The Greenville times. [volume] (Greenville, Miss.) 1868-1917, 1894-04-07
FROM ARCTIC TO ANTARCTIC.

" 10 tnO AEo Va A1AtnsJ eN FAA
Fests of engineering have been pro-
posed aud accomplished in this gener-
alton which would have appeared q
direct defiance OF nature and ofGod .
hundred years ago. Especially is this
true of the progress made In railway
construction, lines being now in sue
cessful operation which, when pro-
posed, seemed almost as impossible a.
aerial travel itself. More wonders
have been accomplished in this line
than in the other great projects for
making nature subservient to man.
Que Of the most feasible of these latter
under takings was the construction of
the Panama Canal-a project already
costing millions Of dollars and thous-
ands of human livcs, and still being
pursued with ardor aud confidence.
Another great plan was the flooding
of tho Desert of Sahara by cutting .
channel through the West coast Of
Africa and turning that vast arid
basin into an inland sea like the
Mediterranean. Scienti'ts predicted
many marvellous changes to the earths
surface aud climate a. the result Of its
accomplishment. II would disturb
the equilibrium Of the zones Of tenn
perature, render Europe an uninhsbit-
able waste Office and snow, change tho
course Of ocean currents, and be pro-
ductivs Of unimaginable evils Of every
description. Whether they were
right or wrong cannot be told. The
project never grew beyond discussion.
In the building of railroads moro
has been accomplished. Many live
who remember the Overland Stage
a. tho only means Of reaching the
Pacific except by sea. The magnif-
cent lines Of railway that now traverse
the Union from ocean to ocean were
0 not thought possible twenty-five years
ago. The arctic soIitudes Of the Sake.
!, cbewen have been pierced by the Ca
madam. Pacific, and Quebec and Sitks
I are not 80 remote a. were New York
aud New Orleans a generation gone
! Within the past year some soaring en-
! giussrlng gcniuses have projected Al
: unbroken line of rail through Alaska
Q across Behring strait, through 81
i beria, and so TO the countries o
Europe. This daring plan is as ye
conjectural, but all things are possible
o and It may be that the present gener
II alton may be able to make the tou
} of both continents without leavinl
2 their psrlor coach. The latest grea
10 projected railway runs 10 the confine
,r Of the Antarctic ocean--that desolat
W region OF mystery and frozen stillnei
% which Darwin, overlooking fror
i. Magellan's strait, said that 1t vi
the entrance to another and wor'
ne world. This line Of railway, howevs
u Is not mere fancy born ofengines
hs ing dreams. 1t has actually been gu
IN veyed and found practicable as Il
er South as Bucnos Ayres. The road,
OF completed, will be built largely at
10 very high altitude, enabling the trav
ve Ter 10 be whirled through the stupen'
y. ous scenery of the Andes with trop
heat aud luxuriance far below, whi
be is breathing the cold rareticld air
the home OF the lama and condo
to The limitations of South America a
o not generally realized. A vague Id
''' exists that II is tropical country. II
"a truth is, that the city of Buenos Ayr
Is as far South of the Equator as Ric
co mond Virginia Is North oft. Sou
ny of Bucnos Ayres stretches the Va
ks desolate region OF Patagonia. As Il
ID. Antarctic sea is approached from u
to tropics the change of temperature
ga' much more rapid than In travellil
;. northward. Vegetation and animal Il
,as fail completely in these southern Ia
at tudes while yet 1t Is fourishil
'as in the corresponding degrees of t
py Arctic circle. II is not probable th
the frozen desert of Patagonia will
ed bound In the iron chains of clvilizatic
for It's subsection to railways would be
IKE no benefit apart from the cnglneeril
:, a. Ing triumph of running continue
nd line of iron from Canada to the Al
arctic ocean.
,la