ISBN: 9781458923707

This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either pa… More...

This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. Books Books ~~ Biography & Autobiography~~ General Life-and-Industrial-Labors-of-William-Wheelwright-in-South-America~~Juan-Bautista-Alberdi General Books LLC Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III. Wheelwright's Shipwreck At Buenos Ayres. ? New Direction Which This Inauspicious Event Gave To His Life. ? Wheelwright Decides To Leave For The Pacific Coast. It may be said that Wheelwright had two births, two lives, two countries; at least, his life may be divided into two parts, which form, as it were, two separate existences. The first of these begins with his birth in 1798, and closes at the age of twenty-five; the other, with his escape from shipwreck in 1823, when he nearly lost his life in Buenos Ayres, until his death in London fifty years afterwards. Forty years of his life were spent on the Pacific coast, and twelve at the River Plate. It was a singular but very natural circumstance that this man of the two Americas should have directed his operations from London: for that city is the organic centre of universal progress; it is the great mine of capital, of freedom, and of intelligence for all nations. Thus Wheelwright was a gift which the waves of the Rio de la Plata brought to South America, his vessel having gone to pieces on the bank of Ortiz. A new Hernando de Cortes, he remained in the land of his shipwreck, in order to conquer its soil, not by arms, but by steam; not for Spain, but for civilization; not for the all. absorbing North America, but to assure South America in the possession of herself. In both his lives he was of seaside origin. Born in North America, at Newburyport, and in South America, at the port of Buenos Ayres, he stepped upon her shores in utter destitution, as did his Puritan ancestors when they disembarked on the coast ot Massachuse;ts, two centuries earlier, with no other tools and equipments than their genins and their zeal. He had no need of more to gain wealth and fame; and the inauguration of a railway at Quilmes...<