HOW ONE MAN PAID HIS DEBT TO THE
Henry Meiqgs Fuqitive From Justice in California Honored in Peru for Building a
Railroad at the Highest Altitudes Thought Impossible Before He Undertook the Task
of the tunnels through the Andes. The stream at the left la the bed of
the river, whose conrae wai diverted ao that the railroad could occupy
the former bed.
BY A. A. PRECIADO.
A SHORT time ago the people of
Peru celebrated the centennial
of their independence from
Spain.
It wu a great event. The govern
ment set aside a whole week for re
joicing;. Business stopped. The
wheels of industry were made mo
tionless. Statues and monuments
were unveiled and all the ceremonies
in harmony with the spirit of the oc
casion were conducted with ostenta
tious display. Representatives from
the various republics of the New
World were present to Join in the
blessings that 100 years of freedom
from the yoke across the leas had
bestowed on the sister republic.
While the masses were thus en-
gaged in the larger cities, a simple
but impressive ceremony was held far
away from the "madding" crowds at
the top of the Andes mountains.
where the white-covered ground sup
plied a pleasant contrast to the swel
tering plains in the valleys below. It
was an unpretentious flag-raising af
fair at Ticlio. the highest railroad
station in the world 15,855 feet
above the level of the sea. It was to
the memory of Henry Meiggs. an
American, dishonored and hunted at
home, but reverenced in a foreign
country for the great thing that he
had accomplished and which so many
of the republic's good citizens had
failed to perform. MetggR built the
highest railroad in the world. He
tackled a Job that engineers of South
America said could not be finished,
but then they did not know the skill
and ingenuity of Melggs, the Ameri
can engineer.
To finish the work and cam his re
ward from the Peruvian government
Meiggs was required to leap over
bottomless chasms and to bore
through mountains of solid rock, all
the while pointing hiB nose to the top
of the Andes. He was forced to stop
colossal slides of earth and rock In
his undertaking. He spanned fren
zied rivers all this to achieve his ob
ject to girdlo the cordilleras of Peru
with a ribbon or iron and to weld to
gether a railroad that would connect
the plains below with the peaks of
the Andes. Little did he realize while
he was engaged In this work with
what vigor the officers of his gov
ernment at home were pursuing false
clues in their efforts to land him be
hind the bars. '
eontract for the construction of the
Hsnry Meiggs saw service during worla.. loftlest broad-gauge railroad
the early days of the Civil War as a rf auip-,clon, are arouMa by
railroad engineer. When the rebellion th extraVagant prallIe that nas been
was quelled he went to California to bttlonti upon the buUoer of the
make his place in the world, but for- Peruvlan Central railroad one need
tune did not smile upon him, as it did only refl.ct upon the fact that tn
upon hundreds of his countryman Um wh)cn only 247 mlle( ln lengLhi
who went there in the search of gold. pa,MS over 4J bridges, threadB its
Things appeared to be going from way through (5 tunnels ad makes 21
bad to worse for Meiggs. Then he xiffzaBB ln lts climb toward the top of
had the good fortune or perhaps the tha mountalna. It takes an ordlnary
111 fortune to find a friend who got paesenser train starting from the port
him a clerkship ln a bank In San ot Calao about nine hours and &
Francisco. Meiggs came ln contact mlnute8 to reach tbe sunimit, which is
with gold in great quantities more 15,B6 feet abovo the aea level. Ita
gold than he hid evsr seen before eaatern terminal is Huancayo. across
for It flowed Into that bank like tnB mountains.
water from all the principal mining A force ot tn.ooo men was employed
camps of California. One day. the durinir tha eariy stages of the con
story goes, a shortage of several ,trUction of the line. Loss of life
thousand dollars was discovered by through accidents was heavy. At one
the bank officials and about the same p0nt n-here the scenery is wild and
time Hsnry Meiggs disappeared frffm tha roa(I twists and turns and runs
the face of the earth at least as far on the edge of high cliffs, over lofty
as the officers of the law could learn. bridgeB and through numerous tun-
Melggs was hunted far and wide. ntiB lB located the famous Chaupl-
He was sought ln the mining camps chaca bridge. 426 feat in length. Hers
and 'cities and wherever men gather a dozen Americans lost their lives
to spend fortunes easily gained. But when a runaway sngine struck a der-
there was no trace of Meiggs. Justloa, rlck an(1 burie(j its human cargo
had been outwitted. to the bottom of the chasm. To this
One day an American tramp day wreckage of this railroad equlp-
Achoonar anchored -at the Peruvian ment mav be seen frora the nassenaer
port of Callao this was ln 1867.
