San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1878-09-28
The Land OF the Incas.

its conquest by Pizarro in 1881 to the
present era reads like tale from the
Arabian Nights, and, in truth, the I'M
agination Of Scheherezade never con-
ceived of wealth so fabulous as has been
found and still exists in the land OF the
Incas. The Spanish adventurer whose
name has become synonym for cruel
ty, avarice and treachery, listened TO
the stories of this mysterious southern
land and its enormous treasures OF goiu
and silver, believing one-half OF what ne
had heard, and made it the aim OF his
/ life to get this wealth within his grasp,
but when he had accomplished the con-
quest of the country he had heard but
half the truth. The gold and silver Or
naments of the temples alone when
melted down produced over 81 ,50O,O 900,
and this, it must be remembered, was
extracted from the ore by the most prlm-
tive process, and obtained only from
the surface of the mines. What amount
of treasure remained hidden in the bow
els of the earth was problem that could
not be solved, as the Peruvians had no
means of working refractory ones, ana
Pizarro was not inclined to embark IN
mining enterprises as long as he could
steal the results of Peruvian labor and
skill. In the seventeenth century the
conquerors of Peru turned their atten-
ton to developing the immense miner
al resources of the country, and in 1851
the silver mines of Cerro de Pasco were
discovered at an elevation of 1900 feet
above the level of the sea. A halo OF
romance surrounds the history of the
country, and even in these days it teens
with the marvellous. American enter
prise and skill have accomplished feats
that appear almost impossible, and the
story of Harry Meiggs's stupenduous
work is as marvellous and wonderful in
its way as any OF the legends and tradi-
tions of the early Spanish adventures:
Every one is familiar with the general
features of his enterprises, but no accu-
rate idea of the work and the difficulties
encountered in its accomplishment has
been given to the public or made known
to any but those who have seen it for
themselves.
Mr.. w. H. Cilley, an American en-
gineer, who was connected with Mr..
Meiggs for the last Is years of his
life and who conducted all his en-.
gineering work, is now in this city, and
gave to representative of the Call the
information and data from which the
following brief story is compiled: The
work originally undertaken by Mr..
Meiggs for the Peruvian Government
comprised the building OF several lines
of railway that were considered military
and political necessities the Cal
lao, Lima g. Oroya, and the Oroya &
Cerro de Pasco Railroads, crossing the
Andes to the east; the Chimbote Il
Huarez Railroad, extending to the
north along the westerly slope of the
Andes; the Moliendo & Arequipa, and
the Arequipa & Puno raads, extending
north and eastward, apd penetrating
several hundred miles into the interior,
and the Jamaica & Cuzco road, all
forming a network of rail that puts
Lima into direct communication with
all portions of the Republic. The con-
tracts were made with liberality on
the part of the Government that would
have done credit to more prosperous
nations. The work was pushed for
ward with rapidity and thoroughness
unexampled in the history of engineer
ing, when the tremendous obstacles met
with in the formation of the country
are taken into consideration. Scien-
tific and railroad men everywhere
watched the progress CT the work in
astonishment, as all their theories and
predictions of failure were overthrown
one after another. Political and physi-
cal disturbances, revolutions and earth
quakes, retarded the work at intervals,
but it was never abandoned by Mr..
Meiggs and his colleagues. A little
over year ago the financial de.
sression that had affected other
nations reached Peru, and a pam
ic ensued that threatened to put
stop to the work, and the
Government scrip issued in payment on
the contracts deprecated to about 40
per cent. of its face value. 1t was fear
ed by many in this country that Mr.
Meiggs would be unable to withstand
the shock, and that the work would
necessarily be abandoned for years to
come; but the panic subsidized when it
became evident that there was no real
cause for it, and the nation began to re-
cover slowly from its effects. Both the
Government and Mr.. Meiggs were de-
termined that the work should proceed,
and the latter directed attention to the
Cerro de PaSco mines, long since aban-
doned, in whose depths lay imprisoned
the means for finishing the great under
taking, awaiting only the Introduction
OF modern machinery to yield up their
great treasures. rhe Government au-
thorized Mr.. Meiggs or any company
that might represent him to issue bonds
To the amount of -, 100000 sterling,
bearing gold interest ut per cent, the
principal aud interest being guaranteed