1000062609_037

INTERNATIONAL AMERIC N CONFERENCE.

143

length of the line, tbe grauing-

'\York will not be ver.v heavy; but one short t.unnel

occnrs, but the amount of hritlgincr i

proportionntely very great.

In addition

nuwerous swall bridges, culverts, open and arcbetl clrains, tbt>re are forty-one prin–

cipal l>ridges, var:ring bet

ween 5

0 and

250

meters in lcngtb, and ranging in heigbt

from

meten:~

;)o

meters.

Tl.te

clirnatic conditions will present sorne difficult1es,

the rains are copious au

d tbe r

aiuy st-asou prolouged.

TIJe labor qnestiou will be one ofcoDsiderahlú iruport.auce in the execntion ofworks

sucb maguitnrle in

couutry wbo. e population is only 2,500,000 people. But tbe

liuen.lily of tbe GovernJUeut iu provitling for tLe illtrod

nction of

foreign laborers a ud

artisuus ha done much towards a solntion of tbis problrnt.

lt migbt he mentioned

Lere that

prevaleut soil in Chili i

the so-called

toscc,,

or "hard-pau" ofthe Uuited

tates.

'l'akiug all things into consideration, tbere seems to be every rea on for belie,ing

that the contractjnst made between tlle Chiliao Govermuent and tbe Nortb aud outb

American éonstruct ion

Compan~'

will be fulfilled in the pecified time of five years,

to tbe honor aml creuit aml profit of both parties.

When these are coustrncted tbe north aud south line wi ll e -tend, with the excep–

tiou of one or two short

bren.ks

, for a distance of about 1,450 miles.

The following is a brief account of tbe prívate lines:

Augelo Chilian Nit1·ate

ancl

Railway Company.-Tbis

British corporation was regis–

tered in U38t:! to acquire ni trate grounds in tbe Province of Antofagasta, and

con–

trnct

railw:~y!>

and other

work ~.

By the term of tbe coutract tbe entiro line from

Tocapilla to tbe nitrate grounds, 60 miles, was to be opened t"> traffic by December

29, 1889.

Antojagasta

and

Bolivia Railway Company,

formeü for the purpose of acquiring from

tbe Corupania Huanchaca, de Bolivia, tbe conccssious granted by tbe goveruments of

Bolivia and Cbili for the construction of rail"ways and telegraphs from Autofagastl\

io Huaucbaca,

395

miles, via Salinas, El Dorado, to the village of Calama, hence

ea tward to the borate deposits of Ascotan

011

tbe frootier of '"Bolivia, and tbence to

the ilver :::uines of Hnaochaca. Tbe wbolc of the Chilian section, 272.8 mile , has

beeu opeuecl for traffic, aml it was expected

complete tbe wbolo line in Octooer,

1 89.

'l'his líne is

l¡o

con~ct

at Huanchaca with the Argentine line from Bnenos

Ayres, autl will be extended to Potosi antl Ornro, conuecting there with the Peruvian

line from Puno.

A1·ica and Tacna Railway,

from the Port of Aricn, to Tacna,

miles, opeaeu in 1854.

Tbis road is sitnated in territory acc¡nircd from Bolivia by tbe 1reaty of 1 "3.

Antojagasta Nitrate and Rail1ray

Company.-Projecteü line from .Antofaga ta to

Chonchi, 185 miles, with branches, extensions, cte.,

:lO

miles. Tbe gauge iR to be 2

feet 6 incbes.

AntojagaBta

and

Aguas Blancas.-A

contract was recently. igned by

t.he

Governrnent

witb Ir. George Pbillips for tbe con truction ofn, railway with 1-rueter gauge betweeu

the ·e two points, and which

tupas tbrough al! the ni trate works between them,

witb branches to any others tbat may be estahlishetl hereafter. Plan are to l•e sub–

mitted to tbe Gonmrnent witbin three montbs, and work is to l>e commenceu within

four montbs after their approval.

Canizal and Cerro Blanco Rail!cay,

from Carrizal to Yuerba Buena, with a branch

from Canto del Aqua to Carrizal Alto, and otber branche ruaking the total lengtb 50.2

mile .

Tbe extension up the Jal'illa Valley, 20 mile

.was completed in 1

This road is ownell by a British corporat..ion formed in 1

by tbe consolidatiou of

the Carrizal Railway and tbe Cerro Blanco Railway.

CopiapoRailway,

from Caldera to San Antonio,

93.6

miles, with branclles from Pa–

bellon to Charnacillo, 24.6 mile ; from Paipote to Puquio ,

31.6

miles; total,

150.0

mile , with sidings, etc., 19.2 miles. This is tbe pioneer roaLl of tbe southern hem–

isphere. The company wa organized in October, 1

49,

and the Toad wa opened to

Copiapo in Jannary, l 52 ; to Pal>ellon, Jannary

1 55, antl to San Antonio, Febrn–

ary

1, 1867.

In 1S6

tbe Cbarnacillo brancb was pnrcbased, and on january 20, 1 71,

r.be

Puquios branch wa opened. Tlüs road has beeu very profitable.

Coguimbo Railway,

from

Coquimb~o

La ercna aod La Compania,

9.3

miles;

and