The San Francisco call., 1909-03-14

fo-S OF AelE boring republics. he
makes eloqueyt speeches about the
Fan-AmericihP- project, which is 50 very.
very near fis heart, while he secretly
blocks it, progress.
BUuLDl&G DONE
Bh A>8ERICANS
f.fmost without exception. all the
r-dluoad building has been done by
Americans The object Of the early
lines was TO take the products of the
0piands TO the sea While in Mexico
the general direction Of All the lines is
north and south along the valleys and
Che plateau. in Central America. il is
ftranscontinental. from Atlantic TO Pa
cihc. Honduras has a total Of 5 Z miles
OF railroad; Costa Rica, excepting the
banana line. 294 miles; Nicaragua. $50
miles; Salvador 500 miles; Guatemala,
Alb miles. This total is only about half
That Of Cuba and less than half that
or the island Of Java, which is one
NTH she size Of Central America
Ine first through transcontinental
lie outside Of the old 40 miles stretch
N Panama. was completed only a year
90. Sir william Van Horne and Minor
C. Keith who made his fortune in Cos
IA Rica. and their allied interests own
The new Northern railway from Guate-
msia City to Puerto Barrios. This taps
great bassna and coffee districts It
passes by the province Of Peten. which
is such spoil to the ak as the forest re-
gions Of Maine and Michigan were be-
fore numbering began.
Peten's boundaries break the line of
the Mexican frontier in a way that
spoils the geographical appearance Of
Mexico 10 Mexican eyes. In any war
with Guatemala there is no doubt OF
the fate OF this province. No forest Of
hardwood Of anything like such extent
lies SO near our doors. Once develop
meut begins. more distant districts
must wait on the exhaustion Of this
supply
Sir william Kan Horne sees far
ahead. He sees that the same reason
that makes it 10 our interest TO keep
stable government IN Cuba must con
troll the destinies Of Guatemala in the
end. But he is not alone The Harri-
man ima ginaNion also looks far aield
Down the western coast OF Mexico the
Hartman extension pushes its way to
GuadaIajars: and now look at your
map and you viii see that the one good
harbOr between northern Mexico and
Panama IS the bay OF Fonseca, with the
port OF la Union, Salvador Draw a
line from san Geronimo in Mexico. to
la Union and you have the one possible
pan American line for the present Ex-
tend that line up 10 the Southern Pa
ct7c and the Hartman idea is com
plete.
But control OF the right Of way or Of
sl the sections built is not his The
Keith interest has the link in Salvador
II the rewards OF traffic were attrac-
tive enough. Il would be only a matter
OF two or three years before YOU might
ride from New York TO La Union In
Guatemala the Occidental runs from
Ma1zenango to Guatemala City. and
there is another little link owned by
Adolfo Meyer. who is ready to sell
when he gets his price
Forty miles more OF construction
VIII connect Guatemala with Mexleo's
ca pital by rail. From what I heard
before I went south this would soon
be completed. President Cabrera of
Guatemala, whose relations with Mex
fco have been strained, suddenly
changed his temper this summer and
made a felicitous announcement about
shaking hands with Diaz across the
Ocos river, when at last the great Pan
American road was no longer a dream
and Central Americas isolation was
finally broken. When ] asked Cabrera
himself about it he said, Very soon,v
and that is as definite as he would be.
lie intimated that no one can have any
exact ideas about railroad building in
the rainy season
FLOODS DESTROY WORK
For a week the Northern railroad
was out OF business while I was in
Guatemala, with passengers waiting on
the foods to abate. IN Costa Rica il
rained for nine days, without sight Of
the sun. Ordinarily 1t takes one day
70 20 from Punta Arenas. Costa Rica, |
10 San Jose, which includes a IL mile |
ride on muIeback. I was four days |
At the Barranca river the stone abut-
ruents had been washed away and We /
crossed IN a bucket on a wire trolley. /
Later. at other streams there was not /