The San Francisco call., 1909-03-14
PANAMA CANAL
KILLS ONE LINE

The cost OF the 200 miles Of line.
finished so long after it was projected
was treble the amount estimated S
Pearson & Son, the great English firm
Of contractors. We're the builders and
leading spirits OF an enterprise-but
themselves well cared for by the gov
ernment-by which Mexico hoped to be
the passa geway for an enormous traffic
between the two oceans. which would
otherwise 20 by the straits of Magel-
Ian. The Hawaiian sugar plantations,
using their own steamers on both
oceans send 100000 tons of sugar every
year to New York and Philadelphia by
this route.
But this contract will be up about
the time that the first steamer weds
the Pacific and Atlantic at Panama.
Then all that the Tehuantepec road viii
have will be local traffic, as a result of
the mistaken conception, in which for
eign engineers encouraged the Mexi-
can government, that the canal, of
which our congress had talked for SO
years, would never materialiZe. Ger
tainly no isthmfan railroad can stand
competition in bulk freight with an
isthmian canal.
1t was my original plan to go over
land from Mexico to Guatemala City.
The 40 miles between terminals / was
to make on muleback. But time was an
OBJECT WIN me WHICH Is a IllSidhG III
the rainy season. The Pan-American
line. so called, runs from San Geronimo
on the Tehuantepec road to the border.
The first sign Of a branch line was a
wood burning locomotive from the
Brooks locomotive works, Dunkirk,, n
Y, built in 1881, which, in its travels
to the junk pile. had found the ante
pebultimate stage in southern Mexico.
There had been much talk in Mexico
III 7
was told, had just been completed to
the Guatemalan border. So il had-that
is a line OF rails on line of sleepers
had been laid. Anybody who rides over
It Will feel no immediate call to horse
back riding as an exercise. Trains
were not running the whole distance.
The manager, when I wired him down
the line, answered that he would see
me over the whole distance of 285 miles
inside Of three days, If he had to take
me on handcar. But at that rate on
the completed section, how fast should
I travel on the uncompleted section on
the Guatemalan side? / decided for an
ell water route by steamer instead of
the half water route by rail.
The Pan-American-thi is the only
one Of the connecting links with that
highfiown name-was not paying ex-
penses. ] was told, but had to maintain
a daily service according to the terms
of the concession from the Mexican
government. Population and industry
are meager in this section Of Mexico
Guatemala. The coffee crop
of scattered plantations is sent to
market. and occasionally a native takes
a ride to see what the sensation is like.
And there you have the main reason.
outside of political interference, that
holds back railroad development which
is dependent on the development of the
most backward countries in the world |
The passenger must have money before
he can ride; crops must be grown be-
fore they can be transported.
BRITISH RELY
ON AMERICANS
The rail facilities that exist are due
to American enterprise and American
engineers. Even on the Tehuantepec
line Pearson & Son had finally to turn |
TO American subcontractors to complete |
the work. Experience has taught us
aowrto build in new countries. A frop- |
cal railroad passes through the meas |
es. Group, and scarlet fever, eventually |
o maturity.
First line OF rails is laid, one way |
Or another. After each rainy season |
Progress is made toward a permanent. I
ndestructible road, where great steel |
BRIDGES, all bearing the marks of Amer |
can foundries, span the turbulent /
treams. Americans frequently remain /
o manage the line after it Is completed.
This is a small business, with two
Iafly trains, which always whistle an
lour before they start to the capital