The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-01-14
BY MERRILL A. TEAaUE.

BY MERRILL .A. TEAGUE.
 Stan Correspondent of The Advertiser
 Colon R. F., Dec. A-In the court yard of the Hotel Washington in this Isthmian city stands a round shaft of polished granite. resting upon an ornate triangular pedestal. Each face of this pedestal bears a bas-relief profile portrait, and the names carved over the portraits are:
 VIM. H. ASPINwALL,
 JOHN L. STEPHENS.
 HENRY CHAUNCEY.
 This shaft and pedestal form the mon ument erected to the builders of the Pan- ana Rail.oad-threo men as dauntless and enterprising as any the world ever knew. for the work they undertook was one Of of the greatest magnitude. It was in De- cember, 1S4S. that the Colombian Govern- ment granted to these three men a con cess;on for the construction and operation of a railway across the Isthmus, connect ing the City of Panama with port on the Caribbean Sea coast. In the seven years intervening between the grant or the concession and the year 1855 Aspin- wall. Stephens and Chauncey did their work and in the latter year the road was opened to traffic. It exists to this day as the sole and only medium of transit across the Istl,mus-the artery through which flows goodly portion Of the worlds commerce.
 A trip over this railroad Is well worth while. It is but 47 3-4 miles long, but 1t runs through country one glimpse or which is sufficient to excite the most en- thusiastic admiration for the men Who first penetrated into this wilderness to survey it's route and the advance force engaged on the actual work of construc- tion. On either side of the track, built on a five-foot gauge, there Is an almost impassa ble swamp extending from Colon to Bohio. a distance of fourteen miles. This swamp Is not of the ordinary kind that can be subdued by ehe simple pro- cess of filling Its nature is especially an- tagonistic to the march of progress fof' aside from the water and the swamp grass that stretch almost as Tar as the eye can sce with only here ana there srdall volcanic peak to break the monot- onv of the landscape, there Is inc Jungle growth of bamboo palms, Wild bananas, koko-holo, cane and myriad variety or jnterlaced vines of the toughest soi't. The ChAgres, Gatun and Mindl Rivers, ample as they are Tn size are wholly inadequate for work of draining these swamps. The land is almost on a level with the seas from the higher ground comes every once ir a while a torrential flow of water. re- sulting In the complete submerging CT the country, and the never-ending deiuge of rain all unite in the hidsous work of making the swamp virtually unconquer- able.
 Work of Great Magnitude.
 These conditions existed during the work of railroad construction even more ma Mgnantly than they do now, for the canal had not been opened from Bohio to the sea: the canals to divert the flow of the Gatun and Mindi Rivers had not been constructed, and the country had hardly been traversed by a human being. Into this swamp Aspinwall, Chauncey and Ste phens plunged however, and with the forces in their employ pushed with mar velous energy and most eonsummate abil- ity the gigantic task of building rali- road. The swamp was not conquered oy them. It was simply pentrated, but pene- trated in such a way as to make road capable of standing for all time. It Was pentrated by means of fills, bridges ana cuts; the trail followed curving with re- markable' frequency, but advancing ever and ever nearer to the Pacific side of the Isthmus
 From Bohio to Panama the work was easier. as it was through higher and dry CT ground. It was one of magnitude however, and it was executed in man. ner deserving of the highest praise. The backbone of the Isthmus-the Cordilleras Mountains-had to be broken, and the job was drne SD successfully that the high est point on the railroad, near Culebra, is only 252 feet above sea level. In ac- complaining this result, and thereby mak- ing a road of easy grades. the plan of following a winding route was adopted. ..d;, hue T0A0. while extremely tortuous, is one present. ing few operating problems. In recent years many of the curves have been re- duced and the road rebuilt with heavier rails and stone ballast: but even on the older portion 1t shows an excellent phys icaI condition. The many problems that had to be overcome by the pioneers of railroad construction on the Isthmus can not now be accurately understood. Tnese men put a railroad through an unknown and uninhabited jungle; today the road runs through the same jungle, but the utter desolation of 1t has been relieved suualiGly, it is true, but, nevertheless, re- lieved by numerous villages, remnants of the active canal work. In its first days earthquakes were much dreaded. and an occasional shaft of concrete standing in solitude amid the tropical vegetation shows the scheme resorted to to procure & stable hanging for telegraph wires. The bridges on the line are now of iron-for- merly stone was used-and in numerous other details there is evidenced the de- partures from original ideas that have been justified by experience.
 Advantages to the United States.
 Formerly the road ran straight to the waterfront in the City of Panama. where a large dock was built Then all It's traffic on the Pacific side had to be han dled by means of lighters. Tn these floats the road invested considerable sums of money, all of which is now idle; for the new terminals at La Boca, of which l have already written. make lightering un- necessary. room being afforded at the new steel pier at La Boca for handling as many as three ships at time. This only recently completed, IS of the general state of the road. which won for it from The Ameri- can Canal Commission a valuation of H,-