Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-05-02

Orient Company commenced building east
ward from the port of Topolobampo into
the interior toward Chihuahua. and Is
now operating as far as Ell fuerte. IN
the Sierra Madre mountains, which II
crosses at all elevation of 1900 feet. lntl
the present revolution the same company
was extending the Chihuahua and South
western in that direction and building
northeast from Chihuahua TO connect
with the Kansas City and Orient, when
is now very near the border. WITHIN a
year or so, had this interruption been
avoided. it would have been possible TO
ride direct from Kansas City via Chi
huahua to Topolobampo. which claims
the finest harbor on the Pacific coast be-
tween San Diego and Panama.
There are very few good harbors on
the Pacific coast of America. The only
ones OF Importance south of San Diego
are Magdalena bay, in Lower California
Topolobampo. Manzanillo, CorintO, Punta
Arenas. Panama. Guayaqul, Callao, Co
Quimbo and Valparaiso, and some OF
those are too shallow to admit modern
battleships and passenger steamers.
Connect With Mining Towns.
There are several short lines OF road
along the southern boundary of the
United States in Mexico connecting the
Southern Pacific with mining towns and
other important centers. Several other
lines have been projected as the neces-
sites of traffic demand. although the
present revolution has interrupted not
only construction but traffic upon the
railroads already built.
The Sonora railway, which IS the first
link in the Southern Pacific of Mexico.
was begun by the Santa F'e Company at
Guaymas May Is. 1850 Ii was opened to
Hermosillo the capital of Sonora in No
vember of the same year. and extended
to NocaleS, on tie boundary of the
nited States, to connect with the South
ern Pacific in lSS2. The late G. p. Hun
tinston obtained control of this road in
1895 and secured from the government of
Mexico a concession to extend it down
the coast. He was granted a cash gold
subsidy of Slo.00n a kilometer. which is
equiv alent to about sli,Hjo mile After
the death of Mr.. Huntington the road
and the concession fell under the control
of the late f. III. Hartman, who was
very enthusiastic concerning the posi-
bilties. and placed il in charge of that
ma ster railroad builder. Col. EpeS Ran
dolph. He is still general manag ger. and
| has absolute control subject only To the
approval of the board of directors of the
Southern Pacific.
The construction has been as perfect
as possible. Fifty millions of dollars have
| been expended already, and ten millions
more are awaiting the drafts Of Col.
Randolph to pay for its completion 70
Guadalajara. The old part of the line
| from Nogales to GuaymaS has been COM
pletely rebuilt with minimum grades and
curves and rock ballast, and the entire
| track is provided with bridges and cul-
Verts Of concrete and steel. The side
tracks are uniformly one kilometer in
! length, and the stations and section
houses are as substantial and perfect as
those of any road in the United States
The shops and other buildings are of re
| lnforced concrete, and every feature OF
| the line is perfect and permanent. The
rolling stock is the same as that on other
branches of the Southern Pacific system.
| Pullman Service.
A Pullman sleeper, with a broiler
buffet, leaves Los Angeles at 1915 pm.
daily. arriving at Nosales at the same
hour the next evening, at Guaymas at
| 40 a. m. the second morning, at Mazat-
Ian the third morning and at San Bias
the fourth night. AT Tepic there is a
stage connection for Guadalupe Gap. to
which point the road from Guadalajara
has been extended. and passengers can
| cross the intervening distance, about
lelghty miles, in two days.
| The operating headquarters of the
| railroad are at GuaymaS. 1t is a part
| CT the Southern Pacific system and the
executive offices are at 100 Broadway,
New York. and in the Flood building at
san francisco. Inc general passenger
agent is Mr.. III. Lawton at Guaymas and
Mr. c. c. White is the industrial agent
| In charge of colonization and the es-
ltablishment Of commercial and indus
trial enterprises. In d future letter ]
will tell You about the experience Of
the companies which have been trying
to promote emigration from the United
States
| There are several famous old mines
along the road. The Rosario silver
mine, near MaZatlan, has been one of
| the largest producers in all Mexico. but
silver is down now and copper, iron and
| coal are wanted.
| There have been no striking engineer
ing features In connection with the
construction of the road. 1t mas fol-
lowed the coast line and the lowiands
that lie west of the mountains. ter
ritory which was settled early In the
| history of the colony and long before
California was known. Some of the
towns which | will tell you about in
future letter date back TO the seven
teenth century, for this coast was civ
| ilized before New England was.