Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1878-07-26
From the San Francisco Call.
The Land OF the Incas.


THE CLOUD-CAPPED SUMMIT OF THE
ANDEs-SOMETHING ABOUT THE PRES
ENT CONDITION OF THE LATE HENRY
| MEIGGS's STUrENDoUS ENTERPRISE.
The history of Peru from the time of its
conquest by Pizarro, in 1881, to the pres
ent era, reads like tale from the "Arab-
ian Nights" and in truth, the imagination
| of SchehereZade never conceived otwealth
| so fabulous as has been found and still eX-
lists in the land of the Incas. The Span
| isn adventurer whose name has become
synonym for cruelty, avarice and
treachery listened to the stories OF the
mysterious southern land and its enor-
nous treasures of gold and silver, believ-
| inr one-half of what he had heard and
made it the aim OF his life to get this
wealth within his grasp, but when he had
accomplished the conquest of the country
| he had heard but halt the truth. The
| gold and silver ornaments of the temples
alone. when melted down, produced over
| S17, 500, 900 and this, it must be remem-
| bered, was extracted from the ore by the
| most primitive process, and obtained only
| from the surface OF the mines. What
amount of treasure remained hidden in
| the bowels of the earth was problem
that could not be solved, as the Peruvians
had no means OF working refractory ores.
and Pizarro was not inclined to embark
in any mining enterprises as lCng as he
could steal the results of Peruvian labor
and skill. In the seventeenth century the
conauerers of Peru turned their attention
to developing the immense mineral re-
sources fthe country, and in 1880 the
silver mines of Cerro de Pasco, were dis
covered, at an elevation of 1900 feet
above the level of the sea. A halo OF TO-
nance surrounds the history OF the coun-
try, and even in these days it teens with
the marvellous. American enterprise and
skill have accomplished feats that appear
almost impossible, and the story OF Harry
Meiggs's stupendous work is rs marvel
lous and wonderful in its way as any of
the legends and traditions of the early
Spanish advcnturers. Every one is famil-
iar with the general features of his en-
terprises, but no accurate idea OF the work
and the difficulties encountered in its ac
complishment has been given to the pub
lie or made known to any but those who
have seen il Tor themselves.
w. ii. Cilley, an American engineer
who was connected with Mr.. Meiggs,
for the last IS years of his life, and who
conducted all his engineering work, is
now in this city, and gave to represen-
tative of the CaN the information and
data from which the following brief story
is compiled. The work originally under
taken by Mr.. Meiggs for the Peruvian
government comprised the building of
several lines oil railway that were consid-
cred military ami political necessities, viz,
the Cal!ao, Lima and Oroya, and the
Oroya and Curro de ft>co railroads, cross
ing the Audes to the east; the ChimbOte
and Huarez railroad. extending TO the
north along the westerly slope of the
Andes; the Molendo and Arequipa and
Puno roads, extending north and east
ward and penetrating several hundred
miles into the interior. and the Juliaca
and Cuzco road, all forming network
of rail that puts Lima into direct commu-
nication with all portions OF the republic.
Tie contracts were made with a li5erality
on the part OF the government that would
have done credit to more prosperous ma
tons. The work was pushed forward
with rapidity and thoroughness uneX-
ampled in the history of engineering,
when the tremendous obstacles met with
in the formation of the country are taken
into consideration. Scientific and rail-
roaJ mon nvcrvwbere watched the pro-
arass Of tho work in ostonishment rs all
ibe;r theories and nrediclions Of failure
more over,hrown one alter another Poi.
itical and physical disturbances, revolu-
tions and earthquakes, retarded the work
at intervals, but it wa. never abandoned
by Mr.. Meiggs and his colleagues.
little over 81 wear apO the financial deprcs-
s;on tb., had ,ffecied other nations reach
o,Yp oI par,' ..,' anS mon;c ensuaJ tba, threat.
e,'a1 ~ ',',, - i,n,, 70 tho ,vorL and tho
onrarn,an, scrin issned in narunnt nn
~ o'',nn onn,rao,s da,rec;a,ed ~ ohout a.
