Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1945-09-16

for, next to the use of quinine, the pre-
caution regarding water constituted the
first rule of the jungle.
Beri-beri, usually fatal disease char
acterized by partial paralysis and SWELL
ing of the legs, arose from diet de-
flciencies Little was known of its
causes at that time. Most of the food
was dehydrated or in cans and occa-
sionally the tin-can diet was augmented
with tapir meat or anteater steaks.
Many Went Mad
Of the 1000 men who died many went
mad and ran into the jungle, never to
return. Others couldn't stand the cli-
mate. Excessive heat, even at night.
was always accompanied by maximum
humidity to make every one perpetual,
sweating and sorry mess.
The sWirling, muddy Madeira River
was killer. In most parts it was about
100 feet deep, in many places soundings
showed more than 300 feet to the
bottom
The vicious piranha fish always came
in for considerable comment from the
workers. Travelling in large schools, it
would sink its sharp teeth into a swim
ming or bathing man and, like scissors,
cut him into pieces the size of silver
dollars. The presence of the piranha
made bathing an infrequent and dan
gerous practice. Yet it was not the
only inhabitant of the deep waters to
be feared
Mr.. Armitage told about a laborer
who slipped and fell into the water from
a wooden bridge over the Madeira. He
seemed to be swimming okay until sud-
denly he was jerked under" the engt-
neer said. "A little while later an elec-
trio eel, about feet long and twice as
thick as a mans arm, drew its Shiny
body up the opposite bank, and pieces
of bloody flesh dangled from its ghastly
mouth. We could guess what happened"
Savage Tribes
Some German workers who didn't like
the jungle once they arrived there took
off into the brush. 1t was alive at that
time with unfriendly Paratintin and
Caripuna Indians, the Acanga Piranga
red heads"-a tribe from the Rio ia
mary region-and matchmaking aborig-
ines who had come some distance from
the Puto Mayo country of Ecuador. A
body was occasionally found, to hint of
the fate which befell the renaging la
borers.
Mr.. Gibson and a handful of engi-
neers worked mostly upcountry near
Bolivia, an area infested with the ex-
ceedingly hostile and dangerous Paca-
nova Indians. The engineers were on
location surveying the right of way and
making typographical maps They never
knew what they were getting into as
they penetrated the jungle.
And yet, in spite of everything, the rails
finally reached Guajara-M irim that
July day in 1912. But the celebration
was premature. The rubber boom had
collapsed, and it was evident the rail-
way need never have been built.
Until recently about one mixed train a
week made the 2oo-nlle run, and the
roads profit or loss in the intervening
years since its construction never has
been measured in more than a few
thousand dollars because of its almost
inactive and abandoned status.
The railway has never made money
and no accurate figures on it's operation
IN the last few years are available In
one prewar year, only $500 worth of
freight and a few thousand passengers.
mostly natives, were carried. For the
past two decades or so, the Madeira
Mamore has been operated by the
Brazilian State Railways.
To Haul Rubber
However, during this past war, the
Brazilian government, enthused with the
idea that the railway might assume a
role in world commerce, announced that
formal rehabilitation of the Madeira
Mamore was being undertaken as a part
OF new campaign to haul rubber from
the Porto Velho-Guajara Mirim area
and put it to military and postwar use.
The government in Rio de Janeiro
contends that even the airplane, with
its vital role in Amazon rubber develop
ment, has not stopped the revival of the
little jungle railway from it's sleepy DAYS
OF neglect while most of the worlds
rubber was coming from the Far East.
Brazilian authorities have placed the
rehabilitation project in command of
Maj. Aloysio Ferreira, military governor
OF the region traversed by the road and
the railways present head
Maj. Ferreira has done an excellent
job in repairing old rolling stock" the
authorities in Rio have announced.
When he took over in 1912 there were
but two locomotives in operation. Now
he has 10, with three others undergoing
repairs. The road has go freight cars
In operating condition, and 10 passenger
and baggage cars At the rate it is
being improved, it ought to be able to
handle all the rubber which will come
out of that region"
This is all happening today, and
sounds very optimistic. 1t might well
be that the 1000 men who died for the
Madeira -Mamore might actually have q
fitting memorial in the little jungle road
after all.