tSl
fL PART II. UNDAY EDITORIAL.
ESTABLISHED JUKE 11) ) , 1871. OMAHA. SUNDAY MOIININO , OCTOBER 30 , 18HS. SINGLE COPY FIVE CENTS.
. W.
WILL BE ON SALE AT THE CONTINENTAL
A great feast of bargains over 1,500 high grade Worsted Suits all the new nobby styles at
6O Cents on
VV. Loomis & Co. are the best overcoat makers in the world. You can buy these goods for the same price you
pay other stores for cheaper makes.
OVER I,50O
iC
in worsteds , fancy cheviots and blue and black cheviots , at
worth 810.09 , $12.50 and $15,00
en's Fancy Worsted
Sack Suits
250 Suits , worth $18.00 at _
185 Suits , worth $22.00 at $12.75
tv * 150 Siuts , worth $1,5.00 at $9,75-
I
fli
I
CAPITAL OF THE HACELLANS
How People Live and Do Business in the
Lowest Oity on the Globe.
PUNTA ARENAS A REAL BOOM TOWN
1,0(1 So M for n I'liHtiiKe Stninii Now
\Vnrtli TlioiiinnilN of nolliirH
' 1'iMVii anil Country Life
uiul Clinriiutvr.
( Copyright , 1SOS , by Frank G. Carpenter. )
PUNTA ARENAS , Patagonia , Sept. 21.
( Special Correspondence of The Hoc. )
Punta Arenas la the southernmost city of
the world. It is at the bottom of the South
American continent , 1,200 miles nearer the
south polo than Capo Town , at the lower
end of Africa. It IB 7,000 miles south of
Now York and Its latitude la that of Labra
dor Still Its winters arc warmer than
those of Washington city and Just now , at
Its coldest , everything Is covered with
green.
Situated on the northern coast of the
Strait of Magellan , midway between the At
lantic and Pacific oceans , more than a
hundred miles north of Cape Horn , Punta
Arenas Is the commercial capital of a vast
region of sea and land which Is almost un
known to the rest of the world. From
where I write I can see the blue forests
ot Tlerra del Fuego , on the opposite side of
the strait. There are a vast number of
( smaller Islands about It , and behind me ,
Htretchlug away for hundreds of miles , are
the mountains and sheep farms of Pata-
Eonla. There Is no town of any size within
1,000 mllce of this. Wo have no tele
graphic connection with the rest of the
world and the only news wo get conies from
the steamers passing through the Strait of
Magellan. All of the supplies are brought
In by steamers and many ot the ehlpa stop
hero to lay In new stores , as they go on
their way from Australia to Europe or In
passing to and from the cast or we-at coast i
of South America. The city does a big busl- j |
ness as a coaling station and It scruples not
to put on the prices whenever It can. When
the Oregon coaled hero on her way home
from the Pacific at the breaking out of the
war she was charged 90 shillings or about
J22 a ton for coal , and her bllf was more
than J20.000. Punta Arenas Is a free port
and quantities of provisions and other
stores nrp brought hero to supply the steam
ers and callings vessels which pass through
the Strait of Magellan. Just now there
are English and German steamers on their
way to and from Europe In the harbor
loading and unloading freight. An Ameri
can schooner from Iloston , with a party of
a do/cn men en route for the Klondike , Is
taking In provisions and one of the ships of
Grace & Co. , bound for New York , passed
by this morning. A dtfatner from New
Zealand with n cargo of frozen sheep for
London left yesterday. There are a number
of wool echooners In the harbor and the
llttlo steam tug which carries paeaengcra
three tlmea a week to and from Tlorra del
FueKQ Is Ju t puffing out on Us voyage
acrocsH thu strati.
ITontlcr of I llciiiUplii-rr. .
