The Coolidge examiner., 1934-04-27

ASoutasuu, HlEDeSt mountain III lHe
Americas. whose snow-capped peak
rubs the sky 23,0S0 feet above the
sea.
Christ Of the Andes.
At Las Cuevas the westbound
train crawls into the mountain side
from Argentina to emerge on
Chilean soil. over the hill through
which this two-mlle tunnel runs Is
laid the telephone cable and, II the
day be clear. just as your train
emerges In Chilean sunshine you
can look up at the hilltop and be-
hold that famous peace mountain,
the Christ of the Andes, which
stands more than 1900 feet above
sea level, on the Chile-Argentlne
frontier.
Far below. though still at 1900
feet elevation. Inca Lake is set
among the peaks. Sull descending,
your train creaks, squeals, and
winds In and out among noun
talns of infinite majesty, dignity and
distance. rattles over bridges that
span roaring cascades. to emerge at
last into fertile green valleys of
Chile.
In clean, safe, steam-heated
trains. this is a fascinating trip.
You may sit comfortably at lunch
and look out through plate-glass
windows at one OF the worlds most
astounding panoramas. But you
merely see 1t. The workers out
there along the track, In skating
caps, ear muffs and mlttens-the
engineers on snowshoes and the
crew driving the rotary plow against
the drlfts-they not only see but
they feel and smell the Andes.
And they hear the voices OF the
high passes. the hiss of the snow
and shrek of the winds around the
crags. the roar of avalanches.
Down the smooth, steep. snow-cov-
cred slope Of one mountain. plainly
visible from the train, an avalanche
slides. Countless tons OF rock, dirt
and snow, coasting straight down
from the very clouds leave long,
perpendicular scar "What is that
funny trail down the mountain
side?" asks n solitaire player, look
ing up from his cards. No one an
swers.
To save their cable from these
slides, the telephone engineers buried
II In the rocks all the way from Las
Cuevas, on the Argentine side, over
to Juncal, In Chile.
Safety Comes First.
when we picked out the route
for laying our cable over the Andes,
II was not with the view Of keeping
close to roads and trails" said an
official of the American-owned tele-
phone and telegraph company.
what we sought was a path that
would give the cable the most shell
ter and minimize the danger OF
breaks from avalanches, landslides
or earthquakes.
But always we had to carry the
heavy cable on the last lap of its
hard journey up steep mountains
and over cliffs, to where we had
blasted a sunken way for it. Only
picked men could stand this tremen-
dous physical ordeal. We chose
only those who had worked for years
in high attitudes. Even the blast
ing and digging of our cables un-
derground path over this roof Of
the world, ditch many miles long,
was a back-breaking task"
Once the Andes separated Chile
and the Argentine not only physi-
cally and in a commercial way, but
also formed a barrier against intel
lectual, social and artistic relations.
Now, by this cable, friendly inter-
course Is easy; and not only can
Santiago talk over the Andes and
across the far pampas to busy
Buenos Aires, but by a 66mile cable
under the great River Platte she
can talk to Montevideo, in Uruguay,
and from there on by radio tele-
phone to Europe, the British Isles,
and the United States.
The Andes are as high, cold and
vast as ever. Only they seem less
so now because trains and planes
are faster than mules and llamas
and because our voices on the new
telephone cable carry farther than
the voices of General San MGrtin
and old Chief Tupac Yupanqui
shouting across the canyons.