The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1914-08-11

lIlC A1oI SoSho
above Lima. One of these runs from
Ollague to Colahuasi, where there are
copper mines owned by the
helms, said to be among the richest
mines of the world. The other begins
at Rio Mulato, between Oruro and
Uvuni. and goes to Potosi, the famous
mountain that has produced billions of
dollars in silver and that promises to
produce like values in tin. The Rio
Mulato and Potosi branch crosses a
pass 1854 feet high, or only fifty
one feet lower than the pass to Moro
| cocha, where are great mines,
largely owned by Americans.
OF all these lines the most difficult
Of construction was the Central Pc
ruvian. 1t was begun in 1870 by
Henry Meiggs, and its first Sc miles
are said to nave cost more than $780,
900 a mile. That road is of standard
guage, and it has not gradient sleeper
than 4 IA in 100. 1t has e. bridges,
one of which is SIS feet long, span
ming a rayine 800 feet deep. Meiggs
also built the greater part Of the
Southern railway, and that without
! cogs, and ne was the constructor Of
the road from Valparaiso to Santiago
that now forms a part OF the first
great route between the Pacific and
the Atlantic.
Outside the Meiggs roads, the new
line just opened from africa to La
Pas has been the most extensive and
the most difficult of construction. The
Arica-La PaZ rOa is less than half as
long as the Peruvian Southern, and
only about one-third as long as that
from An~tofagaSta to La PaZ. It's
length is under $50 miles. 1t begins
at the seacoast and crosses the Andes
at less THAI $4,000 feet above the level
of the ocean. On some parts of the
route the grades are SO steep that the
rack-and-pinion system has to be
used. The maximum grade of the
ordinary line is only about 5 per cent,
while some of the cog sections reach a
grade of s per cent. The cog section
is longer than that of any other rail-
road, and there are many engineers
who claim that it cannot be worked at
a profit. The cog system is about the
same as that of the roads up Pixies
Peak. Mount Washington and the
) Rigi. 1t does we'll for tourist traffic,
but whether it will work with the
heavy freights is a question. n Of
!, the civil engineers engaged in its
/ construction tells me he thinks that
, the cog part of the roa nay eventu-
ally be run by electricity.
During my stay in La Paz l. have
met Sir o h Jackson, whose COM
pany has built the Arica-La Paz sys-
tenn. He is one of the famous en-
y lIiSS1 III NIIO i olIo lio SO11
pany has work going on all over the
: globe. 1t is arranging to onnect the
Bolivian and the Argentine railway
e systems.
0 When the Panama canal is com
' pleted the shortest route from the
: United States to Bolivia will be by
0 way Of africa. That port is 2,2OC
o miles from Panama, and by the cana.
: it will be less than $500 miles from
r New Orleans. Most tourists will pre-.
r fer to go by way of MOllendo and tht
n Peruvian Southern, the gradient Of
which is more gentle and which ha:
also the advantage of the halfway
station at Arequipa and the pleasan
y trip over LakeTiticaca. The quicl
n Jump from africa to the top Of tn
e Andes is lab to give one soroche
n and many will not care to risk tn
long rack-an-piniOn system. Som
will go to La Paz by one route am
1t most Of the arffic to Bolivia passe
n either through Mollendo or Antofa
le gasta.
d The NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. railwa.
&c system is perhaps the most impOrtan
H. of the republic. 1t is now giving
/ direct service from La Paz to tn
10 ocean in forty-four hours. There ar
y three trains a week, with sleepers an
'e diners. This roa is about as long a
es from New York to Cleveland. Leav
ing Antofagasta, the chief seaport G
ri northern Chile, the train takes 70
Of through the nitrate fields and acros
ut the Chilean desert, to the Bolivia
frontier. You are all night and tn
DIS whole Of one day in making thu
journey, and you arrive at Oruro
Nv about 9 o'clock the next mornin:
We During the first 223 miles you reac
Up an altitude of $4,000 feet. You the
drop about 500 feet to the great be
re, raX lake, and thence climb Yer th
X mountains to the Bolivian plateau
A part Of the way is over vast plaiI
do spotted with llamas and alpacas, ar
,SS in plain sight of snOw-clad peal
re from 10000 to 10000 feet hig,
IN Oruro, the commercial center of tt
es, plateau, is the halfway station, ar
the distance from there to the 3,
ilVlan Capltal Is lou miles.
The A~ntofagasta road is one of Il