Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-10-24
SOUTH AMERICAN PROGRESS.
An Across the Continent Railroad and
What It IL Expected to Accomplish.


From Montevideo Letter to New York Tribune
The year 1892 will probably be signalized in
South America by most interesting event in
civil engineering and international overland
commerce. This will be the completion and
opening Of the Transandean railroad, forming
another railroad line from the Atlantic to the
Pacific and the first across the continent of
South America. 1t is nineteen years since this
work was begun and 1t Is now confidently ex-
pected that it will be finished by the begin
ming of 1892. The road is to run from
Buenos Ayres to Valparaiso, q distance OF
871 mil es. There are now GAO miles of it
finished at the Buenos Ayres end and eighty
two at the Valparaiso end. OF the remain
ing 149 miles about one-third is practically
complete, the rails being laid. The passage
of the Andes is accomplished at the Combre
pass, which is 1905 feet above the sea level
The railroad. however, does not reach the sum-
NIT OF the pass, but pierces the mountains by
means of tunnel more than three miles long,
at an elevation of 10,450 feet above the sea.
Thus makes it one of the highest if not the
highest railroad in the world There is nothing
in Europe to compare with it. The st. Gothard
railroad is 8, 1888 feet high and that on the Rigi
only attains an elevation of 6,753 feet. The
grades are, OF course, very steep. For a con-
to the mile. or one foot in every twelve and a
half. On this portion Of the line rack rail is
employed similar to those on the Hartz and
other mountain roads.
ONE UNFORTUNATE FEATURE
Of the road, which will seriously impair its
value, is the diversity of gauges adopted. The
different sections Of the road have been built
by different companies. and each company has
it's own gauge. Thus there are GAO miles from
Buenos Ayres to Mendoza of feet 6 inches
gauge, the 50 miles from Valparaiso to Santa
Rosa are feet So inches gauge and the re-
naming 149 miles from Mendoza to Santa Rosa
are being laid in the narrow gauge Of one
meter. Thus even when the road is finished,
1t will not be possible to run train through
from end to end. The seriousness Of the defect
is now appreciated, however, and it is probable
steps will be taken to make the guage uniform.
The opening Of the Transandean railway will
do away with great deal of the navigation
around Cape Horn, which has been the only
means of commerce between the east and west
coast of South America. 1t will also, of course,
prove Of enormous benefit in other ways to
both Chill and the River Plata countries. Espe-
cially will it give the coal and copper and
other products Of the mines Of Chill a splendid
market in the Argentine Republic; and it will
allow the produce of the fertile farms in the
latter country to have better access to the
poorly supplied markets Of the Pacific coast
And the
PRoDUcrIvENEss OF THE LAND
in the valley Of the River Plata seems to have
no limit. The soil greatly resembles that of
the richest wheat districts of South Dakota,
and in places that of the Nile delta. There
are thousands OF acres around Montevideo and
Buenos Ayres that have been under constant
cultivation for two hundred years; in all that
time no artificial fortiliEer has been applied to
a anil ar fhnr 10 10 4ofl linz -,
its crop-producing powers. There are nearly a
thousand million acres of such land. The
climate, too, is most favorable. There is
scarcely week in the year in which outdoor
work cannot be done on the farms Billiards
are unknown and even the bitter cold of the
middle Atlantic states is not experienced here.
In summer the heat is great, but does not sur
pass that of New England. The only defects
OF the climate are the irregularities Of the rain
fall. There are sometimes droughts and some
times floods. But this evil is being steadily
overcome by systems of irrigation and by
Wholesale tree planting on the open plains
The Chilians have properly been nick-named
the
"YANKEEs OF SOUTH AMERICA"
They do, indeed, exhibit the characteristic
Yankee thrift and enterprise. But the Argen-
tine Republic has Of late years also become
much like the United States, especially the
western states. The enormous immigration
amounting to hundreds Of thousands annually
gives the people the same cosmopolitan char
acter. The vast plains, devoted to wheat
growing and to cattle raising, remind one
greatly of the prairies and plains of the United
States. The opening of direct railroad COM
merce between the east and west coasts will
effect practical commercial and industrial
union between the nations. Chill will be the
New England Of South America, the mining
and manufacturing region while the River
Plata country will correspond to the Mississippi
valley a. the great Agricultural country of this