Punta Arnas lies right on the Strait of
Magellan , There Is n good harbor at this
point , the land about which slopes gently
upward from the water. Upon this has
been built a btraggling town more than a
m'lo long and a quarter of a mile wide
Dark of It there Is a hill perhaps a hundred
feet high and farther awav in the rear you
can see the last of the -Vndes , which here
rlso from 3,000 to f > ,000 feet above the sea ,
tholr tops covered with snow. The city |
has been cut out of the woods and as you
enter It you are reminded of the settlements' '
of our wooded frontier of the northwest , j
It Is Just now ono of the boom towns of j
thH continent and Its houses are scattered
along wide streets with many gaps. These ]
streets are a mass of black mud , through '
which huge oxen drag heavy carts , pushing !
them along by yokes fastened to their i
horns. Hero the sidewalk Is of concrete , I
there It Is of wood and a little farther on !
you find It of mud and must balance yourself - |
self on a log as you make your way over
It. Many of the houses are built of sheets .
of corrugated Iron , their walls wrinkled
up like a washboard , and all have roofs
of this material. A few are painted , but
nearly all are of the galvanized slaty color
of the metal as It comes from the factory.
None of the cJieaper houses has a chimney.
The htove pipes , which stick up through the
loofs and which you sec hero and there
coming out through the windows with up
turned elbows , take their places. There is
plenty of building space , but when you ask
the prices of the vacant lots you find that
property Is very high. What would be a
J50 shanty In America Is hero worth $300 ,
and n good business corner will sell forj
several thousand dollars. Nevertheless
within a few years these same lots were
given away for a revenue stamp. The
Chilian government was anxious to Increase
the size of the colony and It offered building
sites to all who would erect houses and pay
the D-ccct stamp which the law provides' '
shall bo upon every deed. "That lot , " said i i
a man to mo today , as ho pointed to a j I
corner Just above the Kosmos hotel , "cost | I
me a postage stamp , and I hold It now at
,
$5,000. " The days for such Investments , '
however , are past and better buildings are' ' I
going up every year. Now every Inch of \
town property has a fixed value and there
are several business blocks which would not
bo out of place In an American city.
I'nlnoe of the MiiKt-llaiiM.
There Is ono residence hero which would
bo a mansion In the best part of Washing
ton city. It Is by all odds the finest house j I
"near the south pole. It has cost moro than ' I
J100.000 and its owner Is a millionaire
widow , young , beautiful and accomplished , j
She is the sister of our consul here and the
daughter of a Husslan who made a large
fortune In sheep raising. She got another
fortune with her husband and she now
owns thousands of acres of land and tens
of thousands of sheep. Her house is situ
ated on the plaza or public square. This
Is a grass plot of about two acres , fenced
with a wooden paling. It has wide path
ways running through it and a bund stand
In the center. On the north side ot it is
the governor's house , a long brown two-
story structure , with a wall of glass In the
rear. On the west Is a large frame build
ing , the new barracks of the national guard ,
and on the east are some stores and the
palace ot this millionaire widow. It Is made
of red brick covered with stucco , BO fin
ished that It looks like a light brown ttone.
it baa two stories and a mansard , with
several towers and plenty of gingerbread
work. The ortUts are now decorating it.
They were Imported from Huenos Ayrcs for
the purpose , as were also the carpenters ,
the bricklayers and , ID fact , all of the la
borers connected with It. The brick were
also imported. Every bit of the furniture
will come from Europe , and the house when
finished will bo as comfortable as any In
Paris. It Is , however , the only house ot
Its kind In Punta Arenas , the most of the
other dwellings being one-story structures ,
which could be built for from $300 to $1,500
In the United States. It shows you , how-
e\er , that all of the people'here at the tall
end of creation are not poor. On the con
trary , Punta Arenas has more rich men ,
perhaps , than any frontier town of Its size
In the world. It Is the metropolis of the
great sheep Industry of southern Patagonia
and there are rich sheep owners here who
live almost as luxuriantly as do our mil
lionaire miners In Denver. There are
thirty-three men and companies who each
own and control from 25,000 to 2,500,000
acres of land , They have their sheep by
the tena of thousands and several of them
have an annual wool clip worth more than
the salary of the president of the United
States. |
They Are roMinoiiolltnii. j
The citizens of Punta Arenas come from
all parts of the world. You hear English ,
German and Spanish on every corner , and
your ears are dinned with the Jargon of
the Austrian , the Italian and the Russian.
