The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1906-01-15
THE TEHUANTEPEC ROUTE
IS AROUS|NG ATTENTION
Historical Sketch of the Great Enterprise of the
American Hawaiian Steamship Company
Shortest Cut Between Coasts.

The Tehuantepec Isthmus railway is
certain to play an important part in
the commercial development of Ha-
waii, if all data received in Honolulu
is to be credited A recent dispatch
says that the two new steamers for
the American-Hawa S. S. Co. are
being built to take charge of some of
the sugar which is to be shipped from
Hawaii to the railway terminus on the
Pacific side of the isthmus. Each of
these vessels will be bigger than the
Alaskan which arrived in port last
week. They will be ready for their
maiden trips in a few months.
Secretary H. P. Wood of the Pro-
| motion Committee is receiving consid-
cradle data concerning the new 18TH
mian railway, which will be ready for
use in July. William E. Curtis de-
scribes the new venture as follows:
A new steamship connection be-
tween New York, New Orleans San
Francisco and the Hawaiian Islands
is about to be established in connec-
ton with the Tehuantepec railroad,
and on the 1st of next July fleet of
nine steamers is to be employed car
rying freight, and ultimately passen-
gers by way of the Mexican isthmus.
The fleet and the terminal facilities
for handling the business represent an
investment of 100000 of American
The nrnSiHprt nj ha
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 clip
per ships of the old Flint Line.
The present company is an out
growth of that old service. an ANAL
gamation 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 Honolulu. From Liverpool
they would bring back general mer-
chandise and from Hawaii raw sugar.
In course of time these two companies
consolidated, and in 1899 abandoned
their sailing ships and adopted steam
ers. The new corporation was called
the American Hawaiian Steamship
Company, and has had in service four
steamers of $500 tons and two of 5000
tons. 1t has recently constructed three
additional steamers of II, 500 tons each,
and is now building two more of still
larger capacity-12,5 500 tons-at the
Union Iron Works, at San Francisco.
1t is the intention of the company to
order four more from shipbuilders on
the Atlantic coast, which will make
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 plantations
to the refineries of New York and
Philadelphia. They have been doing
that for half century or more, but
the service is now to be enlarged and
the steamers will run on scheduled
time after the 1st of next July. There
will be one sailing a week from New
York and one from New Orleans to
Coalzacoalcos, the terminus of the Te-
huantepec railroad on the Gulf of Mex
leo, and two a week from Salina Cruz, |
the Pacific terminus, to San Francis |
co and Honolulu. By this route the !
sea journey from New York to San |
Francisco can be made in twenty-fi five |
days. Subsidiary lines of small steam !
ers will be established on both coasts |
of Central America as far south as |
and Colon to bring coffee and |
other cargo from the minor ports.
SAVING TINE AND DISTANCE.
The sailing distance from New York
to Colon is 1000 miles, and to CoaIza-
coalcos it is 2004 miles. From Panama
to San Francisco is 5000 miles and
from Salina Cruz it is 2105 miles From
Colon to Panama by railroad it is
forty-seven miles. From Coalzacoalcos
to Salina Cruz it is 162 miles There
fore the distance between New York
and San Francisco by Panama is 5307
miles, while by way of Tehuantepec il
s 4271, a distance of 1888 miles in IA
for of the latter route.
From New Orleans to Coa1zacoa1cos
s sos miles and TO Colon 1887 miles,
hus making the distance to San
TdhclSco Dy one route 1904 miles ana
~ the other 3072 miles, a difference of
622.
From Liverpool and other ports of
europe to San Francisco. Honolulu
md the eastern ports of Asia the sail
ng distance via Tehuantepec is about
200 miles shorter than by Panama
Another very important advantage
# the new road will be to furnish