No. 22.
Mr. Clapp to Mr. Hunter
United
Stated Legation.,
Buenos
Ayres, August 10, 1872.
(Received September 23.)
No. 19.]
Sir: I have the honor to report an event of
very great interest in the history of the Spanish republics of South
America.
On the 27th day of July the national and provincial governments
celebrated the completion and opening of the transandine telegraphy
which now connects the Argentine Republic and Chili.
It would be difficult to overestimate the importance of this achievement.
It is an evidence of the progress that this republic is making at the
present time, and a forerunner by but a few years, as I can confindently
believe, of a railroad over the same route, and of a telegraphic line
that will connect Buenos Ayres with the United States and with
Europe.
It is worthy of notice that, in the addresses of his excellency President
Sarmiento and others on this occasion, there was a generous
acknowledgment of the indebtedness of this country, and of Chili, and of
South America, to William Wheelwright, a citizen of the United States,
not only for their first telegraph, their first railroad, their first
line of steamers, and their first discovery and use of South American
coal, but also to him more than any other man for the spirit of
enterprise that is now spreading a net-work of telegraphs and railroads
over these countries.
I inclose brief extracts from the account of the celebration, given by
the Standard of this city; also the telegrams that passed between this
legation and the United States legation in Chili.
In reply to some unpremeditated remarks which I had the honor to make,
the president referred in a very grateful manner to the memory of
Professor Morse.
I am.&c.,
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[Inclosure 1.]
Celebration of the completion of the Transandine telegraph.
[From the Daily Standard of
Buenos Ayres of July 28,
1872.]
telegraph to chili.—official
inauguration.
Yesterday witnessed the successful termination of the transandine
telegraph-wires, the works of which were begun in November, 1870, at
Villa Maria. The Standard was the only Buenos Ayres journal which
was represented at Villa Maria, and it has now been the first to
receive a telegram from the Pacific to the Atlantic. Some days ago
we alluded to the importance of this enterprise, the benefits it is
destined to confer on trade, and the debt of gratitude which Chili
and Buenos Ayres owe to the Anglo-Argento-Chilian entrepreneurs, Messrs. Clark. Since the completion of the
Atlantic cable and the Pacific Railroad, this is the greatest event
which has occurred on the American continent, and President
Sarmiento rightly appreciated its magnitude by declaring the day a
public holiday, and holding a grand celebration at the governments
house, to which the high officials, foreign envoys, and leading men
of our city were invited.
In the interval before the gathering of the distinguished company, at
the place which the old Spaniards used to call the Fort, (in those
days before Franklin stole the lightning from the skies, to be one
day a messenger for man’s uses,) we had occasion to call to mind the
wonderful career of electric-telegraph science in modern days.
Twenty years ago it was in its infancy, and now it forms, as it
were, the nervous system of the universe, overspreading lands the
most remote, and everywhere, like the morning star, heralding the
light of progress. At present it is calculated that one hundred
thousand miles of telegraph are being laid down annually, being ten
times as great a development as is observed in railways.
President Sarmiento is talking to Mr. Wheelwright, having just shaken
hands with Mr. Clark. In a group, between the windows overlooking
Paseo Julio, are Minister Tejedor and sundry foreign ministers and
consuls, on the best terms imaginable.
The band is playing, on the azotea, Argentine and Chilian airs, while
we wait for a reply from beyond the Andes.
Time hangs heavily. Now and then President Sarmiento takes a turn up
or down the room, and casts a look at the full-length portrait of
Bernardino Rivadavia. At last Minister Avellaneda reads the
following dispatch which he has just sent to V. McKenna, intendente
of Santiago, on the part of the President:
“The fraternal salutation which we send you to-day from the shores of
the Atlantic, across the pampas and over the giant Andes, awakens an
echo on the Pacific sea-board,
“It seems a prodigy, and is yet only an event in the life of these
two nations.
“Let us congratulate ourselves on having lived to see this happy day.
Domingo Sarmiento salutes his friend McKenna.”
President Errazuriz to President. Sarmiento:
“In my own name and that of Chili I salute your excellency and the
Argentine nation on the inauguration of the telegraph which now
unites us.
“Receive my most ardent wishes that the links of brotherhood may be
drawn closer and closer, and both countries may advance in
prosperity.”
