The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1866-05-30
The Panama Railroad Cross
ing the Istlimus-Tr0pical Veg
etatiOn-Aspinwall.
From Correspondence of the New York Tri-
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From Correspondence Of the New York Tri-
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Seeing q liRle steamer sled with our
passengers, like Five black with bees,
We hastenel down the short narrow wind
Ing streets of Panama to the railway sta.
iion at the waters edge, and elbowed
through the dense painting crowd into
the cars, which have came seats and light
blinds instead Of glass windows. The 10.
comotive shrieked and we moved out of
the city, following endless curves, slowly
winding around foot Of hills and through
jungjes toward the summit ofthatonarrow
neck Iofrland%hichgdiuides two unbound
ed seas. yThG' Panama Railway begun in
ls4S, was completed id seven years, cost
ing 100000 per mile. Again and again
the work was suspended, fof the malar.
ious, pestilent, fever breeding air poisoned
all who lreathed it Natives, Austrians,
West Indians, Irish, French, Germans,
Coolies and Chinese were successfully
employed as laborers, and to all proved
fatal. The forty. eight miles are ridged
with graves, and said to have cost mans
life for every sleeper. Jamaica negroes
and whites from Northern States bore The
climate absst, and finished the work. -
Think of men breathing fever, penetra.
ting canebTakes, wadi6g swamps, fighting
Inoxious insects, dOdging boa. constructors,
cougars and crocodles, constantly braying
death for one two dollars per day
The road pays larger dividends than
any other in the world. 1t charges S25
specie for a ride of forty-eight miles, and
corresponding prices for freight. Seven.
eighths Of its passengers and two fifths Of
its other receipts are from the California
trade bat this freight inchdesls treasure
Estimating it by the ton, so much the
larger portion goes Southwark The Eu
ropean and United States trade with the
West Coast of South America is very
heavy. The British mail steamers ply
from Valparaiso to Panama, and on the
East side another connects Aspinwall
with Liverpool.
The Sloepers are of lignumvitm, tho
only timber which endures the ravAges Of
climate aud insects. ,The accompanyiu
telegraphpeles Me OF cement hs no tim.
Der expo&Astdsfhe hair weuid last more
than one year. -Four miles apart are the
"local superintendent" houses, of uniform
architecture, hig ceiling, broad halls, deep
balconies and piazzas around the entire
building, and separate kitchens in the
rear. These dwellings, all made in New
York, and sent cut ready to be pnt to
gether, look cool and inviting. Each su.
perirtenGent is responsible for his four
miles of road, which requires constant Ia
Dor to keep it from being washed away,
crumbled0r covered by the sirrepressable
vegetatiOugis idsgod s1la tss does
Beside the tract are thadwelliugs Of
native workmen and villagers-little steep
rooted cabins, thatclen with tiles, grass
or cane, with walls Of sticks and plaster
They look dry and cool, but during the
rainy season they must admit water like
selves, and their occupants become aqua.
tic. The women, who celebrate the day
in clean frocks and bits of fnery, ali
wear Panama hats like the men. Prolific
nature has blessed them with innumera.
BILE babies. l have seen nothing like it
save in Salt Laeosstropts or on Missouri
prairies. E s3
Here is the richest, densest vegetation
in the world-an impenetrable tangle of
mangoes, plautains, palms, oranges, ban.
ahas, lines, India rubber trees, and thou
sands of shrubs and parasites new to
Northern eyes Here is primoval archi-
tecture-endless cloisters, colonnadGs and
bowers. Little viStas of green sward,
fragments Of water, hills and basaltic
cliffs, are exceptional. As a whole, the
}Isthmuslis Uvpst jungle'of trees, cane.
brakes and parasites, gny with gorgeous
flowers and bids Of brill mt plumage,
rich with tho cocoSnut, and sometimes
dazzling with the brightness ofthe orange
Monkeys and parrots chatter in the
branches, wild beasts hide IN the dingles,
insects swarm in the swamps, and hugo
reptiles drag their slow length along the
oosy soil, darkened by thick foliage which
shuts out the light of the rich tropical
heavens From branches sixty feet high,
i S'y's s.stS si9 RIs SI1isss ssG %
climbing up the huge trunks ike cork.
screws. The old fact of nature and fig
ure of rhetoric the sustaining oak and
clinging vine-man's strength and wo-
mans tenderness-is reversed. The tree
indeed bears the vine, but is smothered
in the embrace of death. The trunk Of
some forest kings resemble huge pipes Of
lead, and even the stems of willows ate
in sections like corn.stalks and sugar
Oano' 81 slh95Ts =is hns nv poL
Here are rarest combinations of color
and form-wild palms with leaves eight
cen inches long yet only q fingers width;
immense groves Ofcultivatcd palms heavy
with fruit; countless bananas upon which
the natives subsist; pulpy stalks, with
leaves, the thickness and texture of lily
pads, sword shaped, and ten or twelve
feet in height, birds of white, black and
yellow, flowers of white, orange, crimson
and SCARLET bldElng6u FROM tie Gonvolu,
tons and tangles of greenuess. All is
profusion, luxury, gorgeousness, every
prospect pleases, aud only man is vile.
Eleven miles from Panama we crossed
the summit through a natural Cup 800
feet above the ocean. From these noun
tains one can see both the Atlantic and
Pacific at once. For several miles we.
folloyed, the ChOgres River, against whose
muddy current natives used to pole up