A
stranger disembarked. He was
an
American. Although he had the workmen. Many died ln the district
countenance of a worried man a hu- surrounding the Verrugas dredge, one
man beis, g burdened with the troubles 0f the loftiest ln the world. A mys
of the world yet hs attracted but terious disease which the best medical
very little attention, for the matter minds of Psru have been unable to
of witnessing a person from ths stamp out Is prevalent hers. It is im
itates'' set foot on the, friendly possible for a human being to live in
shores of Peru was no longer a nov- the neighborhood, although passen
elty. There were quite a few Amerl- gers Incur no risk whatsoever in pass
cans in the country at that time. The lng through this plague area,
etranger made his way to Lima, the Here and there from one end of the
capital of the country. He lived a line to the other may be seen the
very quiet life avoided making ac- simply marked graves of victims of
quaintances as much as possible. He accident and disease men who had
lived alone In a hotel that had once given up their lives for the sake of a
been the palace of a Spanish colonial trail of steam and iron to respond to
governor. To those with whom he the demands of progress and corn
cams in contact he appeared to be a merce.
man of leisure and means. Often he The railroad line is replete with
would go up into the mountains on striking examples of exceptional en-
horseback with an Indian guide as his
sole companion. Upon his return
from these excursions he would se
clude himself in his room and engage
himself in examining papers that ex
cited the curiosity of the few who had
come to know him. His departures
toward the mountains became more
frequent and idle gossip grew more
pronounced.
On September 21, 18,08. the mysteri
ous object of his mind was revealed
to the Peruvians. On that day, ac
companied by the American consul,
the stranger appeared before the de
partment of public works of the Pe
ruvian government with a set of blue-
Pr,nt" and ked to aee the chief,
hve IUn here for the construc-
l,on ol raurMa lnal wl" laP v'"
mke accessible the hidden
rches of nd- nd brlnS
PP' of the interior country closer
to tne 8ca" ne sa,d-
ine government oinciai naa never
seen the man before, but the subject
which he discussed was a very im
portant one to him at that time. His
wastebafket was filled with rejected
plans for the "construction of a rail
road over the ndes. Ho suspected
that the man before him was another
of those "crank" who waste their
time dreaming abntlt impossible
iichievements. Only for the fact that
the American consul had accompanied
him to his office did the "distinguido"
pay any attention to him. He gave
the plans a quick glance and then
fixed his glance upon the stranger
before hirn.
"Who are you?" he demanded In
liquid Spanish.
"His name is Meiggs Henry Meiggs,
a railroad engineer," the consul re-
"Pnded his protege, who had
n'jiiiv u)b pietiuusiy expiainea nio
proposal so that he might Intercede
for him.
The matter was taken up by the
government in due course. By this
time Meiggs was well known in Lima
and the population knew what he was
about. He was regarded as a sub
stantial and responsible person, and
his layout convinced' the government
that he knew something about rail
roading. Meiggs' efforts yere finally
crowned with success when the gov
ernment ordered a preltminary survey
for a railroad between Lima and
Jauja to follow In. detail the route that
Meiggs suggested in his plans. This
survey was duly approved and on
April 3, 1863, Meiggs was given the
coaches.
Disease overtook great numbers of
TH"E SUNDAY OREGON! AN, PORTLAND, DECEMBER 11, 1921
tX"k" niirT 2Xmi.ta
wc: -rX 5j6orr X!!
L
Below A comparative ftlajrram of the
engineers. Above Tiollo station,
Meiggs, an American fugitive from
engineering feats in the history of
gineering skill that attest to the
genius of this American railroad
builder. Ajt one place a tunnel was
constructed underneath a river In
order to avoid constant washouts. At
another place a tunnel was brjred
through a mountain to divert the
course of a river so that its bed .could
be occupied by the railroad iine. At
another section of the road eight
tunnels in a distance of a little more
than two miles are passed. This sug
TRICKS
(Continued Kmni Pa 3 )
this man who had sensed his smother
ing problem.