Bishop Aneiros to the Archbishop of Chili:
“I hail this great day and beg you will bless the line, as I, your
unworthy brother, do here, with all the fervor of religion and
enthusiasm for American progress.”
As soon as the champagne was uncorked President Sarmiento gave a
toast to the union of the two republics, and alluded to Mr.
Wheelwright, who sat near him, as the constructor of the first
telegraph-line in Chili, under the Montt administration.
Dr. Velez Sarsfield gave the health of both houses of congress, which
provided the funds for telegraph enterprises.
We have not space for the brilliant speeches of Dr. Rawson, Minister
Avellaneda, and the Chilian minister. The first-named speaker
associated the names of the Argentine hero, San Martin, the great
Hiberno-Chilian statesman, O’Higgins; he made a-brilliant peroration
on the advantages of telegraphs, and said that but for the Atlantic
cable we should have seen a war on the Alabama claims. Minister
Avellaneda’s discourse summed up in these words: “The Andes are no
more.”
The American chargé d’affaires, Mr. Dexter Clapp, gave the following
toast:
“To his excellency the President of the Argentine Republic, and to
his excellency the minister of the republic of Chili.
“I beg pardon, senores, that I am not able to speak with facility the
Spanish language,
[Page 42]
but I
wish, as the representative of the United States of North America,
to most sincerely congratulate the Argentine Republic, and the
republic of Chili, on the accomplishment of this grand work which we
celebrate to-day. This triumph is peculiarly significant of the
present higher era of civilization. In former times men were
governed by influences that came from below. Brute force, base
passions, and intense selfishness were the principal powers that
controlled alike social and political life; but in the better time
on which we have come, the material and grosser propensities are
subjected to those that are higher and spiritual. This electric
fluid that comes not from below, but from above, that is so
ethereal, so spiritual, and that now binds together the two great
republics of South America, is a beautiful emblem of the higher life
and brighter days that the triumphs of science and humanity are
bringing to mankind; and its use for this purpose is a sure prophecy
of the greatness and glory that are coming, in the near future, to
the Argentine Republic.”
President Sarmiento replied, with a flattering allusion to Professor
Morse, the American citizen to whom telegraphy owes so much, and who
was a benefactor to mankind.
The celebration then concluded.
Telegram from Chili.
The United States legations.
To Dexter E. Clapp, United States Chargé d’ Affaires, Buenos
Ayres:
The United States legation in Chili sends its congratulations to the
United States legation in the Argentine Republic, and cordially
joins in the simultaneous manifestations of rejoicing now being
exchanged across the Andes, between the sister republics, in honor
of the last great triumph of the increasing confraternity of the
nineteenth century.
To the Hon. J. P. Root, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary
of the United States of America to Chili:
The United States legation to the Argentine Republic responds with
great satisfaction to the congratulations of the United States
legation in Chili, and joins in the prayer that the completion of
the transandine telegraph may be the beginning of a bright era of
peace and prosperity to the two great republics of South
America.
transandine telegraph.
Buenos
Ayres, Hotel Paix, July 26, 1872.
My Dear Sir: While I hear the booming of
guns, the ringing of bells, and the rejoicing of multitudes on this
eventful day, allow me to offer you my warmest congratulations that
your great enterprise has been crowned with success; that the
populations of the east and west are thus brought together; that the
formidable barrier of the Andes has thus been overcome, and this
republic will owe you an eternal debt of gratitude for this immense
boon you have just conferred upon them.
Accept my best wishes.
My Dear Sir: I feel proud in receiving your
warm congratulations, which I beg you to share with me, for the
happy success obtained this day.
My country, Mr. W., is indebted to you for the elements of progress
introduced there since 1841.
Not only steam-navigation, railways, gas and water works, coal-mines,
and a number of other works introduced by you have flourished in
Chili, but the first electric telegraph erected in South America, by
you, in Chili, twenty-two years ago, is to-day extended to Buenos
Ayres, thus enabling the west coast to salute gratefully the
illustrious promoter of progress on both sides of the Andes.
Accept, therefore, dear sir, my congratulations, and I remain yours,
very respectfully,
William Wheelwright, Esq.
