Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-12-31
TO span THE ISTHMUS
The Tehauntepec to Rival the
Panama Railroad.
LOWER RATES CHARGED
NEW STEAMSHIP CONNECTIONS
TO BE MADE.
Saving in Distance and Time Between
New York and Europe and the
Ports of the Pacific.
LOWER RATES CHARGED
BY WILLIAM E. CURTIS.

b1 WILLIAM T. luRllS-
Written for The Star and the Chicago Record
Herald.
a new steamship connection between New
York, New Orleans. San Francisco and the
Hawaiian Islands is about to be established
in connection with the Tehuantepec rail-
road, and on the LIST of next July fleet OF
nine steamers is to be employed carrying
freight, and ultimately passengers. by way
of the Mexican isthmus The feet and the
terminal facilities for handling the bust
ness represent an investment of $4,000. coo
of American money. The president of the
company is George S. Dearborn of New
York. the vice president Is George D. Lap
ham, formerly of the leather trust. and the
general manager is Capt. w. D. Burnham,
who sailed around the Horn for many a
year In command of clipper ships of the
old Flint Line.
The present company is an outgrowth of
that old service, an amalgamation of two
ancient sailing fleets belonging to the Flint
and Dearborn families, who used to build
their ships in Maine and sail them between
New York, San Francisco and Liverpool
They would take on cargoes of general
merchandise at New York, carry them to
San Francisco Portland or Puget sound,
and there reload with grain for Liverpool
or with lumber and other stores for Homo
lulu. From Liverpool they would bring
back general merchandise and from Hawaii
raw sugar. In course of time these two
companies consolidated, and in 1899 aban-
doned their sailing ships and adopted
steamers. The new corporation was called
the American-Hawaiian Steamship Com
pany, and has had in service four steamers
of $500 tons and two of 5000 tons. 1t
has recently constructed three additional
steamers Of 1850 tons each, and Is now
building two more Of still larger capacity
II, 500 tons-at the Union Iron Works, at
San Francisco. 1t is the intention of the
company to order four more from ship
builders on the Atlantic coast, which will
make a fleet of fifteen of the highest type
of freight steamers, making twelve knots
an hour. The principal purpose of these
ships has been to bring the raw sugar OF
the Hawaiian planta tons to the retineries
of New York and Philadelphia. They have
been doing that for half a century or more,
but the service Is now to be enlarged ana
the steamers will run on scheduled time
after the 1st of next July. There Will be
one sailing q week from New York and
one from New Orleans to Coalzacoalcos,
the terminus of the TehuantepeC railroad
on the Gulf of Mexico, and two week from
Salina Cruz, the Pacific terminus, to San
Francisco and Honolulu. By this route the
sea journey from New York to San Fran
cisco can be made in twenty-five days.
Subsidiary lines of small steamers will be
established on both coasts of Central Amer
lea as far south as Panama and Colon to
bring coffee and other cargo from the minor
ports.
Saving Time and Distance.
The sailing distance from New York to
Colon is 1000 miles. and to CoalZacoalcos
1t is 1904 miles. From Panama to San
Francisco is $3.50 miles and from Saltna
Cruz it is 2 los miles. From Colon to Pan
ANA by railroad it is forty-seven miles.
From CoaIzacoalcos to Salina Cruz 1t is
1G2 miles Therefore the distance between
New York and San Francisco by Panama is
5,3O7 miles, while by way of Tehuantepec
4 q
favor of the latter route.
From New Orleans to Coalzacoalcos is SO5
miles and to Colon 1887 miles, thus making
the distance to San Francisco by one route
694 miles and by the other 30T2 miles, d
difference ON 1,C22.
From Liverpool and other ports OF Europe
to San Francisco, Honolulu and the cas- tern
ports of Asia the sailing distance via Ie-
huantepec is about 1920 miles shorter than
by Panama.
Another very important advantage of the
new road will be, to furnish tidewater
outlet for the products of southern Mexico
and the great plateau lying south of the
capital of that republic, which is famous
for its fertility well as for the great
men II has produced.
II is now possible to go all the way from
New York to CoalzacoalcOs by rail via the
City of Mexico and Vera Cruz, from which
point a railroad runs southwark along the
eastern slope to connect with the Tehuan-
tepec lire The Mexican Southern Is build
ing southwark through the state OF Oaxaca
and will soon make similar connection
at the town of Tehauntepec, twelve miles
from the Pacific ocean, and the Pan-Anler-
lean Railway Company is pushing slowly
southwark from Galtpan station toward
the boundaries of Guatemala. GaItipan Is
q small place noted in history as the birth
place and home of Malinche, or Dona Ma
rina, the beautiful Aztec mistress and In
terpreter of COrteZ, the conquestadore.
Capt. Eads argued for years IN favor OF
of a ship railway across the isthmus or Te-
hauntepec. He thought 1t was easier to
hoist big ships out of the water, place
them on trucks and run them on wheels
over to the Pacific than to dig canal but
he could not convince Congress of the prac-
ticabiity of his plans. Shortly after his
death the Mexican government undertook
TO build an ordinary railway between the
two oceans across the narrowest part OF
its territory. This has been a faYorite
project of President DiaZ, who was born
in Oaxaca and at one time was governor
Of Tehauntepec. No one realizes more thar
he Its Importance to the commerce of the
world or to the development OF Mexico.
Cortez Sought a Waterway.
When Cortez passed through Tehaunte.
pee after the conquest of Mexico to the
conquest of Honduras, he endeavored tC
find natural waterway across the 18th
mus and, recognizing its imperative i'm
portance, confidently expected within his
own time to see an artificial route estab
ushed That confidence was so great that
he applied to Emperor Charles for &
grant of land IN the locality, which was
given him, and the new railway now passe:
through what were once his estates. The
property has since been divided, but 1t Il
still called the Hacienda Marquesanes be
cause the emperor knighted him 'Marqui!
Of the Valley" If a small part of the plum
der of the conquest had been applied Il
the construction of a canal in those days
as Cortez recommended it might have
changed the commercial history of the con
tinent. but the loot was put 10 baser use!
and the canal was not approved although
surveys were made by Philip II in the six
tenth and Charles III in the eighteenth
centuries. For three hundred years thu
policy of Spain was opposed to the com
mercial development of its American colo
MES, and forbade communications between
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