Some of the richest of the people are Rus
sian , and others are Scotchmen who have
come from the Falkland Islands to engage
In sheep farming here. There are treacher
ous Spaniards , smooth-tongued Argentines
and hard-looking brigands from Chili. The ,
lower classes are chelly sailors and sbep-1 I
herds , and among them you may find as
many rough characters as In- our mining
camps of the west. There are no licensed
gambling dens or sporting houses , but there
are plenty of saloons , managed by bard-
featured young women , who sit In the door-
ways during the day and smoke cigarettes.
Knots of bearded men , with their trousers
In their boots and clothes of all descrlp-
tlons , are to be seen on the street. There
are plenty of Spaniards and I have several
times been warned to be careful as I go
about after nightfall , as the Spanish knife
has Just now a magnetic attraction for the
American's body aud as most of these men
are prone to stab In the back. The order
kept Is , however , very good , considering the
population. The governor of the Magcllaus
lives here. He Is appointed by the presl-
dent of Chill and he rules not only the
Magellans , but the whole of the Islands of
the Tlerra del Fuegan archipelago. Ho
! has four hundred soldiers stationed In the
city. You hear the military bands playing
at 9 in the mrrnlng , when they begin their
drill , and again at sunset or at about i
o'closk In the afternoon. The soldiers act
as the police. Each of them has a long
sword at his sldo and he does not scruple
to use It In making an arrest. Of late some
of the soldiers have been using sword-
I canes. You think they have nothing but a
walking stick , but If you resist them they
j Jerk the stick apart and give you a thrust
I under the fifth rib with a sharp blade of
steel. I took a photograph of some of the
] policemen today In front of the cuartel , or
police station , and a moment later I mut
the governor coming out of the club and ,
with his permission , photographed him.
A TOM ii of Club * .
U seems funny to think of a club down
hero on the Magellans , In the home of the
guanaco , the seal , the whalr and the naked
aborigines' Uut Punta Arenas has Its
clubs , where the better classes of men meet
for a social good time , u game ot poker and
a bit of liquid refreshment. The club Is
also the fire company , for here , as In many
of these South American cities , the fire
company Is composed of the best men In
the place. In Punta Arenas the club par
lors are over the engln room. They are
well furnished. They have two billiard ta
bles , two poker rooms , a reading room and
last but not lea it a bar. The bar Is to bo
found In every club and in ov'ery hotel In
South America. It is , as a rule , much pat
ronized. At the German hotel where I am
living In Punta Arenas you can get any
thing from a bottle ot champagne to a
Manhattan cocktail , from a sherry and bitters -
ters to a glass of vermouth or a pousse
cafe. There Is a great deal of drinking at
the hotel. We are so far south here that
It is dark now at 4 p. m. The guests have
no loafing place but the bar room and
every night at about 4 sheep farmers , merchants -
chants , clerks and others drop In to
get their nip before dinner. As dinner does
not como until 6:30 : they have plenty of
time to fill up before that. The favorite
method of buying drinks Is by each man In
the party throwing dice and the loser pay-
lug thu bill. Liquors are very high here.
This is so , notwithstanding that Punta
Arenas Is a free port and no duty is charged.
Champagne costs twelve silver dollars a
bottle. This last I know to my borrow ,
for In a generous mood while talking sheep
with a number of fanners last night I or-
derexl champagne for the crowd. The bill
-was astounding.
Mii-L'ii KurutliiK lu Tlerrn Del
You can't tell a man down hero by his
clothes. Ono of these sheep farmers , a
young fellow of thirty , whose Income rune
Into the tens ot thousands a year , wears a
faded $10 velveteen suit , a 75-ccnt wool
shirt , a slouch hat and a pair of high boots.
Half the time his shirt Ie unbuttoned at the
neck and to look at him you would not
think him worth a cent. His sheep farm Is
as big as an Ohio county and at the last
counting his sheep numbered 00,000 head.
