The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1892-02-07
INTER- CONTINENTAL
What Our Engineers Are Doing in
Central and South America.
THE WONDERFUL RESOURCES
Where the Inter Continental Railroad idne
Will Go and the Countries 1t
Win Open Up.

WASHINGTON, Feb. l, 1872 Especial cor
respondence of The SUNDAY HERALD. -
1t is now nearly ten months since the
three government expeditions of civil en-
gineers sailed from New York ty for
South and Central America to make the
yurveys for the line of the Inter-Conti-
lental railway. Ever since last May these
PARTIES have been in the field and though
suffering tie greatest Of hardships and
surrounded by all the inconvenience and
difficulties of the rainy season among the
Andes and on the highlands of Guatemala
they have prospected and mapped out
nearly 1000 miles Of road. The territory
through which they are travelling is prac-
tically unknown to the world, and great
part of their journeys have to be cut
through forests and for hundreds of miles
hey are away from the lines of wagon
roads and have nothing but mile-paths to
guide them. The reports from the differ
ent expeditions have been received regu-
larly at the Inter-Cont inental railway Of
dee here, and very full and private letters
Dave been written to Mr.. Cassatt, the pres
dent, and 10 Lieutenant Brown, the execu
tive officer of the commission, by the men
If the various parties. This correspond
Bnce and these reports have not been given
10 the public and l have spent several days
Surfing the past week in looking over them.
Many Of the letters read like romances and
me shudders and shivers as he hears of
jhe trials and troubles of the various camps.
lone of each party Of engineers have cam
'ras with them, and the photographs of
)he country and the people which have
cen sent here are interesting in the ex-
rene.
But first let me give The HERALD some
Sdea of this wonderful undertaking. 1t is
he most
STUPENDoUs INTERNATIONAL ENTERPRISE
IN history. Think of seventeen great ma
tions made up of different peoples and own
ing the best part of a great hemisphere
peacefully combining together to build
line of railroad which shall carry their peo-
pie and their products from one country to
another. The representatives of these peo-
pie meet together and decide that they Will
donate strip of land to such railroad
which shall for all time remain neutral
ground. They agree that the railroad when
built shall never be taxed, and they put
their hands right down into their pockets
and pull out the money to be used in laying
out the line. They agree that each shall
gay fixed proportion Of the whole accord
,ng TO the population and. each OF the seven
zen nations agrees to give dollar for
avery thousand people it has, towards max
pg the survey. They appoint commission
rs to take charge of the work, and they
elect three Of the biggest and most pracli-
a of the milionaires of the United States
or this purpose The head of these is A.
j. Cassett who started life in the Pennsyl-
Vania railroad car shops, who has been vice
1rr-rnr
company and who dealing with railroads all
his life is now in his prime. q numoer of
times a millionaire. Another of the COM
missioners is ex -Senator Henry @. Davis
who worked on the railroad b Y and
who now is owner of railroads and
builder of new lines. The third millionaire
is Mr.. Kerens practical business man OF
st. Louis. and the trio forms one Of the
STRONGEST COMBINATIONS
Of practical brains in this country. The
executive officer of the commission, Lieu
tenant r. NJ. @. Brown, is the son-in-law
of Henry G. Davis and one of the ablest
officers of our navy. 1t was he who saved
the Trenton during the terrible storm at
Samoa by making human sail of the men
on the ship and thus tiding II away from
the rocks and saving the lives of several
hundred men. The secretary OF the COM
mission is Hector DeCastro who was en-
gagged with John Mackay in making the
Commercial cable company success and
who has also been engaged with MIR. Mac
kay in his railroad enterprises. The COM
mission has an Office in Washington and
though its work is done quietly everything
Is pushed forward with energy and rapid
ty.
The engineers selected by such men were
of course the very best in the country.
William L. Skunk, the head of the South
American party, built the Pennsylvania
railroad across the Alleghanies and j. I'm
brie Miller the chief of the second South
American party, is known everywhere in
the United States. The Central American
engineers are picked men from the United
States navy, and there is not a man
connected with any Of the parties who is
not specialist IN his line and a hard, earn
est, practical worker.
The line when completed will give a con-
tinuous railroad loLrney from one city in
the United States to almost any point OF
prominence in South America and the idea
Is that the Trunk Line will run from Mex
leo City to the northern terminus of the
Argentine railroad system, or a distance
Of more than 5000 miles. When it is COM
pleted, one will be able to take
CONTINUOUS RAILROAD JOURNEY
from New York to Beunos Ayres, dis
lance of in round numbers, something like
most wonderful in the world. The general
elevation will be from mile to mile and
q half above the sea. and at some points it
will be one Of the highest railroads in the
world. OF the forty-nine hundred
miles from the southern terminus
Of the Mexican system to the northern
terminus of the Argentine railways, only
ESQ miles of road are already constructed,
but private lines which can be used in the
system are under construction and sur
Seyed TO the extent OF l, 500 miles, leaving
less than :, 800 miles to be located and built,
From this main line, the idea is to run
branch lines of TO Venezuela, and there
will be other branch lines so that the whole
pf the vast resources of the South Ameri-
can continent will be opened up. At the
rate so far made the engineers can survey
POO0 miles year and the road will be sur
veyed il year and half.
The building of this railroad and the
making of the survey seems so far to be
perfectly practicable. The road which the
commission has TO outline and build is not
as long as the distance from New York to
San Francisco, and the reports of the en-
gineers show that the difficulties of con.
Etruction in the Andes can be easily over.
come. Already South America Mexico
and Central America have done much in
the construction of railways, and the rail
way development Of some of the countries
within the last decade has been We 4rful.
Mexico is building railroads as f; the
United States. She has 5000 mile op-
Grafton and her roads pay good div,uends
The road she is building southwark from
Mexico City towards Guatemala and which
will form a part of the
1NTER-coNTINENTAL RAILWAY,
will be one of the best built in the world
and its ties. IS well as its rails, are made
If steal This road has already heen oon,