for keeping
informed regarding the whereabouts and conduct of these Indians. The
delinquents furnish a sort of “rogues’ gallery” as a safeguard to
mining establishments. But usually the _arrieros_ are faithful and
dependable, arriving sooner or later at their destination, whether it
is ten leagues or five hundred, no matter what may be the condition of
the weather or the roads. They do not make record-breaking journeys, as
the llama and the Indian have a common aversion to speed, the llama’s
nine or ten miles a day being quite in accord with his driver’s ideas
of pedestrianism. When noon comes the load is taken from the animal’s
back, and he strolls away to find forage on the mountain sides, while
his master stretches himself on the ground for a nibble at his handful
of parched corn, after which he takes a siesta. It may be one hour or
three before the caravan moves on, but nobody is disturbed about so
trifling a difference in the schedule, and a few days more or less on
the road are not to be considered. Naturally, the mining companies are
glad to know that a system of railways will soon give them an improved
freight service, but there will no doubt always be enough business to
keep the llama and his driver as much occupied as these leisure-loving
companions care to be.
[Illustration: CARTS OF SILVER ORE EN ROUTE FROM HUANCHACA
MINES.]
The history of the discovery of the Potosí mines is associated with the
records of the still older mines of Porco, which, tradition says, were
discovered by the Inca Maita-Ccapac, when that great Peruvian emperor
conquered the Charcas tribes, centuries before the Spaniards came to
the New World. The annals of the Imperial City record that in 1462
Huayna-Ccapac, while on his way to the mines of Porco, spent one night
within view of the now famous Cerro de Potosí, and was so impressed
by the belief that the great mountain contained riches in silver that
he ordered his servants to go there and dig for the precious metal.
In obedience to the royal command, they approached the Cerro and were
about to begin their task, when a terrific peal of thunder held them
spellbound, and a voice from the silence that followed called to them:
“Touch not the silver of this Cerro, because it is for other owners!”
Terror-stricken, the servants of the Inca fled, and, seeking their
royal master, told him of the extraordinary occurrence, repeating
the word _potojsi!_ which is Quichua, meaning “it made a loud
noise!” This story is another instance of Garcilaso de la Vega’s
picturesque philology, and its naïve transparency is like many other
interpretations from his fanciful pen.
The thunder that rolls over the Cerro de Potosí is sufficient to
suggest the still, small voice forbidding approach even to-day, and
there are few places on the globe where an electrical storm is more
magnificent and startling. A less imaginative authority derives Potosí
from a Quichua word, _potojchi_, meaning “fountain of silver.” It
is further related that Atahuallpa, the last of the ruling Incas, who
came to Porco to collect an army for the conquest of Chile, also passed
the Cerro de Potosí, but did not approach it because of the command
the mysterious voice had given to his royal ancestor. Yet it was an
Indian, after all, who first discovered the precious silver of Potosí.
A shepherd named Guallca, after searching in vain for hours to find
one of his flock, caught the truant animal on the Cerro just as night
came on. He tethered the sheep and prepared to spend the night on the
mountain, lighting a fire to protect him from the bitter cold. The next
morning he was surprised to see that a stream of silver had flowed from
the place where the fire was built, and formed a white stripe on the
dark red of the Cerro. The Indian reported the matter to the Spanish
captain, Don Juan de Villarroel, who, in company with Don Diego Centeno
and Don Alonso Santandia, founded the first mine in Potosí in 1545, the
famous “Descubridora,” out of which fifty million dollars’ worth of
silver was taken in an incredibly short time, and which continued for
two centuries to be one of the richest mines in the world.
[Illustration: LOADING TIN ON CARTS, MULES, AND LLAMAS, SOUX
AND HERNANDEZ SMELTING FOUNDRY, POTOSÍ.]
If the Cerro de Potosí is noted as the site of the most famous silver
mines of Alto Peru, Huanchaca can claim the honor of being the centre
of the richest silver mines of Bolivia; for what the wealth of Potosí
was to the viceroyalty, the enormous treasure of Huanchaca has been to
the republic,--one of the most important sources of its revenue. And
the Huanchaca mining company has been a potent agency in developing
the industrial and commercial interests of the country, by taking the
initiative in the construction of its railways, telegraph lines, and
other public improvements.
[Illustration: VIEW OF HUANCHACA, CENTRE OF RICH SILVER MINES.]