Another of the party was a young English
man who wax dressed In a costume that
would not have been out of place In Hyde
Park. Ho had swell Aiding boots , with n
well-cut suit of Scotch tweed. Ho was only
an employe at a big sheep station. A third
man was dressed much llko an American
business man. Ho was the manager of the
biggest fcheep ranch In Tlerra del Fuego. Ho
had the supervision ot more than a hundred
thousand sheep and a grazing territory ot
two and one-half million acres ot land.
Sheep farming has now become the great
Industry of this part of the world. A large
part of lower Patagonia Is given up to It
and all of the available lands In the Chilian
territory of the MagJlana , Including Tlerra
del Fuego , have been either bought or
leased. It will give you some Idea of the
growth of the Industry when I tell you that
In 1S7S , Just twenty years ago , there wcro
only 185 sheep In all the Magellans. Seven
years later there were 40,000 , and In U92
the number had Increased to 480,000. In
1895 It was estimated that there were 900-
000 and now on this Island alone thcru are
conslderabfy more than l.OPn.OOO sheep. The
sheep farmers originally came hero from
the Falkland Islands , but since then Aus
tralians , French , Germans , Ituf-slons and
others have Joined with them In gobbling
up the lands. The majority , however , are
English and Scotch. Ono of the largest
owners of sheep here U our American con
sul , who Is nlro interested In many other
things , His name Is Maurice Braun. He Is
a Russian by birth , but most of his life has
been spent In the Magellans. Ho has 310-
ble Breasted
In blno and blade with silk fueins at
CJIC3EEH
031 Overcoats in this Purchase.
Kersey Overcoats at
Frieze Overcoats at
caniHI
000 acres in TIcrra del Fuego and Is Inter- '
csted In a number of other largo farms
there and on the mainland. Ho la a young ,
man , but po&sosses remarkable business i
ability and makes a very excellent consul.
On u ItlK bliecii Fnriii.
The management of one of these largo ]
sheep farms is Interesting.
Take that of the company which has two
and one-half million acres in Tlerra del
Fuego. Its 100,000 sheep are divided
up Into ilocks of 2,000 each. Each
flock has u pasture tract about six |
j I miles Bfiuaro allotted to It. This Is Just
i the size of many of our American town
ships , and If you will Imagine n township
I { as one Held you will have an Idea of tho'
ordinary Tlerra del Fuego pasture. This ,
' j to many of our farmers , would seem a
, ' largo amount of land for this number of
sheep , but the grass here Is short , and In
Tlerra del Kucgo from two to three acres
of pacturo are required for each sheep. I
I ' Every flock has its own shepherd , who '
watches the sheep on horseback. Ho has a
I i number of doss which he so trains that
1 , they will obey his signs. Most of the dogs i
I are Scotch collies , which are very IntclllI I
I I gent and which understand their masters !
I almost ns well asi though they could under-j
| | stand language. When the shepherd makes
a motion to the front they know that they
; ; i are to go ahead , a motion to the rear calls j
thorn back and the raising ° * his hand ln I
the air brings them to a standstill. Other
motions send them to the right and left
and , In fact , they act for him almost as
I well as If they were human beings. The
! shepherds are usually Scotchmen , who como
hero on five-year contracts at from $2S to
, J35 gold a month , with the understanding
that they are to have meat , fuel and
' ' houses free. The meat is mutton , the tucl
they cut themselves and their houses are
little two or three-room shanties scattered
over the farm. They do not have very hard
work for most of the year. They have to
feed the sheep. This Is not hard , for ail
the feeding that the sheep gets Is from the
pasture , for the grass Is always green on
the Magcllans and the sheep can graze in
| Tlerra del Fuego nil the year around.
| Slii-nrliiK Sli - -i by Sli-iuii.
1 They have a llttlo harder work nt shear
ing time , but here much of the work Is
done by professional shearers and the Bhep-
hcrds only assist. The ( .hearing time begins
in January and on a big sheep station It
lasts for two months. The sheep are not
washed before shearing. The wool is
cleaned after It reaches the European mar
ket. The prlco paid the shearers Is $ J.50
PIT hundred sheep , at which rate a good
man can make big wages.
