There is one American whose name stands high on the roll of honour in the development of South America, and in particular of Chile and Argentina. His name is William Wheelwright. This captain of industry was born in Newburyport, Massachusetts, March 16th, 1798. He came from that sturdy Puritan stock which has contributed so largely toward making the United States one of the most enlightened nations in the world. Not a few of his ancestors rendered conspicuous service in the French and Indian wars, and one of them served under Washington in the war of the revolution. He began life as a sailing master in charge of a vessel trading with South America. Being stranded in the La Plata he finally concluded that his destiny lay in that part of the world. One enthusiastic Argentinian biographer calls him “a new Hernando Cortez, who remained in the land of his shipwreck to conquer its soil, not by arms, but by steam; not for Spain, but for civilization.” He first began his work at Valparaiso, Chile, where he transformed that city by constructing docks and sanitation. He was constantly engaged in voyages of exploration for the purpose of discovering natural resources and means for their development. The lack of transportation greatly impressed him, and through his efforts the Pacific Steam Navigation Company was organized, and he secured concessions for that company from a number of republics. United States capitalists turning down this proposition it was finally financed in England. The two vessels first placed on this route opened a new era on the west coast of South America, for they were the first transatlantic steamers to establish regular communication on that coast. At last he turned his attention to the wild and sparsely populated pampas of Argentina, at that time an undeveloped but fertile wilderness. Although his greater project for a transcontinental line failed, he succeeded in building the first important line in Argentina from Rosario to Cordoba, a distance of two hundred and forty-six miles. This was done after seventeen years of reverses due to civil strife and the Paraguayan war. The road was finally inaugurated on the 16th of May, 1870; and was opened with imposing military, religious and civil ceremonies. His last public work was the construction of a railway from Buenos Aires to Enseñada, the port for La Plata, which was opened just a half-century from the time of his own shipwreck in that same bay. He had further plans in mind but his health failed, and he sailed for London to secure medical attention. His great age was against his recovery and he died in that city on the 28th of September, 1873, and his remains were taken back to his old home in New England. A monument to his memory has been erected in Buenos Aires, and several streets have been named after him in Argentina, one in Rosario.