The usual element of romance, which is associated with the discovery of
mines everywhere, is not wanting in the history of Huanchaca, and the
reward of long and patient search is as beautifully illustrated in the
case of its discoverer as in the experience of other famous treasure
seekers, to whom Fortune has come with her hands full of riches just
as Fate was about to throw over them the pall of despair. Don Mariano
Ramirez had been looking for gold and silver for twenty years before
chance led him to the treasure which has made his name famous, and
his discovery great, as one of the most important industrial events
of the nineteenth century. Everyone who lived fifty years ago in the
district of the now famous Huanchaca knew Don Mariano. He worked for
years in the mines of Ubina, twenty leagues from Pulacayo, with little
success, but with constant hope that some day would see the realization
of his dream of discovering a rich vein. He won the devotion of the
Indians of that region by his kindness to them, and there was not a
native for miles around who would not run to do him a service. While
his white companions made him the butt of their jokes and ridicule,
the Indians held him in the greatest respect and affection. Finally,
one day, an old Indian woman, whom he had cured of a wound, sought him
in his little hut at Ubina and told him that if he would follow her
she would take him to a place where plenty of precious metal could be
found, without the hard work that was killing her _patron_ at
Ubina. Don Mariano permitted himself to be conducted by her across the
country, though secretly blaming himself for such absurd credulity,
and frequently stopping to ask his guide where she was leading him
and what reason she had for believing there was treasure there. At
last, as they reached the heights of Pulacayo, she turned to him, and,
pointing ahead, said: “Now, _patron_, you have only to go over
there and begin to dig; you will find silver enough to build a city.”
This occurred in 1837, and from that day Ramirez began to realize his
fondest hopes, for all that the Indian had told him proved true. He
died, however, without reaping the full reward which this great silver
mine promised, and it was not until many years later, when the present
Compañía Huanchaca de Bolivia was formed in 1875, that the mines began
to yield the enormous riches which have made Pulacayo famous as the
second silver-producing district in the world, Broken Hill, Australia,
being entitled to preëminence.
[Illustration: AQUEDUCT OF YURA, CARRYING WATER TO THE
HUANCHACA MINES.]
[Illustration: GENERAL VIEW OF PULACAYO MINES, HUANCHACA.]
Within the past quarter of a century these mines have given to the
world nearly five thousand tons of silver, worth twenty-five million
pounds sterling. The mountain from which this enormous wealth has been
extracted is one of the scattered _cerros_ apparently belonging
to the Cordillera de los Frailes, near the southwestern border of the
republic. The mining towns of Pulacayo and Huanchaca are situated on
the opposite sides of the Cerro, at an altitude of fifteen thousand
feet above sea level, and about nine miles in a direct line from Uyuni,
where the Huanchaca railway forms a junction with the Antofagasta
and Oruro line. A ride on the Huanchaca railroad is an experience to
be remembered, as the train follows a succession of rapid curves,
travelling fifteen miles on its circuitous route. The ascent is sharp
in places, as Pulacayo lies fifteen hundred feet higher than Uyuni.
The road leads up the side of the mountain, through several cuts
between great rocks twenty or thirty feet high, and at an elevated
point it passes through one of the longest tunnels in the world, eleven
thousand feet in extent, which required five years for building and
cost over half a million bolivianos. The scenery is magnificent all
along the route, a distant view southward showing the white summit of
Chorolque against a blue sky, while a nearer prospect gives glimpses
of the snow range of the Frailes and the brown slopes of lesser peaks.
As soon as the present company was organized, the work of building a
cart road from Huanchaca, where the _ingenios_ for the treatment
of ores from the mine of Pulacayo were then located, to Cobija on the
Pacific coast, at that time a Bolivian port, was undertaken and carried
to successful conclusion in a remarkably short time. The product of
the mines was shipped to Europe from the port of Cobija until the War
of the Pacific closed this outlet, and it became necessary to seek
an Argentine port. With this object in view, the company constructed
a telegraph line, the first in Bolivia, to connect Huanchaca with
the official headquarters which were then in Sucre, extending it to
Potosí and Tupiza, to facilitate communication with that section of
the country and through Tupiza with Argentina. The company still owns
this line, as well as an additional service to Ollagüe on the border of
Chile, an extension, in all, of about five hundred miles. As soon as
Bolivian traffic was reëstablished through Pacific ports, the Huanchaca
company, realizing the necessity for railway transportation to the
coast, began the construction of the Antofagasta and Oruro Railway,
which, as previously stated, was sold later to an English company, with
the exception of the branch from Uyuni to Huanchaca.
