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.