The Holly chieftain., 1900-11-16
OVER THE ANDES
AMERICAN RAILWAY CONTRAC-
TORS WORK IN ECUADOR.
High Mountain X .nge viii BE Crossed by
Bands OF steei-Co-t of the Enterprise
VIII Excel Twenty-Five Million Dollars
Great Field for capital.

VIII American enterprise ever reach
its limit. VIII American brains and
energy capture in the near future all
the contracts Of foreign as we'll rs do
mestic capital? This is the thought
which strikes home TO us as we read
OF the latest tremendous undertaking
carried 'on by ,ankee pluck and ge-
mus and backed by foreign capital.
should we .Iear that some adventurous
spirit was TO tunnel the way TO the
north pole we might almost be per-
suaded to believe it; scarcely less Won
derful is the mighty work now in pro-
cess of construction for Scotch syn
dicate and engineered by New Aork-
bred American.
Away down in Icuador, a land which
most OF us, with our hazy geographical
vlsion. think of only as a congioInera-
ton Of tropical foliage, bright-hued but
ter1ies and half-nude natives. ser
pcntine line of steel track is quietly
stealing through winding valleys and
fertile farming lands, rich with south
ern verdure; is gradually creeping on
ward through swamps and everglades,
dark wiLh moist, green vegetation; is
slowly climbing upward over the al
most impossible heights of the haugh-
ty Andes that have stood for centuries
torbidding barriers to the puny devices
of man, only to be conquered finally
by Yankee ingenuity. \ syndicate of
wealthy Scotchmen and Londoners dis
covered the possibilities Of this land
of promise; the next thing was to open
up avenues of commerce and human
travel.
Guayaquil and Quito are two flour
t..l, 81 t., 8
ton, but to get from one to the other,
although only 800 miles apart, is an
undertaking Of no little difficulty. Ser
pents and pestiferous vermin lie in
wait for the unwary traveller. anu the
ghoulish condor from dizzy mountain
peaks anticipates the unearthIy feast
which he may pick from the bones of
some luckless adventurer lost in the
gloomy gorges or fallen from some
fearful precipice. The light of civili-
zation will soon dawn, however, and
already are the pick and the shovel
the forerunners of the steam whistle
and the changing bell. and the snakes.
the centipedes and the condors are fast
disappearing TO more congenial re-
gions.
James p. Mcdonald New York con-
the head of this great engineering en-
terprise. Mr.. McDonnlds experience
in railroad building has been wide and
varied. Many thousand ties have been
laid and many miles of steel rails fas-
tened under his supervision. Born in
New Yorn, he prepared for college in
the South and finally took his degree
from the University of Tennessee. The
road from Guayaquil TO Quito. which
he is now engineering, is said to be
but 800 miles long. but the difficulties
in the way make the task one requiring
unusual perseverance and knowledge
and involving enormous expense. Ful-
ly S25,OOO.OOO will be required to carry
this great project to conclusion. Stone
work and masonry that it is neces
sary to use to a great extent are large
ly responsible for the heavy outlay.
At many points along the route the
roadbeu will reach an elevation of 49,
600 to 1900 feet above the sea level.
Though there are at present but 800
men pushing the work forward this
number viii soon be swelled by 5000
native Jamaicans. with whom Mr.. Nc
Donald is now contracting.
If Guayauuil were 1000 miles from
Quito the people could scarcely be
more eNpectant and anxious for their
connection than are the Inhabitants OF
these two tropical cities. The popula-
ton of Quito is about $1,000. while
Guayaqu.l will double that figure. Yet
these people are living in these days
of quick transportation with only the
forest trails and mountain passes as
roads and pack animals as vehicles.
Mere connection of the two cities. how
ever. is not the ultimate object of this
enterprise. Along the whole line of
the road lies country just bursting
to be opened up and developed that it
may coin money for English and Amer
loan f.anita1