New-York tribune., 1909-10-24
or CART md MULEB4CK
Transportation Difficulties Facing
e. s. Engineers an Other Lands.

All the Central and South American countries
depend largely upon the industries Of the United
States for machinery and supplies. Nearly
every one of the many machines used in de-
veloping the rich copper, gold and silver mines
OF Mexico. Peru. Chill, Ecuador and other Latin
American countries is made in this country.
And this machinery has to be made in small
sections. which be easily bolted together
after delivery, because the transportation in
these far away countries is mostly by muleback
over pack trails
Behind Lake Tticaca. in the old dominion OF
the Inoas, in Peru where the Spanish con-
queror Pizarro and his stalwart men-at-arms
found such store Of treasure lie the San Do
minion gold mines. which a1e models Of modern
mining plants. Only a few years ago the rich
mines of Peru well as all of South America,
were worked in the most primitive way. No
advancement had been made since the days
when the Inca slaves hewed at the naked rock
with aint and copper edged tools. except that
The Spanish had brought with them rude steel
drills and coarse blasting powder. Up to a few
years ago the was still placed in skin bags
and carried up notched tree trunks on the backs
Of Indians TO the surface. and then packed on
the backs Of namas and burros TO the distant
stamp mills which were almost as crude as the
antique mining methods
But American capital and American brains
revolutionized all this The electric machinery
for the San Dominion mines left the United
States by steamer TO Molendo. from where
diminutive. narrow gauge railroad took il to the
Lake Titicaca region. Then il was hauled by
native over a hundred miles of road built
5000 feet above the sea level. The next fifty
miles was only a trail and here the real diff
culties OF transportation began. for the ap-
pa-atus had TO be taken from the OK carts and
MI he OF pr-tO
hoist was so constructed that it could be di-
Vided into more than fifty pieces in order that
the mules could pack il over the mountain A
small. steel hulled steamboat was also pur-
chased in the United States and packed in over
this same route Then another road fifty miles
long was built TO the Tambopata River. This
is one Of the most difficult roads in the world
as a portion $40 feet long is suspended on steel
cables over a giant chasm in the mountains
The steamboat was packed over this new road
to the river, where il is being used for naviga-
tion purposes.
Not only are the methods of land transporta-
ton in Central America obsolete and archaic,
but the methods Of water transportation are
equally bad. A recent shipment Of electrical
machinery from Schenectady, y. Y TO Nicar-
aqua was prepared with the expectation that
ii would be accidentally dropped in the water,
as q iarg~ portion Of its journey 10 the interior
was maze IN canoes, Whlcn mad TO be ughtene1
at frequent intervals 10 cable them TO pass
shallow places. When the natives tighten their
canoes they deposit the cargoes on the nearest
available rock If the rock happens to be a
round and the native q little careless. the
cargo slides of into the water. So all this ma
chinery had TO be shipped in metal lined cases.
The TRANSFORMATION methods Of Asia are no i'm
provernent on those of South America. Under
English rule the roads in India have been i'm
proved somewhat but the native methods Of
transportation are still primitive well
be imagined When it was desired to develop
water power to provide electricity for the Cash
mere silk mills and to operate feet Of electric
dredges working in the river, the machinery was
purchased in America and American engineers
were sent there to install it. Incredible as it
may seem. it took the native bullock trains
from twenty to thirty days for a single trip Of