Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-08-30
AROUND THE EQUATOR
Lies a Region That Offers Great Pos
sibilities to Yankees.
A CHAT WITH A CIVIL ENGINEER
Who Has Kept Both Eyes Open While at
Work in South America.
RAILWAYS BUILT UNDER DIFFICULTIES

|
esting talker respecting q sister republic
the United States of Colombia, the south
erly portion lying under the equator ant
having harbors on both Caribbean Sea ant
the Pacific Ocean. An interview was sug
gested by Colonel T. P. Roberts. Mr.
Dougherty went to Colombia in the fall o
| 1879, when he began work on the Diqu,
Canal, from Colanor to Cartagena, to recon
struct it so as to divide the commerce of the
Magdalena river. Colonel Totten aud ]. G
Trautwine worked on the same canal IL
1s49 and 1850, and built several locks
They were the builders Of the Panams
Railway.
Mr.. Dougherty's work was to make the
canal navigsble at all seasons of the year fol
boats drawing four and half feet of water.
A survey from Cartagena to the Magdalena
was made under the auspices of a New York
syndicate. The bay of Cartagena is land
locked and the best on the Caribbean Sea,
and vessels drawing % feet of water can en-
ter safely. When Drake and the Spaniards
had a controversy, several years ago, at the
siege of Cartagena, the latter filled one of
the entrances, and the one remaining is not
more than $50 feet wide, but it is 40 feet
deep.
PRINCIPAL PORT OF ENTRY.
The principal port of entry for the Colon
bian Republic on the Caribbean Sea is 12
miles inland, and the two are connected by
1S miles of railway. The government wished
to improve the river by jetties, but did not
have the necessary cash, and the railway at
present answers the purpose.
A pier composed of creosoted timber has
been built by the railway company, and
traffic between steamers and the railway is
carried on by lighters and tugboats built in
New York and in Wilmington, Del In
order to avoid the cost of nghterags the
railway company Is now building pier
1000 feet long, which has an approach of
$500 feet The neck Is 100 feet and head of
pier 6oo15o feet. This arrangement will ac-
commodate four large vessels, two on each
of steel. The piles are 5115 and 51 inches
in diameter. The timber in the floor is
400, 900 feet, board measure, and was sent
from FLORIDA. At the outer end of the pier
the depth of water is 27 feet and inside 25
feet. This pier Is expected to be completed
in IL or IA months
There is quite large traffic on the Mag
dalena, where Rees's steamboats, have been
sent and Baranquilla is the entrepot of
Columbia 90per cent of the trade on the East
side is carried over the Baranquilla Rail-
way, but at present between the unloading
vessel, the lighters. Custom house, railway
and river steamers, there is SO much hand
ling that one way or other imports with all
these charges on top of tariffs make Colum-
bans pay considerable money for what they
do not produce themselves.
RIVER TRAFFIC. AT CHEAP RATES.
The river traffic is carriedson some 35
steamers, all of light draught. They were
formerly owned by three companies, but
competition cut freight rates to such an e1-
tent that no one made any money, SO there
was combine-a plant that seems to thrive
in any latitude. The whole are now known
by the name of the Columbia Transporta-
tion Company, and the stock is mostly
owned by Americans, the Unida Company
of New York, Oisneros, Cuban by birth,
but an American by naturalization,
being President. Of these steam,
ers, four are in the Cartagena
trade. The steamers of ..the lower river
run to Honda, the highest point on the
lower Magdalena. At Honda there are
series of falls three miles long, the upper
levelbeing 13 feet above the lower, which
prevent large steamers from going farther.
Above Honda three small boats run to
Niera, 1S0 miles. For 20 miles below
Honda the river is tortuous and the channel
rocky, and railway called the La Dorado
connects the lower point with that above
the falls. Its lower end is at Yeagus.
The capital, Bogota, is 80 miles from
Honda and is S,SS5 feet above tide water. 1t
is reached by mule transportation-packin
on mules backs. The city is we'll built and
has a population of 100 900. 1t has electric
light and water is distributed through the
streets. 1t has also street railways
built by Americans. The city lies in
basin surrounded by the Guadalupe and
Monserrate Mountains. The basin is as
level as floor and has the appearance of
lake bottom. A volcano or an earthquake
has at some time cut a gap through these
and let the water out. TIE bowl
is 20 miles long and 10 wide, and the city is
on the western side, at the base of the
mountains.
From Bogota northward q railroad has
been built to connect the city with the mule
road. The locomotives, cars, rails, etc.,
were taken up the mountains on mule and
man back. Any piece weighing 250 pounds
or more was carried by man. The work of
was begun at the upper instead
of the lower end of the route, as would have
been the case in this country. The same
method was pursued at Costa Rica, work
at the same time explainable.
A VERY HEALTHY CLIMATE
The climate of Bogota is very healthy,
temperature never being higher than 60 nor
lower than 4S degrees 1t is something like
that of the middle of November here. The
inhabitants wear light woolen clothing
after sundown, don light overcoats. The
plains are very fertile, apples, peaches,
pears, ounces and berries of all kinds |
adapted to a temperate climate do well and |
side coal seams are observable and previous |
10 the manufacture of electricity for light |
ing coal was used for gas making, very lit |
lie If any being used for cooking or heating,
wood being abundant and preferred. In
he neighborhood of Bogota, within fifteen |
miles, there is excellent brown hematite /
iron ore, and at one of these deposits the
Pusey and Zones Company, of Wilmington,
Del, built a rail mill. There are also
good castings made at these works. They |
have the iron ore, coal and limestone in
abundance and contiguous, all being within
. radius of mile. This mill was built
road now being built between
Bogota and Jiradote. The latter place is
70 miles from Honda ON the upper Magda-
ena, and 20 miles of the road are now in
operation. This line is over nearly
evel plain to the foot of the Andes and
ollows the contour of the mountains
% secure good grades and avoid heavy
work, and Is quite tortuous The maxi
mum grade Is per cent, with curves of
lot less than 250 feet radius. The road
,uage is three feet. The rolling stock is
ii Of American make, but the 35 pound
teel rails are furnished by the English.