SANTIAGO DE CHILE Rev

IMPRENTA UNIVERSITARIA.—ESTADO 63.—SANTIAGO DE CHILE Rev. James F. Garvin, Chile, 1884 - 1923. Twixt the Andes and the Sea. YEfi R BOOK OF THE PRESBYTERIfiM MISSION in CHILE. SANTIAGO DE CHILE IMPRENTA UNIVERSITARIA ESTADO, 63 1924 FOREWORD The completion of the Canal and the lure of southern seas and strange cities has brought an ever-increasing stream of visitors to the countries lying south of Panamá. People are interested in seeing Guayaquil, from which yellow fever has been effectually banished; Callao, with its San Lorenzo raised over night from the deep; Lima and the oldest University in the western hemisphere; La Paz, in its matchless setting. But after experienc- ing all these thrills, Buenos Aires beckons, and Chile too often serves only as a narrow vestibule between Valparaiso and Mendoza. From the ship in the bay, Valparaiso presents an attractive am- phitheatre, but its steep hillg do not tempt the passing visitor to a closer acquaintance, and a half- day is as much as he can spare. Santiago, nestled among its snow-clad mountains, may detain him as long as three days, but Chile—the real Chile, — 6 — north and south, with its mighty deserts threaded by nitrate deposits and copper veins, its great central valley lush in pastorage and dotted by thousands of grazing herds—Chile with its 2 600 miles of coast-line and busy ports remains little more than a name on the map for the casual tourist. For those who are interested in this beautiful and promising country this little book is written. It presents the undertakings and achievements during the year 1923, of the Presbyterian Mission in its endeavour to help in the solution of Chile's problems and in the development of its rugged citizens. 1. THE CHILEAN SAHARA 1. The Nitrate Ports and Their Source of Supply Coming south from Panamá, the first glimpse of the snow-clad Andes is had from Arica, the first of the Chilean ports, and which is visited by the big liners and the little coast-boats alike. It stands out in the memory of the casual visitor as the last place blessed with verdure until he nears Valpa- raiso. Not every visitor is favored with a glimpse of the volcano Caplina and her sister peaks, for nine times out of ten they are completely veiled by heavy-hanging mists. Changing here to a coast- boat, we come next day to Iquique, the first of the large nitrate ports. Sodium nitrate and copper are the life of these barren parts, and the field for Christian Missions widens or contracts according to the world market The North Field. 9 — for these commodities. At the present time nitrate is looking up. The sale for the year ending June, 1922, according to official reports was 600,000 tons, while that for the year ending June, 1923, was 2.100,000. In all consuming countries except Ger- many and Austria there has been a heavier sale than ever, showing that synthetic nitrate has not stolen the market from the Chilean product. This, taken with the fact that present stocks are low, means that there must be increased production to meet the demand. This is seen to be the case in our field and thousands of laborers are coming into the pampas * and many oficinas * are beginning work again. Copper also is doing a little better throughout these parts, and adds its quota to the total of activity. In the division of territory between the Metho- dist and Presbyterian Missions, which are the only ones working in the north of Chile, the ports of Iquique, Antofagasta and Coquimbo, fall to the former, while we Presbyterians occupy the ports of Tocopilla, Taltal, Chanaral and Caldera w'th their adjacent territory, which includes many large nitrate plants scattered through the pampa. TOCOPILLA is the first port south of Iquique and enjoys the distinction of possessing the electric power plant which supplies the great Chuquica- mata copper mines, far away in the montains, on (*) Pampas—nitrate fields; Oficina—nitrate plants. — 10 — the borders of Bolivia. It is a picturesque little town with its American settlement out on the point, and its railway into the desert zigzagging up apparently inaccessible cliffs. Oficina. Here there is a small Chilean congregation in charge of a young licentiate, who, in addition, acts as pastor of two other groups in the Oficinas Rica Aventura (Good Luck) and Peregrina (Pilgrim), and visits some five others up and down the line. The accessibility to evangelical effort of this part of Chile is unlimited. Although the State Church claims this territory, like all the rest of Chile, as its 11 — exclusive possession, in the Diocese of Antofagasta it maintains but five priests and twenty friars to work among a widely-scattered population