THE MIDAS TOUCH

Evening Post, Volume CV, Issue 90, 16 April 1923, Page 2

THE MIDAS TOUCH

NEW RAILWAY FOR BOLIVIA

PROVIDING A NECSSSAM QHTLET' ■-■''■ "" TO THE SEA.

Bolivia ie the only republic in Amerioa which has no putlet to the sea. It is therefore of the greatest potent that the railroad . now under cohstrudfcipn across Bolivia will be the final link in a transcontinental line which will Btretch from Mollendo, Peru,' to Buenos Aires, Argentina, 6tatee the "Christian Science Monitor." It' is eipected that .about 60 mitesof the road will be ready fpr operation by the middle of this year; and that tlhe whole Wt- miles will be. completed by Ist May, 1925, the centennial of Bolivia,' s independence.

The material to build the railroad must come "500 mites from the Pacific Ocean, and then 20 or 30 miles by cr.rt to the advance portions of the grading; or come 1000 miles by railroad from the. Argentine and 30- miles by mules; so that -^is construction is rich in romantic possibilities. The "masmoiTaa," or mud-runs, add to the difficulties. Frequently "a hillside, or perhaps the entire" bed of 9, valley, will become saturated and will flow Jilje lava, carrying everything with it. Albert A. Northrop, of Stone and Webster, Inc., of Boston, whjch is. associated with the TJlen Contracting Company in the building of this railroad, made a tMp over the route and gave his impressions to the -writer.- "The railroad," ■he §aidj "on its way to the Argentine, climbe from the plateau to a pass in the mountain • range "at an elevation almost equal to the top of Pike's Peak, and then it-arts to descend, letting itself dropdown along the jjipunjiam 'side on a slope of three feet in every hundred. Like every railroad which crosses a mountain range, it seeks a water course, and soon plunges into the oanpn of El Chorro.' One after another, threes water courses are followed, all of whicji help to fprjn. the head waters of the Kjo de la Plata-, which empties into the Atlantic,- 2000 jniles away. After descending about 4000 feet, the road turns upward again, and for 20 miles the cjimb continues, until th« plateau is reached, 2000 feet above.

"For nearly a quarter of a century this section of the railroad throujjii Bolivia has been iinder discussion. In 1910 is was considered by a joint com-mission-of eugiheers appointed by, the Bolivian and Argentine "Governments. The Arjrentine Jine was eventually built to the Bolivian jjpundar.y.' and several unsuccessful attempts were made to build the final link through Bolivia. Only partial success was attained, however, . and in July. 1921, the Government signed, thp contract 1 with, the plen Cpntracting Company. "■ ' .

Bolivia is a country with riches almost .nnlcnown. The op_enjng of the rajlrpad through this territory will give opportunities to tourists to. see th,e .country and realise it 6 possibilities. Already oil' is draiwine' American capital inio the country. The'oii of Bolivia, us Qf a superior quality; raw samples shown to American, experts caused them to question whether it had- not already been refined. To a' slight extent, the Indians have used this' oil for lighting and heating purposes. . Fuel is one of the difficult problniTis which Bolivia- has to face. The locomotives burn English coal in briquette form, but the chief source of supply for. heatjng,is, .either- IJania dropDings or a Jarpe fungus growth, gleaned from the highlands and.burned in mixture with coal imported from England. If oil is discovered'.in.quaritity, according to ftfrv Northrop, 'the fuel problem will be solved. ■ ■ ■•■••-.•■

The new railroad will have many advantages over the other tranSrAnd©an road. For one thing, it shortens the route from New York to Buenos Aires by 450 miles. It wilj. never'be obstructed by snow, whereas the trans-Andean route from Buenos 1 Aires to Valparaiso is closed for many weeke, and sometimes months. '"'•.'' , , The wealth which this, new railrted will carry will be not wheat and corn and_ wool, primarily, but jhetjls, for Bolivia is essentially a land of metate. Its heavy production of tin is already known. Other metals and mineral^ of uneatimate.d yalue are ti}ere, waiting for the, Midas touch, of Capital and L? bour to transform .them' into wealth.