The Washington herald., 1920-04-14
BY JAMES II. COLLINS.

Lima, Peru. April 13.-"Singer" was
the word that stood for America all
over the world a generation ago,
Tightening labor in remote lands,
and lowering the cost Of living.
Ford" is the characteristic word
today, with the American tin Liz
zie" everywhere shortening dis
tance and time. OF course. this
does not imply that Singer sewing
machines have passed. for their dis
tribution in world markets is wider
today than it ever was, but quieter
because 1t has come to be a matter
of course.
Peru would seem to be almost the
last place in the world for automo-
biles, because II has few roads ex-
cept around the cities and tremen-
dous mountain slopes and rocky
Businesses to make road-building
difficult. The mule and the pack
train are the universal means OF
travel, and even in the cities. where
fashioned cobblestone pave
ments prevail, the cumbersome two
wheeled cart Is the chief vehicle for
hauling goods, and the grocer, milk
man and other merchants make
their deliveries on horseback. In
deed, there was better communica-
tion in the days of the Incas. Inca
roads have been a subject of dis
pute, some authorities picturing
them as great wide stone-f1agged
highways comparable with the
Roman roads, while others deny
that they ever existed at all. Ameri-
can mining engineers familiar with
the mountains assure one that there
were really Inca roads, but that
they were not wide, nor paved, be-
cause required only for foot and
llama travel, vehicles being un-
known.
Yet in the last three years nearly
a,0o0 Fords have been landed in
Peru by the Lima agent, A. c.
Shumway, and he is now preparing
to import them in lots of several
hundred at a time, knocked down.
and assemble them on the continu-
Gus plan followed at the factory
which will undoubtedly be as inter-
esting as a circus to the Peruvians.
Mr.. Shumway is a missionary as
we'll as an automobile man. Trav-
cling over the country and seeing
the pressing need for development
on every hand, he has realized that
Peru needs ideas, first of all, and
enthusiasts to preach them, and SO
he has become an enthusiast him
self.
Coast Best Travelling.
The levelest territory In Peru is
along the coast. By running along
the sea beach you can sometimes
motor from one town to another.
but seldom to three towns. The
beach disappears, or you are block
ed by sand or hills. Starting out on
tour, alternately running along
the beach and then taking to the
railroad, Mr.. Shumway made a trip
south of Lima. People turned out
to see him. As he came to a bad
stretch of sand, he would demon
strate what could be done In i'm
proving a road by strewing the sand
with cotton stalks, or leaves, or any
other convenient farm waste. Folks
took to the idea Immediately. and
In few weeks that stretch of sand
would be passable for motors. In
other places where sand was COM
bined with a steep grade, the Peru
Wan AduuO"u WuO WduIGu 10 kO
to town quickly by auto, instead of
horse, would arrange to have yoke
Of oxen handy to pull car through.
In many parts of Peru roads are
more easily built than is imagined.
Under the sand, very often, at q
depth of a foot or two, there may
be hard material that merely needs
uncovering. In the north there Is
crude oil which, worked up with the
sand, would make satisfactory high
ways provided the heavy. destruc-
tive two-wheeled carts were kept
off-these vehicles weigh twice as
much as the loads they carry, hav-
ing wheels six and eight feet in dia-
meter. Up on the plateaus, too,
towns can often be connected by
fairly level roads, and because the
climate 10 dry. highways are more