THE "O'HIGGINS."

Grey River Argus, 15 April 1911, Page 8

THE "O'HIGGINS."

The. proposal to add- two DreadnougHts/ to the strength of the,.Chil r ian navy has called attention, .to the fact that . the most formidable unit of the existing-. , fleet bears the name of . "O'ESsgins" The- ship! is . a large and "powerful armoured cruiser, built in Britain fourteen, years,, ago, and it; was JGhristened in honour of^B.erhardo 6'Higgins, the liberator , of Chili. /. O'Higgins was. born in Puru of which privince of the Spanish Empire his father was viceroy, but ,of course, his father .; hailed originally from : Ireland. He; embraced the cause of ;.? the revolutionists when the Spanish-American colonies renounced their allegiance to Spain\,and devoted himself particularly toJ the interests of Chili. Soon he became a .famous leader, and when the : power ,of Spain had been overthrown he was made Director ;of the new republic. His • most .remarkable exploit was the passage :of the Andes in 1817 at the head . of an . army which -marched from. Buenos. Ayres to the assistance .of the Chilian rebels. The summit of, the< Uspollata Pass is 12,700. feet above- sea level, or^SOOOft higher .than i the great- St Bernard Pass used by~Napoleon when he took hfs army across the" Alps ; His army consisted of 5000 men ;1600 horses and 9000 mules. 1 Wheeled - transport was- impossible.' Each ■ piece ■> of., artillery had to be slunfe 1 ona pole between . two mules,. ; .. or sometimes dragged -with 'ropes; . -There ; were chasms that could only be ; 'crossedi?by. rope brfdges/ The march took three weeks, and men and animals' suffered greatly from the "mountain- sickness" caused 1 by -the rarefied- air. At tlie-foorbf !He Andes;r' i; the>' ; '-Spanishtroops were ' encountered •' and completely/routed. '■■■' • • 'Since- 1 jsbiat time there 'has. always been ali O'Higgins 1 ' among' i the' warships of Chili.; The hist was commanded 'by 'that Agfeart: admiral, Lord Cochrane, after his merited dismissal "from 1 ' the i' British service, arid^Wa^ the determining factor in the- liberation! ■of 'Peru, which was achieved with Chilian aid. Lord Uochrane performed prodigies of valour and he and his ship seemed alike to bear a 'charmed existence.