Evening star., 1922-05-07
SOUTH AMERICA is ALIVE
TO NEED OF GOOD ROADS
Construction of Railroads and HIGHWAYS
About to Open on Immense Scale,
Benefiting U. S. Trade.
great strides in securing South
American patronage.
Other Countries Net
Tagging Behi,.L.

American patronage.
Other Countries Net
Tagging BehirL.
In addition to Argentina's program
| for road construction, which was
| touched only on the surface, ii is in
teresting to note what some of the
fother countries are doing.
Chile Is completing her part Of a
| transcontinental roadway, 2,7ss miles
| In length. which will connect VAL
paraiso and Santiago with Buenos
(, Aires. In addition. large sums have
| been appropriated for highway i'm
provement. and much work is now
public.
To tap her rich resources. which
nave been only scratched. or which,
nave lain dormant, Brazil is pushing
road work in many parts of the coun-
try. About 500 miles of motor roads
were completed in 1921, and the road
building program this year exceeds
that of last. A national highway. on
connect the rich city and state of Sac
Paulo with Rio de Janeiro. opening
up route which will be among the
most wonderfully scenic and pic
turesque in the world, besides fur
nishing highway for the transpor-
tatfon Of commerce by motor truck
In the interior of Brazil motor bus
lines are being established rapidly.
and many cities heretofore not
reached by the railroads are connected
by hundreds of miles of good roads
over which the Traveller is carried
comfortably and speedily.
Good Road From Lima
To Port Of CalIao.
In Peru muchIeeded highway is
under construction between the capt.
tai city. Lima. and the port of PERU
Callao. The road wifi be constructed
with modern material, hard-surfaced
enough to. stand the heavy motor
traffic which will pass between the
capital and its outlet to the Pacific
Venezuela is among the most pro-
gressive of the southern republics in
building roads to open her vast riches
for development. She is seeking to
link her interior, where the products
originate. with the Atlantic ports
whence they will be shipped through
out the world.
Railroad construction and highway
| building will 60 hand in hand in
South America. for although railroads
there have suffered. during business
depression from high wages. low rates
and limited traffic. railroading IN tn.
southern republics Is in it's infancy
James G. Lyme, in Railway Age.
points out that those in the norther.
part Of the continent, with the ex-
ception of Peru, are relatively unim-
portant. Many OF them are narrow
gage lines of light traffic. which car
hardly be called railroads. while
lines. Those of Peru. Argentina. Chile
and Brazil are, of course, important.
| Argentine Railroads
| Owned by British.
| Argentina possesses some $4,000
miles of railroad. owned for the most
part by companies in Great Britain
I, and operated to large extent by the
English. Because of her rich ag-i-
cultural lands and the general alb
| sence of physical barriers. there are
! great possibilities for railroad build
! ing in Argentina. Among The most
important projects under way are the
constructions Of lines to connect with
/ those OF Chile and Bolivia, the latter
| of which was described above. TIL"
question Of fuel. difficult because OF
| the lack of coal in Argentina, prob
ably will be solved with the develop
! ment of Argentina's oil resources.
Railroads in Chile have had the
difficulties of obtaining fuel. and ever
water, together with the mountainous
| character of the country. to contend:
with. The solution os this difficulty
may lie in electrifcation. which has
been started by the award of a con-
| tract to the Westinghouse concern for
4 the Identification of the line from
| Valparaiso to Santiago and of the
| branch which connects with the
| Transandine railway. Twenty Amer
| lean locomotives were bought in the
United States for Chile in the last
year.
Brazil, with a territory larger than
! that Of the United States, has only
I about 1900 miles of railways Most
| of these are concentrated along the
coast There are several projects un-
der way for their extension. Brazil
is experimenting with the electriica-
tion of some of her short line rail-
roads, and the result is watched with
interest because Of its effect in Great
ing another market