New-York tribune., 1907-12-17
The Story of an old Engineering
Campaign IN Brasil.


nIlbGEfHR nnApEfRA RIVER N Brazil. By Neville B B.
c~aig Illustrated. Svo PIP. 47s PhiladeInhia: /:
I B. Lippincott Company
n, the afternoon of January 3 1873 the
x+eauoer Mercedita, with a passenger list of
about two hundred and twenty. and carrying as
mart of her cargo five hundred tons of railroad
,ron. sailed from Philadelphia for the far inte-
,ior Of South America Wharves and shipping
for g. block were packed with cheering onlook-
e-s as the vessel took her departure For
months the newspapers had been filed with
,e,k about the great SO 600 900 contract under
,sken by a local firm for the opening of a COM
,nercial highway into the heart of inaccessible
Bolivia Reports. more or less trustworthy. Of
that countrys unequalled mineral resources, of
her rich tirnbers, her rubber supply, her aston
tshing fertility, lent the event. at least in the
nrblic eve, something of the glamour of q mod
ern El Dorado enterprise.
About one thousand miles inland rrono the
mouth Of the Amazon the Madeira River enters
the larger stream from the south, and for $50
miles from this point this river is navigable
even In the dry season. for vessels with draft
Of ten or twelve feet. If the long series of
rapids above could be passed IT would be possi-
bic for small steamers to ply up the Mauora
River and its aff1uents for hundreds of miles
further. thus opening up a vast new territory
10 International trade. Less than two hundred
and fifty miles Of railway would connect San
Antonio. at the northern end of the rapids, with
Estacao Marnore. at the southern end It was
for the construction of this road that the Phila
delphia firm of P. & T. Collins had signed their
contract.
From the very outset the great scheme seemed
TO be under some disastrous star Even at the
time OF the NIercedita's sailing 1t had run a
long gartlet Of misfortune. Ten years before
through the Untiring exertions Of Colonel C z
Church. always the moving spirit Of the enter
prise, the Bolivian government had pledged gen.
erous aid. Then ii had attempted to repudiate
Cts pledges Later an English company had been
formed large subscription to Bolivian bonds
had been secured In 1872 work had actually
been inaugurated-only 10 be abandoned, how
ever, at the end OF a few months, under dis
creditable showing Years of litigation had fol-
lowed, while shrewd politicians and commercial
pirates OF two continents struggled to get con-
trol Of the carefully protected funds At last a
new contract had been placed with an American
firm, and the purchase and hasty equipment o.
the Mercedita made the first step in the renewal
of actual operations
Following promptly in her wake a larger
steamer, the Metropolis with o15 passengers
chiefly laborers. set out for the same destina-
tion. only to be wrecked, three days later, on
the Carolina coast, with a loss of eighty lives
This catastrophe had the effect of considerably
6arlping popular enthusiasm over the expedi-
ton, and the City of Richmond. which put out
next, was compelled to ship among her four
hundred steerage passengers at least two hun
dred ignorant Italians. whose entire subsequent
record was one of sullen insubordination open
revolt. AT intervals of some weeks several sup
ply schooners were dispatched. and two tug
boats were chartered and sent out post haste
inadequately provisioned-to give haulage up
the Amazon. At last after vicissitudes OF every
description, the little feet came limping one by
one-each vessel with its own tale of misfortune
by the way-up the muddy Madeira River to
San Antonio. where the headquarters of the
6edtion had been established.
Among the members of the engineering corps
was young man by the name Of Neville p.
Craig and he stayed in the field until the final
abandonment Of the work. Now, almost thirty
gears later he has written down the story, at
the solicitation and with the assistance Of a
company Of his fellow survivors, who consti-
tute what is known The Madeira and
Mamore Association" Simple and unassuming
as is his manner Of telling il, the narrative
makes exciting reading. Not that layman is
likely 10 peruse with great attentiveness the
chapters setting forth the infinite complications,
legal and financial, that beset the enterprise,
and that led, more than anything else, 10 its
failure, but he must be man who can
read without thrill the intimate story Of that
little company Of engineers Stricken down
with chills and fever, living on hardtack and
water or Iaush and nlolasses, with an occasional
parrot or tapir for luxury. often destitute Of
medicine fit clothing or decent shelter, and in
frequent danger from savages, still they stuck
TO their work until cheer weakness-or death
tnterposed-
Failure was not to be laid at their door, GER
tainy. If they had been given any fair back
ing il is safe to declare that the work would
have been put through The financial dlfh-
culties of the contractors, due to the tying up