Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1914-11-08


way and there nre dozen new roads
either surveyed or projected Tor the last
two weeks ! have been riding over the
state railways. ! have had a pass from
the government, and have gone here and
there at my will without paying fare
The place where l am now writing is the
southern terminus of the system II is
Puerto Mont, thriving port on the very
frontier of the settled part of the country,
and as Tar south of Psague, the northern
terminus, where the railway begins, as
the distance from Boston to Dallas, or
New York to Denver. This country is like
great sausage. 1t is long and narrow.
If it were laid on the United States with
its northern end at Boston II would
stretch across New England and the
Appalachian system, across the whole Of
the Mississippi valley and far into the
Rocky mountains, ending in Utah. Cape
Horn AID the Strait of MagellaR, which
form the southern end of the sausage,
would be just about as far west Of Bos-
ton as is Salt Lake City. The country
is nowhere much wider than from Balti-
more to New York, and in many places
it could be squeezed in between Balti-
more and Philadelphia.
should Consider Railroad.
1t will pay our exporters to consider.
the future railway system of Chile.
This will consist of q long line OF rail-
road running from Peru to the Strait
of Magellan, with feeders going west
TO the coast and east to the mountains
This line is known as the longitudinal
system, and it is now being built II
is already about 1900 miles long and
it will eventually connect Peru and
Punta Arenas. the metropolis of the
straits. The railway already extends
almost to the Peruvian boundary. 1t
traverses the nitrate fields and con-
meets them with Valparaiso and San
tiago. The southern section extends
to Puerto Mont. where this letter is
written. The first part of the road is
through a desert as barren as the Sa-
hara. This goes southwark almost to
the latitude of Valparaiso, where the
longitudinal system crosses the trans
Andine railway to Buenos Aires. Then
begins the great central valley, an irri-
gated region which corresponds in its
fertility with the best parts of south
ern California. Below that the road
enters the forests, traversing a coun-
try where the farms have had to be
cut out of the woods. and where the
rainfall in places Is 100 inches per
year The central valley section has
been built a long time. and fifteen years
ago. when I first visited Chile, they
were already penetrating into the for
est region. 1 then came on construc-
ton trains as far as Temuco, the home
of the Araucanian Indians, and I am
now a days ride further south, having
gone through pioneer settlements all
the way. Within another fifteen years
the road will probably have been ex-
tended to the Strait of Magellan This
] should say Is as much further south
of here as from st. Louis to New
Orleans.
Under Government Ownership.
The longitudinal railway belongs to the
government and contracts for material
and cars may be made with the govern
ment officials. The government is fur
nishing the capital for the extensions
and the building goes on steadily. Dur
ing 1913, 700 miles OF new lines were
opened to traffic and the total number
of miles under construction was 500. Some
OF this has since been completed The
railroad work paid for in that year was
valued at $75, 600 900, a sum equal to more
than 81 for every man, woman and child
in the country
At the present time Chile has over
1000 miles of railroad in operation. and
Of this about onc-half belongs TO the
state. The government began to take
over the roads about generation ago
and by 1910 it had paid something like
500, 1000, 900 for them.
The state railways are managed by Of
ficials appointed by the president. There
is a general manager who is assisted by
nine administrators. The administrator
holds a similar position to that of gen
eral manager of a private railroad. and
the system is divided into nine sections
each of which has its administrator. The
chief offices of the state roads arc al
Santiago, and there is q close connection
with them and the government as to al
appointments. Every man who gets more
than about $1,000 a year receives his APP
pointment directly from the president
and the others are selected by the gen
eral manager with the advice of his sub
ordinates. This makes every railroad
office a government job. and all ap
pointments, from the administrator e
the brakeman and track layer are more
or less affected by pull have talked
with many people here concerning th'
service So far have vet to meet al
unprejudiced observer who believes tina
government ownership is good for tn
roads or the people. Indeed. the railway
question is one of the live ones OF publ,
discussion, and the figures show that
the most of the lines are annually worked
ct loss of several millions of dollars.
Mig Orders for Americans.
'rne difference between the receipts
and the expenditures does not show the
whole deficit arising from government
management. There is an enormous
additional loss in the wear and tear
Of the roads and the rolling stock, ow-
ing TO carelessness and waste. This Ia
so great that Chile has recently passed
an act appropriating more than S2O.-
10000 TO re-equip and reoTgsnize the
system. A large amount of this will
go into new cars, and will result in
large orders from the United States
As il is now, most OF the cars have
come from our country and as orig
inally shipped they were the best OF
their kind They now show the effects
OF the long lack Of repairs. Those il
which l have Travelled need paint and
vaTnish. The windows rattle and every
ha and gOinn