St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-12-27

RED hundreds OF millions Of gold
through its gates. Thence the ROAD
will follow the banks of the Magdalena
river, as nearly as possible, for S0O
miles To its source: nee across the
mountains and dow int the beautiful
and fertile pampaS Sacramento,
through which it continues to its des-
tinatiOn, perhaps the richest agricul-
tural region on the globe; skirt
ing the largest gold and silver
mines that have ever been discovered
and penetrating forests of untold value.
In this latter portion the only difficulties
encountered will be enormous rainfalls
on an average of seventy inches per
year, and the consequent sudden floods.
The rainfall will, however, be cOnsid-
cradle aid to construction in one way.
for In the wet season there will scarcely
he mile of the line to which supplies
cannot be furnished by means of boats.
while there is already a steamer service
on the Magdalena river. At CuZco and
CerrOpaScO junction will be effected
with the two Peruvian
LINES FROM THE sEAPORTs
OF MalendO and Callao on the Pacific,
and at the former point will be met the
railroad from Buenos Ayres on the At
lantic, which road is already In opera
tiOn for 400 miles to Alta, on the head
waters of the La Plata river. Thus are
these different outlets to the ocean Sc.
cured for products at present inaccessi-
bic to any or all of them. At Cusco
and CerropascO the heart of the mineral
region is reached. Cuse0 was the ancient
capital of the lncas. Here was
with plates of beated gold,
studded with gems and filled
with blocks and pots of gold, offerings
to their deity. Around this region ciuS-
ter the multitude OF traditions, dating
from time even previous to the lncas.
telling of fabulous wealth extracted in
the long-gOne ages, related by Prescott
in the histories. Here, it is claimed by
some of the old monks who wrote it.
was the Ophir of Solomon. CerrepascO
is the center of the silver mines. 1t is
said that at this time there lie uncov-
cred there ridges of silver ore
which will produce $4,000 tons of
pure silver for which no means of trans
pOrtatiOn to smelling works can now be
had. The possibilities of Peru which
has within itself such store houses of
mineral wealth, not to speak OF its agri
culture and climatic advantages. are not
to be estimated. Its development has
been in the past exceedingly slow, and
AT A WONDERFUL COST.
Its thirteen hundred miles of railroad
built and projected have cost the state
almost $150.0O0 per mile. the most
costly in the world. Notwithstanding
this the constructed portions of these
lines have already been largely been
paid for by the royalty on the guano
beds. What would be the result of
rapid and complete development of
such resources can better be imagined
than described. Almost as much may
be said for every one of the states
through which the proposed route
passes. The United States of COlom
bla is founding al empire which
from all information promises to be
more prosperous than the Argentine
Republic. All these states have la
bored in the past under the same disad-
vantage-lack of an outlet for their
riches. In conversation with your cor
respondent Capt. Parsons has dwelt at
length upon the element of uncertainty
which must enter into the problem of
railroad possibilities on account of the
unknown quantity represented in the
crossing of the Cordillasas. The fact
that this particular piece of territory
through which pass must be found, of
all the South American continent, in
spite of the efforts of Jesuit priests.
Spanish conqGerers, gold seekers or
hardy adyenturerS,
REMAINS STILL UNEMPLOYED
and unseen is not by any means to be
lost sight of. The highest peak In the
Andes system looks down the coveted
way, rising nearly 600 feet above the
sea level. Untold forces and powers
will oppose the entrance. Whether
man can do what man has never yet
done is the question which the CON-
pany's engineers will have to solve in
the near future. Notwithstanding it
cannot but be clear to even the casual
student of the matters involved, that
this or some similar une is the only
practicable channel by which our
wares can be carried into COM
petition with those of Europe
to the heart of South America.
1t offers the only possible means of
comp ting in time with transatlantic
steamers and the La Plata system. By
this means a traveller will be able to
make these distance from Lima. the
capital of Peru, to New York in nine
days. At Lima he will be but thirty
hours by steamer from Valparaiso; at
New York he is but Seven days from
Liverpool. From Chill to England in
seventeen days, if it be true that the
United States with
ITS PAN-AMERICAN CONGRESS
reciprocity treaties is seeking its chief
markets in South America. it would ap-
pear that she can best find, not at Rio
JanierO, not at Buenos Ayres, not upon
the coast fronting England, nor upon
the narrow arid plains of the upper Pa
cifc coast. but 10y piercing to the center
of the nut at once, extract the kernel
while foreign nations are looking for an
opening on the outside.