The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-04-19
Line Is 1900 Miles Long and Unsurpassed in World
 For Equipment
UNCLE SAM TO GET
 MUCH OF BENEFIT
Will Stimulate Trade in Many Ways and Facilitate Development of Rich Copper and
 Iron Mines
Fly HOLLAND

Fly HOLLAND
 New York, April 1S.-( Special. )-Ten years after the death of William R
 Grace who as twice mayor of New
 York. the announcement is made that
 the railroad which he often predicted would be built from the northern boun- dary Of Chile practically to the south ern boundary has been completed This
 announcement supplements another re-
 gently made which reports the eomple-
 tion of railroad from one of the large copper mines of Chile to the seaport In both these railway propositions Amer
 lean capital is interested and in the
 copper railroad it is exclusively Amer ican capital which is invested
 MT. Grace was accustomed to predict a great industrial and commercial fu- ture for the west coast of South Amer fca, especially for Peru and Chile. as
 soon as railway transportation had been Pertected and especially after the com- pletion of the Panama canal His , house was known favorably in all the great markets of the world as one of the leadlng houses in the Uniteu States engaged in international commerce. He was the first to establish a fleet or steamers operating between the United states and the west coast of South America. by way of the strait of Ma gelian. He had contemplated a large Increase of the fleet when the canal across the isthmus was completed and although he did not live long enough to share in the establishment of an in-
 creased fleet his son, Joseph P Grace. is now fulfilling practically to the
 letter the purposes of his father Mr British capital who made the comple- tion of the railway stretching from Callao, which Is the port of Lima Peru 10 the divide upon the Andes mountains possible. That work enabled J. B. flag gin and his associates to secure. through the construction of railroad, transportation for copper ores from the Cerro da Pasca mines to the seaport MT. Grace was interested with J. P. Morgan and also with European capi- tallsts in the construction of a Chilean railroad fro mthe seaport al Valparaiso up and over the Andes mountains to a meeting point with the transcontinental railroad which was built under the aus pices of the Argentine government He
 was persuaded, however, that Chile's great development would not be secured until railroad was constructed so as to run parllel with the degree of longi- tude which bisects Chile.
 The Chilean government was of the same opinion, and 1t has been under the
 auspices of the Chilean government that 1 this new railroad has been constructed. It has been built as to give easy communication for the industries, agri- cultural and mineral, of the great cen tral valley of Chile, and Chile has
 been felicitated by Americans for com pleting the system a few months be-
 fore the Panama canal is open for navi- nov ina ,,,i1
 long, and that is practically the length
 north and south. of the republic of Chile. At various convenient and com mercially advantageous points commu-
 mica ton is made with the Chilean sea
 ports These railroads are to contrib
 ute greatly to the commerce which will be established between Chile and the United States after the Panama canal is opened to navigation. Chile has always insisted that railroad construc- tion within her boundaries should be of the best character. The railroad which runs from Santiago to Valparaiso is unsurpassed in equipment and con
 structive work by any other railroad in the world.
 Much of the railroading in Chile is difficult The surmounting of the An des mountains by the railroad builders entailed as dangerous and complicated railroad construction as was necessary
 for the completion of the Canadian Pa cific. It Is much more difficult than the railroad building by which our own
 Rocky mountains are surmounted. Yet the cost of construction appears to have
 been moderate In the days when Henry Meiggs attempted to surmount the An des by building a railroad from San Diego to the divide he did not hesitate
 at any cost, and it has always been
 presumed that there was no little ex- ra In Tai st iva
 work. It was, in fact, this extrava- gance which entailed the suspension of
 the work before the railroad had been carried to the divide.
 What the Commerce Will Be
 Already American capital aggregat-
 ing nearly $150.000 is invested or is about to be invested in the exploitation of Chilean mines The other day. Charles M. Schwab stated for publica- tion that the Steel corporation, of which he is president, whose plant is at Bethlehem, Pa, has contracted for the construction of six steamships whose architecture is to be of special design for the convenient transporta- tion of ore from the very rich iron mines of Chile for which MT. Schwab's company has the concession. The Gug- genheims have already invested about $1 4. 100000 in their plant which will op- crate the rich copper mines of Chile. for which the Guggenheims have received concession. The capitalization of these properties is practically $110,OOo,- 900.
 The new north and south railroad of Chile in which American capital is to some extent interested, chiefly through furnishing of rails and equipment, is expected to make available the natural resources of the interior of Chile, re- sources of which the late William R. Grace used to speak with enthusiasm. He was convinced that with adequate railway transportation there would in
 ev.tably follow great increase in the production and harvesting of wheat in Chile. Some of the interior valleys are wonderfully fertile. But agricul- ture has not been carried on to any great extent, chiefly because transpor- tation facilities have been so very mea- gre.
 Probably the greater part of the in- come which the railroad will earn will come from the development of mining properties. some of which are very rich. Chile should increase her output of gold now that adequate transportation is furnished for 1t. There are many min ing plants along the line and in the northern portions of Chile there still
 remains very great deposits of nitrate.
 Undoubtedly the construction of this Chilean railroad will be followed by
 railroad communication between Chile and Bolivia. The system should be in years to come an important link in what many believe to be ultimately an inevitable continental railway system in South America running north and south, including the Bolivian national railway system and the transcontinen- tai system which the Argentine repub- lie and Chile. have already constructed.