The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-01-29

capital of Chile, lies We ride through
this all day and then strike the second
range of the Andes with the highest
peak on our hemisphere rising above
us. That peak is -Aconcagua. 1t is
almost $4,000 feet high, and it touches
the sky further above the sea than
any peak outside the Himalayas Its
top is covered with perpetual snow.
The ice we see upon Its sides never
melts. and the winds which blow over
it in their everlasting march from ocean
to ocean howl at times like the shrieks
of the damned.
We stop over night at Los Andes, a
! town in the valley of the Aconcagua
river. 1t has about 5000 people and
is surrounded by orchards of apple and
peach trees with rich irrigated gardens
lying high up in the mountains. From
here we go into the station. where we
take mules or stages to go over the
mountain. The end of the road is about
as high as the top of Mt. Washington,
and from there on the way is exceed
ingly steep.
The country is wild in the extreme.
Much of the mountains are nothing but
a desert of rocks and snow inha bited
only by condors, with here and there
guanaco, sort of species of wild
llama. You cross the Puenta del Inca
d
I there are hot springs of crystalline
water, and &C out into the Valley of
| Desolatio or Cuevas Valley, where
there are skeletons of mules and oxen
which have dropped out of the droves
which to the number of thousands are
annually driven across the mountains
AS you rise higher still you are fortu-
nate if you do not have soroche or
mountain sickness, and you are glad
when you have passed the cumbre or
summit and are on the railway which
! takes you down to Mendoza, in the
| Argentine.
| ACROSS THE PAMPAS.
From Mendoza to Buenos Ayres is
! about as far as from New York to
Cleveland. The cars are not uncom-
Portable. They are built somewhat af-
ter the Mann boudoir order. with a lot
/ OF little apartments running through
! the car reached by an aisle outside.
Each apartment has four berths two
upper and two lower. The upper berths
/ are put up during the daytime and you
sit facing your fellow passengers on
the lower benches. AT night the bed
ding is brought into the car from the
! baggage coach, l suppose, and your
beds are made.
Most of the sleepers have travelling
bars on them. All kinds of liquors are
! kept in the baggage car and you can
| get anything from champagne to cog
nae and from apoliinaris to beer by or
dering it. There is little stove in
this car upon which the porter makes
coffee and brings 1t to you in the morn
ing before you are out of bed He
charges you about eight cents of our
! money for a cup of coffee, little but
ter and a biscuit, which is cheap
enough for the service. The most of
! the meals are taken at the stations,
| about thirty minutes being allowed for
| breakfast or lunch, and violent ring
| ing of a bell announcing the starting
of the train. The sleeping cars are
more plainly furnished than ours and
the bedding is not so good.
In commenting upon the lack of fine
! furniture one day an English railroad
manager told me that the companies
found that it did not pay to make ex-
travagant cars, for 1t was so difficult
| to keep them in order. Said he:
/ You would be surprised at the wan
| ton damage that is done by passengers.
Many of these Argentines are born
! iconoclasts. They will write on the
mirrors with their diamonds and
windows. Some of the rich fellows
from the country think nothing of get
| ting into bed with their muddy boots
on. and some are filthy in the extreme.
We have to watch things very closely,
| for they are stolen or destroyed. Why
we have had passengers throw blankets
out of the windows just for fun, and
we have to make a careful tally of our
stock at the close of every run"
RAILROADS OF THE ARGENTINE.
And still the Argentine is one of the
best railroad countries in South Amer
| lea. 1t has more railroads than any
ether country, and is now building
many new lines There are II 900 miles
OF railroad in operation Three years
ago there were not more than 5000
The roads are growing better every
year They are chiefly in the hands of
private parties, and the government is
giving up its idea of controlling them
1t is different in Chile, where the roads
are also good, although they are not
mere than one-tifth as extensive. in