The Washington herald., 1915-10-28
HISTORY BUILDERS.
A Famous American Railroad Builder.
Written Expressly for The Washington Herald.
BY DIR. r.. J. EDWARDS.

In the early nineties William r. Grace.
who had served twice as mayor of New
York. and his brother Michael F., in
association with n strong English finan-
Cial group. entered into contract with the
republic OF Peru wh.reby they undertook
TO finish some important public works.
including the Great National Railroad,
and were In return to receive large re-
muneration from Peru.
SHORTY after the contract was executed
Mayor Grace told me what some of the
important features OF II were, and men
toned incidentally that the syndicate
would undertake to finish the colossal
railroad project which Henry Meigss had
undertaken and partially completed II
that road We're completed IT would be
carried over the Andes Mountains. cross
ing the divide at point. Mr.. Grace said,
about equal in height to the summit of
Mount Blanc in Switzerland.
The mention OF the name OF Henry
Meiggs tempted me TO ask some ques-
the fact that Mr.. Grace, when mer-
chant at Lima. Peru. was brought into
close association with him.
Il have always thought" said Mr..
Grace. that MeiEgs was fired with the
ambition TO connect the Pacific Ocean
with the headwaters of the Amazon
River and in that way with the At
lantic by means of a railroad which
would surmount the Andes. because
he had, when living in California.
participated in the agitation and the
attempt then under way involving the
construction of a railroad from Sacra-
mento City easterly over the Sierra
Nevada Mountains so that IL would in
time form a union with a railroad
stretching westerly from the Missouri
River to California.
Occasionally Mr.. Meiggs let drop
remarks which led me to infer that
he regretted that circumstances made
it impossible for him to undertake the
construction CT a mountain climbing
Pacific railroad in the United States.
when 1 saw the work which Mr..
Meiggs accomplished both in Chile ana
afterward in Peru, by means Of which
he carried his railroad up the steep
slopes of the Andes-not through any
passes. for there were none, nothing
but trails which the Indians followed
when crossing the Andes, I was per-
suaded that he would have made
quicker work in carrying a Pacific
railroad over the Rocky Mountains and
over the Sierras than the Americans
were able to do.
II was talking some years ago with
a prominent engineer who had visited
Peru and also the valley OF the Da-
Meiggs, in carrying his railroad to-
ward the summit of the Andes. did
precisely what the Romans did when
they chiseled their way along the
precipitous mountains that line that
region which is called the Iron Gates
of the Danube. The Romans sur
mounted those extraordinary difficui-
ties with the simplest kind of appa-
ratus. Meiggs had the diamond drill.
and modern science could in other
ways help him, it is true, but these
accessories could not, unless in the
hands of men as great as Meiggs was,
have carried that railroad system from
the seacoast to the summit Of the
Andes"
Copyright. isl5. b. E J. Edwards. All rights re-
seued)
Tomorrow DR.. Edwards will tell of
"Fanciful Dreams Which Came True"