"I I can't tell you how grateful I
am. doctor."
"That's 'all right. I was your age
myself once. But time cured me. I'll
be in to see Mrs. Warner and the
youngster this afternoon."
It was a tremendous easing of
weight, this knowledge that he would
not be pressed for payment by the
physician. He had no doubt but that
he could go to his employer and ob
tain an increase in his salary. He
had never before asked directly for
more pay. hut circumstances altered
the matter. Suppose, however, this
raise were refused? Well, he would
quit the job on the spot. He knew
more about the ways of getting work
than he did in those horrible months
which were already covered by the
green vines' of distance. And if be
quit he would have the satisfaction
of telling his employer a few things.
A cry came from Marion's room. It
was the baby again. In his problem
then was this new factor, which he
must carry over like an equation ln
algebra, or the sum of all things
would be Wrong. What had the doc
tor meant by telling him to watch
the child carefully during the next
few day - Was it possible that it
might die? His conventional ' being
rose up to engulf a half formed wish
that this would occur. If it did he
olenched his jaw. There would he no
more; there might be a path of es
cape. He and Marlon would come to
an agreement! She had her profes
sion. The nurse came out.
"Mrs. Warner Is sleeping," she said.
"You must be all In yourself," War
ner answered.
"I'm used to this," she smiled. "I'll
get some sleep now, though, if you
don't mind sitting ln the room. If
Mrs. Warner wakes up, you can call
me."
"O, certainly," said Warner. "Don't
you want to use this couch? How
how la the baby?"
"Just fine. He's a beautiful child.
Mr. Warner."
Warner softly entered Marlon's
room. He stole over to her bed and
looked at the profile of her face.
He could see how exhausted she was.
Her breathing was heavy and she"
seemed so fragile. It was almost as
If nature had used a toy as the me
dium for its miracles. He turned
back to the clothes basket and looked
at the baby, and the baby suddenly
opened Its eyes and smiled. Ridicu
lous! Warner bent down to scruti
nize this futile bit of life. A change
had already occurred. Why, the child
was not brown and there was form to
the face. The baby raised a hand and
Warner put his finger in the palm.
There was a clutch, a tight clutch
that startled him. He held his finger
A ' fe ' ' fcs
HORIZONTAL SCA.lt
Photo Copyright. E. M. Newman.
railroads built in the highest altitude, showing the grades conquered by
the highest railroad station In the world, on the line constructed by Henry
Justice, who went to Peru and put through one of the most difficult
grades and tunnels.
gests the difficulties that Meiggs was
forced to overcome in, order to blae
his tron trail toward the top.
The longest tunnel on the lino is
3857 feet in length and Is called the
Galera tunnel. As the train emerges
from this tAack mountain chamber it
finds itself at Ticlio station, the high
est railroad station in the world. In
the surrounding hills there Is per
petual snow. A cold rarefied air may
be felt the year" round. Quite often
By Louis
there and the baby smiled again. By
God! The child had remarkable In
telligence. He remembered his- bio
logical study the difference between
man and the animals was man's abil
ity to smile. But this child, a few
hours old, hs knew it should not have
more intelligence than a fox'terrier,
and yet It smiled. He stood there
awkwardly, with his finger In the
little wizened hand.
Warner held himself immovable as
the baby fell unconcernedly to sleep,
still holding to his father's forefin
ger. After a while the little hand
dropped back and Warner felt slight
ed.. Then he sat down, but after
a few minutes he decided he had bet
ter look at the boy again. He
might slide under the covers and
smother. Odd. the sensation he had
when he looked down upon the sleep
ing baby. It was like pleasant hands
that were gently cupping his heart.
Then a great swelling took place
within him and, powerless to check
himself, he began to cry, the tears
flooded his eyas, came faster. If he
could only pick the youngster up and
hold him, kiss him. That would re
lieve the flooding emotions that
seemed expanding his breast. He
went to the bedside of his wife and
touched his lips to her hand as it lay
upon the coverlet. Marlon did not
waken.
