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346 had been made by a young sculptor of Argentina, named Señor Mateo Alonso, from bronze cannon which had been taken at the time Argentina was fighting against Spain for her independence. The cannon were melted into a great figure of Christ more than twenty-five feet high, with one hand stretched out to bless the two peaceful countries, and the other holding a cross. One hundred thousand dollars were raised, mostly by the women of both countries, to pay for this wonderful statue. The leading part in the work was taken by Angela de Oliviera Cezar de Costa. On the 28th of May, 1903, the day the treaty of peace was signed, Señora de Costa invited the President of Argentina and General Montt, the representative of the President of Chile, to come to the yard of a large college in Argentina to inspect this great statue. While they were there she asked permission to have it placed on the highest accessible pinnacle of the Andes, on one of the disputed boundary lines. This was granted, and, after the winter had passed, the work of getting it up the mountains was begun.

The statue was so large and heavy that this was a hard matter. It was carried by rail to the base of the mountains; the rest of the way was so rough and steep that not even the biggest and strongest railroad engine could climb it; so it was placed on gun carriages, drawn by mules. Where