Brazil and the River Plate in 1868

by William Hadfield

At length we finished our tour of inspection of about twenty miles very much pleased and gratified with what I had seen, and much impressed with the important future that awaits the landed property of the company, in addition to the line becoming a great main trunk one across this part of South America. Seeing is believing, and if shareholders who are sceptical as to the future could take a trip out here to satisfy themselves, they would be quite re-assured on this point. Many doubts have been thrown upon the enterprise, which I have never entertained, from my previous knowledge of the country, and my confidence is much increased by a personal inspection of the line itself and the traffic which evidently exists ready to come on the metals when proper provision is made for it. The company are about laying down the telegraph wires, which will be a great advantage and prevent accidents, besides establishing a valuable means of communication and saving much time. Indeed, no line can be efficient without it. I return to Rosario to-morrow, having only a few days to spare before embarking for England; otherwise I should have gone on to Cordova and spent some time in this interesting region, whose only want is population to render it one of the most productive of the globe.

When I made a hasty visit to Rosario in 1853 I formed a very strong opinion of its future importance from the position it occupied in connection with the river navigation and the traffic of the Western provinces; but the establishment of the Central Argentine Railway has immensely added to the other advantages of Rosario, and accounts for the great increase that has recently taken place in building and population. Thus far, however, the benefit is in a great measure prospective, the railway being still incomplete. Nevertheless, there can be little doubt that the sanguine views of speculators on the future will be realised so soon as the line is finished.

It is only in traversing the streets that one becomes aware of the great extent of the town, which is built in squares after the usual manner in this country. Several commercial establishments, some banks, and many really good shops now exist, and there is difficulty, I am informed, in finding house room for the numerous settlers in the town. I was surprised to find so large a number of cafés crowded at night by all classes, and there is also a little theatre, where, in the absence of regular performances, masked balls are frequently held. These are not of the most edifying description, but the people will amuse themselves in some way, and better this than political conspiracies, of which Rosario has often been the scene.

As I have before said the port presents quite a busy appearance; but there are no facilities in the way of wharves and landing places, which would be a vast convenience to traffic, as everything has now to be done by boats. Some gas works are in course of erection, on the river side, but owing to bad foundations or want of care the chimney fell down and only the skeleton walls appear. It will be a great blessing to the town and suburbs when they are lighted with gas, as on dark nights perambulation is difficult even with the aid of the miserable oil lamps at present in use. There is an American Missionary Chapel near the railway station, and recently the nucleus of an English Protestant Congregation has been formed under the auspices of the Rev. Mr. Combe, appointed by the South American Missionary Society. Service is just now performed in a room, but efforts are being made to build a chapel, as the number of English residents continues to increase. Mr. Combe also holds service at Frayle Muerto, where some sixty Englishmen reside on farms within a few leagues of each other.

I had occasion to visit the Protestant burial ground at Rosario to attend the funeral of a young Englishman who died under melancholy circumstances, and was sorry to notice that it presented a very forlorn aspect and was situated in a very inconvenient locality. Many interments took place here during the cholera, which was very fatal to foreigners as well as to the natives, who were decimated, and the works of the railway were also retarded by this terrible scourge.

Before closing my notice of the railway, I may add that I had an opportunity, through the kindness of Mr. Woods, the company's engineer, of inspecting the plans of the new railway station, and of going over the ground, which will be enclosed to the extent of 3,200 feet in length, with a fine river frontage on the Parana, where there is a depth of 18 to 20 feet of water close alongside. This will be a great facility in dealing with the river traffic. As regards the materials for the use of the line, they have all been landed on their own wharf and drawn up an incline, as the bank on which the station stands is at a considerable elevation above the river. Eventually, I believe, it is the intention of the company to facilitate both their passenger and goods traffic by means of landing wharves, which would be a great saving of expense and time. One thing is very certain, that the Rosario station will be the finest and most complete in South America.

THE WESTERN RAILWAY OF BUENOS AYRES.

I had a very pleasant excursion over the Western Railway as far as Mercedes, in company with some friends. Mr. Emilio Castro, Government Superintendent of the railways in the province of Buenos Ayres, to the Government of which this line belongs, accompanied us, and he kindly provided a very luxurious saloon carriage for the occasion. We left the Parque station at 8 a.m., going over some curves of a formidable nature, and along streets until we came to the company's goods station and workshops. The latter are on a very extensive scale. After this we got fairly on the main line, which is single, except at certain stations where the trains cross each other. How any engineer could have been bold enough to construct such curves, or the Government could allow locomotives to run through the streets, it is difficult to conceive, as there must always be much risk both to the train and to passengers. There are also some heavy gradients before the goods station is reached, which increases the danger, but people seem to have become familiarised with it.

