The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1898-06-19

A61SS 1biO ku8k y0O Ky.
patch Of reddish gray Oand akir.s TIE foot
Of the brown velvet hills. and this IL diyid-
q from the sky-biue water By the sslvsry
strip 81 surf which II dashinx its waves
upon the shore. The scenery changes u,
almost every turn Of the wheel. There in
no place where nature clothes the earth In
such roya. garments - here At timsa the
Andes are great masses Of blue aud brown
plush The clouds Of the sky. though OF a
mccoy wnitsness. paint velvet spots Of
many colors upon the hoa-y hills. and q,
times II seems as though all the ink bot
ties os the heavens had been scattered over
the mountains At ether times the sun
tlnes the mountains with the most delicate
dues. which fade into lighter ;ints Of blues
IN the distance til the whole horizon seems
oiliovy. waving sea OF blue busted with
silver. which meets and loses itself In
s'.ver-olue sky. Winding Ia and out among
sueh nils We rise 70 great desert known
as the Pampa de asiay. Here everything
Is gray and dazzling white. There are hum
creds OF huge mounds OF moving sands
which are travelling slowly bat surely over
the plains There are tons Of bleaching
bones OF animals which have died In try
Ing 10 cross the desert waste, and the only
apparently living things are the mrages.
which now ana then deceive the traveller
with the idea that they are COO. lakes, In
verified cities or GASES OF vegetation near a,
hand. Al the little town Of Vitor. a mile
above the ocean. We reach the end OF the
Panipa and again begin 10 ascend. We are
again In ragged hills and soon are travel
Ing among the clouds. We pass through
deep cuttings in the mountains and end
the first days travel at Areau.pa, 100 feet
above the sea.
Most Expensive Railroad Ever Built.
This read is said to have greater ex-
casauons than any other line OF similar
length. IL is one or the most expensive
roads ever built having cost $A,00o0D0
Tor a line OF 327 miles or an average Of
$4,000 mile. The road reaches al alti-
fude or 1866 feet in crossing the Andes 20
the plateau Of Lake Tfticaca, and here
where It eTsis tho altitude Is higher than
the top OF Fngiyama. the sacred snow
capped peak Of Japan. II has a branch
line OF 122 miles going over the plateau
90 within two days OF Cuzco, the famed
capital OF the Incas. This railroad was
built when Peru was rich and when shs
was squaudering fortunes on such things.
II Ia the work OF the American engineer,
Meiggs. and Is one OF the great engineer
Ing s@ats Of the world. There Is talk
OF extending Il into Bolivia, and 1t may
sometime be- part OF transcontinental
line reaching 10 Paraguay ard the Argen-
tine. At present 1t belongs 10 the Peru
Wan corporation, the English syndicate
which took Peru's railroads In considera-
ton Of relieving tho country of It's foreign
debt but 10 Is managed by an American,
Mr. Victor NJ McCord. who keeps IL in
almost as good condition as any road
in tho United States All OF the rolling
stock Is Ap,erican in pattern, though OF
late the cars and engines have been made
BY Peruvians in the eompany's shops at
Areauipa Areauipa is the halfway sta
ton on the road TO Lake Trt!caca- and 1t
IL there that tho general Offices or the
road are situated / visited the railroad
shops and found 400 Psruvians engaged in
ali kinds Of car construction. They make
engines as good as any used in our coun-
try and have some which are especially
adapted TO the heavy grades OF the Andes.
The zhops are in charge Of an American,
a Mr. Beaumont. OF New Jersey. but all OF
the men are Pertivians. Mr.. Beaumont told
me that OF the 900 hands employed in one
capacity or another on the road there were
not more than ten foreigners. II may IN
terast our railroad men TO know the wages
which their kind receive down here. I
give them In American gold values and
not in the silver in which they are paid.
Trackmeu receive IS cents q day, and
brakemen a similar amount Engineers
get 500 a month and conductors are paid
from SO TO Sos a month. according to po-
sition and length OF service. Men en-
poyed In the shops get from 70 cents and
upwards per day. There are no trades
unions and the men naver strike. They
work nine hours day. and with those
who are out on the road the day lasts
without extra pay until the cars come In.