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

cent on the rapidos and trains de luxe
There is reduction of 10 per cent on
return tickets of all classes The freight
rates are high, and more than half Of
the earnings come from freight. The
extra charges for baggage are much
greater than in the United States and on
the central system per cent of the total
earnings are made out of luggage.
The amount of freight carried is about
5000 900 tons per annum, the number
of passengers over 12,OoO,OOO,Oo0 and
the total receipts more than $1S,oOO,OOO in
gold. The expenditures are more than
SIS, 600. 900. so that the deficit is more than
s., 900 COO The state is now operating
about 1900 miles of railway. and its en-
ployes are more than 1900, or over 1--WE
to the mile.
In addition to the government railways
are those owned by private parties ano
companies. These roads have trackage
almost as long as 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 con-
nection with mines and other interests
and the returns do not show the actual
receipts or the profits
Take, for instance, tho nitrate railways
Of which there are seven. They run from
the ports out into the desert and carry
hut little else than nitrate Of soda. They
range in length from fifty miles TO SVV
or 400 and their business Is IN proportioh
To the nitrate factories or oticinas win
which they connect. The Pfsagua ran
road. that runs between Pisagua ana
Iouioue. has a length Of 80 miles, ana
its Capitalization is 100000 It's gauge
"a onlv sixteen inches. Nevertheless IL
has been paying over per cent on its
common stock for number OF years ana
Ito net receipts are now more than W.
O0D O00 per annum. That road Is owned IN
England.
Another Profitable Road.
Another profitable road is the Anglo
Chilean nitrate road, which runs from
the mort OF Tocopilla TO several ditfer-
emit oficinas. having q length OF sew
enty odd miles. It is capitalized al
AZ 600 600 and in 1911 It's dividend was
Is per cent And then there is road
from Meiillones that connects with the
Antofagasta railway to Bolivia Thai
road is about eighty miles long, and II
has a thirty-inch gauge 1t will carry
the copper Of the Guggenheim syndi'
cate mines down to the coast and should
have an enormous profit therefrom' Al
present II Is a part OF the Antofagasta'
Bolivia railway system. which Is ex'
ceedingly profitable. The Taltal Railway
company which runs from the southern
nitrate fields to the port OF Taltal on the
Pacific, paid a dividend OF per cent II
1912. All of these railroads are feeders
of the longitudinal system. and that sys
TEN has been built TO connect them as
well as TO give a line north and soutf
throughout the republic.
A most interesting feature of the Chi
| lean railway situation is the number o.
lines that have been planned to crosr
! the continent trayersing tho Andes ant
joining the Argentine rsilray systems tC
| those of the west coast. The only on
of these that has been completed is tina
which extends from Valparaiso to Bueno
Aires. This is about as long as the dis
I lance between New York and Chicago
II crosses the Andes at an altitude o
! 10 900 feet above the sea through a tun
| mel that Is nearly two miles long. The
road was expensive 10 build, and II Is 81
! costly 20 operate that its freight rate
! will always be high. II has a rack ant
pinion or cog railroad system Of about
! twenty-five miles, and the gauge is sucl
that freight has to be transferred twic
/ during the journey across the continent
| The fare from Santiago TO Buenos Aire
! is SIS, with a very email allowance TO
! baggage. This is more than three time