The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1889-12-28
TO SPAN A CONTINENT.
The Columbia Raiiasy and Navigation
Company.


Wheeiiiia. ~. Va. gives the following eS
nlanstion In the Wheeling Intelligencer OF
ihe Columbia Railtat snd Navigaiion
Company recently Incorporated NJ hicn'
mond. II says:
..The purpose OF the company is ~ con
struct railroads in South America, steaip'
slfip lines connecting these railroads VIII
poin,s In the United states, and Incidentally
everything necessary TO properly carry OF
such a business. The company's capiiai Us
10 be slO0. 900. 900. and Captain u. I. lar-
sons. II Virginia, is nj the head OF ~. very
shortly the other steps necessary 70 com.
plete the organization viii he taken, anu a'
no distant day the plans which nave oecn
carefully matured by some Oi 'ne ieanlhg
csidtsiists and most practical railroad men
Of tbis country will be in readiness for ap-
piication.' m
"Brieay the aims 6 tie Colombia Rail.
road and Navigation Company are as tol-
lows; TO construct line Of railroad 'rom
some point near the mouth OF the hasaa-
lena river. which empties into the "a
ribeall sea in The United states OF Colombia
southvardly plong the eastern ilank oil the
Andes and the head waters cf the Amazon
10 poihs- in Peru; there 10 cOnnect Win 'ne
Peruvian and .sfgentiuisn system OF ran
roads at present in operation or unaer con-
struction From the mouth ~ tue hasua-
lena river steamships will be run 10 the
southern point Of Florida and TO New VI,
leans, from whence will extend raliroa"
connections io NIL parts Of TINS country.
.Captaiu N. {. Parsons. whose home Is
no7s III Natural Bridge. Va. but who was
formerly 4 resident Of Charleston and HUNT
ingdon. ". Va. is the originator ana con-
thrilling spirit of the enterprise. ~ ~ D! no
means the first difficult and hazardous I'M
dertaking in the railroad line thai bc mas
been engaged in. though the others were ~
nothing vlielI compared 10 this. He mace
the contract with Coils +. Huntington Tor
the Chesapeake and ohio line rom towing
ton. Nv. To the Ohio river. constructed the
kanawha and Ohio from Charleston 10
Point Pleasant, in West Virginia,
and finally having purchased lns
right and privileges OF tue olu
James River and hanawha Canal Company
built the Richmond and Allegheny kaliroad
from Richmond to Clifton Forge. Va, 100
miles. in fourteen months, under penalty Oh
$500, 900. FOR fifteen years Captain PARSONS
has given the -rhiect of north ana south
line of railroad in SUnth America his at
tention. lie has travelled ana investigated
examined surveys OF the country and col.
Iected information until be has demonstrated
the feasibility OF his great project anu
ut las, brought il to the point OF reai'lation'
In order to obtain more thorough orgahi-
zation and secure a hearter cooperation;
incorp0rators have been selected ana VIII
shortly be named m all the Southern states.
The portion of South America through
which this this line will penetrate. partic-
ularly the great area trayersed by the net
work Of rivers forming the headwaters OF
the Amazon. in f;tct the whole OF the east
ern side of the Andes mountains, II terra
incognita 20 the average person, neNerlhe-
less. with the exception OF small part, IL
is possible 10 obtain an amount Ol uai''
which goes 10 show that the proposed route
is net likely 10 present such engineering
obstacles az were successfully overcome IN
the construction Of such roads as the cana
dian Pacific and the Denver ana Alo
Grande. Many noted travellers and scien-
lists, Humboldt and orton Tor III,
stance. have studied and cNpatiated
upon the wonders Of this region, 30
that the only part Of .he route which re-
mains to-day entirely unknown and un-ex-
plorcd is that between the sources OF the
Magdalena and Napa riders over me divid-
ing ridge OF the Cordillera, in Ecuador,
some fiftv 10 one hundred miles IN extent.
IL is here that the only real diiiiculties oi
will be metwith hmountaln
chain must be crossed i'm order to pass from
the valley of one river 10 that OF anotner,
and in addition 10 the natural obstacles Hfe
those of fierce and inhospitable savage
tribes. who have hitherto rendered all at
tempts To explore their country lnehectia,'
The northern terminus, rs now proposed,
will be the port Of Carthagena on
the Caribbean sea- the southern ter
minus will be IuZOO and Ger
ropasco. in Peru, the distance between
them approximating 1000 miles, onc-iial' oi
which distance is along streams naNlgaDie
fOi such steamers as ply on the ONO rlNer'
and all of which, with the exception OF the
fifty to 100 miles above mentioned, ls along
water courses or across pampas or leNei
pIains.r Thence the road VIII foll0w the
bank Of the Magdalena river as nearly rs
possible for more than eighty miles u l1s
source; ttence across the mountains. down
into the beautiful and fertile sacramento
valley through which II continues 10
its destination. perhaps the richest
agricultural region ON the globe.
skirting the largest gold and sil-
yer mines that have ever been discovered
and penetrating forests Of untold value. At
Cuz0o and CerropascO junction VIII De
effected with the two Peruvian lines from
the seaports Of Molendo and Callao on the
Pacific and at the former point VIII Dc mel
the railroad from BuenOs Ayrcs on the At
lantic. which road is already in operation
for 100 miles TO Alta on the headwaterS Oh
the La Plata river. Thus are these diner
ent outlets 10 the ocean secured for products
at present inaccessible 10 any or all Of them.
At CuzOO ana CerrOpasco the heart ot the
mineral region is reached.
"UntOld forces and powers VIII oppose
the entrance. Whether man can do what
man has never yet done is the question
which the company's engineers Will have 10
solve i'm the near future. Notwithstanding,
il cannot but be clear 10 even the casllal
student Of the matters involved That thi5 or
some similar one il the only practicable
channel by which our wares can be carried
into competition with those OF Europe 10
the heart Of south America. lt oilers the
only possible means Of competing IN time
with transatlantic steamers ana the La
Plata system. by this means "A traveller
will be able 10 make the distance from
Lima, the capital Of Peru, 10 New ioik
i'm nine DAYS. At Lima he will be but thirty
hours By steamer from Valparaiso; at New
York be il but seven days from Liverpool.
From Chill 10 England in seventeen DAYS.
lit be true that the United states with IT.
Pan-American Congress and reciprocity
treaties is seeking its chief markets IN
South America, il would appear that she
can best find them not at lilo janeiro, not
at Bueno5 Ayres, not upon the coast 'front.'
ing England. nor upon the narrow arid
plains OF the upper Pacific coast, but by the
piercing to the centre Of the nat 90 once, ex-
tract the kernel while foreign nations are
looking for an opening on the outside"