The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1877-10-20
HENRY M EIGGs.

From the New York sun.


Goth uliimo and whose death necessarily o,
casions a most profound sensation in PER-
and, indeed, throughout South America, v.
born IN Green county. n. Y, in the year 1911
OF his early life little is known He tirs
emerged from obscurity in Boston while .
was still young man. He became noted !,
one who could handle heavy interests casii.
and gained reputation as Il successful lumur
dealer and contractor. From Boston he cam
| to New York He soon became Il maChau
of the lumber trade, and was organizing vas
| schemes Ottraffic when the financial earthquake
of 1887 shook all his plans 10 ruin. lie 49,
| one of The first to get on his feet again IN tut
troublesome days, and, had it not been for u.
boundle@s generosity, he would ap,l have by
come enormously rich But he ishcd u
resources without stint Oh hIs t,uggitt
friends, and repeatedly crippien HimscA
save Others from ruin. lie also gent la,
sums to ENCOURAGE and develop art. it
founded the American Musical Institute IN
this city, which had brilliant sut'cSS so,vu.
as he remained here to direct it,
The discovery Of gold in Caii5.p ola gV .
new direction to Mr. Meiggs' enc D,,.-
mining to try his fortunes in that Zen all..-
unknown region he loaded the ..ip Man.
with lumber, and, taking his brou.rr Jon .
Mciggs with him, he set sail for = Il Fran q
co, where he arrived in July, lS4J. lie 81.
his shipload Of lumber at TWEEN. time
cost, making clear profit Of S,,s 800 Oh g.
venture. Then with cOnsummae UiscrCuy..
he took a subordinate position o.. Il lum..
yard, and studied all the phases ana proui-.
of the situation before he riskeu u dollar
his capital. ForeseeIng the iutuio grcatu,-
Of San Francisco, and the inevitable dClniu..
hn mi Ixr mat
grand success. When everything was Icu,4
he hired five hundred men, sent thcm into Ia.
forests of Contra Costa COUNT, ipl!cd Ia,
choicest trees in that then dcnscly wooded
region, hauled them IN saw logs 10 the shore
Of the bay OF San Francisco, bull them into
luge RATS, floated them to II wharf which he
lad constructed into tie city, converted then,
nto lumber by the agency OF steam say All;
which he had erected, and made '.,on on1 in
gold by The operation. F'0'''0' -
..~.,u, until he fii Henry Mciggs
ras a foremost nan in California N business,
m municipal politics, and in socla! lilo, EcI
had three manias-land, lumber and music.
His land and lumber operations were conduct
on n scale of unprecedented magnitude, and
he was popularity believed to be the richest
man on the western coast of America. But
when the great financial pressure OF 1854
seized California with its paralyzing g.ip,
bankruptcy came upon him like an armed
man. He rose TO the contest with such enor-
nous strength and such resOurceiul genius
thai, had he sought only to save himself, he|
might have come off victorious; but with
the ill,judged generosity which was prevail
ing element of his character, he attempted tot
save all his friends, and was by them dragged
down into boltomless ruin.
In the frenzy of that death struggle Mr..
Meiggs committed forgeries OF commercial
paper and city warrants amounting in the az
gregate to over $9,00OOO0. AT last, finding
the struggle hopeless, and fearing detection he,
on Thursday, the 9th day Of October 1854,
with his wife and three children, secretly left
San Francisco, and going on board the bark
American--whch he had bought three days
point three miles south of the cit,--sct sail
for destination not known to hiGIself The
discovery Of his flight and of his forgeries oc-
casioned wild excitement and widespread
grief, and in some bos0ms excited sentiments
of vengeance which were destined never to be
either gratited or placatcd.
The next that was heard of Mr.. Meiggs he
was superintendent of bridges on the Nalpa-
raise and Santiago Railroad in Chill. The
road bed from Valparaiso 70 Llailal-sixty
been completed. The road had
been under construction for years, had ruined
every contractor who had undertaken To build
it, and had become the despair of the CHILEAN
Government Meiggs constructed his bridges
with mastery skill, and while he was building
them he studied the situation critically and
profoundly, with view to obtaining IA con,
tract to complete the road From Llailai to
Santiago, distance of thiriy.threc miles, the
engineering difficulties were stupendous. There
was rise of 4,800 feet, hugh masses of rock
seemed piled to the clouds, and wide end deep
abysses yawned along the way. Every cngi-
necr that figured on that thirty-three miles es-
timated that 1t would cost over $27 100000,
and that it would take from six to eight years
to complete tiff, indeed, it could be built at
ALL Aftera thorough analysis of the work,
Meggs offered to build the road from Llailai
to Santiago for $12,000000, and to complete il
in four years Tocornal, the Secretary OF State
for Chilli and the richest man IN that republic
who had become an ardent admirer and warm
.rlend of Meiggs, secured the contract for him
went security on his bond, and got him an adj.
vance of a million of dollars from the Gov
eminent,
And now began most wonderful piece OF
work Hitherto contractors had brought their
laborers from Europe. Meiggs had studied
The Chilenos, won their confidence aud now,
with the aid of able American oversecls
brought from the States, he transformed them
into an army of skilled workmen, at cost to
him of only thirteen cents a day per man
Meiggs's way of disposing of distractions to
his progress astoundcd the Chilenos to such a
degree that they talk about it to this day. He
iunnelled into the mountains, filled the tun.
mel with explosives, discharged them with Il
patent fuse, and sent the whole superincum
bent mass roaring into the all. As he ap
preached Santiago, the terrific explosions
shook the city like earthquakes. The ladica
aud gentlemen of Santiago used TO come OF.
by thousands to witness the stupendous opera,
lions The enthusiasm for Meiggs was un
paralleled. Everybody was eager 10 help him
He was looked upon rs demigod. He com
pleted the road in two years, instead Of four
and cleared 81 $50 600 on his CONTRACT.
On The oh Of July, 1860, the first train OF
cars ran over the road from Valparaiso TO San
tiaso. Perez, the President o. Chill, with Ii. s
Cabinet, tie Archbishop, and other eminent
citizens, stood on the locomotive with Meiggs
md rccaivad tha nyn lions of tho noonle olon n