The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-08-09

freight of the road VIII be greatly 1n- creased. cochabamba is in thriving agricultural district. with no outlet for is products Postosi is on the slope Of a mountain that was once a great mass of silver and is now being worked for it's tin It is expected that many low sr;s6e tin and silver mines which cannot be operated because of the high cost oas transportation will be opened up as soon as the road is completed.
 As to Tupiza, in southern Bolivia, that town is of no great importance, hut all along the road from Uvuni there are rich tin mines. and many low grade propositions will be opened up when the railroad goes through. As it is now the chief trouble of this system is it's two different gauges. Some ot fine tracks are of 40-innch gauge, while others are of only 30 inches. The lat ter is the case with the road from Autofagasta to Oruro. but arrange nieLts are being made to alter if to n inches. thus standardizing the system.
 great deal of the Bolivian rolling stock comes from the United States. On the Antofagasta line the locomotives are chiefly Baldwins. A great many Rogers are used on the Pe- ruvian roads, and on the Africa line the engines are American. English and German. During the construction of that road there were 15 locomotives and 40 flat cars in service. The heav- fest engine weighed TO tons.
 Our civil engineers have had much to do in laying out the roads of Bolivia, and American are now taking contracts for the new construction financed by tie English The rough work is largely done by Aymara Indians. who receive 50 cents to a dollar day. This Is very high for Bolivia, where the aver age wages are perhaps not more tan 20 cents per day.
 Notwithstanding this there Is great trouble in getting good men The Ay- mara usually works for week or less and then leaves. Sometimes he goes away without pay I talked with one of the contractors last night as to the labor situation. He said:
 The chief trouble is that all of the Indians are heavy drinkers of alcohol After pay day we find that we have to lay off many of them so that they may sober up. They all chew coca, and We allow them certain amount of coca with their wages. They do not like for eigners. but we have to use foreigners IS foremen, for the Indians are so low intellectually that they cannot boss or plan. Tlrey have to be driven. and their sullen looks show.sthat they are disgusted always withe their job and are ready
 
 
 The most important part of Bolivia has not yet been touched by the railroads. l refer to the fertile eastern section, just over the Andes. This consists of enor- nous forests and high, grassy plains. which will feed millions of cattle. The government has planned railroads, which some day will be extended into this re- zion. These roads go from the center tp la fri fa ri of a Amazon, and some will be extended to the naVigable branches of the Paraguay as well. One road is planned from Potosi to Sucre, and. another from Sucre to Iagumillas. the two together covering a distance of less than 225 miles, Another railway is to connect La Paz and Cor- pata Corcico, and thence go on to the navigable waters of the Ben down which ships can travel to the railroad about the falls of the Mamore- Madeira. When this railway is finished Bolivia will have an outlet to the Atlantic by way of the Amazon.
 Another Amazon river branch is to be built from Cochabamba to the River Chi more, which flows into the Mamore. and there is also an extension from the Ar gentina system to connect with the same river at Puerto Rojas. It would seem that Santa Cruz is to be the railroad center for eastern Bolivia, and there will
 
 whole region east of the Andes. opening up the country from Argentina to Ecua- dor and Colombia.
 It will thus be seen that Bolivia is at the very beginning of it's railroad devel- opment. This country is one-fifth as large as the main body of the United States with the addition of Alaska About two-thirds of the land Hes east of the mountains, and I doubt not the amount of good soil in the whole repub- lie IS proportionately as large as that of the United States. We have now about 2oo,0oo miles of railway: and If Bolivia had as many in proportion to its size, it would have something like 50.00o miles, or almost 40 times as much as the rail- ways now in operation. It is not probable that such system will be built for cen- turies to come; but the opening up of the aSoo additional miles already planned or surveyed will create an industrial revo- luton In that part of the country east of the Andes that will astonish the world.