VI. -, 81 ,,aIna I, ,ras ,aaraJ
PEI .en,. =, VI IL, H.; norn,r,. ,i,.t A. Mo;ars
,,,I.I ~ LIZ - - rnah,o ~ ,r;,hsIanJ tho ebocI
d VII .Ln, ~ ,,,a wi, would nncosSar;iy ho
inih .'nu ~ 'io ~ 80 80 on,na. hm, ,ho
.a;a aoa a,'haidoJ rtan :, honan,a o,;don,
pan, y, su" SUI sra, ~, raaI onuS, fir :, and ,ha
un,;on a,; ta' homan @ io m rocnver sIowIy from i,s
G pSS,i ,,a oa,.ar,,ro,,; anJ NJ.
sneois. no.n 'ao IL, I,n. ~.
MeiSS' VIZ IN ~ ,',.'., ,..'' IN h',,aI 80
snoulo pio1oeu' 'luu .nG ilt.e' u u.ice.eu
altei''ion ~ 'he oei,o u0 - h,in.' i,f'
iohg since apaii.oheu, III ~nose uGpsn
lay iihPrlsohtu 'ie ineah9 ioi niiioiiS
the great uhuerlakihg, g ,! awai!iIs oniy : the
Introduction vi hiouei II MAJ ~, W iei"
up their great lre"suies' Inc govern
ment authorized MI. MeiSSSs OF any COM
Pany lhat might represent 10 mn nm 10 is9ue
ponus io liI "ilount N:oo''oo ssei ms,
bearing soiu ihielGsl ooins suai"ntoeu
Dy the rePuniie vi cru anu i.ie ii'e'n'
ior paying interest anu Piinslpil VI
Piaceu uirectly III 'iie ""i'u' Vi WI
Meisgs. ,....
All lhe hlineiai iahu9 pel,.SipS " IN.
government Ill me Ser,o NC useo ais'iI''
were ceueo apsolu'eiS W M. 'ss''
and persons owning anu WoLhiIS oi''ins
IN that uisir'ct were alioMeu 'ne option Vi
continuing tleir Woih anu pa. ny WI.
Meisgs oc per cent Vi ,he ore 'aheh gu,
OF reiinqulshinS 'heii cialiIS 10 mn; ,;i ''ii"
receiving " per .ent: ,cn ln"yai.s. neno .no
were q" leSil .l'',h'' VI ~ =, inetl.' ~ oo"
metres, anu hehly MI Vi .ne % ." i,,s pae-
ierreu 10 give 'leih up u WI NSs
anu re,enr ", III, Pc, ro", 49,, VI Wv ~,
lra'teu- Inc "ea'il vi MI HnoisSa ''9'
Se"r u'i not i'i.cii, "'i , w, .i.. ~,
ileh' rs 'ile eoii'ra.' ilelu s"oi 1t" any
PeISohs mi,o il',S.i ~ o. Ill. I'M, ,,
ihepuiuihS vi 'iio Cioy'lail"nS' nom
AhdeS' ihroush the russeuesl country on
lhc eai.h' IS tiic iilost s,uPchuo.'S ,r,:i
eerins lea. oi tiie aSe: ,n,iho Inc o'ei-
iahu ro:lu III 'i.c on'tcu SAWS W "iii.n
reaches It's greatest eic'atioh Ill tho hochS
mountains ny almost iiipereepliDie Srau-
rents INC retuvH'il highway III ihe ciouis
peSlhs 10 el'iip the steep sues Oh 'ne
Andes at gra"es lilil .ro slai iliihs ~, IN tl'eli
poidhess ana Prerlpi'ousness. Inc hea
Nlcsl Sraoe on 'ie i'he i5 iour per cent OF
Zll ,eet 10 liic i'i'ie' anu o,, SUM I'll 'nesc
grades 'here are curves ol 2'2 ifet rau'us'
or IN me metric SYSTEM Wiich IS uSen eN-
cIusiVely Ill tlis work. 10 iie'reS' o"iii'
oi the curves on ihe easier SraueS are
much sharper even than thls. Inc road
winds up the siue oi the mountain III
Zigzag ana oi'ehliliies almost clreul''r
PAIN, anu NJ one point thefe are TWO lun-