Arizona silver belt., 1906-12-23
HARTMAN IN
 THE REPUBLIC
How the Old "Burro" Road Will Soon Be Part of Great Transcontinental System-Network of Railroads Over Northern States of Mexico.

With all the activity of the Southern Pacific in creating extensions to it's main line and attaching to its continen- tai system the "feeders" that shall gather to it the traffic of the many communities that are making Arizona mining and agricultural wealth-and while it is incidentally conquering the American Nile-the work of paralleling the spine of the continent does not lag. In the state of Sonora, Mexico. the Southern Pacific pursues its great task, the progress of which is interest ingly presented in the Chihuahua Enter prise:
 While the eyes of the commercial world are turned toward the narrow strip of land connecting the nortIern with the southern continent of the western hemisphere, where American genius and energy are being concen- trated upon the digging of the Panama canal, few of the thousands who are watching the progress of this gigantic
 
 another great enterprise is being devel- oped by American brains and capital which seems certain to have an effect not as widespread perhaps as the dig ging of the canal, but nevertheless i'm portant upon the world trade. This is the opening up by railroad of the rich west coast region of Mexico.
 For centuries this strip of country, approximately l,500 miles long by 100 wide, bounded on the east by the high range of the Sierra Madres, the back bone of Mexico, and on the west by the Pacific ocean and the gulf of Cali fOrnia, has been known to abound in untold store of mineral and agricul- tural wealth. Three hundred years ago its gold and silver mines gave it the name of the "King of Spain s Treasure House. v It was here that were loaded the ships that in the time of Drake and Hawkins made the rich plunder of the Spanish main. Some of these an cient mines have been rediscovered and arc yielding rich stores of precious met. als.
 For years the only railroad in Sonora was the line running from Nogales to Guaymas. Locally and in Arizona this road is known as "The Burro.' It was renowned all along the Pacific coast as the finest sample of a jerkwater road in the world. The fireman and engineer often found themselves short of fire wood and it was their custom to get out and cut lot at the head of a grade, and then, after steaming up to rush pell- mell down the grade, in the wild hope that Providence and momentum would lift them up the hill again. Usually they were disappointed. It is said that burros were employed occasionally to haul the engine to the top of the grade while the conductor played monte with the passengers and the engineer took nap. The trip from Nogales to Quay mas, matter of less than 200 miles was entirely problematical as to the time of departure, and questionable as to the time of arrival.
 Now this ierkwater road is becoming part of an enormous line stretching from British Columbia to the City of Mexico. The somolent valleys of So- nora are resounding with the activity of railroad building Among the In dians and Mexicans have appeared the gangs of pig tailed Chinese, armed with picks and shovels, digging and smooth ing the path of civilization.
 The operations of the Hartman in terests in northwestern Mexico are on a great scale. The headquarters oI the works are at Tucson, but there are branch headquarters here and at Quay mas and Alamos. The official name of the new railroad is the Cananea, Yaqui River & Pacific. About S50,000,000 has been appropriated for the work already outlined The road begins at Empahne, about nine kilometers northeast of Guaymas, on the gulf of California, and runs southeasterly to the Yaqui river, near Cocorit, a distance of seventy miles. It then branches, one line run ming northward and the other south ward. The north line runs from Co- corit through the Yaqui valley, tapping the rich mining districts of La Dura, Soyopa and Sahuaripa, and connecting at the American border, near Douglas Ariz., with the Hartman lines. This road will open up the Yaqui river valley to agricultural development and enable the development of many rich mining fields. That section of Sonora abounds in gold, silver, copper, lead and other minerals.
 The southerly branch of the new rail road will run from Cocorit to Alamos, at which point the old Southern Pacific concession will be utilized. This con cession guarantees the payment of $12,- 800 Mexican per kilometer of completed road. From Alamos the road will run through the state of Sinaloa, the terri tory of Topic, and the state of Jalisco to Guadalajara, rich and historic com munity which promises to become one of the greatest cities of the American continent.
 In the course of its meanderings the