Page:A history of Chile.djvu/438

 coal is not of first quality and when discovered, less than forty years ago, was considered unsuitable for steamers and locomotives, as it is quite as much lignite as coal. For years the railways of the country used imported coal. A shrewd engineer discovered a simple contrivance for the grates which made it possible for the Lota coal to be used and now it is in use altogether.

The coal formations are found along the coast from the river Biobio to Cañete, and belong to the tertiary deposits, which lie upon the granite rocks of the Cordillera de la Costa. The formation dips toward the Pacific, but in many places has been upheaved and tilted in an opposite direction. The seams which outcrop in the rocks and are reached by means of shafts, are three in number and have an average thickness of from three to six feet. The depths at which they are worked vary from three hundred to eight hundred feet.

It was known as early as 1825, that coal existed in southern Chile, and in 1835, Mr. Wheelright, the projector of the Pacific Steam Navigation Company, undertook to mine it, but with no success. No further attempts were made before 1855, when Don Matias Cousiño began to work the Lota deposits near Coronel on the Arauco Bay. These mines now produce from eight hundred to one thousand tons daily, which is taken out principally from under the sea, and gives employment to some two thousand miners. The men are well treated, work twelve hours a day, and receive from eighty cents to two dollars. The mines are well entilated, good machinery is used, a hospital is attached to them and several schools are in successful operation. The company owns four steamers and several ships which ply along the coast, carrying coal north to Pacific ports and bringing back copper ore for the Lota smelting works. The profits of the company exceed one