Evening Republican, Volume 14, Number 204, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 August 1910 — Railroad Building in Brazil [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Railroad Building in Brazil

IF YOU follow up the cotr.-ae of the Amazon and Madeira rivers on the map two-thirds across South America you will finally come to San Antonio, from which a black line marked “R. R. und,er construction” stretches southwest for 210 miles. Thirty years ago that black line was put on the map at the price of the lives, of more than two hundred United States citizens and of millions of dollars. The commercial life of a nation hangs on the building of this railroad, but three times the fevers of the district have killed or dispersed expeditions which have tried to build it For fifty years this 210 miles of tropical forest has stood off mankind. But at last the railroad builders are about to conquer it, and it is fitting that these men who are succeeding are from the United States, forfrom first to last the United States has played a prominent part in the attack on this stubborn district. Ii 1852 Lieutenant Gardner Gibbon, U. S. N., advocated the building of this railroad for commercial and diplomatic reasons. After much correspondence, in 1878 an expedition under Col. George Church Earl set sail from New York. The main contributors to the work were P. and T. Collins, and it was known as the Collins expedition. The construction gang was 600 strong when it embarked. Fiftysix are in the graveyard there now. War is child’s play to what these men encountered. They went in ships fifteen hundred miles out of sight of the sea and landed in the fever-ridden town of San Antonio, on the upper Madeira in Brazil. Insects and reptiles plagued them by day and night. They pushed .their grading into the forests, &nd men began to die. Reinforcements sent from New York were wrecked off .Hatteras and nearly all drowned. Others followed, the scum of the cities, 115 strong. When they reached San Antonio they struck, stole, and murdered, adding only trouble to those already there. Then the fight for the mastery of the country failed. Men left their tools and engines in the forests; left unburied dead where the construction camps had worked; left fifty-six of their number in the little graveyard of San Antonio; and even this was not all, for of those who tried to escape into Bolivia seventy-five died on the trail. Twice after this, Brazil and Bolivia tried to build the railroad, and now another force from the United States is pushing steel rails into this deadly forest. The reason for this persistence is that this railroad will open up the trade of a nation. The northeastern half of Bolivia is by far the most productive part of the country, yet it is out of reach. North and east is the unsettled, impassable Brazilian hinterland. To the west the sea is not far, but the Andes lie between. T 1& way south is open, but there is no railroads and no navigable river for hundreds of miles. Except for the little trade which trickles over the mountains on muleback, Bolivia is cut off from the world. But there is one possible outlet. From Para the Amazon stretches across the map 800 miles to the mouth of the Madeira, and the black line of the Madeira reaches the northeast corner of Bolivia. This is the thread which is to connect Bolivia with the world, for there is enough water for a 4,000-ton steamer all the way frotn Para to San Antonio. From San Antonio south for 200 miles are rapids. Once the railroad rounds the rapids, the products of this land-locked cduntry can flow uninterruptedly to the sea and across to Europe. The products of a great and fertile Country lie blocked up behind these 200 miles of stubborn swamp and forest This is why, after the awful defeat in the seventies, and after the two later attempts had failed, workers are again at work south of San Antonio, building the Madeira-Mamore ■‘hllroad. In the treaty of Petropolis between Bolivia and Brazil, in 1903, the latter agreed to build the railroad. The contract was given to a New York firm. So far this attempt follows the Collins effort, but no further. The preliminary party sent by the contractor was made up of doctors and engineers. They studied the health conditions with the same care that was bestowed upon the topography. Next, a preparatory force of workers went to Porto Velho, a point on the Madeira about seven hundred miles from the Amazon and six miles from San Antonio, which had been chosen as'the base of operations. The

land about Porto Velho is covered with dense forests and rank undergrowth and the “bottoms” of the adjacent river breed fever-bearing mosquitoes by the millions. The "ground was cleared and drained; swampy spots were filled in, and the riverside vegetation that sheltered the mosquitoes was destroyed for more than a mile. The site of the little town was sewered, a filtered running-water supply was established, and an electric light plant installed and furnished illumination for streets and structures. Houses for the men and the executive staff were built, and club quarters also. The structures were designed with special reference to the climate, and in this connection advantage was taken of architectural hints furnished by the native dwellings. A hospital of a commodious sort was also erected ; like the staff quarters, it has broad piazzas inclosed by mosquito-proof wire netting. There are also outdoor and in-door bathing accommodations. In the cook’s quarters the boiling, baking and broiling are to a very great extent done by electricity. The clubhouse has, among other things, a library, some billiard and pool tables, a “game room”—wherein are to be found chess, checkers and so forth —a hall for dances and theatricals, and a self-playing piano which helps to minister to the amusement of the men. The working white force of the new undertaking consists of about five hun dred laborers, artificers and mechanics. Many of these men had already been in the employ of the contractors ill connection with other railroad construction in the tropics. The “green hands,” prior to being sent south, werl given a course of lectures in regard to conditions, conduct and the hygiene necessary in the tropics. Both the recruits and the veterans had to pass A rigorous physical examination before their services were accepted. The moral character of each man was also subjected to scrutiny. While there is a percentage of son eign-born citizens in the force, yet the bulk of it consists of native Americans, it being the experience of the contractors, so it is said, that Americans exhibit a grit and stamina which are not always found in the case of foreigners. The present engineering corps consists of about sixty persons, who also have been selected on the score of their ability and experience. The medical staff includes eight physicians and twelve male nurses. Special at tention has been paid to the food supply. Porto Velho, moreover, is practically a “dry” town. The hours of labor are, so far as possible, of a kind whose brevity offsets the drain on the vitality of white men laboring in the tropics. The wisdom of all this preparation and foresight was made manifest almost from the first. The fact that the work of the expedition is being done under the most trying conditions does not seem to interfere with the general good health of the men. Clearing virgin tropical forests, laboring In teeming swamps or by the side of malarial river bottoms, or encountering swarms of pestiferous insects and reptiles, are tasks of a trying and even dangerous nature. Nevertheless, the total casualties of the force during the two years that it has been in the field amounts to only seven, three of which were from accidents. The percentage of cases of sickness is equally low, and recovery from attacks of fever have been almost invariable. Out of all the white force engaged, only twenty-three cases of fever have been reported; this, taking all things into consideration, is a marvelous record. As indicative of the developments that wait upon the completion of the enterprise are the changes being made at the port of Para, situated on the only navigable mouth of the Amazon. Just at present the low-tide depth of water Is only 19.7 feet But In view of the neoessity for accommodating the increase of shipping which will come by reason of opening up these territories by the Madeira-Mamore railroad, contracts have been entered into by the city by which the depth of water at the port will be made thirty feet. And all this is because 1,200 miles away, a little 210-mile railroad will be opened in 1911. A great port on one side of a continent and a nation on the other are awaiting the labors of 600 Americans, who are running steel rails through a tropical forest ten or twelve thousand miles 'from home.

J. FILLMORE BROWNLEY.