The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-06-25
RAILWAYS OF PORTO RICO
Small Affairs With Meagre Trans
pOrtati0n Facilities.
One Line With IA GnuEe of Only
Thirty Inches, and Another on
Which the Speed Is Six Miles in
Forty Minutcs-Chauccs fog Profit
able Investments to BE Made.

| Forty Miuutes-Chauccs fog Profit.
able Investments to BE Made
SAN JUAN, June 1S.-Few can consider
the conditions in Porto Rico at the time
when the island came into possession of the
7 United States without a feeling Of surprise
| that, in the centuries which have elapsed
since its first settlement by Europeans, 81
! little advancement has been made.
| In no respect is this more apparent than
in the lack Of adequate transportation fell
tiles. In this century of steam and cleo
tricity, this age of rapid ua.sit, almost
/ nothing has been accomplished. Previous
| to 1878 no railroad was attempted. TIE
road which, under the name Test Railroad
Line" came into existence at hat time is
today the best equipped and be.t managed
railway on the island. 1t connects San
Juan with Rio Piedras, little tewn some-
thing over six miles east of the cap. tai.
The service is hourly, and, as several stops
are made at little stations in Santurce-
the fashionable residential suburb OF San
Juan-the line is we'll patronized.
The cars are comfortable, but when ore
notes the fact that it takes forty minutes
to make the short run, it will be seen that
the rate OF speed is somewhat limited.
Three years after the first railway ven
ture the West Railroad Line" was opened.
This line issues tickets from San Juan TO
Bayamon, but to reach the train one must
cross to Catano on the little fsrryboat
which plies between San Juan and this
struggling village Of laborers' huts. The
10Y engine and the diminutive cars give
to traveller who for the first time essays
a trip to Bayamon feeling of playing at
raiiroading, while the slow progress gives
many an interior view OF the picturesque
little houses which line the way.
Among the other railroad projects which
were sanctioned during tie Spanish regime,
the most important was that of the
French Railroad Company" This pro-
posed road to encircle the island near tie
coast, a total length of about $40 miles.
OF this General Davis says:
To this road the Government guaran-
teed per cent interest on cost pre-
viously fixed and determined The total
sum to which the guaranty was intended
TO apply was nearly 1O,ooO.oo0 pesos, and,
OF course, the interest guaranteed would
be nearly 100000 pesos-or s4S, OO0-annu-
ally. But the company failed to complete
the road within the time limit and its
status and rights under the original fran
chise are now undetermined"
With no taxes to pay and an income as
sured by the Government 1t is easy to i'm
agine, what each traveller soon discovers,
that the management is poor and the ser
vice poorer. This line. begun in 1883 at
three different points, has several de-
Of ntnd md in
ton. Its single track, narrow gauge lire
connects San Juan with Carolina. sixte,F
miles east. Continuing west from the cap
ital city 1t passes through Arecibo 10 Ca
muy. Here the rising ground, whi>n con-
tinues to Aguadilla, made construction
more difficult. and this part of the line,
though surveyed, has not been completed.
From Aguadilla the route swings south
ward, following the island coast to Maya
guez, thence through the foothills to Hor-
migueros. passing en- route Aguada, Rim
con, and Anasco From the latter place
was projected branch road of which the
officer in charge of the Mayaguez district
says: 'It only succeeded in getting six
miles out of Anasco and is now tied up
on the top of a hill called Alto Sano.
There it hangs. This road it was intended
should tap the rich coffee lands about San
Sebastian and Lares" To this he adds:
"
would be paying investment If bought
for what 1t is actually worth"
The only other portion of the proposed
belt line, which is In operation, is line
from Ponce to Yauco. twenty-five miles
northwest. While opinions differ as to
the construction OF some portions of the
railroad, all agree that the well-built
culyerts, where the line crosses the little
streams, show the same skill in masonry
which e1cites the admira-
tion of everyone. who goes over the mill
tary road and notes the bridges by the way.
The consensus of opinion is that Porto
Rico not only needs a proper railway
system. but that 1t needs, to this end
American brains and American capital.
Albert G. Robinson in his book Porto
Rico of Today" says. The first company
in the field is likely to hold a monopoly
as district which is hardly half the size
of the State OF New Jersey does not pre-
sent unlimited chances for competition. 1t
is therefore quite desirable that such an
enterprise be essayed by bona iide oper-
ators, and that no franchise be granted to |
those whose aim is purely speculative and
who are unsupported by the actual cash |
capital necessary for construction and
operation. The amount required would
not be large. from the standpoint of
railway Investments anu Tie re- |
turns would doubtless be ample"
1T is easy to see that the completion of |
this belt line would greatly economic the |
cost Of marketing the crops, and thus open |
many possibilities in the direction of |
agricultural industries hitherto untried, |
besides facilitating the exchange of local |
To make complete the rail-
way system a route has been partially de- |
ermined, which. starting at Mayaguez and |
-unning northwest to Lares should be con-
.inued to the coast via either Caguas or
Cayey. This. by paralleling the other
ines. would bring nearly all sections OF
he country within easy access, and would
hus. by opening up hundreds Of acres of
and, greatly increase the value Of the
zeal estate.
All agree that the mountain sections
present difficult engineering problems but
With the magnificent military road as an
example 1t is quite unlikely that Ameri-