The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-11-08

a.oCe.tl9 tons per anluilt the HhihotA U, passengers arc more than l2.eooWo and the total receipts more than S1s.00o,0o0 in gold. The expenditures are more than slo'- 00o.eoo. so that the deficit is more than V eo9.081 The state is now operating about 200 miles of railway. and it's employes are more than l1,occ, or over five to the mile. 2a
 In addition to tine government railways are those owned by private parties and companies. These roads have a trackaSe almost as long that of the government system. and their total capitalization IS quite as great Their freight and passen- ger rates are higher. but the service Is better Many of them are run in connec- ton with mines and other interests and the returns do not show the actual re- ceipts or the profits.
 JTake. for instance. the nitrate railways. of which there are seven They run from the ports out into the desert and carry but little else than nitrate of soda. They range, in length from 90 miles to 300 or 400, and their business is in proportion to the nitrate factories ofieinas with which they connect. The Pisagua railroad. that runs between Pisagua and iquiaue, has length of s50 miles, and it's capitalization is $l00o0.No It's gauge is only 16 inches. Nevertheless. it has been paying over : pc rcent on it's common stock for num- y now about sf7,c0o00o per annum. That road is owned in-England.
 Another profitable road is the Anglo Chilean nitrate road, which runs from the port of Tocopilla to several different oficinas. having length of 7o-odd miles. It is capitalized at $5,000oo0 and in 1911 it's dividend was 15 per cent. And then here is road from Mejillones that connects with the Antofs gasta railway to Bolivia. That road is about 80 miles long, and it has 5S-inch guage. It will carry the copper of the Guggenheiin syndicate mines down to the coast and should. have an enormous profit therefrom. At present railway system. which is exceedingly prof table. The Taltal Railway company, which runs from the southern nitrate fields to the port of Tatal the Pa cifc paid a dividend of per cent in 1912. All of these railroads arc feeders of the longitudeinal system and that system has been built to connect them as well as to give a line north and south throughout the republic.
 most interesting feature of the Chilean railway situation is the num- Der of lines that have been planned to cross the continent, travcrsing the Andes and joining the Argentine railway sys- tems to those of the west coast The only one of these that has been completed is that which extends from Valparaiso to Buenos Aires. This is about as long as the distance between New York and Chicago. It crosses the Andes at an altl. tude of 10.500 feet above the sea through a tunnel that is nearly two miles long. The road was expensive to build and 1t Is so costly to operate that its freight rates will always be high. It has rack and pinion or cos railroad system of about 25 miles, and the gauge is such that freight has to be transferred twice during the journey across the continent. The fare from Santiago to Buenos Aires Is $65, with very smaN allowance for baggage This is more than three times as much us the cost of the trip from New York to Chicago.
 Another transcontinental railroad that will soon be completed will connect the port of Antofagasta with Buenos Aires This Is an extension of branch of the Ante,tsas ,sa St zihs, zihs liva railway. l have al- ready described my Ssaaprney over it from Bolivia to the sea. The traf2sscontinental extension leaves the main line S2l lNuhi where it has an altitude of about i-, eN feet, and thepce passes through a i1t2n mineral q str,ct. crossing Bolivia to the frontier, at La Quiaca, where 1t will con meet with the great railway system of Argentina. The road has already been constructed to TupiZa, and within less than year it shou q be connected with the Argentine system. The distance be- tween the two points Is now only 66 miles.