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LOCAL Tuesday 29 OcTOber 2019

The Phosphate Industry of Aruba: Episode XLI

Aruba Phosphate Company in 1879

Continued from Page 14 about twenty bricklayers
and carpenters from Cu-
Local labor was initially only raçao. The workers stayed
found with difficulty: that near the phosphate mines
was because of the rival all week and slept in bar-
branch of industry, the ex- racks. Even a group of Ital-
ploitation of gold. That’s ians was attracted to the
why forty men were at- island to manage the com-
tracted from Bonaire and pany; four of them never
left the island: Antonio and
Victorio Petrocci, Eugenio
Falconi and Cajetano Ja-
copucci. They settled at
Tanki Leendert.

For the transport of the
phosphate to the harbor,
a six kilometer long narrow
gauge railway was built
and the phosphate was
taken to the loading berth
in trains of about twenty tip
carts and a steam locomo-
tive. There it was loaded
into sail ships that took it
to countries like England,
France, Germany and the
United States to be pro-
cessed to super phosphate
Pic. 5. The Cero Colorado
lighthouse that was used as fertilizer.q Pic.4 Men of the engine