About three years ago a decline in the price of silver obliged the
Compañía Huanchaca to seek means of reducing the expense of exploiting
and treating the minerals of Pulacayo, especially in the matter of
fuel, as coal cost five pounds sterling per ton, and necessitated
enormous expenditure for this item alone. At the same time that the
decline of silver came to embarrass the operations of the enterprise,
another calamity befell the company in the inundation of the principal
galleries of the mine, and at one time the outlook was almost hopeless,
the water invading depths of one thousand five hundred feet in some
places. Apparently the only way to save the situation was by adopting
electricity as a motor power; and this was done, the force being
generated by means of water obtained from the Yura River, twenty
leagues distant, and conducted through an aqueduct having a fall of
thirty-five feet. Electricity equivalent to three thousand horse power
was thus transmitted on three wires of one thousand horse power each,
representing twenty-five thousand volts, and the problem of draining
the mine and establishing it once more on a paying basis was finally
solved. This electric installation ranks fifth in importance in the
world, and is a credit to the enterprise of the company, which is shown
also in many other modern improvements. A huge Corliss engine of one
thousand horse power has recently been installed in the mine, with
capacity to generate a sufficient current for the electric engines
of the establishment; and when the Yura plant is not working, this
machinery supplies all the force required. Another Corliss engine, of
three hundred and fifty horse power, is used for compressing air with
which to ventilate the mines, and for hoisting purposes. Decauville
electrical engines are used in some departments, and the machinery for
illuminating the offices and mines by electricity is of the latest
model and perfection. The machine shops and foundry are the largest in
Bolivia.
[Illustration: LAKE AND DAM IN THE CORDILLERA, SUPPLYING
WATER TO HUANCHACA MINES.]
The automobile has invaded the Huanchaca mines; and although not of
a boulevard model, it is quite as rapid a motor machine as the more
ornamental specimens. Two North American ladies who visited the mines
recently were taken into the interior in an auto, over more than
two miles of tracks, the route leading through passages brilliantly
lighted by electricity and built of solid stone masonry, constituting
a succession of well-arched and well-ventilated tunnels. During this
subterranean trip the party passed a little chapel in one of the
galleries, in which is a silver image of Christ. It was touching to
see the stolid miners remove their caps as they passed, none of them
failing to show this mark of veneration for the sacred image. There are
twelve miles of galleries in the mine, and nearly ten miles of rails.
Seven shafts are used, of which some are a quarter of a mile in depth.
About three thousand workmen are employed by the Compañía Huanchaca
de Bolivia, and at least a thousand women are engaged in sorting the
ores and arranging them according to quality and properties. It is
marvellous how expert these women become in their tasks, and with what
apparent indifference they toss the pieces of metal on one pile or
another, chattering and gossiping with one another, and seeming not to
take the slightest notice of the kind of ore they are handling. Yet
they never make a mistake, and the administrator of the mine says they
are quicker than an experienced chemist in detecting different classes
of minerals. They seem to enjoy their work, to which they have become
so accustomed that they will sit for hours in the same position, on the
ground, with their feet curled under them, scarcely moving except to
reach for a piece of ore that has rolled away from the pile in front of
them.
Every system known in the modern treatment of minerals is used in the
various _ingenios_ of Huanchaca; and the electro-magnetic method
of separation, which has recently been adopted, is probably the first
of its class in the world installed on such a large scale as it is
here practised. Formerly, the establishments of Huanchaca, Pulacayo,
and Ubina smelted all the metal from the Pulacayo mines, but a few
years ago a large _ingenio_ for the smelting and amalgamation of
the Pulacayo ores was opened at Playa Blanca, near Antofagasta, where
machinery was set up on a magnificent scale, costing nearly half a
million pounds sterling. The entire plant of the company represents an
outlay of four million pounds sterling. The president, Señor Seneschal
de la Grange, who lives in Paris, paid a visit to the mines last year,
investigated the various institutions of the city of Pulacayo, as well
as the mining establishments, and made a note of necessary improvements
to be effected in the educational and charitable advantages offered the
inhabitants.
Ten thousand people live in Pulacayo, and are supported by the mine and
the different industries connected with its exploitation. Everything
in the city belongs to the Huanchaca company, and no one can live
in the community without permission from this authority. All the
officials of the municipality are appointed by the company, and every
institution is under its direct supervision and government. There are
several churches, schools, and hospitals, and the town has a good
theatre. It is a typical mining town among the mountains, built like an
amphitheatre on the slope of the Cerro, and the steep, narrow streets
present a puzzling problem to the foreigner who makes a first attempt
to scale their uncertain heights.
[Illustration: ARRIEROS PHOTOGRAPHED FOR IDENTIFICATION,
POTOSÍ.]
[Illustration: PRINCIPAL PLAZA OF POTOSÍ DURING A FEAST DAY
PROCESSION.]