Fair play., 1885-03-14

after i careful inspection 0: the pro-
,n.cd route. pronounced he oh-;aclc,
ius.,rmountable. and the idea an ab,u'-
di.y. Nothing launted by their de-
cisiou. Nciyys advised tho Peruvian
Government to send 10: Van Brocklin
to the United States. aul await his
opinion. They did ~. Van Brochln
arrived in Peru. inspected ;lIe line of
the intended road. and dcclarcd that
he could complete a railroad over the
steep mountain. In tact he jocularly
said he would huild Il railroad to the
moon If they would supply the mater
ial. The idea of cun>tructin. 4 rail-
road from the scashorc To the summit
Of Il range of mountain, 1852 feet
high, ought to appal an, man. but IL
did not disinay the indcmitablc Van
Brocklin. and he finished the task af-
ter nine years ofarduous and ince,>an,
toll.
One of the greatest difficulties he
encountered was an almost contin-
uous wall of solid limestone rock
which had to be hcwed into for dis
tance Of about l4l miles. To bore
this rock he used diamond drill,
worked by steam. The entire road
is l72 miles long, and rises to an alti-
,ude of 1862 feet above the level of
the sea. 1t cost the Peruvian govern
ment $27 ,600.OOO. 1t has much the
steepcst grade of anv railroad in the
world, vary in. generally from 40 fee,
to 800 feet in mile, but frequently
ascending at an angle OF - degrees.
or, in common parlance, foot to foot.
| The first % miles are over COM
paraiivc'y level surface, but the re-
naming distance, l4i miles, is divided
into five steep inclines, with turn
! table at the end Of each inclinr, >p
| that the road proceeds in zlgzay
direction TO the top. when asccnd-
ing these inc!incs the practice is {"
get steam up On the easier grades, an
| then the increased impetus gives the
| locomotive momentum which ma
tcrialIy aids in carrying it up the
sleeper grades. An engine Of 40 tons
with cylinder 26xs, draw, 80 ton.
up the grade. Onlv two cars are
attached 10 each engine.
A remarkable feature of the road
is the wonder full bridge called Ava
De Vcruyes, over the Rlnac river. Il,
an elevation of $4,000 above the sur.
face of the river. 1t is 200 feet in
length, and one end is los feet higher
than the other. 1t is named after II
di>case-,hc Nerugcs which DESTROY
cd the lives of about 800 men during
the erection of the bridge. The cau>,
or origin of this disease batllcd th,
skill of,he best Peruvian physicians
and their most plausible theor. Wa,
that ii was due to u very minute win"
ed insect which infested the air. an
was inhaled into the lungs. Another
celebrated bridge ON The road is thai
Of Quisio BlancO, ut an altitude o.
5000 above the river !:imac 4. i
premature explosion @m another rar,
OF the road. Altogether 5000 or
1000 men were employ cd in the con-
structlon Of the line, chiefly Chimes,
coolies and Poems or Pcruvians.
This road. the Cailao. Linn, and d..
Orc railroad is considered by man,
competent judges the greatest feat of
civil engineering ever accomplished
and it certainly deserves to be ranked
among the foremost cf the modern
wonders of Tie world Persons go to
Peru from all parts of the globe to see
it. 1t bears enduring testimony 10
the genius. enterprise. anl daring of
tw" citizens of the United States. one
dead. Harry Meig.>. the bankrup,
millionaire o: san Francisco. Ca!ifor-
MIA. and the other. believe. still liy.
Ing. Martin Van Brockliu. general
superintendent, OF Sixth AycLnc E.e-
waited Railroad. New York CITY.