The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1909-06-20
HARTMAN HAND
SEEN IN MEXICAN
RAILROAD DEAL
BartCh Concession Means I'm
pOTtant Link in Vast Con-
tinentaI System.
UTAH MEN PROMINENT IN
DEVELOPMENT COMPANY
GREAT NATURAL RESOURCES TO
BE DEVELOPED BY
NEW LINE.

The fact that the Mexican-American
Holding & Improvement company has
recently received concessions from the
Mexican government for building a rail-
road line from the City of Oaxaca to
! the Pacific coast, thence easterly TO the
seaport of Salina Cruz, and westerly 20
| the seaports of Acapulco, ZihuatanejO
and Manzanillo, in Mexico, coupled with
/ the reports of railroad building in Mex
/ leo by the Hartman lines. has created
much speculation in railroad circles. 1t
| is believed by many that this cOuCes-
sion was really obtained through the in
strumentality of Mr. Hartman in fur
theranCe of his plans for a railroad
! through southern Mexico by which he
Imay control the railroad transportation
/ of the North American continent from
Seattle to the Panama canal
| As matter of fact, several Of the Of
/ f1cers and a large number of the stock
| holders of the INSTRUMENTATION Hold
/ ing & Improvement company are Utah
men. The company, i'm fact. may be
/ said TO be a Utah concern, although it
/ is incorporated under the laws Of the
| territory of Arizona The director and
| general counsel is Judge George ".
/ Bartch of this city, and ne stated yes
/ terday that, while his company was
friendly TO Mr.. Harriman's interests, the
concessions which had been granted had
/ been procured without the aid or influ-
leuce of Mr.. Hartman. but with the IN
lderstanding that the road contemplated
would be a link in the great Hartman
proposition. In other words, ultimately
the Hartman line will so connect with
the road that a continuous rail system
will be built from Seattle to the Panama
canal.
Quiet Proceedings.
The matter Of securing the concession
has been kept very quiet tt was first
taken up last September with the Mex
lean government. The papers were
signed In April, but net until this month
were all the details arranged and the
publication Of the facts made desirable
The life OF the concession is for a period
of ninety-nine years, and the expecta-
tons Of the company are the building
Of the road, the opening of the mines,
the construction of smelters and the
development Of the vast agricultural
and timber resources of the regions
over which the road viii pass. As a
basis for beginning operations. the COM
pany has purchased and is now Operat-
ling the OaXaca < Ejutla railroad, which
extends for fOrty-five miles south from
the city of Oaxaca.
/ With the building Of this road and
the building of the present Hartman
system in Mexico, which extends TO
Guadalajara, the rail system from Sc
attic TO Salina Cruz viii have been es-
tablished. for, from Guadalajara To
ManzanillO. a matter OF about sixty
miles, there is now built d line under
Mexican control which Hartman could
probably secure at a nominal sum.
Steamship Line Probable.
But it is intimated that these are only
a part of the plans of the company.
, Ultimately the company expects 10 own
a steamship line from. Manzanillo to
San Pedro bay. This would mean the
/ output of southern Mexico. which con-
sists of oranges, piueapples, manages.
bananas, cocoanuts and other tropical
products, viii have a short line to the
! intermOuntain country of the west BIZ
! way Of the steamship line and the salt
. Lake Route. instead Of by way of New
Orleans as at present
Salina Cruz, the southern and east
srn terminus of the proposed route. is
on the south coast of the TebuanteDec
p isthmus. across which the Tehuantepec
. National railroad is built. The isthmus
2 is 100 miles in width, and q tremendous
r traffic is carried on here It is said
] that in 1906 and 1907 the freight traffic
2 here amounted to $4,000. 600: later fg-
2 ures are not Obtaiuable, but are said to
be even greater.
t 1t is not the plan of the Mexican
American Holding & com
lpauy to build the railroad itself Ii will
be the parent, or holding company. and
has many other development plans be-
] sides the building of the railroad The
railroad company, which viii be organ
1 lied by the holding company under the
p concession granted. viii be organized
: with Q capitalization of $40, 900. 900. d.
, vided into 400 600 shares. and the com
Ipany plans an issue Of bonds in the sum
/ of S4000O.000 for railroad construction
] and operation. Papers for the organ
81 ization of the railroad company prelim-
mary 20 the issuance of the bonds have
/ already been completed.
I 1t is claimed that the building Of the
. road viii be comparatively easy. mex
8 pensive and quick of accomplishment
Along the proposed line are no heavy
grades; even passing through the Sierra
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