Within the last year or so some flocks
In Terra del Fucgo have been sheared by
Etcain. A set of knives or clippers , like
those used by our barbers for clipping the
hair short , is attached to a cord running
1 on an overhead pulley and a man moves
! those clippers over the skin of the sheep ,
clipping oft the wool. This Is said to make
a cleaner and closer Job and does not cut
the skin. After shearing the tleccw are i
carefully spread out , being laid one on top
of the other and so packed In bales of .00
pounds each. The most of the wool goes
to the English markets , where It brings
from 8 to 25 cents a pound , All of thcn
'
largo stations have their managers , ovcr-
! seers and bookkeepers.
Nearly every one has a store , whcro Its
men can get their supplies , and every sue-
| cessful sheep station must bo nianagr-d after
the best business methods. Sheep raising
Is by no means all profit. It takes money
to make money here as well as elsewhere.
I heard of one farmer who paid $40,000 for
"dip" last year. "Dip" Is the term used
for the fluid In which the sheep are washed
several times n year to free them from
the scabs. The scab Is a paraslto , which
spreads so rapidly that It will Infect a thou
sand sheep within a few days.
IT..HI * or MI.--K ItalHliiR.
And with all this does sheep fanning pay ?
Vis , if you can get the land and the sheep , j
Hut the land about hero and In Ticrra del
Fuego is nil taken up , though I am told ,
that there Is some to bo bought In Argen
tine Pntagontn. Much of the Chilian lands
are held under lease from the government ,
but nearly all Is In largo trncts , which Is
necessary on account of the thinness of the
pasture. Sheep hero are worth on the ave
rage about J2.60 gold a head. It Is esti
mated that the ewes will produce an Increase
of about 15 per cent of the flock a year , and
taking the wool and the Increase Into consid
eration every sheep In the ( lock should net
the proprietor about $1 a year. The
number of employes needed Is compara
tively small and this Is being considerably
reduced by fencing the pasture llelds with j
wire. At present It takes a large capital to |
go Into sheep raising In this part of the j
world , nad considering everything I should
say that the chances for the ordinary Amer
ican farmer or small Investor would be
hardly worthy of consideration.
FRANK Q. CARPENTER.
ClUAIXT KKATUIIKh OF MFI3.
James Clarke , who Is em-Ing a term In
the Maryland penitentiary for bigamy , Is
known to have been married fifty-five times.
He Is said to bo one of the smoothest talkers
that over wacccd n toncue.
Spiders "hy the millions , " according to
the Board of Health of Southporl , Me. , have
taken possession of a house recently occu
pied by Mrs. Julia Plerco , a widow of that
village. She doesn't occupy the house now
because the spiders have made It uninhab
itable. No methods yet tried" have suc
ceeded In materially reducing the numbora
of the pests , though thousands of them |
have been destroyed. I
A Chicago woman waded Into the lake' '
chin deep with the evident Intention of
drowning herself. A > ounir man named
Oscar Hanson caught her In the uct , leveled
rv shotgun at her and told her he would
blaze an ay if she did not corno In out of
thn wet. The blulf wont and the young
lady waded ashore ngaln. This remind. }
one of Hit ancient story of a man who sal
lied forth with a rope to hang himself.
While ho was tying the rope to a tree he
spied a bull making for him and Irame-
dlalcly ran for dear lite. Human nature Is
a queer mixture of Inconsistencies.
The death of William S. Pontln , who
Kept a little restaurant on Franklin street ,
Now York , will probably result In the clos
ing of a place an famous In Its way as Del-
monco's. Many a celebrated man has eaten
n meal In Pontln'H "little back room" and
the proprietor's eccentricities wcro one
of the features of the place. Ho was on
friendly terms with a rival who opened
another restaurant near him and for years
ueed to go ever ) ' morning to buy a drtuk
(
there for himself mid for thn proprietor ,
The latter returned the compliment at
S. W. LOOMIS & CO. ,
Wholesale Clothing.
