El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-03-22
The Tehuantepec Route To
Be Panama Canal Competitor
Mexcos Unique Operated by English Firm and
Managed by Americans.

over the Panama route would be two
days, or possibly three. counting US
ual delays.
Hawaiian Business Good.
The most profitable business han
died by the Tehauntepec route is that
carried to it by the American Hawa-
iian Steamship company, whose ships
formerly sailed around Cape Horn
The Tehauntepec route guarantees. the
steamship company certain profit on
its tonnage of through freight The
agreement is that the steamship COM
pany shall have two-thirds Of the
through rate and the railroad one
third, except in case the two-thirds
of the through rate is not enough to
make the guaranteed profit, in which
event the railroads share Of the rate
may be scaled down as low as one
/ fourth Of the through rate.
The Tehauntepec Railroad COM
pany is minority stockholder Of the
American Hawaiian line, owning nearly
one-third of the stock When the
Panama canal is completed, the ano-
maly will be presented Of a steamship
line partly owned by the Mexican gov
eminent, deserving a railroad COM
pletely owned by that government
and seeking a route owned by an
other government. It.is possible. how
ever. that the Mexican government will
decide to buy a controlling interest
in the America n Hawaiian, whose ships
are of American register. and continue
the present arrangement, canal or no
canal
Port Facilities Modern.
The port facilities OF the two ter
minals are thoroughly modern, those
at Coatzacoalcos being situated in the
mouth Of a river by the same name,
the harbor being protected by huge
breakwaters- At Sa1ina Cruz the har-
Dor had to be built upon a most in
hcspitable shore line. Huge break
waters surmounted by concrete blocks
weighing 40 tons each, had TO be con-
structed, strong enough to stand the
violent northerS that sweep down upon
the little port built on an arid waste.
There is an inner and an outer harbor,
and docks big enough to accommo-
date three or four L, 900 ton freighterS
at a time. Huge electric cranes ham
die cargo so fast as to make ones head
swim while watching it. Taking more
than 300 tons of cargo out of the
hold OF single steamer in one work
ing day. transferring it to waiting
cars and starting them across the is
thmus, is record that was made a
few weeks ago. Poems do the work,
being paid a gold dollar day. Be-
yond a certain point, the gangs are
paid additional wages, and in some
cases a lot of poems have averaged
so tons Of sugar each. carrying every
pound Of ii on their backs.
The railroad is built as substanti-
ally as any road in the United States
Native hardwood and California red
wood ties are used All engines are
oil burners, and the track is kept
sprinkled with oil. so that a trip
across the isthmus is one of the most
enjoya BILE in the world. 1t has the
fewest empty cars to handle Of any
road in the world. II started out
with a freight business as large as
it could take care of the day it began
operations This occurred January
%, 1907, when president Diaz, in the
presence of the representative of 20
foreign nations, gave the signal that
started the electric crane which raised
a 15-bag load of sugar out Of the hold
OF the American Hawaiian steamship
Arizona"
Tomorrow-Pan American Railroad