The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1871-06-30

called on Soeocual, the Secretary Of
State for Csl,i.. and the richest man
In that re?lSie, and offered to COM
plete the road from Llaillai to Santa.
go In four years, and for the sum oi
Sl2, ,000, ,000. Tocornal was . great
statesman, an ardent patriot an en-
lightened advocate Of internal Inn
provements, and q great admirer oi
| Yankee skill, energy and audAcity.
Moreover, he was . personal friend d
Mr.. Meiggs. Tocornal, however, ai
first threw cold water on the Ameri-
cans proposition. The fact was, there
had been 50 many failures on the Val.
paraiso and Santiago Railroad, that
the old statesman had become utterly
discouraged. But after while he be-
came SO Impressed with Meiggs's en-.
ergy aud evident mastership Of the
whole situation, that he went into
the project with enthusiasm. His
first step was to call . Cabinet meet
| ing, in which the Chillian Secretary
fof State has q right to do at any time,
and lay the matter before the Govern
ment. There it was discussed several
, adsys-%a:ssgs. --ho h:d acquired 81
! excellent know ledge ofSpanish, being
present to explain his plans and argue
his case. His proposition was finally
accepted, more perhaps because there
was no one else left to make an offer OF
any kind, than from any faith in its
feasibleness. 'If 3i'' D. q.
A FORMIDABLE OBSTACLE.
Now came the critical moment.
The Chilian Government demanded
an enormous deposit (as il their Gus
tonl) from the contractor Is guaran-
tee for the fullfilment Of his contract.
Meiggs had not dollar to deposit
aud It seemed - though the whole
scheme would 90 by the board, when
Toeornal came to the rescue, and as
Meiggs's surety, mortgaged his vast
estates to the Government for q, ,000,.
600. Having completed his contract
to build the road In four year for $12,-
OO0, 900, Meiggs then, is had often been
done by previous contractors, made .
supplementary proposition 30 the
Government to pay them $lO0, 900 for
every month over, four years that 1t
should take him to complete the road,
on condition that they would pay him
800, 600 q month for every month less
than four years in which be should
complete it. This proposition was &C.
cepted, and everything was in readi-
ness for beginning work on the fourth
of July, 1858. Meiggs then told To-
cornal that he would complete the
road in two years, and run the cars
from Valparaiso to Santiago on the
fourth of july, 1860. This declaration
frightened Tocornal. He feared that
Meiggs was crazy, and that the four
millions which he had put up as the
Americans security would be forfeit
ed to the Government. But the new
contractor had not been long at work
before TOcorTal's confidence was re-
stored, and he became satisfied that
Meiggs would make his declaration
good. -.....
A GRAND STROKE OF POLICY.
All the previous contractors had inn
ported their laborers from Europe, and
had never thought of availing them
selves to any great extent Of native
bone and muscle. But Meiggs order
ed things otherwise. He at once set
about organizing the native laborers
into squads, under the direction of
skilled Americans railroad makers.
The ChilenOs were taught to use the
crowbar, pick, shovel, and other inn
plements, and became faithful and
effective laborers. Their wages were
ten cents a day, with board added.
The principal food of the Cliilenos Is
the Chill bean, and to feed them fat on
that it cost three cents q day; 50 that
boir an tiro or.ct IN Mo;crvu x.,oo fhlr
teen cents day per man.
Meiggs inaugurated his enterprise
by giving q dinner at Llillai to the |
principal citizens Of Valparaiso and !
He built temporary sheds
in which to spread the tables, had
then adorned with q great spread Of
Chilian and American flags and bunt-
ing, engaged all the musicians Of both |
cities and achieved a gorgeous success |
at a cost of $60, 900. He had been put !
in funds by an advance Of 81 ,O0O, 600 |
from the Government on Tocornal's |
His grand style of doing |
things, and the rapidity with which
he pushed forward the work, inspired
such confidence in the Chilian officials
that from the time he completed the
first mile on his contract he was never |
permitted to suffer for lack Of funds.
HE PLAYS EARTHQUAKE ON THE
ANDES.
Meiggs's style Of dispOsing of OBJ |
to his progress astounded
the Chilenos to such q degree that |
they talk about it 70 this day. Previ-
ous contractors had been in the habit
Of picking at hill like lot of spar |
rows. but Meiggs tunnelled right into
any obstruction that came in bis way
filled the tunnel with powder, discharg-
ed it with patent fuse which he obtain !
ed from France, and sent the whole |
mass roaring into the |
air. As he approached Santiago the |
terrific explosion shook the city like |
an earthquake. The citizens, ladies |
rs well as gentlemen, used to come |
out on hOrseback-everybody rides |
ON horseback thereby, thousands to |
witness the operations, and the con-
viction of all was that it was the big
gest show they had ever seen.
Meiggs made good his declaration |
that he would finish the road in two |
years. Heidi not run his cars through 4
on the fourth of July out of regard I
for the feelings of the English popu-
lation; but on the 9th day of that
month the great event came of. Perez
the President of Chill, with his Cabi-
net, the Archbishop, and other mag
mates of the republic. F- .Feo /
STOOD ON THE LOCOMOTIVES '5V 4
with Meiggs and received the ovations
of the people along the route. A tenn
porary track was laid along the
Alemada, and the cars were run over
it clear to the upper end of Santiago.
A large painting Of the scene, with the
locomotive and the clustering mag
mates thereon in the foreground was
and placed in the Capitol OF
The whole country rejoiced.
Meiggs was the lion Of the period.
He was solicited to become natural
lied citizen Of Chill, and was offered
any station in the republic except that
of President, which, as In our OWL
no foreigner can hold: But
he declined all temptations to give up /
his American citizenship, although ne
never hoped to see his native Iand
again.
The profits OF Meiggs on ms COZ.
tract footed up just 81 81, ,OOO; he
could have made s., 1000, 900 bad not
his liberality been boundless. He
from time to time gave the poor pe0.
nle of Santiago sums which reached
the enormous aggregate Of $o0O,m!
His conduct endeared MIN to the peo-
pie, and to this day the Chilenos re
member him with gratitude and af-
fection such as no other man ever
inspired In their bosoms. he TOOK UP
bis residence in Santiago, where ne
lived until 1867. He built two story
double house, which was great curl-