New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-10-16
NEw-YORK TO PATAGONIA.
r GREAT 1NTERcoNrINENTAL RAIL
WAY SURVEY.


,r. DIFFICULTIES TO BE OVERCOME
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE COUNTRIES
rRAvIxssED - VAST TRACTS
AWAITING DEVELOPMENT
.,,ngton Oct Is (speciaD.-Within few
-. the work of the Intercontinental Railway
rr,ssion will be finished. The surveys nave all
IN made. the report OF one OF the parties Is
..,,ueh the press and the other two VIII follow
~ The reports exhaustive in information
- have been prepared Illustrated. engraved and
,ruted with the greatest OF care ana VIII De- leav-
- che report which Immediately concerns the rail-
'Ae ont ~ consideration valuable additions to the
s-,,iac literature OF the country in regard to the
.loev geology and e;hnoogy Of portions OF Central
"a south America never before definitely explored
,a described with technical accuracy.
:, viii be remembered that the Intercontlnsntal
,.uxav Commission which first met on December
1901 was the outgrowth OF general Idea OF Colo
~, Hinton Rowland Helper. Of New-York City for
u,n of railroad which would connect the two
..,,,sn,s and bring them closer together both
,,..ernally and commercially The late Secretary o.
s,a,e James C. Blaine, interested himself In the
ro,ect and after the session OF the Pan-Ahlerican
ronference during which the railroad was spoken
:, the Commission recame an established fact by
N. appointment by the President authorized by
congress OF three Commissioners to represent the
,-,,sd States and meet the delegates from the
o,he- countries interested Congress also authorize
IN. President 10 order Army and Navy ofncers TO
.s.,st the Commissioners. About ten were first de-
,.ned for this duty. At the first meeting OF the
In,ercontinental Railway Commission the following
commissioners were present. A. J. Cassatt ana
Henry G. Davis. representing the United States
I4andro Fernandez representing Mexico Climac1
caIder6n Julio Rengifo and c. FREDERICK Parraga
representing Colombia; Matias Romero representing
Ecuador; John Stewart. representing Paraguay and
Manuel Eguera. representing Peru Jacobo Bali
CONSUL General and Charge d'Afaires OF Guatemala
Nicanor Bolet Peraza Envoy EXTRAORDINARY "o'
Venezuela: Dr. F. c. c. Zegarra. Envoy ENuaoiHi
nary from Peru; J. F. do Amara, Envoy EXtraordl-
,.rv from Brazil and AnselmO No.io. Charge Al
fare. OF Costa Rica. also met at the mV'a''on Vi
the Secretary OF State to witness the proceeuhss'
N the absence Of the commissioners from THESE
Countries.
FEASIBILITY OF THE ROAD.
The late Jay Gould. when questioned at the time
4, regard to the advisabllity and feasibility OF
".,,ro,d of such length through the countries pro
,osad said that while ne believed the engineers OF
,bA day could build railroads anywhere on the race
n, the earth where man could trave.. he ala no.
,.,nk that an intercont nental railroad would he
uaytng investment to stockholders. Mr. Blame e''-
IDENTIFY backed his diplomatic reasons for the under
taking by other opinions. for in his opening spe"
before the commissioners ne most enthusiastic
q, What he considered to be all auspicious occasion
s,d the beginning Of a great enterprise. when ne
rroposed would draw in closer union South Amer
lea Central America and North America, ana wh'ch
would cement In closer and more cordial ties many
nations and be a benefit to the present generation
and millions vet unborn. II would seem from the
,sno-,s of the engineers who have surveyed the
line for tais proposed railroad that Mr. Biaines
interest in the movement is justified by the tacts
for these gentlemen give glowing accounts OF
countries which may be open 10 better coinhluhi-
cation with the world rich in minerals and IN Veee
table life which through inability and shiftlessness
NJ the working class of their populations. nave
never been developed with any degree Of efficiency
tn. survey for this road intrusted to three
nar,ies Lieutenant NJ. NJ Macomb. |. 5 A., had
the upper portion OF the route which extended from
Avu.la on the southern frontier OF Mexico So
miles southeast through the States OF Guatemaia
Salvador Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa hIca' a.
far as the Savegre River. no surveys were made
in Mexico, because the representative OF that coun
try on the commission gave assurances that the
Mexican authorities " u!d soon build railroad me
as far as the Qua temalan frontier. This Work mas
been In hand and the Mexican Southern Railroad
now has line in operation as far as the city OF
uaplbAca 100 miles south Of the City OF Mexico.
The remainder Of the line south to Guatemala mas
been surveyed and is now partly under construction
Party No was under the charge Of William F
Skunk the veteran railroad builder. Of Pennsyl-
vana who surveyed north from quito, Ec1aGor' d
distance OF 100 miles through Colombia and Costa
Rica TO the lower terminus of Lieutenant MaconD :
survey Tie third party. under the direction OF
Engineer William G Kelley, OF Philadelphia. sur
veyed l.7S4 miles south and east from quito, hcua
DOR through Ecuador and Peru to Cuzco the ancient
capital of the Incas and Lake Titicaca, on the
western confines Of Bolivia There Is Already
railroad in operation in bolivia which runs 10 WITHIN
seventy miles OF Lake Titcaca. and which connects
with the railroads Of the Argentine Republic where
all the railroads in fair condition, ana wnere
there are several good ones Therefore the surveys
made By the engineers OF the Intercontinental Rail
way Commission give continuous line with the
small exception near Lake Titicaca from any point
In the United States almost the borders OF Pata-
gonia-
ALL THE WAY BY RAIL.
The length surveyed by the Commission is about
400 miles but 1t will be possible when the railroad
becomes an established fact 10 travel from New
York to Patagonia entirely by rail- using the rail-
roads already In construction. those completed by
the different Governments. and the projected trunk
line
An idea OF the magnitude OF the survey and the
amount OF difficulty to be overcome il had when
the length Of the maps Of the parties is figured out
The maps and prohles were originally constructed
a scale Of l TO 24-l.cco and are published one
half the original scale The prohes Of the south
ernmost party under Mr. Kelley measure about 100
ineal feet which represents distance OF 1900 miles
The maps measure 81 lineal feet The maps OF the
central party under Mr. Skunk measure SSl feet,
and adding five sketch maps VIII make about $50
feet The Kelley report completed. The Skunk
report il now In the hands OF the printer. which.
together with the Macomb report VIII soon De
finished.
These reports will be comprehensive documents.
Il has been apparently the object OF the engineers
from the first 10 know something about the country
through which they nave passed. In addition to
the valuable notes and data collected relative 10
the fauna animal life and the minerals Of the dif-
ferent countries. hundreds OF photographs were
the line OF the survey by me enRl-
nAers thus giving an accurate picture OF the route
The negatives OF these photographs have been mum
bered and catalogued according 20 their geOgrapnl-
cal position so that at almost any portion OF the
route knowledge can be gained OF the actual con-
diiOns
The reports Of these engineers are glowing. Jules
d. Garrison, who accompanied Mr Shunks party
as assistant engineer. speaks OF the wonderful fer
tlity and great of the State of Colombia,
about which lille Is really known He saws that