of 221,000 (Sinopsis Estadística, 1921, pp. 4, 22), or one to each 9,000. As these figures clearly demons- trate, the State Church does not care adequately for this district, even supposing each priest and friar to be an earnest and worthy cure of souls. In Operation. The field is open to our fullest evangelistic effort. There is still much indifference and irreligión, but no persecution, and in most parts our work is well — 12 — received because people are beginning to see its fruits and to appreciate them. The great need of this district is a man who shall be free to give his whole time going from Oficina i An Oficina Group. to Oficina, making friendly contacts and delivering the Gospel message personally. The Tocopilla Railroad would give such a man free use of its trains, and most of the Oficinas are glad to provide preaching-halls and electric light and free accom- modation for such workers. From any point of view the nitrate region offers more opportunity for Christian work this year than last. But our force remains the same, and it would seem that because — 13 — of purely physical limitations there is very little prospect of being able to extend our message to the thousands of souls brought to the nitrate fields by increased production. TALTAL is another nitrate port two days south of Tocopilla, and is the place of residence for the missionary in charge of the entire north field. Mr. Edwards spends most of his time in journeying from one part of his field to the other, which covers a distance of 400 miles. Coast-boats are capricious as to schedule, and the Longitudinal Railway, which is the interior connecting link, runs but two trains a week, which quite frquently spend as much time off as on the line! The local church in Taltal is in charge of a student under Mr. Edward's supervision,or, more truthfully, under that of Mrs. Edwards who, in the long absences of her husband, has to occupy every department of the work except the pulpit. Taltal also has its adjacent Oficinas, in two of which regu- lar work has been established under the care of the local evangelist. A «Local Congress» was celebrated here in Fe- bruary, by naming two delegates from each branch of the church's activities, and meeting together for two hours during three successive nights to treat themes which had to do with the work of the church and the lives of its members. Among the topics were: The Day of Rest and How to Make the Best 14 — Use of It; Legitimate Amusements; Good Books for Christians; Honesty in Your Work; What Cons- titutes a Divine Service; How to Increase the Attendance at Divine Worship. Each theme was presented in fifteen minutes by some member of the Congress and then the meeting was thrown open to the delegates. The treatment of the themes and the open discussions were far superior to what had been expected, and in spite of the fact that there were very sharp cleavages of opinion on some points, especially in the matter of Amusements, a good spirit was manifested throughout all the discussions. In CHANARAL, the next port south of Taltal, work depends upon the boat schedule. When this makes a visit possible, an attractive little chapel, owned by the English congregation, is put at our disposition, and the people, as in times of old, hear the Gospel gladly. 2. The Earthquake District Still going south by boat, the next port is CAL- DERA, and here we enter the earthquake zone. There is no need to go into detail here about the earthquake of November 10, 1922, which delivered its hardest blows in the southern part of our north field around Copiapo and Vallenar, or about the accompanying tidal wave which wrought FO much — 15 — damage in Chañaral, Caldera, Huasco and Coquim- bo. Let us merely say that temporary relief was not slow in arriving, and our own U. S. A. had the honor of being among the first to lend a hand. Mr. Edwards and Mr. Spining (then President of Earthquake Ruins. our Mission) participated in the relief work, meeting American cruisers in Huasco and Caldera, and assisting in the distribution of the relief they brought, especially among the members of our churches in Vallenar and Copiapo. Of course the living conditions of the whole — 16 — region have been affected. Thousands were left homeless and without work, and it may be stated on good authority that 40% of the population has definitely abandoned the locality, after waiting long in a vain hope that promises of reconstruction would be fulfilled. Naturally this exodus has reduced the size of our work. In addition, the grippe re- turned to scourge these parts and greatly impeded the activities of our churches.

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