The farmer and mechanic., 1915-07-20

penter)
ENCARNACION, Paraguay.
rEe you ever heard of Encarna-
c,t. In is a little town of $4,000, in |
tha very heart of the South American
continent 1t is situated about half |
w4y between the Amazon river and
the %trat Of Magellan. 1t is as far
west II the Atlantic ocean as Pitts
burg and as far east of the Pacific
as the distance from New York to
Chicago. 1t is at the southern end
Of ne Paraguay Republic. and just
across the river from the Argentine
Mesopotamia, a great block of fertile
land which lies between the Paraguay
ana ruguay rivers. Encarnacion is
ON the Alto Parana. That river rises
in the highlands Of Brazil, and flows
over he Niagara Falls of South Amer
lea. within hundred miles or so Of
where ! am writing. From here it
flow, on toward the west and. uniting
with the Paraguay, is known as the
Pautua proper. up which river l came
on my way to ASuncion. The town is
TO some extent in the wilderness and
in one Of the great undeveloped re-
gions of this undeveloped continent.
within the past year or so only,
TINS country has been penetrated by
railways. IIncarnacion is the termi-
nus of the Paraguay Central, that
connects here with the Argentine sys-
ten 'orming a through route by rail
from Buenos Aires to the capital of
Paraguay. Until this road was COM
pleted the only way to reach Para
quay was by the Parana river, and the
trip 10 Asuncion took from five to
seven days. l was five days in coming
up The river and did not land until
The sixth day. By the railroad the
journey can be made in about sixty
hours and this time will eventually
be- cut to two days or less. An exten.
sion is being made from the Para
quay Central to the Falls Of the River
iguazu, and within a year or so i
VII! be possible to reach that grea
natural wonder by rail. At the fall
the railway will link up with tn
ss5razilian system, and will make
possible to go from Rio de Janeiro t
The heart Of Paraguay by railroad
.'The distance from here to San Paul
rs the crow flies not farther thai
from New York to Cleveland, and t
SPuertO Allegro is not much farthe
than from New York tu Buffalo. Tn
present railway route between the tw
points is much longer.
I have been on the train all day i
coming from Asuncion to Encarna
iCion. We left at a. m. and got her
sme is one of the most interestin
countries Of the world. The whol
way was over the Paraguay Centrs
railroad. and much Of it through we
settled land. The Paraguay Centrs
is one of the old roads Of South Amer
lea. 1t was started by the tyrar
,1-opez. 1t was originally intended
run from the capital to Villa Ric
That city is the second town of tn
country and in the most thickly POI
ulated part of Paraguay. The distant
10 it from ASuncion is about IL
miles. The road had been complete
about half that far when the w;
with Brazil broke out. This stoppe
The construction, and it was not r
sumed until almost thirty years. TT
first road belonged to the governmeT
but In 1887 this was sold on the CO.
0luon that the purchaser should e
tend it, the government giving ce
tan guarantees as to the incon
thereon. The new company built Il
road on to Villa Rica: and later
was extended as far south as Pirap
about seventy-five miles from Enca
nacion. There it stopped until it w
taken up by the present company al
completed.
The road is now to a certain exte
an American system. 1t is under h
control of the Farquhar Syndicate, t
manager of which is Percival Faro
mar, of York, Pa, and Wall Sire
New York. 1t is this syndicate whi
Is making the extension to the IA
and the connection with the BRAZIL
railways. in which it has very lar
interests. The capital Of the Par
quay Central. including stocks a
bonds. is in the neighborhood of
teen million dollars. The road
already shipping timber. tobacco a
!rutt to Buenos Aires. and of late
mas begun to put on cattle trains. I
passenger traffic is increasing. a
eventually il will command most
me travel to and from Para quay.
~ Is now. there are sleeping and d