Argentine Republic.

Northland Age, Volume 1, Issue 19, 20 December 1904, Page 3

Argentine Republic.

Australasia’s Chief Competitor. (Continued from last issue.) “ The National Government is under obligation, by the law passed by Congress for building the Port of Rosario, to make and maintain a depth of 2ift. at low water in tho Parana River from the head of the Dfclta to Rosario, and in the delta of the £,& Plata to Buenos Aires a depth of 19ft. at low water, which is about 21ft. at mean high tide. It has been proposed to make and maintain a channel of the following dimensions : From the mouth of the two rivers, at the Island of Martin Garcia, at the head of the La Plata estuary, to Rosario, a depth of 21ft. And a width of 328 ft. Rosario to Santa Fp, 292 miles above Martin Garcia, 19ft. deep and 328 ft. wide; Santa Fe to Corrientes, 10ft. deep, and the same depth to Asuncion. Santa Fe, or its seaport Colastine, is the head of ocean navigation; above that point it is river navigation by steamboats. “ On the Uruguay River it is proposed to make a channel 19ft. dees and 328 ft. wide from Martin Garcia to Concepcion del Uruguay, 137 miles above Martin Garcia, and thenco loft, deep to Colon, and 9ft. deep and Bft. over the rock to Concordia, which is 230 miles above Martin Garcia.

“ The low-water plane, or zero, in both rivers is that of extraordinary low water, so that, generally, the low water does not reach this plane within about half a metre to a metre. Consequently, there can, generally be depended upon from 2ft. to 3ft. more water than I have stated. Between Rosario and Buenos Aires there are now no bars over which there is not 21ft, of water at zero, although two of them need to be dredged and buoyed in order to make a straighter channel. This the Government is prepared to dp.

“As to the Port of Rosario: a contract has recently been made, under the law of Congress, to make a modem seaport at this point, rVith all the latest and best facilities for bundling cargo. The commerce of Rosario i? at present 1,500,000 tons per annum. It is a very important exporting-point forcorcals, and when the port is completed according to the plans adopted, it is expected to be an important importing-port as rell. Thero are ports below Rosario, such as Villa Constitucion, San Nicholas, and Sm Pedro, and above Rosario, Diamante, xSanta Fe, Colastine, and Parana. On *he Uruguay River, Concordia, at the head of steamboat navigation, is an inportant importing and exporting 1 port for fchlt section of the country. Its registered tonnage is about half a million tons, the actual-weight tonnage about 100,0^0. * ‘ The country be Green the Parana and Uruguay Rivers is practically isolated from (die rest of the country, and its situation is very similar to that of the country lying betwejm the Euphrates and Tigris; for that reafon it has been called the ‘ Mesopotamia Argentina.’ “There are at present in this area three railroad systems the Argentine North-eastern, wh fii runs from Corrientes, on the Par; la to Monte Caseros, on the Uruguay, ai. 1 from there to Santo Tome, on the same iver; the Argentine Eastern from Monti Caseros to Concordia ; and the Entrs Rois Railroads, the main line of whichlconnects Parana and Conception del Uruguay, with branches to Victoria, Gualetuay, Gualegaychu, Villaguay. Within i few months a con-necting-line will bei completed to Concordia, forming a link between the Argentine Eastern and the Entro Rios systems. It has been proposed to unite these throe systems )tnd to extend the Argentine North-camera from Santo Tome to Posadas onithe Alto Parana, passing through the colonies which the Government is establishing in that territory. Posadas is its capital. The Central Paraguay Railroad, which runs in a south-easterly direction from Asuncion, it is proposed to exte d to Villa Encarnaoion, a small tow o: the opposite side of the river from Posacas; to change the

guage, which is s£ft. to the normal guage of the other threk railroads, which is 4ft. B£in.; make a transfer by car-float

at Posadas; extend thelEntre Rios railroads to a port of deep water, either on the Parana or Uruguay, and do a ‘thorough’ business between Asimcion and this new seaport, Which will be only a few hours distant from Buenos Aires.

“ With the Parana River improved to Asuncion and tho Uruguay improved to Concordia, with the lailway systems united and extended to a good seaport, this great interior district of the country will have an ideal system of transportation, and the shipper ujtiy take his choico to ship by rail or by water, thus establishing a very useful and reasonable competition between water and railway, to the great advantage ol the people. “ In reference to the Rio de la Plata itself, it is an immense shoal estuary. It is the depositing-ground of the great Parana River. This estuary, in a not very remote period, extended above Santa Fe ; this is shoira by the comparison of old maps, of which ninety-two have been collected and copied and placed in the Library of the Ministry of Public Works. These maps Site from the year 1529 to 1885. Even in this comparatively short period remarkable changes are shown in the delta of the Parana, which is now a true delta. It is forty miles across its face; it slowly extends itself in the head of the estuary, and through the delta nearly a dozen outlet* of the Parana River find their way. It is very much like the deltas of the Danube, Ganges, and Mississippi. (To be concludes! next issue. J