The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1890-04-20
ON SOUTHERN SEAS
The Gulf of Guayaquil and the
Rio GuayaS.
FAIR WEATHER AND STILL WATER
Some Reasons Why the United States Has
SO Little Commerce With
South America.

-. S. "SERENo,' Feb. IS. 1S9O.-TSpecial
correspondence of THE HERALD. You
may search the world over for pleasant sea-
travelling without finding anything more
agreeable than down the western coast of
South America, where one is always sure
OF fair weather, still waters and fine steam
ers. Especially is this the case during the
season Of our northern winter the sum
mer time in these latidues-when breezes
blow cool and invigorating even directly
over the equator, without the damp chilli
ness that pierces ones marrow on the At
lantic.
Strange TO say, not an American keel
plows the Pacific from Panama to Cape
Horn-yet not altogether unaccountable
when we consider the reasons that have
left the America of the north almost with
out commercial dealings with her southern
sister. The short-sighted policy of the
United States Congress in refusing to aid
steamship lines, even by payment of mod
crate sum for carrying the mails, has much
to do with it; for the venturesome capital
ist who might invest money in such an en-
terprise would have to compete with the
well-subsidzed companies of Europe
AT present there are two lines of steam
ers plying regularly between Panama and
Chill = one Gillian, the other English.
The latter, which is by far the best, was
projected as an American company, by Mr..
William Wheelright, OF New York city.
More than forty years ago this gentleman
secured concession for its establish
home TO the United States, expecting to
readily raise the necessary funds for carry
ing out his plans. But neither the mer-
chant princes, capitalists nor Congress
could be induced to offer him any sort of
ala or encouragement, and finally he took
himself and his project to England, where
wiser government
SNAPPED AT THE CHANCE
of securing rich emouments for all time to
come. subsequently Mr. Wheelright OBJ
tanned subsidies, also, from several of the
South American republics, whose ports he
enters The natural consequence is that
the whole passenger traffic of the southern
Pacific, together with nearly all its com
merce, has passed irrevocably into British
hands, whose vessels sail every week from
Panama to Liverpool, via the straits of
Magellan.
The Gillian line sends a vessel every
second week and carries mostly local
freight. Several smaller steamers belong
ing to French and German companies ply
between various west coast ports; and
there used to be two other lines, Spanish
and Italian, but both the latter have re-
Gently withdrawn their boats. The Pacific
Steam Navigation company, which MIR
Nheelright organized, is today the largest
enterprise Of its kind in the world, owning
more than sixty first class steamers and
carrying every bit of cargo between
Europe and South America. For this
trade 1t maintains two sets of steamers,
those for the still waters between Panama
aud Valparaiso being large and beautiful
with open decks and airy state-rooms:
while those designed for the rougher pas
sage through the straits and across the
stormy Atlantic were especially constructed
for heavy seas
The headquarters of the Pacific Steam
Navigation company is now in Liverpool
1t was first established in London, but did
not prove a brilliant success until after its
removal; since which time the trade has
been constantly increasing. Mr. Wheel
right also built the first railroad in South
America, an Chilli and the grateful ma
tlVeS have very properly honored him by
huge statue in the city of Valparaiso.
The distance from Panama to Valparaiso
is 3,3l5 miles, and the trip would become
very tedious one-occuDying TWENTY-FIVE
days-were it not for the fact that hardly
half the time is spent at sea, there being
no fewer than
THIRTY EIGHT PORTS
to be visited on the way. Through the
many years that the British company en-
joyed undisputed monopoly its charges
were enormous-not less than $40 per ton
for freight, and s2g7 per capita passenger
rate for distance about the same as that |
between New York and Liverpool. The |
Gillian line, however, has lately made com |
petition so brisk that, when rivalry runs |
high, either company will recklessly reduce |
their fare, offering to carry people for al |
most nothing at all rather than let them |
fall into the hands of the other.
Wishing TO take advantage cf this CON
venient state of affairs, couple of young
Engllshmen who were bound for s'up
SOUTH" as they say hereabouts, made a
careful canvass in Panama among the tray
elers booked for various points along the
western shores of South America: and |
finding a goodly number of them who
agreed to stick together and go by the line
that would come down''most handsomely. /
they managed the matter so well between
the rival companies that everybody's fare
was reduced to an absurdly small snm-
ours for the whole 3.3l5 miles being less
than thitry two dollars each American
gold, with no charge for eX ira luggage and
''stop-overs'' OF indefinite length allowed.
And we were given extraordinary atten-
tons and courtesies withal- afternoon tea
in the captains cabin, nice little lunches
sent up before bed time, and everybody
had state room all to himself, mother and
daughter, or husband and wife being
given TWO large communicating rooms with /
plenty OF extra space for trunks and
steamer chairs.
These British steamers have their an
chOrage IN Panama some seven miles out L
from shore near the island of Tnhoca |
while the Pacific mail steamers of the
Anglican line, bound for San Fran cisco.
lie at points equally distant, for the alleged
harbor, though lovely to look at, is shallow
rocky and dangerous inshore with long.
black reefs showing their ugly heads above
the water. AS the tide on this side of the
isthmus rises from eighteen to twentv-two
feet, setting in and running out with re-
markedly strong current, the matter of
embarklng and olsen marking is by no
means child's play and can be accomplished
with comparative safety only at what is
called
''HALF-TIDE''
and there must be no delay about it, for
this is emphatically the time and tide that
''waits for no man. If you and your be-
longings are not on the spot at the proper
moment, ready to be hustled. pell-mell. over
the lurching gang plank the instant il is
thrown out from the little tender when
1t hobs up alongside the wharf YOU will ;
inevitably find yourself in the un pleasant :
predicament of the damsel whom the poet :
left behind him. :
The tender is altogether too small for the :
crowd Of passengers and the hastily loaded !,
baggage is everywhere piled high in wild
est confusion The fierce isthmain heat
can hardly be endured in the tiny cabin f
and there are not a dozen available seats d
on deck: so YOU finding standing room a