Evening Republican, Volume 16, Number 235, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 October 1912 — ACROSS THE ANDES [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

ACROSS THE ANDES

OF the passengers who started from Buenos Aires for Valparaiso on the Trans-Andean express on Tuesday, May 7 last, more than 10 per cent, were frozen or starved to death and dl suffered tortures that could be equaled only on a voyage in search of he pole, ' Charles Sriber, Jr., of New York was me of those passengers. Today he is trying to recuperate at the home of ais father in the White mountains. His hands and face are still in a terrible condition from frostbi|e; he is almost a nervous wreck. The Trans-Andean express leaves Buenos Aires every Tuesday in winter. At 9:30 a. m. on May 7 MrBcriber waved goodby to his friends from the window of the “dormitorio,” as the sleeping cars are called. He had with him in his berth a heavy overcoat, several blankets, woolen shirts and a poncho. The last he borrowed for the trip from Frank Rutter, an American tariff expert who had recently come across the mountains and reported that it was a bitterly cold Journey. The cars of the Trans-Andean railroad are unheated. They are cars that have outlived their usefulness in England and been shipped to Argentina to earn a few more dividends. Leaving Buenos Aires I noticed, almost at once, the lowering temperature, and finally, when 12 hours out, I donned my heavy overcoat, Charles Sriber, Jr., says. The icy air seemed to penetrate even my heavy undergarments, coat and all, so after passing Mendoza, 14 hours out of Buenos Aiyes, I slipped my borrowed puncho on over my heavy coat and this gave me a slight sense of comfort, but was extremely tiring, as the poncho itself weighed close to 15 pounds. There were 16 of us in the firstclass compartments, two Americans, six Englishmen, five Germans and three Chileans. The latter were well protected from the cold, but the majority of the others were unprepared for such cold weather and suffered accordingly. Twenty-four hours after leaving Buenos Aires our train came to a stop with a bump, and the 16 of us rolled out of our bunks and began asking what the trouble was. Train Was Burled In Bnow. At daylight iwe looked out of the small windows, at the wildest winter scene that any' Of us had ever gazed upon. Nothing in sight but a wilderness of snow —snow so highly banked about the front of the train that for an instant I thought it was an illusion. The engine was buried in snow to the very middle of the boiler. The cab of the engine was hidden from, view, and the sound of escaping steam was an added horror to that caused by the ghastliness of the Immense snowbanks looming up in the slowly dissipating darkness of the Andes morning- . . Thirteen meters deep was the exact measurement of the snow on the level, with drifts as high as the Singer building. We were led from the train by the conductor, an Argentine, and post haste to the Hotel Olinda Vista (beautiful view), where, the conductor informed us, vre would be well taken care of. We were.

Fifteen pesos a day (a peso equals 40 cents American) was the charge we were asked to pay in advance. The first-class passengers paid a day each and were assigned to rooms, two, three and four to a room. My only roommate was a Mr. Christy of a New York life insurance company, the only other American on the train. . ~ For the 15 pesos a day we received bread, eggs and coffee twice a day. The immigrants scoured the few houses in Puenta Del Incas, as the town was called, and soon exhausted the supply of food. The eggs at our hostelry soon gave out and coffee and rolls —rolls as hard as Madeira wood —became the thrice-a-day menu. Aft-

er the fourth day the rolls passed into oblivion and coffee became the sole article on the bill. By noon on Sunday several of the German immigrants came to the hotel as a delegation from the hundred odd second and third class passengers and demanded that they be taken in. The proprietor of the hotel said, he had no more food, but that he would accommodate them with beds on the floor for 6 pesos a day. The immigrants left in anger and returned an hour later. I acted as interpreter. My knowledge of Spanish, Portuguese, German, etc., came in very handy, and in order to get even with Hotel Man 1 charged him 15 pesos a day for acting as interpreter, which he willingly paid, as I was the only man on the train speaking Spanish and English and he needed me. In fact, he spoke hardly ten words in the day to his guests without my assistance. The committee from the station asked me to tell the proprietor of the hotel that unless they were allowed the freedom of the house they would burn it to the ground. Incidentally they called him hog-dog and othei complimentarv names. ‘ Nearly Burned the Hotel. The landlord dismissed the committee and said his rates never changed, and sure enough at 8 o’clock that night the entire front of the hotel wag discovered in flames, and it required the combined efforts of all the guests to extinguish it, which we did by means of the snow and several bucket brigades. On the evening of Monday, our fifth day, I was asked to call upon the conductor of the train and inquire if anything in the way of a relief train wat coming. My call upon this functionary was useless; he was so crippled with rheumatism that he would not utter a word save oaths and waved me away from his bunk in the sleep er. Repairing to the station I saw the poor immigrants huddled together endeavoring to keep warm. Two had died during the bitter cold of the previous night, and the entire crowd of them looked emaciated and hungry Learning where the telegraph op erator lived, I dragged that worth) from his drunken bed. It was now 1 o’clock and steadily growing colder A high wind was blowing and the fine particles of snow almost blinded me The operator accompanied me-to his booth in an outbuilding near the sta tion and after confessing to me that he had not sent a word to Buenot Aires about the plight of the train, he transmitted a message which I dictat ed< I told him I was a Marconi mar in the employ of the road and under stood the various codes. This un doujjtedly impressed him, for in replj to my message, which read: “Train snowbound, Puenta del In cas. Passengers freezing, starving Send aid immediately. C. Sriber.”

I got this reply: _ "Rushing train with supplies. Hug gins.” This is all I remember. I know thal it was far below zero and that mj hands and ears were cold and stiff When next I awoke I was lying it my room at the hotel with Mr. Christj and several Engllshmen working ovej me. They say I collapsed shortly aft er leaving the station and that wher I did not return by 9 o’clock Christ) organized a search party to rescue me thinking I had been attacked by th< Immigrants. They found me lying face up in a snowbank almost frozei to deathWe finally arrived back tn Buenot Aires, where Mr. Reichenbach cablet my firm and I received word to fetun immediately.

' Seven men and five babies perishei on the trip. Two Germans tried tt walk from Puenta del Incas to Mendo za and were frozen. Several immi grants died from exposure while liv ing at the railroad station. Five babiei died on the return trip, and upon th« arrival of the passengers at Buenot Aires not one received any part of th* rare back.