Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1914-12-27
Transcontincntal System, From
Chile to Argentina, Built by
Americans.
ROUTE VIA PANAMA CANAL
Eleven Days to the Pnmpas and Two
Weeks to BuenoS Aircs-Views Of
.icencagua and Tupungato. 1.-The
Christ OF the Andes.'
by FRANK G.. CARPENTER.

Ascending almost straight from the
Pacific ocean TO peakS lost III ;hc
clouds. and coasting from tho SHOWS
down into the broad lands that reach
OH and on 10 the Atlantic
This. in a nutshell. is the story of
my trim over the great Transcontincn-
ral Railroad. which now ties TIE oceans
together. II is already the chief South
Americans trade route between the At
lanric and the Pacific: and now that
our canal is completed il will form the
quickest way from our country TO the
southeastern part Of the hemisphere
VI takes thirty days to 20 by steamer
from New York tC Hucnos Aires When
this "a: IL over and the fast shipping
service to Chile has been iuaugurated
we shall go through the canal Ia Val
parniso in less than ten days and h."
in BuenoS Aires we'll insd" Of two
weeks
a, present the freight rates over tho
Andes arc so high that the sending of
rsentinc freight to be shipped north
ward on the Pacific is out of ;he uues-
tion. There Is no "eaSoG why they
should no; he reduced. and within II
short time carTo.s of fruit will he
crossing III" mountains or their way.
via the canal. to New York. The pas
senccr rates are high At present. The
fare from Valparaiso To Eucnos Aires
is about $50. and the distance is not
greater than from New York to Chi
cage. This might h" cut down one
third OF onc-half. and the Increased
traffic would make the road pay.
The time OF passage can also he cut.
The continuous trip now takes about
thirty eight hours We make the
Journey from New York TO Chicago in
less than twenty hours. aud even with
the delay in crossing the mountains.
ALI of which is included IL a distance
of perhaps 80 miles. the journey from
port 10 port may some daN be made in
thirty hours. or, with the fast trains
Of the future. within one full day.
My trip over the Andes hecan AT
Santiago. left there at about 6 O'Clock
in the evening, and two hours later
had passed out of the crea, central
valley OF Chile and climbed to the sta
ton ut Los Andes. where the narrow
gauge railroad begins. Los Andes IS
= railroad town with little more than
a hotel where passengers stop over
night. The hotel is rambling Struc-
ture with several hundred large rooms
Each room has hot and cold water,
which is uncommon in this part OF the
world. and the beds arc comfortable
The rates charged me were S2.2O for
lodging, including coffee and bread in
the morning And the coffee was good
We left Los Andes about s o'clock in
the morning and wound our way
tnfouSn Il marrow valley Walleu by
steep. rocky mountains. The road was
Il steady climb. with an average gauge
of about : per cent and II maximum
grade after the rack and piniou sec
lions We're reached. Of about s per cent.
The valley was that of the Aconca-
qua River, which has it's rise IN Mount
Aconcagua. not far away. The stream
WAS the color OF putty, and il remind
cd me OF The glacial streams OF the
Alps The river IS fed by tho glaciers
of AconcaGua, and 1t is loaded with
The earth washings of The Andes. The
valley w:dcnS III places. and here YOU
find irrigated patches with little fields
of alfalfa and barley and beans. Nov
and then YOU pasta mud hut matched
with straw, and where there is room
there is q village of similar huts. The
most OF the people live on the lands
which they till. Some OF the fields are
not bigger than bed quilts. They have
horses and cattle feeding upon them
All OF the holdings are exceedingly
small SAW farms OF four and Ave
acres, and on one near 4 station
counted an acre of corn. Il half acre
of barley and three pasture fields OF
an acre or TO-. Near the track on the
edge OF the gam field the farmers
were thrcshtmg' they had spread out
the sheaves of wheat inside n ring Of
hard ground, and near them stood n
half-dozen horses, waiting TO be driven
H.
\ little farther on ] saw the threshcrs
at work. The thrcshing floor was sur
rounded by line Of posts and wire
fence. Inside three cowboys were driv-
ing twenty horses around and around
One boy stood in the centre OF the ring
and the others 81 the side. Each had
long whip in his hand, and they kept
the horses on n dead gallop. After q
time the horses We're driven out Of the
ring, and the straw and chaff were
thrown up against the wind so that
they were blown away and only the
grain was left. The grain was then
gathered up and baggcd for the mar
Ret. and at the same time another car
net of sheaves was laid on the floor
i arr toiG that some OF our harvesting
machine mating compan ies have re-
Gently invented small threshcrs for use
in me mountains. and that even now
seine are being sold In these highlardsy
As we Travelled on up the Andes
we could see the OLD trail which for
hundreds OF years has been used in
crossing the continent We PASSED
trains or donkcys, loaded with freight
and driven 10y men There wcr. also
droVes OF horses and cattle aud mack
mules taking freight from one side OF
me range 10 the other The mountain
ara" goes over the Andes AZ almost
one-halr mile above tile railroad TIM
mel. IL is much longer than TN, rail
road: hut the freight rates of the lat
Ter are so high that these mule trains
compete for much OF the traffic
The altitude OF the mountain trail ia
iZ'eo" ieet o: little higher than the
Top OF fujiyama, Japan. 1t goes over
me uspalata pass above the railroad
tunnel, which IL two thousand fnnt
lower. The tunnel is two miles in
length. and its altitude is just ahou,
TWO miles above the level Of IN. s..,
The boundary line between Chile ana
AFsei1ina runs through the tunnel
and IL was in the darkness. ina, I
cross, crossed from one republic to The other.
me longer part Of the tunnel is in
Argentina.
The scenery OF this route over III.
Andes - magnificent The mountains
are much like tn" Rockies along III.
Denver and Rio Grande Railroad rho
formations are Of every description
and in some pla ccs they have the col
ors OF the Colorado canyon Now YOU
go throughtSMiGht gorges, ana now