ENGINEERING IN 80. AMERICA. 



EUROPE. 



277 



out of existence in the full of 1854 ; and with 

 it .reappeared from Congress the MMMohtuottfl 

 it inn. Mr. Eliot shared tin- universal 

 uitl liis terra closed in March, Is.",. I'p- 

 on tho dissolution of the Whig party ho unit.-.l 

 \\ith those members of various organizations 

 \vlin desired to found tho Republican party ; 

 nn.l in tho proceedings at Boston which result- 

 i.l in the- convention at Worcester, in the fall 

 of I -i.">5, which nominated Hon. Julius Rock- 

 well, ho bore a prominent part. From that 

 time he acted constantly and zealously with 

 tin- Republicans. At the State Convention of 

 1857 ho was unanimously nominated as their 

 candidate for the office of Attorney-General, 

 but declined, as he did subsequently offers of 

 judicial stations in the Court of Common Pleas 

 and on tho new Superior Court bench. In the 

 fall of 1859 Mr. Eliot was chosen to tho Thirty- 

 sixth Congress from tho First Congressional 

 District of Massachusetts, and was reflected 

 with marked unanimity to the Thirty-sixth, 

 Thirty-seventh, Thirty-eighth, Thirty-ninth, and 

 Fortieth Congresses, having thus served during 

 a remarkable period in the history of our coun- 

 try. Ho occupied a very prominent and influ- 

 ential position in the House of Representatives, 

 and took a deep interest and prominent part in 

 tho national legislation bearing upon the pro- 

 tection and welfare of the colored race. Mr. 

 Eliot retired from Congress against the wishes 

 of his constituents. They felt that his retire- 

 ment from public life was a loss to the State. 

 He was cautious but fearless in the enuncia- 

 tion of his principles. On leaving Congress at 

 the close of his term of service in March, 1869, 

 he suffered from his exhausting labors in that 

 body, and his friends missed the freshness and 

 vigor of health which had always distinguished 

 him. But it was hoped by himself and others 

 that rest was all he required, and that this, en- 

 joyed here at home, would soon restore his 

 wasted energy. In this all were sadly disap- 

 pointed. He daily grew weaker, until in 

 March last he sought relief by a visit to Savan- 

 nah, but without any benefit from the change, 

 and, after about a month's sojourn there, he 

 returned, and gradually sunk to his final rest. 

 ENGINEERING IN SOUTH AMERICA. 

 Chili, during the last ten years, has built 8 

 roads, 517 miles in length, at a cost of $29,- 

 750,000, on the 4 ft. &J- in. gauge ; and she has 

 built 6 roads, 222 miles in length, at a cost of 

 $5,665,000, on the 3J ft. gauge. This makes 

 for Chili 14 railroads, 739 miles long, at a cost 

 of $35,415,000. Peru is not behind Chili in 

 the march of railroad progress. She has built, 

 during the same period, 5 roads, 613 miles long, 

 at a cost of $102,390,000, and she is construct- 

 ing 7 other roads, all of them in a forward 

 state, that will reach 481 miles, which, when 

 completed, will make 12 trunk lines, 1,094 miles 

 long. Besides, there are quite a number of 

 short branch lines. Some of these roads are 

 built by private contract ; the majority of them 

 are paid for by Government bonds secured by 



guano in payment to contractors. The bond* 

 wore principally nc;/otiatc<l in Euro] 

 favorable terms, and large amounts were thus 

 arranged shortly li.-t'ore the French and Prus- 

 sian War, so that there will be no interruption 

 to tho construe! i"ii of the unfinished lines in 

 consequence of the troubles in Europe. The 

 Government of Peru has a fund of at least 

 $50,000,000 from this source to draw on to 

 carry on tho construction of her unfin 

 railways. This Government has granted a 

 charter to an English company for a railroad 

 to cost $30,000,000. Tho bonds were to be put 

 on the market by the French bankers, Eslingter 

 & Co., of Paris. The war will, most probably, 

 interfere with this arrangement until peace is 

 established. The railroad to c-oss the Andes 

 150 miles to ascend an altitude of 15,000 

 feet, to connect at tho frontier with the Bo- 

 livian Government trunk line, and which runs 

 through that state parallel with the Amazons, 

 to be extended to a navigable seaport, has al- 

 ready cost $31,000,000. The value of the 

 guano crop to the Peruvian Government, as an 

 article of revenue in the past and in the future, 

 may be learned from the fact that up to this 

 time it has produced a revenue of more than 

 $3,000,000,000, and there is enough to supply 

 the wants of the world for twenty years to 

 come. The Peruvian Government has also le- 

 galized a company, which is bound to put on 

 a large number of first-class steamers to ply 

 between New York and Bolivia. The Pacific 

 Steam Navigation Company, probably next in 

 importance to the Pacific and Oriental Com- 

 pany, have forty-nine steamers, some of them 

 measuring 3,500 tons, now plying between Pan- 

 ama and Valparaiso, via Callao, and about fifty 

 intermediate ports. They make weekly depar- 

 tures each way. They run their largest and best 

 steamer through the Straits of Magellan to 

 Liverpool, each way tri-monthly. They are 

 now adding thirteen large first-class steamers 

 to their already large fleet, making sixty-two 

 steamers in all. 



EUROPE. Few years 'in the history of 

 modern times have been so eventful as the 

 year 1870. The eyes of the whole civilized 

 world have been fixed upon her, and the po- 

 litical changes which have taken place in some 

 of the nations will form the most interesting 

 and important events in the history of their 

 existence. Bafiled in all his plans which he 

 had devised for arresting the union movement 

 in Germany, and the establishment of a Ger- 

 man empire, Louis Napoleon precipitated a 

 war which resulted in a decided victory of 

 Germany, the overthrow of his own throne, 

 the setting up of a French republic, and the 

 consolidation of all the German States into a 

 new empire, with King William as first Em- 

 peror. Though at the close of the year the 

 war was not ended, it was no longer doubted 

 that the new Emperor of Germany would be 

 able to enforce the conditions of peace, and 

 that foremost among them would be the on- 



