Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-02-06
Observation-Disclosures
IHAvE BEEN UNDER WAY FOR
SEVERAL YEARS.
effort of the Government is to Secure
Interoceanic Traf6c-Trans-Men
can Railway Lines.


been under way for several years past.
Now they are near enough completion to
be understood in their full scope. Their
fmain purpose is interoceanic traffic
1t is row possible to go from the Atlantic
side to the Pacific by railroad. Within q
very few years there will be at least four
trans Mexican railway lines. This means
the trade of the orient in transit as well as
internal development. Mexicos far-sighted
statesmen calculate that before the Panama
tcanal can be open for traffic they will have
the facilities for much of the commerce
which will be pushing its way from ocean
Ito ocean. And after its completion they
ihave the idea that with the growth of the
worlds trade and with the means of ham
tdling light freight there will still be plenty
Ffor the trans-Mexican roads to do.
j saw something of the national po1cy III
Its application to public Improvements COM
Ing up on the Pacific coast from Guate-
mala. After hugging the coast line all oay
lin order not to risk being battered TO
pieces or blown far out to sea by taxing
the short cut across the Gulf of Tehuante-
pee. and even then experiencing the tre-
mendous force of the northers which sweep
from the Gulf of Mexico over the isthmus,
the fiashlight of Salina Cruz was visible.
Somewhere inside between Windy Point and
Salina Cruz itself was shelter because 1t
was the season of comparative calm In the
bay.
We did not put in, for few of the
steamers or ships now stop there. The
Sharbor works are not finished. but l
learned from one of the contractors some
thing of them. They have been enormously
Expensive, and heavy losses resulted from
the first efforts. But this stage Is now
passed and it will not be long until the
harbor is made secure and vessels viii be
able to discharge their cargo for trans
shipment across the isthmus. The Tehuan-
tepec railroad connection is now complete
between Salina Cruz and Vera Cruz, on
the Gulf of Mexico, and is in fair running
order. The dream or project of Capt Eads
for the Tehuantepec ship railway was given
up years ago. But the Mexican govern
ment chung to the plan of having a railroad.
The railway, of a kind has been in ex-
istence for a good many years. yet 1t was
only few months ago that the connection
with Vera Cruz was completed and the line
put in condition for practical operation. 1t
is the first interoceanic link, and there
seems to be promise of plenty Of business
for II when the harbor works of Salina
Cruz are done.
City of Acapulco.
Acapulco, further north. does not need
much in the way of harbor improvements
Completely land locked with craggy. ter
raced heights, it is the safe shelter today
that it was for the Spanish galleons three
and four centuries ago when they made it
Not having practical subjects such as dredg
ing ard breakwaters and piers to think of.
i enjoyed the two sunrises which every
traveller is expected to note-one of them
fiery bulb popping up out of the sea, and
the second one golden flood of light
streaming over the green heights. Pro-
saicaly, this Is to say that the steamer
threads it's way into the harbor about as
rapidly as the sun climbs into the sky.
Once within there is a clump of royal
palms in the saddle of the two hills and the
circle of ridges and cones. Acapulco is q
town of fiat buildings almost shelving out
from the side of the bluffs and of grass
matched huts on the hillsides. The most
prominent structure is the barracks and
fort with the old drawbridge and moat.
Ashore there are the plaza and market ana
shell of the old one.
The hotel is kept by an American woman.
Mrs. Suffer. the granddaughter of Cen
Suffer. the California gold discoverer. A
few Americans and other foreigners are
engaged in business. but Acapulco itself is
Thoroughly Mexican. both In its architec-
ture and its people. the men with their
brilliantly colored Zarapes or blankets and
peaked hats and the women with their
bright-hued rebosas or shawls.
Manzanillo is smaller town than Acap+Il-
co, bat is more of a port in the commercial
lsense. 1t is hidden behind the bluffs with
white wall of limestone the landmark.
There is a long beach and a crooked en-
trance. Millions of dollars already have
been spent IN the improvements iIt'1
the great breakwater is nearing compile
ton. ManZanillo has been considered an
unhealthy port due largely to a shallow
lake which spreads over great many miles
OF territory. This lake has a habi. of dry
ing UP at certain seasons and leaving vast
numbers of fish to putrefy and pollute the
atmosphere. AS a part of the general mar
Dor improvement and to make a sanitary
port canal is being cut from the open sea
to this lake.
The quarantine station for the Chinese is
located here, and it is the only port on the
Pacific at which they are allowed to land.
Mazatlan on the Coast.
l did not go further north to Mazatlan,
which IS the largest town on the Pacific
coast, or to Topolovambo which is to be
the terminus of what is known as the
Orient line. Mazatlan has its harbor facili
ties in excellent shape. and in time 1t will
be Joined with existing railroad systems
II suffered enormously last year through
the bubonlc plague and lost by death and
flight. chiefly the latter. more than one-half
It's population. The people are now re-
turning. and in year or two 1t will again
enjoy its supremacy the chief western
coast town of Mexico .'-'.-
At all the ports on the Pacific I heard the
testimony of the ships officers to the ex-
cellence OF Mexican administration in port
matters, customs and quarantine. There
I is also very good weather service. All
this Is further evidence Of Mexican national
policy.
From Manzanillo TO Colima a narrow
gauge railway runs along the lagoon. then
through sandy marsh covered with brush
/ and locust trees, not far back from the
| seashore. Colima is the capital of the state
of the same name, with population which
/ should guess to be 1900. II is town
of one-story buildings. with a series of two
story portals or aroades fronting the plaza.
The government building is very neat The
cathedral next door to IL is very ugly 1t is
; q yellow-front huddled structure, with
yellow dome. and is of three stories, appar-
emily temptation to the earthquakes or
q defiance of them. The town has large
garden park. which is more extensive
than the plaza. It is not -pretentious. yet
is very well kept.
The local administration is good. The
saloons are closed at o'clock In the even
ing. and sanitary regulations are enforced.
No rice cultivation is allowed within six
miles of the town, because the rice fields
breed mosquitoes and mosquitoes breed
malaria.
Colima gets its name from the volcano.
This is the most prominent object. / had
seen 1t from The sea and had watched the
white. curling yapor. Unlike some fea-
lures of nature, the volcano does not lessen
in grandeur on drawing nearer to Ii, Riding
across the country on mules from Colima
to Tuxpan, where the broken railway con-
nection is resumed, had the privilege of
afr.o " a Sfayh mi