The San Francisco call., 1906-09-08
WILL HURRY WORK
IN OLD MEXICO.
Hartman Trying to Thwart
Plans Of Mexican Central
to Reach Pacific Shores

The engineering department of the
Southern Pacific Company, under the
direction of Chief Engineer Hood, has
just completed the maps of the survey
os the company's proposed extensions
in Mexico, from the border to Guadala-
jara, which will be forwarded to Presi-
dent Diaz for his final approval The
company has had for number of
months a large force of engineers in
the field in Mexico selecting a suitable
route for these new roads, on which
President Hartman proposes to start
work as soon as the Mexican Govern
ment formally accepts his plans and
gives him permission to execute. The
surveys have been made at a great ex-
pense and the engineering department
claims that the maximum grade over
the entire route will not exceed 2h per
cent.
The apparent eagerness of President
Hartman to complete this new addi-
tion to his gigantic railroad system is
attributed to his desire to check the
Mexican Central Railway in its plan to
reach the coast and absorb some of
the trade originating on the Pacific.
II is claimed that Hartman reached a
hurried decision to build from Guaymas
to Guada1a1ara Immediately after the
Mexican Central had completed It's ar
rangements to extend its line to Man
1dLlA1Ot <i4O AAIcW d Dig lOIce OF en-
gineers in the field TO survey a route
to the strategic point of Guadalajara.
hoping to thwart. the plan OF his rival,
evens IL it was. necessary to later con-
tinue his railroad building on to the
City Of Mexico.
: The activity of the Hartman people
In the rleighboring republic has at
tracted widespread attention As rule
of late Hartman has let others build
/ ord -ha~, IA
acquire them he has set his financial
agents at work in that direction But
ir the threatened competition of the
Mexican Central Railway in the rich
trahspacif1c trade the clever Wall street
nanipulator foresaw trouble that
would not permit delay, and he lost
no time in getting his constructing en-
gineers to work
At present there is a traffic agree
ment between the Mexican Central and
the Southern Pacific, under which they
are supposed to divide the business
passing through the Ell Paso gateway.
The Mexican Central officials have.
however, been complaining that they
were not being fairly treated in the
matter of through rates. Hence the
plan of the foreign company to extend
Its line through to Manzalinno, which
will mean more business for the COM
pany. For a time Hartman played a
bluffing game, but the Mexicans Gid
not falter in their plans. and suddenly
realizing that his rival was in earnest
Hartman got exceedingly busy on a
project that is going to cost him mil
lions of dollars and probably stir up a
bitter fight between the Southern Pa
cific and the Mexican Central
Part of the new route from Guaymas
southwark to Torin, along the Yaqui
River, a distance of about 100 miles,
has already been completed, and the
company's forces are now bending
every energy toward Fastening TO COM
pletion a part of the road northward
to effect connections with the Rio
Yaqui and Pacific, and southwark to
Alamos. on the line to Guadalajara.
The Southern Pacific Company ex-
poets to increase It's construction force
on the extensions to between 5000 and
1000 men as soon as the Mexican Gov
ernment sanctions the construction of
the recently surveyed lines, and 1t will,
under agreement with the Mexican
Government. expend considerable
money in developing the country along
the line, adopting the same methods
THAT were used to develop California
when the Southern Pacific and Central
Pacific first began TO expand in this
State.