The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1877-11-01
Mr.. Henry Meiggs. the Sopth An.1
can Railroad King.
rhes,lsssosssnss i,I.noJ q asA:S Al,

called attention to this famms l 81. ny
sentative of American charactsr .'e !,
genius-A London paper, which ~ ~
not be suspected Of, partially tow, y
any thing American, recently sno SalS
him in the following strain Me; Srs
one of the most interesting spee;Ss
OF American enterprise in existan s
His life is romance. Thirty years y.
ne was respectable citizen q Ms
York, best known PERTAINS as n. NV
OF music. He went to California 4 y
early days of the gold excitement y.
made q fortune there, not by d;ss IS
but by trading. He became nre sa
Gus dealer in lumber,'' HAVING ~
mills in the back country. and s., ~
establishment in the city Of San : E nv
cisco, where he was elected mans &c
OF the Municipal Councils, 0ne ,mos
ing, in 1854 or 1855, 'Meigps was NIL
ing. He had gone aboard schoor n'' !.
his own, with his whole family sto ~.
the hold with every fragment Of nr.a
erty that he could carry away. striprn,s.
even the furniture from hiy~hmxsrsss'.a
the ornaments from bin fhrlor ,ns m ~
and, unsuspected,, had dropped op;ssls
down the bay and sailed for iSSsI
America. He LETT behind about ) mn
lion dollars of liabilities . -, -
carrying such luggage as surely no n
sconding bankrupt ever took with mi
before he waited gayly over s1,mm ~
seas, and when the world next heard l n
him he was one of the richest men i
Peru. He had engaged, among 9TH,
things, in improving the CITY Of + Tim Js
and all that he touched prospered Ths
city was surrounded by a ruined adoA
wall, and the wall was surrounded II
huge mound. of filthsand rubbish a]ulos|
as high as the rampant itself, WHERE !,
long line of untidy generations had IL
posted domestic reftse. Meiges m.
dertook to clearfiall this AWAY. II, I'M
sideration of receiving fromtie Govern
ment a certain amount of the land Mn
redeemed. In the place of the Old MI
and the dust heap he created 10 parf
seven and a half miles in extent, Mi
avenues and shiuBbery, and On EN-
side remained valuable building lots /.
which he found himself the fortupsS|
possessor. Then he began to build raj
ways for the Peruvian Government, al
we heard that he was growing riels|
and richer. He paid his debts in Sn
Francisco. He made such honest 81
paration for his delinquenciss that II
Legislature Of California passed specs
act to relieve him from The CONSEQUENCE
of his wrong-doings9s and i il Il
chose to go back thera now,he wouldh
received with open arms. But the tsia
OF his fabulous wealth were greatly GIi
aggerated, for it appears that 'hea
hausted his money in his railwaY enter
prises, and about year and a half vi
he was obliged to suspend the workiiau
want of means. Now, however, hehsN
formed a company of Americans anil
Peruyians to complete the undertakingI
engines, wagons, and other materak
have been purchased in this countT
and engineers and contractors are guig
ont to Peru at once. Meiggs has 4
ready completed four railways, at i cus
of about $55, 900, 900, and his presz
plans embrace three more, all Of Wild
are under way. The most imports
and interesting is the great road Wild
begins at Callao, on the coast, runs 4
to Lima, and then climbs boldly aero
the Andes, with the intention Of, eros
ing both Cordillerasy-snd -qeacbing 4 |;
waters of ore of the hs !,
streams of the Amazon. There was
ready d line from Callao to Lima, sevd 4
and half miles, when Mr.. Meiggs B I
gan; but the owners charged him enc
nous rates for transportation, %
built another line of his own, and ~ \
ON in comfort. During the first fon5 r
six miles the line climbs up 5000 iee n
In the next sixty miles it mounts 10y y
feet more. 1t winds along the edge d
precipices; it leaps from cliff to clif L
bridges that seem to hang in the ar; il
pierces the mountains, BY, series b
tunnels at the average Q Il
lance of two miles apart !; and at = b
15,645 feet above the seq u
cuts through the rock by tunnel Il
nearly 1000 feet. 1helifon wladna y
Aqua de Verrugas. springs 90 e b
across chasm 253 feet deep. After N
,ending grade of l0Sto 81 Eject teu y
nile for twenty-three miles, the VI n
reaches the chasm of La IDfernlhA il
assure 1900 feet deep, with lside N
smooth as mason work, and the tqEss u
If the River Rimac at the bottom; " n
railway crosses this gorge 2V nsND
above the river by d bridge open i
INTO tunnel at each end, q
driving these tunnels the wQrkns 4
we're lowered by ropes : IRON b
5op of the cliff, and hanging VI
Why they hammered at the face q y n
'ock until they had cntishehiesN y
room. The rails ha5e
been laid for 80 miles, and 2 grest Us 81
If work has been done ford nunnOa N
niles further beyond the sllp3llM N
;act-so that the gravest ditficulus 70
he enterprise have already been ~ !