Warner went to work next morn
ing. The new wine of spring was
in the air. As he walked Up to Wash
ington bridge a cool breeze played
with him and he caught upon the air
that intangible perfume which the
city dweller knows is from faraway,
unborn flowers. How clean the city
was! It seemed as if Innumerable
housewives had scrubbed it. There
was a dance and a skip about people,
a Gallic air, carnival.
At the office he was slapped upon
the back, called "pop," and asked
questions concerning the infant's
taste ln cigarets, blondes and Shakes
peare. At noon he escaped with Ste
phens to lunch and there he heard a
revelation.
"Paul," began Stephens carefully.
'Tm quitting the shop."
"O," sald Warner, ln surprise, "I'm
sorry to hear it. Bob. What's ifV
"Tve got an offer from the Trib.
And now I want to tell you some
thing." Stephens leaned back and lit a
cigaret, evidently an action to brlag
his mind into a focus point. At last
he said:
"Paul, the old man Is going to make
you editor. He decided It just one
hour ago. Do you know why?"
"No." replied Warner. "Why?"
"Because he thinks that the past
six months you had been worrying
about your wife. Up until today he
thought that you were just discon
tented and half hearted. It isn't
to those passengers who are not ac
customed to the high altitudes oxygen
is. admlnlsted. All trains in South
America that have the habit of mak
ing steep climbs are equipped with
oxygen tanks for the convenience of
travelers.
An idea of the loftiness of Ticlio
.station may be better sained by com
parison with other stations that claim
altitude honors. Fremont pass on the
Denver it Rio Grande system in Amer
Weitzenkorn
much of a Job. Paul, but it pays fifty,
and it's a milestone. I guess jsou can
use fifty now. Well, tell me about
the kid."
Quite strange, the way the spring
wine kept flowing through that aft
ernoon and evening. The jostling in
the subway seemed good natured, yet
Warner fumed at the innumerable
delays of th train. He wanted to
get home before the baby fell asleep.
He wanted to tell Marion of the new
Job. He wanted to see how much
more the child had changed. It was
remarkable how he did change. At
181st street Warner bought a p'ink
rattle, and then another idea came to
him. one that made him think of what
Stephens had said, of all tbe Inti
mations which his friend's words con
tained. He bought a large bouquet
of flowers, and wondered why so
many people smiled at him. 8urely,
they could not tell from his face
that h was the father of a child.
It dawned upon him that faces are
mirrors, that they reflect what is
before tbem. He was smiling, and
these faces-smiled. What an atmos
phere he must have placed around
him these months now passed. His
employer had sensed it. Why, It wit
that foolish little baby that had
started all these smiles. Warner
laughed aloud and hurried from the
street car into his apartment house.
In a few minutes he was inside and
asking the nurse for permission to
enter that wonderful room. How was
the baby and Marion? Splendid!
Would Mr. Warner mind if she took
an hour's walk O. certainly not!
He entered his wife's room and gave
her the flowers, and Marion took his
hand, pulling htm to a seat beside the
bed.
"Isn't he lovely, Paul?" she asked,
pointing to the child asleep, indeed, at
her side. "O, Paul, he looks so much
like you. All the time, when I was so
sick, I hoped he would be a boy, that
hs would look like you. I'm silly.
Paul." She lifted his hsnd to her Hps
snd kissed it, and Warner withdrew
It, ashamed.
"I brought him his first toy," said
Warner after. a pause. Both of them
were feeling their way toward a
point hidden behind so much wreck
age, so many ill memories of bitter
words, of cruelties and lashings. He
touched her shoulder diffidently, and
from under her eyelids he saw some
tears. "Mariqn I I've been a cad.
I've thought of nothing, of no one but
myself."
"You're Just a boy, Paul and I I
had no patience with you. O. Paul,
we're poor, but we've this wonderful
baby, and life Is Just beginning for
us as well as for him. I I under
stand things now."
