PERU'S CORSE OF WEALTH.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 2044, 23 January 1889, Page 3

PERU'S CORSE OF WEALTH.

♦ It is the wealth of Peru and Bolivia which was their curse from the time of Pizarro to that of modern Obili . Gnano has been exported since 1846 from Peru, «nd the annual shipments ar- paid to havo amounted to $20,000,000 and $30,000,000 whereas the whole population of the country was not greater than Pennsylvania. The epidemic of riches broke both tbe Government and tbe people and brought m foreign enemies. How much better are we off m come parts of this country, with all our riches and co little fortitude ? The guano runn ng down, citrate of soda waa found m the doatrts. and Chili came m to get this, and destroyed Pern. "Ibe whole coset," Bay« Curtis, "from the twenty-third to tbe twenty fifth parallel of latitude appears to be one solid macs of tbia valuable mineral, fit for a hundred different tzaea, and wor.h m tbe market fro<n $40 to $60 a ton. One would think that we bad Bomsthlng analogous to it moi r alkaline pl*ios. It was discovered In 1833, m Sooth America, by an old Englishman named George Smith. They say it will take eight or ten oenturiea to dig It away. Nobody knows how the nitrate was formed under tbe '• sands of this desert. Shovelling off the sand, yon come to a ooarse of sun-baked olay, and nnder this Is a bed of white' material, like melting marble, and soft as cheese. It is •boot four or five feet thlclr, and la broken ap by crowbars and ground. A solution from it Is ran into vats of sea water, and «ryst*llls%tlon la caused. The ultimate retalt is an lodloe of commerce coating as xnoeh per ounce aa the aaltpetre brings per hundred weight. The highest grade goes to the powder mills, tbe next to tbe chemical works, and the third to the fertiliser factories. — "Cincinnati Enquirer."