For the first twelve miles to Flores station the country presents a succession of quintas, or country houses, many large and picturesque, and Flores itself is quite a large and extensive town, though merely a suburb of Buenos Ayres. The town is called San Jose de Flores, and near it is a large Anglo-Argentine school, where the train stops. Flores station is a very good one, capable of being doubled, with a peculiar pattern of light ornamental roofing inside. In the summer season the traffic to and from Flores is very considerable, and there is also a large resident population. After leaving Flores, we got more into the open campo, with plenty of cattle, sheep, and horses about, and numerous farm buildings, until we reached Floreste station, close to which is a large fanciful looking building, originally intended, I believe, for a hotel, but it does not appear to have been successful as a speculation. San Martin is an important station, diligences and carriages being in attendance to convey people to the neighbouring villages of San Custo, Santa Lucia, and San Martin, one of which was called Rozas' Saladero, from the number of victims he is said to have sacrificed there at a prison established for his political enemies. Near this station are some fine, handsome quintas, belonging to the Madero family, the country being well wooded, with many farms, and the same features are observable as far as the Moron station, near which the battle of Caceres was fought, which decided the fate of Rozas. There is a theatre close to this station, and Moron is quite a large town, having grown up under the influence of the railway. A public road runs in proximity to the line for a distance of some fifteen miles, which is very objectionable, and the rails might just as well have been laid a few squares apart from it. After passing Moron we got more into the open campo, with large flocks of sheep, droves of cattle, and horses feeding all around, until we reached the ancient Spanish town of Merlo, which has a church, with a little steeple very like that of a village church at home. There is a nice looking two-storied house there, built by Mr. Boyd, planted with trees, showing they will grow well enough if people will take the trouble to plant them, and I understand Mr. Boyd was the first to introduce the gum tree, which now flourishes in many gardens in the neighbourhood. A branch line is shortly to be constructed from this place to Lobos, some forty miles south-west, through, I am told, a very rich part of the province, and from which district a large traffic is expected. A river, called Las Conchas, runs near Merlo, crossed by an iron bridge, the first I have seen on the line, there being only open culverts where the line crosses streams or watercourses. The next station we came to was Moreno, a new town built since the opening of the line. Midway between Moreno and Lujan is a small station called General Rodriguez. Lujan is one of the oldest towns in the province, a river of that name running past it to the Parana, joining the little stream of Tigre, the terminus of the Northern Railway, whence passenger steamers go up to Rosario. There is a large station and warehouse at Lujan, where a quantity of wheat was being loaded into carts, to be ground in a mill called the “Mill of the Virgins,” a name which I conclude arises from an anecdote recorded as to the formation of the town. A travelling expedition, it would seem, while conveying an image of the Virgin, came to a standstill here, nor could the animals be made to proceed until the image was left on the spot. So it remained, and to this day it is a place of great religious festivities; and express trains are run from Buenos Ayres on these occasions. Whatever may be the real facts of the case, the Lujan Mills grind good flour. The wheat is grown in Chivilcoy, the present terminus of the Western line. It is small but hard. It was to Lujan that General Beresford sent a detachment in 1807, when the first attack was made on Buenos Ayres, arising out of the war with Spain, and which was subsequently renewed under such disastrous circumstances by General Whitelock. I merely make this allusion to show that at that time it was a town of some importance. The little station of Oliveres comes next, but is yet only in course of erection, in the midst of an immense open campo, with large flocks of sheep and plenty of cattle to be seen in all directions. A fine stream of water crosses this part of the campo. The thistles, about which we hear so much, abound in most parts of the campo, but the dry season has kept them down, and they do not rise much above the surface, nor do they appear to prevent the growth of grass suitable for sheep and cattle. No donkeys are seen in this country to luxuriate on the abundance of thistles, and very few mules, horses being generally used and very badly treated. Their dead carcasses are frequently encountered, as when “used-up,” they are turned adrift to die in the campo. A few miles further brought us to Mercedes, a town of some 12,000 inhabitants, the terminus of the railway before it was lately opened to Chivilcoy, an extension of forty miles, making a total distance of 100 miles now open, and the number of stations denotes the amount of traffic carried on by this railway, for which it has a stock of 420 wagons and 20 locomotives, besides passenger cars, chiefly the large American description.

The Western Railway was originally a small passenger line to San Jose de Flores, but was afterwards continued and opened by sections, the point for goods traffic only commencing at the great open square called the 11th of September, where the goods traffic in bullock carts has always been carried on. A large number of bullock carts still find their way to that market.