He leaned down and kissed her.
kissed her for the first time in
months, and her arms went around
jpasssxk. 11
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The winding track of the Peruvian Central railroad, wending Its way along
side a swift stream of the Andes, over which a passenger train. In nine
hours, climbs the backbone of South America, reaching nt one point an
altitude of ir..s.-, feet anil disclosing every mile the grnlus of Its builder.
ica is only 11,330 feet high. The. high
est point on the Canadian Pacific rail
road is Stephen, located, in the Rock
ies, at a height of 5296 feet. The
highest point reached on the Northern
Pacific railroad is Mullan tunnel, at
a height of 5560 feet. The nearest ap
proach by a foreign railroad to tne
altitude record established by the
Peruvian Central railroad, which Is
the name given to Meiggs' enterprise,
is the Argentine and Chilean Tran
sandine railroad, which reaches a
height of 10,456 . feet in its passage
over the Andes mountains.
The Peruvian Central Railroad is
considered lo be one of the most re
markable engineering enterprises in
the world. But Meiggs did not live to
see the completion of his road. He
died before it had reached the top and
his work was carried on by his chief
engineer. Malinowski. who rushed It
to completion. Upon Meiggs' death
the Peruvian corporation was organ
ized to finish what the dead engineer
had started out to accomplish and so
In 1908 the completed Job was turned
over to the government. Meiggs'
dream had come tru. t
Although a fugitive from the state
of California, today the memory of
Henry Meiggs Is honored and respect
ed In the country from which at that
time extrsdltlon was impossible, and
him, nor did she feel the burst of pain
the movement brought. It was a
moment that was wordless, thoughts
tumbling through their minds that
are inexpressible thoughts mixed
with feeling. He wanted to rest his
head upon her shoulder and dream
and talk to her in dream tafk.
He saw again in this kaleidoscope
of pict'-res that coursed through his
mind the events of those earlier days,
his jobless days, that walk across
Washington bridge when he saw
singing men dragging hawsers over
boat decks. He saw those laborers
who had passed him In the rain, their
cigarets aglow. He saw the doctor
spring up In the cold of morning upon
a task that was appointed, the nurse
with her drawn eyes. Life had its
ordered round, and to each hand came
the task that brought repose He
thought of the time when the oniy
refrain he sang was "Tricked! Tricked
by Marlon!" And now he lifted him
Famous Stellar Chocolates
Are Double-Dipped
7.
WORLD
which had offered him, unknowingly,
asylum. A day has been set aside for
national rejoicing each year in honor
of the American engineer. Schools In
various parts of the country bear his
name. It Is common to see a street
In some isolated city of the republio
called Calle Meiggs. In Lima there Is
a statue of Meiggs which proud Peru
vian fathers and mothers point out to
their children as they tell his story
to Inspire them to succeed as Meiggs
succeeded. The name o' Meiggs will
never be forgotten In Peru. Kven a
mountain now Mount Meiggs. which
rises majestically to a height of 17.
665 feci above the sea level, and
stands out clearly against a deep blue
sky will never permit the people of
that country to forget the achieve
ments of Henry Meiggs.
And just the other day at the top
of Tiello. the highest railway station
In the world, a flagpole with a silver
plate upon which was written "Henry
Meiggs" was raised in his honor. It
supplied . simple chapter to the his
tory of hiB remarkable achievement,
and indicates the esteem In which
this venerable American Is held by
Peruvian people of all classes.
Henry Meiggs may have been a fu
gitive from Justice, an outlaw, but as
far as Peru Is concerned he paid his
debt to society when he constructed
the world's highest railroad.
self up and looked down at her, smil
ing. "We have been trlckeM again, Ma
rlon. Tricked by the kid. How much
wisdom there Is, dear, outside of
school books!"
tCopyrlsht. 1821. by Louis WelUenkom.)
How Flying Klshcs Fly Told.
Scientific American.
Some highly interesting observa
tions on flying fishes have been made
by Dr. E. H. Rankin In ths Arabian
sea. In still weather the length of a
glide was about a meter, with consid
erable lateral instability; In a light
wind this was increased to from 200
to 400 meters. A resemblance be
tween the w(ng action of aosring vul
tures snd the fin action of the fishes
was marked In both, the wing or
fin is Inclined upward, the outer
part at a higher level than the base.
In slow-speed flight, while both show
a downward Inclination to flight at
high speed
to protect
centers so
rich with
cresmy true
fruited fondant
that otherwise
they would
he too drllrate
' to ship.