No. 147 to 151- Lincoln Street-
Corner of llcach t-troot.
Boston , Mass. , Oct. 22 , 1898.
Ah : Samuel Gamble
President continental Clo
thing Co. , Omaha.
D-ar Sir ; After careful
consideration we have decided
to accept your final offer to close
out our end re stock of fall and
winter suits for gentlemen ,
made by us within thep ist six'y
days. 77ie sttt/s and overcoats
included arc all of the best
manuf'Cture ever produced m
our wjrk rooms and at your
offer we do not realize more
than 60 per cent of their actual
cash value. Yours truly
Co.
Pontin's place every evening and the samn
25-ce.ut piece was used for a long time ui
buy the drink , parking back and forth until
Pontln finally framed It.
Frederick Hooper , a student at the Ken
tucky School for the Deaf In Danville , cre
ated a sensation among the 400 pupils re
cently by suddenly regaining his sense u (
hearing. He Is a son of Joseph Hooper , a
well known farmer of Uoyle county , Ken
tucky. Several years ago ho suddenly Test
his hearing , power of speech remaining ,
and entered the fcchool for the deaf. Ho
was making flno progress v.hon hiH hear
ing returned as mysteriously ns It left him.
Mrs. Benson , with her husband and G-
ye-ar-old daughter , llvo near Darren , Wlj. :
When the forest lire recently swept dowa
upon that place the husband was In Minne
apolis and his wife was alone with her child
on a little farm four miles away Irom town.
Seeing the approach of the flumes ana
recognizing the Impossibility of flight thlfl
lonely woman went to work to save the ll'o
of her daughter and herself. Her coolncua
never deserted her. Shu plowed furrova
about the house , and when the loarlng on *
slaught of flame leaped these as easily ua
a hunter's horse would leap a hedge , she
burled the child In a potato patch where
there was but little fuel for the ( lames ami ,
lying down beside her , tossed a water-
soaked cloak nround them both. They wcro
found terribly Imrned , but In a condition
that gives every hope of perfect recovery.
Mrs. Samuel P. Swartwood of Mountain
Top , Pa. , la the mother of twenty-four chil
dren. Five of the children nrn dead. Hut
MrH. Snnrtwood's dinner horn can still sum *
mon to the table nineteen children , her hus
band , two sons-ln-Iaw. one daughter-in-law
and two grandchildren. To bo mother ot
twenty-four children Is no small achlo\e
tnent , and Mrs. Swartwood Is proud of It.
"My children , " Hhe says , "are my great' st
blessing. " Mrs. Swartwood Is only 10 yeara
old , pleasant-faced and genial , rotund and
Jolly , with n great capacity for laughter and
u happy dlsposl'lon. which shows that fie-
o.uent motherhood lias not damaged her
temper.
wuij.t O.MJ is vorx : .
Chicago Ilcconl.
When one In young what matters win 7
For > until linH mirth and Joy to span1.
The futurr IH a blazing lieu
That lights the pathway of desire ,
And dolng'H but n name for dine.
What HinllliiK masks the grim fates w ar ,
llciw nmlabln and drboimlrl
The be-it HcemB easy to acquire
Whtii ono Is young.
Youth Is u multi-millionaire
Wlio fattens on tin IK-SI of fare ;
Whom nil ddlphts ami naught can tlro |
Who trrnlH tin- world as bis empire.
Hut old nre sets Itn futiil snuro
A\ hen ono Is young.
I A MlulxK-r Iliil'I'Hy
I Rev. J. T. Ilaye , pastor of the Christian
church at Neodcsha , Kan , has a llttli boy
who was allllctcd with rheumatism In thn
1-nco. Rev. Ilayfa says : "It was ro bad at
times that my fen was unable to put bin
foot to the Ilooi. We tried In vain every
thing we could hear of that wo thought
would help him. Wo almnet gave up In
despair , when some one advised us to try
Chambcrlnin's Pain llalm.Vt > did BO and
the first bottle gaie to much relief that wo
got u second one and. to our surprise , It
, cured him eouml and well. "
