Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-02-17
BY REX COLLIER.

tina and Chile break the peace which
they have sworn to maintain at the
feet of Christ the Redeemer."
These words, inscribed upon a lone
statue of the Christ at the crest of the
mighty Andes, tell an eloquent good.
will story Of their own.
1t IS story of how one of the mos
formidable barriers of rock known tt
man, interposed between two great South
American nations by the cataclysmit
hand OF Nature became. paradoxically
an imperishable bond of friendship.
Once that majestic bulwark of gram
lite, whose rugged ramparts reach high
er to the heavens than any of natures
pinnacles, save some of those in the
Himaiayas, had been the subject of d
bitter dispute between the peoples d
Chile and Argentina. A miSunder-
standing had arisen as to the location
OF the watershed which formed the
boundary line between the republics
War seemed imminent, when a pro-
posal was made to submit the contro-
versy to arbitration. The proposal was
accepted, an American mediator was
appointed and definition of the frontier
was left to a commission headed by
the late King Edward VII of England.
Reacting from their war scare. the
Latins swore a solemn VOW never to
resort to arms against each other, and
in commemoration of this pledge, they
erected on the boundary line, 12,800
feet above the sea, the world-famous
Christ of the Andes"
Progress Path Cleared.
To bind these peoples closer, man
later strung across those lofty, snow
crowned peaks sturdy bands of steel
opening pathway of progress across
the one time impregnable barrier and
bringing the capitals of the two nations
within easy rail communication Of each
other.
The Hoover goodwill mission fol-
lowed this monumental transandine
route in journeying from Santiago to
BuenoS Aires. In comfortable arm
chair coaches. the party was carried
over the cloud-wreathed heights of the
Andes on a roadbed so steep that racks
were needed to keep Che powerful
driving wheels of the locomotives from
slipping. Over chasms bridged by
spans of steel or stone, along narrow
lodges chiseled on the precipitous faces
of towering bluffs and through long
tunnels pierced through solid granite,
tLlE party IOuC SPSllDOuA1u AOA 4LOuAo,
to emerge finally upon the broad ex-
far edge Of which lay the largest of
South American cities.
Spend Night in Foothills.
In order to view the unrivaled Andean
scenery by daylight, the President
elect timed his departure from Santiago
so that the night could be spent aboard
the train at Los Andes, quaint town
in the foothills of the mountains. The
special train had pulled out of the
Chilean capital at dusk, amid the cheers
of thousands of citizens gathered at the
station to see the Americans off. 1t
was but q few hours ride to Los Andes.
There the luxurious train pulled onto
a siding and the passengers spent the
night in the spacious Staterooms Of
the Chilean 'pullmans." The only
hotel In Los Andes had burned to the
ground some time before.
In the morning, the party trans
ferred from the broad-gauge Chilean
State Railway to the rlarrow-gauge
Argentine and Chilean Transandean
road, which is the mountain climbing
unit Of the route. The salon coaches
of the mountain line we're constructed
for comfort and for sightseeing. Lounged
in cushioned armchairs, the passengers
gazed ION the marvellous panorama
through windows extraordinarily wide.
AS the party ate breakfast in the cozy
diner, with its partitioned spaces and
built-in seats, the train passed through
the verdant Aconcagua Valley, watered
by the melting SHOWS from the Cor
dillera ahead. Here there was pastoral
f4x,x ftfo
of grain and hillsides Of grapes.
Train Feels Way Cautiously.
The small but powerful English-type
locomotive labored strenuouSly onward
and upward until the train was wind
ing into the Businesses of the Chilean
Andes, and 1t seemed that one could
walk along beside the cars and keeE
apace of the train. Finally, the ascent
became so steep that ordinary wheels
could not drive the load forward with
out loss of traction, and an electric
locomotive, fitted to rack-equipped rails
was substituted.
Nearing the international frontier, the
train pushed inexorably upward, feel.
ing its way cautiously along frightfully
sheer cliffs, beneath beetle-browed crags
beside or over gorges cut deep into the
mountains by caScading streams Of
crystal clear water and through tunnel;
bored under jutting mountain sides.
The engineering mind OF the Amer.
the scientific genius that had achieved
these feats of railroading. Mr.. Hoover
recognized the engineering problem.
which had been involved In the stupen-
dous undertaking, and he marveled al
the mastery Of them. And aside from
that, he joined with every other mem.
Der Of the party in exclaiming at the
grandeur Of scenery which the trip pro.
vided.
The train slowed up to snail's pace
to enable the passengers to view the
Inca Lake-a sapphire set in prong.
of rock 5000 feet above sea level. Not
long thereafter the location of the
Christ of the Andes was pointed out
but the statue was barely visible ir
the haze which had descended to blur
the distant scenes.
Go Through Long Tunnel.
The view suddenly was plunged into
darkness, and the train began It's weirc
journey through one of the longest anc
highest tunnels In the world--a 2-milt
hole driven through the very crest Of
the Andes at height of 1882 feet
AS the train passed directly under the
watershed marking the frontier, a bel
Signaled the fact
Emerging at Las Cuevas, on the
Argentine side. the train halted briefly
to permit an Argentine mission of wei.
come, headed by Dr. Diaz Leeuizamon
of the foreign office. to come aboard anc
accompany the party to Buenos Aires
The American Ambassador, Robert
Woods Bliss, also boarded the trair
there.
The stop gave all the passengers a
chance to stretch and get a breath OF
the frigid mountain air. A light snow.
fall. swirling around the overcoatec
forms of the sightseers, added zest e
the brief inspection of the little town
obtainable from the platform. On al
sides. lofty peaks reared themselve.
pobly into the sky. their white summit,