The farmer and mechanic., 1915-04-20
ARGENTINE. RAILWAYS
One of John Bulls Billion-Do)lar Invest
ments That Pays Big Dividends

for railway construction. Nearly every
road was improving it's system, ana
that not only in the country at large,
but here at the capital. Some Of the
suburban roads were being electr1-
fed and among them those Of the
Central Argentine Railway Company,
whose suburban lines are now carry
ing comething like 100000 pas
sengers a year.
The Western railway has construct
ed two tube lines which take pasSen- |
gers right into the heart Of BuenOs |
Aires. In the beauty Of their equip |
ment these tubes are superior to any !
thing we have In New York, and in |
efficiency they are fully equal to any |
| tube lines Of the world. In addition, |
a tube has been made for freight
| trains. This passes under the Avenida
de Mayo to the plaza OF that name, |
and then goes under the Gale Diva
| davia and other streets, covering the
! business parts Of the city.
| The railroad systems Of the Argen-
| tine are not small in either their ex-
| tent or their business. One of the
! largest is the BuenoS Aires Southern.
This connects the ca pita1 with some Of
| the best lands of the Argentine, going
south to Bahia Blanca and covering a
large part OF southern Argentina. It
| has branch lines into Patagonia, and it
will eventually connect with new rail-
| roads across the Andes, opening up
| southern Chile to Argentina. This
road has a capitalization of $245, 5,0OO,-
O0O and it's net income is about $15,-
100000 year. It has paid per cent
| on its common stock since 1900. The
Buenos Aires Southern has more than
$500 miles Of track, and it carries
something like 27,O00.00O passengers a
year. Much of the road is double
tracked. and it has fine terminals here
at the Plaza Constitution, from where
$50 passenger trains go in and out
daily.
The passenger traffic Of the South
ern railway is an important revenue
producer, 1t is now carrying six or
seven millions of livestock a year.
About one-half of all the cattle that go
7 to the freezing establishments come
from the south. 1t has also a valua bic
}, summer resort traffic. 1t has the chief
2 line from Buenos Aires to Mar del
: Plata, which is the fashionable seaside
city Of Argentina, and is about $50
miles away. During the season there
are afternoon express trains with par
e lor cars only and three trains Of sleep
ing cars that run nightly. One has
K 10 engage his sleeping aCcOmmOda- :
e hons some time in advance. The rates
e OF traVe! are high, as is everything
s connected with town of Mar del Plata
h The BuenOs Aires and Pacific rail
IL way is connected with the trunk line,
t which crosses the Andes from ocean
5. to ocean. It takes passengers from
/ Buenos Aires to Valparaiso, distance
IS OF $50 miles. The Chilean part Of the
1. road is short, something like 100 miles
e OF the trip across the continent being
l. on Argentine territory. The Buenos
q Aires and Pacific railway has a tota
d mileage Of about 3,400 miles, and its
a capitalization is about $1S6,000, 900
'e Inc road is Well managed. Its fare:
l. are high. The distance from Valpa
le raiSO to Buenos Aires is Just abou
the same as from New York to Chi
cage, and my fare between the tw,
III places was $65, or about three time
SIS as much as for a similar Journey il
er the United States.
V Another important railway Of Ar
ne gentina is the Central This has a can
IS, ltallzation of 1888, 100000, and it's gros
IL earnings are something like $4,000,
Ut OOo year. 1t is now operating about 3,
n, OOO miles of road, and annually carr 9
on about 100000 tons of freight. TIL
ds road began building in 1854 to con
re meet Rosario and Cordoba. 1t now ha
ed two lines from Buenos Aires to Rosa
TN rio and one from there to Tucuma1
ne and IT Will eventually be a part of tn
ng system which will cross the continer
TO Antofagasta in Chile. All but fe'
elr nnes OF. this line is now built, an
le- 1t is not an impossibility but that
les may be completed this year. The roa
de has the highest gross earnings pe
Is mile of any line in Argentina IT pa,
lat dividends Of s per cent
he
Ar- Other railways which are doing b
ad business are the EuencS Aires Westel
es and the Argentine. The first rs capita
be lied at $136,000. 066, and it has gro
IAN receipts Of about $14,000. 600. tt
out other is managed by the Faruuha
Pearson syndicate, usually known
an American company. although Il
en- most of it's money comes from Gre
ave Britain. The Argentine rcaG has
ons charter from Maine. 1t has lines
in Cordoba and Entire Eios and in mort
are ern Argentina, ana alroeether h
and t1nore than 3,7O0 miles of tracl, leas
ere or cOntr oiled. A large mart ~ il