The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-01-30
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 30. 1907.
AN IMPORTANT LINK.

An enterprise Of vast importance which has been going on under our noses 50 to speak. has just been prac- ticaliy completed and will soon be in full operation. We allude to the Tehuantepec National Railroad. begin ming at Salina Graz. on the Bay of Te- huantepec. and running almost due North to Coatacoalcos, on the Bay of Campeachy. The distance in direct line between the two ports Is only 125 miles, but the length of the road is iso miles. The following from con- temporary will be of interest,"
 At Coatzacoalcos the freight that was yesterday or the day before lifted from cisco. Honolulu or the Orient, will be taken Rom the freight cars and de posited in the hold of the vessel bound for New York or Liverpool with all the ease that the most modern docking machinery makes possible.
 In this manner is fulfilled the dream of Cortes. who in the 1520's was so sure that ocean would meet ocean across the Isthmus of Tehauntepec that . he asked for and received from Charles VI of Spain an immense tract of land on the isthmus; This land IS now known as Las Masquesanas, or the es- tates of the Marquis. Cortes having prior to the time of the land grant, been made the Marquis of the Valley or
 The map of the world best illus trates the commercial importance of this great project which has now be- come a reality. especially so when 1t Is nnderstood that 1t Is claimed by the builders and admitted by the best shipping authorities of the world that the cost of unloading shipping across the isthmus and reloading 1t at the rr,tI hn oG that expended in the longer haul to the Tsthmus of Panama. and the neces- saYy canal tolls.
 The actual difference in distance from Now York to San Francisco between the Tehuantepec and the Panama route, is 1.1S2 miles. the former being A,a25 miles and the latter 6lOI Tne average saving in distance Is about l. 250 miles, The ordinary freight steam CT makes about ten miles an hour. or s6O miles a day. It will take a steam ar about one day to pass through the canal and the freight about two days to cross the isthmus, inclusive of the docking, unloading and reloadlns' leaving still four days to the adVan- taze of the Tehauntepec.<
 The figures given above show the time and distance saved by this route as compared with the route through the Panama Canal, when that Is complet- cd, which will probably be done at some time in the future. The article from which we have quoted Is accompanied b,i a map showing the relative dis 4ance over the two routes from New york or New Orleans to various places on the Pacific coast. and to ports of the oid world, and a reference to the map ng the world will show at a glance the saving that will show the advantages of this railway.
 Thirty five million dollars in gold have already been spent on this road ana it is proposed to spend at least fif- teen millions more before all the Inn movements are completed What st- feet will this road have on the business os the canal? We know that having to unload and reload freight at two points is objectionable. and where time ts of no importance the canal route will probably be preferable, but in this era of hurry and competition the saving of even twenty-four hours Is often a matter of consequence to the simmer Then, too, We must bear in mind that modern Improvements and convenlences have made the docking unloading and reloading of vessels a matter of comparatively small impor- rance. And it must also be remember ed that this road is now ready 'for business and will have a dozen or more years to establish itself as an i'm portant feature of the carrying trade of the world before the canal is open ed. We regard it as a highly impor- tant link between the East and the west