The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1875-02-04

make his name conspicuous in this connec
from the Miners Journal]
Railroads In the Andes.
The CaIlao, Lima and Oroyo railroad mas
M enuaI in the world for sk,lful engineer
inc and cost of construction. The com
mencipg point is at the city Of Callao, on the
coast of Peru, whence it runs north and
east. and terminates at the town OF Oroyo,
nm the east side of the Andes mountains,
there making close connections with the
head waters of the Amazon river, thereby
making speedy conveyance and cheap trans
nortation for commerce and the travelling
n,blic across the continent Of South America
and avoiding the long and perilous trip
around Cape Horn. This gigantic project oil
scaling the mighty Andes by rail was first
projected and Is now being carried out by
Henry Meiggs, the railroad king OF South
America, tunnelling mountains OF SOLID
| granite and spanning streams and passes al
| heights from IS to 252 feet above their beds,
almost regardless of cost. Some idea may be
| formed Of the cost Of construction where
operations were commenced on level with
| the sea, and in distance Of 1O4t miles the
he'd of the road has attained the unparalleled
height of 1865 feet aboye the level of the
! sca. and in that distance passing through
: tiitv.eight tunnels, measuring from 400 feet
TO 3.I37 feet in length. The entire length OIL
the road Is only 1876 miles, but 1t cost S37,
$50, 900 in American gold coin.
| A second great reason for the enormous
cost of constructing roads in this country i:
the scarcity of material, all Of which il
brought here from the United States. The
first bridge of importance Is that which
SPINS the Aqua de Eerruga. The certra
pier of three that support this grand piece O
superstrucure is 252 feet In height, resting
on solid masonry 70 feet square, and span
ming space Of SIS feet. Proceeding over 9
beri!ous portion of the road, winding around
SPURS of mountains, through long: tunnels
some of which are arched only by their
mother rock, others more artstically faced
BY frst.class masonry, the bed Of the road
forms long and rounding turns, so that al
| times there may be seen three lines OF ralls
| living one above the other.
At this place, also, which Is situated be-
tween two thriving little towns, called Surcc
and Malucana, may be seen the same noun
! tain tunnel twice, one tunnel being directly
| over the other at a distance Of 80 or 10C
feet. Passing this romantic place, still u.s.
| cending grade Of 105 10 211 feet to the mile
| for q distance of twenty-three miles, and
we reach that picturesque spot termed in
Spanish LA Internilia," meaning in our
language "The Gates of He'll" place where
pnature has formed an opening through the
| mountains, through which passes the swift
waters of the river Rimac, walled up by
solid rock to the height of over 1900
feet above the bed of the river,
presenting face rs smooth as If cut so
| BY the hands Of skilled Workmen. Here
may be seen display of mastery en-.
gineoring in order to overcome this colossal
obstruction, In many other PLACES, where
the maximum grade brings the bed of the
road to point utterly impossible, an oppor.
tunity always presents Itself for an outlet by
| forming Y and retracing the Rlready.passed.
over portion of road alongside of the noun.
tain until an elevation Is obtained whereby 0
pass nav be effected But at La Inferniia
no such opportunity presents itself; conse'
oueptly there WAS no alternative but to tun.
mel the mountains Of volcanic rock or aban.
don the projected route. The work was Of
once begun on the south side Of The
river, and In order to push 1t more rapidly
an entrance was begun on the river side,
which was done only by letting men down
from the tops Of the smooth-faced wall by
ropes, thereby supporting themselves until
they drilled and blasted footholf and en-.
trance. This done, the work proceeded "a.
piIy with the aid OF the celebrated diamond
drill. On the opposite side of the river q
repetition of the same labor was soon begun.
The tunnels being completed, the fearful
chasm was soon spanned by magnificent
iron bridge. 1t connects the two tunnels
viz, Nos. 81 and Sat height of 200 feet
above the bed Of the river. with either end
resting on natural masonry,
Again, on emerging from the opposite
side of Tunnel 81 another great obsta.
Gle presents itself, On the entrance of the
same tunnel the bed Of the track is 200 feet
below that of the road, and only few yards
from the outlet Of the same tunnel the road
bed falls several feet below the river; thus
an idea may be formed of that tremendous
fall, and with what rapidity the waters of
the Rimac force their way. through these
mountain passes. In order to overcome this
great obstacle tunnel is now being built
large enough for double team and carriage
to be driven through, In which will be placed
800 barrels Of powder at single blast for
the purpose of blowing down the noun.
tain, thereby making new bed for the river
to pass, and leaving the old bed with small
amount Of excavation ready for the bed of
the road. One other Of 1000 barrels of pow.
der was used, creating a sensation similar to
that Of al earthquake for many miles around
its vicinity. Here we leave La Infernila,
that stupendous work Of nature, utilized aud
still more beautiful in art, snd wend our
way through already completed tunnels,
over mountains, and through river valleys,
until we at last reach the summit of the
Andes, at place called Gallera, the highest
point of the road viz, II, Gas feet above the
sea. This altitude Is" the bed Of the road,
not to speak of the many hundred feet Of
rock still towering above the tunnel through
which pass the iron rails. ih"'
Doubtless q good many people living In
North America are under the impression
that there is little or no snow Ia this part of
the globe, but such is not the case, as at this
altitude we have perpetual snow. At this
point the longest tunnel on the road is being
built, being II $50 metres, ora, 1877 feet Eng
lish> in length, which has been under course
Of construction for about twenty.siX months.
We expect to complete it In about eight or
ten months more, when the entire line will
be ready for the rails. The greatest obstacle
with which the laborers have to contend ia
the rarity Of the atmosphere, the pressure
being only eight pounds TO the square inch.
The state Of affairs ls endured only BY men
or Iron constitutions, so to speak. Witkthe
AID OF the diamond drill, which considerably
% 49,