Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1896-01-28
4 YANKEE MONTE cR1sTo.
By ALBERT cLAYroo1 WHITE.

The strange and eventful career of
Henry Meiggs on the Pacific slope of
South America reads like tale from
'eThe Arabian. Nights" and as an ex-
hibition of what Yankee brains and
energy can accomplish it is unparal-
leled.
Who has not heard of him?-that
versatile adventurer, the associate of
Ralston, the California banker, the
bosom friend of Sharon, Mackay,
O'Brien, Baldwin, and one of the
princes of the golden era of 40. He
was born in Catskill, N. Y, in 1911, and
amassed a fortune in the lumber trade
before he was 81 years old. During the
panic of 1887 he lost rything. but
he recovered from bankruptcy within
two years. When gold was found at
Suffers Mill in 1s49, Meiggs joined the
Argonauts and sailed for California in
q vessel loaded with lumber, which he
sold in San Francisco for 20 times its
cost. He built a wharf-long famous
as Meiggs' wharf-and sawmill on
the bay, and sent men in the woods to
cut trees. His business prospered, and
possessing genial nature and liberal
disposition he soon won the friendship
and confidence of the people, and they
made him treasurer of the city and
county of San Francisco.
He was the custodian of many thou
sands of dollars, and in addition held
the fortunes left by deceased persons
pending the administration of their
estates. Money flowed into the vaults
SO freely, and he had such a strong
hold upon the confidence of tine people,
that he began to believe that he had
some sort of equity in the treasure.
Friends who had assisted him to Office
solicited temporary ''loans," which
they never repaid. A craze for specu-
lation ensued at this time, and Meiggs
fell victim. He looted the treasury
and the money held in trust, and when
the financial crash of 1854 came he was
compelled to flee the city. He bought
a small schooner and, with his wife,
departed secretly by sea.
1t was long time before his victims
heard from him, and then the report
came that he was engaged in extensive
railroad building in Chill. The peo-
| pie in Chilli rather distrusted him, but
he was soon upon his feet. His genius
found an opportunity. Having no ex-
perience in railroad construction-not
even a rudimentary knowledge of
surveying nevertheless, turned his
attention to that business. The Chilli
ans were ANXIOUS to have a railroad from
the seaport of Valparaiso to Santiago,
the capital, and Meiggs promptly under
took it. Previously, an English com
pany had built the road from the coast
to the foot of the great Andean range
which lies between the two cities. This
was halfway, and it was the easiest
part to build. The lofty mountains
discouraged the English, and they
threw up the contract. To finish the
road was stupendous piece of engin.
eering, and nothing similar had ever
before been attempted in South Ameri.
ca. The chief feature of the contract
was o question of time. Meggis agreed
to perform the work within a giyer
time, stipulating, however, that if he
made shorter work of it, he was to re.
ceive an enormous bonus for every day
saved. There was small fortune il
each day; but it appeared to the Chilli
ans such an impossible task that til.
government did not hesitate to accept
Meiggs' terms. He made over 81, 900,
COO out of it. He demonstrated to tn.
conceited Chilians what Yankee could
/ in hn <,f,
After this, Meiggs made money rap
idly in various enterprises, for nothing
succeeds like success. He erected il
the suburbs of Santiago magnifcen,
home-,a structure of rare beauty and ;
conspicuous example of extravagance-
costing over s1,ooo,0oO, every timbe,
| and brick and tile being imported, tn.
marble staircase alone costing $4,000
He then began career of social splen
dor that dazzled the natives. SOM
time after the death of his wife, NIeigg.
married again, and the manner il
which he secured his second wife is t,
this day related with great relish by tn,
gossips of Chilli.
In Chilli, mantas and skirts of whit.
flannel are worn by penitentas-wom
en- who have previously sinned, anc
thus advertise their penitence. The,
haunt the churches, and lineel for hours
before the images of saints. In til,
large cathredals, as in the smallel
churches, these white figures are visi
Bile, kneelipg, crouching, motionless
looking like statues. Ladies of higl
rank are to be seen among the peni
tentas, as well as beautiful girls o
lower station. 1t is strange to learl
that this method of securing absolu
ton is very fashionable, and when tn,
gayety of the summer season is over
and at the beginning of Lent, the rank
of the penitentas are full. Souls tina
cannot be cleansed by this course retir
to a convent south of Santiago Gale,
the Convent of the Penitents, when the,
scourge themselves with whips, wea
. sack-cloth, sleep in ashes, and live upol
water and crusts, until the priests Civ
them absolution. Within the walls o
this convent was a fair senorita, O
whom Meiggs became enamorcd, ant
with the help of an American DENTS,
he began a courtship romantic beyon
the imaginings of Boccaccio. For
involved notes tied to stones IN
thrown over the walls, imprompt
scenes from Romeo and Juliet" rop
ladder, excited nuns, angry parent
and scandalized church. But it al
ended happily, however, in parente
forgiveness and a fashionable wedding
Again falling in debt, he next locke