Peace as well as war has its heroes. In the industrial development of Chile there are two names of North Americans that deserve to stand side by side with those of O’Higgins and Cochrane, heroes of the war of independence. In Valparaiso will be found a monument to the memory of William Wheelwright, who had the vision of a Franklin. Chance determined the destiny of this remarkable man. Wrecked on the shores of the Rio de la Plata, in 1823, the youthful Wheelwright saw the needs of this great continent, and he determined to devote his energies towards the development of harbours and transportation. He became a supercargo on a vessel bound around Cape Horn, and in this way reached Valparaiso. At first he was looked upon as a dreamer. American capitalists turned down his scheme, and even the British did not welcome him at first.
“If that insane Wheelwright calls here again,” said an English consul to his servant, “do not admit him.” Nothing daunted, however, Wheelwright went to London and succeeded in interesting some moneyed men in a scheme for direct transportation between England and the west coast. The first steamship traversed the Straits of Magellan under this concession and reached a Chilean port in 1840. This was the beginning of the Pacific Steam Navigation Company, which proved of inestimable benefit in the upbuilding of Chile and Peru. It was not many years until this company was operating vessels as far as Panama.
The next vision of this master of industry was the problem of conquering the Andes. Could they be penetrated? Could the seemingly insurmountable difficulties be overcome? He planned a railroad from the port of Caldera across the Andes. This port was opened and the railroad constructed as far as Copiapó. This scheme got no farther, but it was only the beginning of colossal schemes. He planned and built the railroad from Valparaiso toward the capital as far as Llai Llai, but there it stopped because of lack of funds. His struggles with the opposition to this line read like some of the contests in the English Parliament over the first railroad projects. Wheelwright then turned his attention to Argentina and built the first railroad in that republic, a line from Rosario to Cordoba, a distance of two hundred and forty-six miles. His last public work was a short railroad running from Buenos Aires to Ensenada, in 1873. Although he had further plans for public improvements his health failed, and he sailed for London to seek medical advice, where he died that same year. His remains are buried at Newburyport, Mass., the place of his birth, where they lie amidst a long line of sturdy Puritan ancestors.
In Catskill, New York, a boy was born on the 7th of July, 1811. His name was Henry Meiggs. His history reads like romance, for he made and lost several fortunes both on the Atlantic and the Pacific coasts. Elected as treasurer of San Francisco County, California, he loaned public money to friends who did not pay it back. He then fled as a defaulter to South America. He first landed in Chile. The uncompleted railroad to the capital, that had been begun by Wheelwright, first engaged the mental activities of this remarkable man. For a decade the government had been planning to extend this railroad “to-morrow.” Meiggs negotiated with the government and finally secured the contract. With characteristic Yankee ingenuity he succeeded in getting a clause inserted giving a premium for each section completed within a specified time. He succeeded in building each section in the shortest period and collected the maximum premium. The result was that Meiggs realized a profit of more than a million dollars, and made a great reputation for himself. Since that time the Chilean government is very chary about such bonuses.
Meiggs married a Chilean woman and built a magnificent residence in Santiago. But his later enterprises were in Peru. He built the railroad from Mollendo to Arequipa. His greatest undertaking, however, was the famous Oroya Railroad over the Andes, the highest railroad in the world and one of its wonders. Great gorges were surmounted, rushing streams spanned with bridges where such work seemed impossible, tunnels bored where men had to hang over precipices by means of ropes to secure a start and other obstacles of nature were overcome. Before the completion of the road Meiggs was compelled to use his own private fortune. But he accomplished the task. One hears many tales of this eccentric man in Chile and Peru. It stands to his credit that, although he lived in luxury and spent money lavishly, he paid all his debts back in the land of his birth in order to stand before the world as an honest man.
The problem of connecting the widely separated sections of Chile with easy and convenient means of transportation has been and is a serious one. It was but natural, owing to the long extent of coast line, that the first attention of the Chilean government was given to ocean navigation. Furthermore, the Chileans have proven to be good navigators, and the record of their steamships has been very good. There has been the further advantage in developing this means of transportation in the fact that no part of Chile is very far distant from the Pacific coast. This has developed a large number of short railways, which run from the ports to the mineral or agricultural districts of the interior. There are in all sixteen ports open to international commerce, and forty-four inferior ports which are used in the coast trade. The different character of the northern, central and southern sections has created a demand for exchange of products between those sections, which has made the coast trade of great importance.
The ports of Chile were opened to the commerce of all the world as soon as the independent government was fully organized. It is a historic fact that among the first vessels that arrived in Chile, after independence had been achieved, was a frigate from New York, which brought one of the first printing presses to South America and also some American printers, who established the first Chilean periodical. At first Valparaiso claimed nearly all of the tonnage, because of its nearness to the capital. At that time, also, the Chilean seacoast was not more than half as long as it is at the present time. Vessels soon began to operate under the Chilean flag, although most of the first vessels were owned by foreign capital. As early as 1834 there were no less than one hundred and thirty-four national vessels, principally engaged in the coast trade. When William Wheelwright organized the Pacific Steam Navigation Company a new era in Chilean prosperity was begun. Two vessels, the Chile and Peru, both of them small boats, constituted the beginning of the fleet which finally developed into the great company, which for many years plied between the west coast and Europe. It has recently been absorbed by another English company, the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company.
THE HARBOUR, VALPARAISO.
This English company, as well as other companies, were subsidized by the Chilean government, in order to get better coast service between the various ports. This service was eventually extended to the city of Panama. In 1870 the most powerful Chilean company was organized under the name of the Compañia Sul Americana de Vapores, which soon became a very active competitor of the English company. The number of its vessels was continually added to, most of them being built by English shipbuilders, until to-day this company has more than twenty boats. Many of these are very comfortable steamers, of considerable capacity, and operate all the way between Puerto Montt and Panama. In addition to this company, there are a number of small companies, owned by Chilean capital, and other steamers belonging to private individuals, or business houses which carry on a coast trade more or less extensive. The Chilean company and the English company, which for a long time were active rivals, have at last entered into an operating agreement. By the terms of this agreement the government subsidy is shared, and the two companies operate an alternating service between Valparaiso and Panama. The laws of Chile governing maritime transportation are very liberal, and the fees levied at the various ports are exceedingly reasonable. It has been recognized by Chile that the development of commercial relations with the various countries of America depends, to a great extent, upon the existence of regular and rapid lines of navigation which will transport products at reasonable rates.