The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-12-23
PERU DEVELOPMENT
 ON GREAT SCALE
BY HOLLAND

New York, December 22.-(Special.) J.
 William V. Afford of GarrettsvilIe, O.,
 who is fellow of the Royal Geo.
 graphical society, and prominently asso-
 clated with the American Society of Civil
 Enginees, arrived in New York this
 morning from a prolonged sojourn in
 Peru. He was in Peru about 10 years
 ago, and at that time became familiar
 with some of the more conspicuous char
 acteristics of that wonderful country which, he says. possesses everything that a kindly providence could give to man excepting large population and means.
 MT. Afford expects. to return to Peru after brief visit to the United States for he has committed to him very Im- portant business which may be hereafter of great value in the development of in-
 ternational trade between the United
 States and Peru.
 There lies in the northern latitude of Peru country of extraordinary natural resources not the least of which is the different climate which characterzes the lofty mountain ranges and their slopes, and then the gradual descent to the val Jews. richly watered, which lie under a tropical sun. Mir Afford represents American interests and American capital which are about to undertake very
 great development of this area. The Pe- , ruvian government has granted a con cession aggregating an area about equiv
 alent to that of the state of New Jersey. It extends from an ocean port on the northern coast of Peru easterly, almost exactly paralleling a degree of latitude l until at last it touches the navigable head water of the Amazon river.
 There is perhaps in no other place in the world an area of like extent which l is capable of richer development Min erals, precious and other, and also oil,
 abound. In some places if only shallow ditch, not even a ditch, a little excava- | ton, is dug in the soil, oil bubbles up or exudes. Upon the slopes of the Andes
 there could be cultivated almost every
 thing that grows under sun whose heat l is tempered by the altitude of the noun !, tains. Stretching through the east the virgin soil is especially adapted to the production of sugar, and in fact every | kind of tropical vegetable or fruit. Tn some parts of the area the soil is of the peculiar quality which makes the cuIti- I.vation of the best kind of wheat, and | a very large yield of it, possible.
 | MAYOR GRACES PREDICTION William R. Grace, who was twice mayor of New York, and who established what | is now one of the greatest of the interna- tional trading and banking houses of the world. was formerly a citizen of Peru.
 and learned much of the resources of ! that nation. He said at one time that some day there would come transporta- l tion facilities which would make it pos sble to cultivate hundreds of thousands 1 of acres of soil to wheat, a soil pe- | culiarly adapted to the raising of wheat.
 not one acre of which has ever been put under cultivation.
 l It may be that Mayor Grace's prediction will, in the course of a few years, be jus l tifed by the advent of American capital and enterprise. The district is conSedir- ably north of the famous and historic Serco da Pasco mines, which were worked for their silver in the days of the Spanish adventurers in Peru. When Aae | silver ore seemed to be exhausted or could not be mined in sufficient quanti- l ties to be of any value the industry Iceased, but it was taken up in a compara- | lively recent time because it was found | that very rich deposits of copper were 1 there which had been neglected by the | Spanards. American capital a few years ] ago took over this property and has | greatly developed it. By means of rail road communication from the mines the copper ore is conveniently transported to 1 Callao, the ocean port of Lima. Speedily | this corporation will, at Ouvy, which is 1000 feet above the sea level. construct l smelting plant which when completed will be one of the largest of the world. The Peruvian government having been | for some time anxious that there be de- velopment of it's resources, and for that reason ready to make reasonable conces- sions to American capwaI has set apart I about 100000 acres of land which as was said above, is about equal to the area of the state of New Jersey, and which constitute the concession. But in order l to fulfil the obligation of the concession lit is provided that those who possess
 the concession must build railroad l W hich. when completed, will stretch from l a point upon the northern coast of Peru I to the head water of the Amazon It
 will be when completed about 600 miles
 in length. The terms of the concession provide that the railroad be completed in ! seven years, and it is expected that in each one of these seven years the railroad will have been so far completd as to make the adjoining land available. That