Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1878-10-11
BRAZILIAN PIONEERS.
What American Contractors are Doing
In the Dense wilds,6f Brazil.
PhIIAdeIphIa TImes, OcL. I'D.

passenger register showed the names OF
Howard Josephs, Eli Slifor, Jr., James
Brown, Il. III. Bucholtz, j. Howard He
stand, Harry Il. Kinport, II. b. Evans,
Charles Hayden and Harry Gill, Penn
sylyanians; William Chambers, of New
Jersey, and William Price, Of Maryland
who went out with the Collins expedi-
ton to Brazil in the interest OF the Ma
deira and Mamore railroad last spring
On Saturday the party, brown, buoyant
and WITH good appcttes, reached Philn-
delphia. They left San Antonio the
seat Of the railroad operations, August
81, on Mackic &Scotts tug Brazil, max
ing tho trip down The Madeira and Am
azon TO Para in eight days. OF the sue
cess Of the railroad project they. al
speak with confidence. III health, Il
consequence Of their being unable to
get used to the climate, is what brought
them back. They talk with enthusiasm
Of the yastness Of the enterprise under
way, and are full Of praise for Mr.. and
Mrs. Thomas Collins for their care and
their treatment Of thesick They have
begun to bring lie into the hitherto wild
country in the region Of San Antonio.
year ago san Antonio was nothing
more than clump Of native huts IN
the woods. Since that time tradesmen
have Hooked there and established u
business; the government, recognizing
the importance Of the new settlement.
has established II garrison Of soldiers in
the place; q regular line Of tug boats
are run ~ from Para ard I'LL through
civilized Brazil and Bolivia The interest
III the great undertaking on foot, the
new country being opened up, is grow
ing. Don Santas, IA cntcrprising Boil
Wan, has taken the contract to open the
way for the road through the forest,
clearing space ono hundred feet wide
for tie entire distance OF Gle line, about
one hundred and eighty miles.
II have been in Brazil" said Mr.. Sli-
fer yesterday, Seven months. When
we first went To San Antonio we found 4
few huts inhabited by about forty per-
SONS, including ten soldiers, and with
one store. We found tho forest 10 dense
around it chat you could not build Il hut
without chopplng away the trees to get
room for the foundation. There seem
"a scarcely room III which to turn
around. When left, on the last day
of August, there We're over hundred
Brazilian residents in the place; there
were five stores; there were thirty sol
dlers; there was an area Of over twenty
acres Of cleared ground, besides what
has been cleared on the line Of the rail !
road. All this we have accomplished, !
besides completing part of the rail |
roAd, since last spring. When wo first
reached there we took the axes in hand
and worked in squads till we got the
place cleared out. This was no LIGHT
task. An idcn of what ii is to clear
away trees down there may DO formed |
when ii is known that tho forest il so |
dense that u person straying one hum
drcd feet from given point is often I'M
able to find his way back md liable 10
get lost and die in tho woods.
"The chief difficulty in the way of
clearing there is the vines. They grow |
SO thick around the trees that the forest |
top in some places is n regular network,
and when you want to remove one par
ticuar tree you are often obliged 70 cut
down seven or eight others in order to
do it. Yet Of this kind of work we
have little now to do. Don Santps, with /
his three hundred natives, clears the
roadway. After hum come the tie cut I
teTs. Santas contract also obIigcs him
to make 1000 ties to every mile. AS
il requires about $500 ties to the mile
on which TO lay the track, our workmen
have to make only u thousand ties to |
the mile
'On how much Of the road Inns the
track been laid9
"About three miles You must know
that the place ut which we started ii the |
worst Of the whole route 10y nll odds. |
There arc about seven miles where
blasting and filling ID, and bridging and
tuneling and cutting, beyond anything
of the kind on the whole route, is re-
quired, and Of this we have already
thrco miles under track and Il locomo.
tive running on it, and rs to the rest, !
sixty days from the time | left it was
calculated, would see it under track.
After this portion is completed, they
will he working ON higher ground, whore |
the fills and rocks and the gulleys are
nothing Ike tho first seven miles. |
There are cuts To be made Of from three
TO four feet on an average, but IL great |
poltloll ~ y - SURVIVE Nork, Nv WnlCn |
they will he able to move along III il |
rate three Or four miles faster than
where they are now. While there are
three miles of track, and four miles al |
most ready for the track there are
twenty miles Of the road cleared. The
wood.choppers can more than keep
ahead Of the grade work. There is no
question but TINT the road will bel great
success and II great thing for America
rs well ms for Brazil if the contractors
continue 70 have the backing necessary
u put i throngh. MIR. Sliler oamn