Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-03-23
secretary of state to the effect that the
Do Not Look for
Through System.

will be through
Do Not Look for Pan A merican
Through System. ANA IN five wears
! is not accepted seriously by the railroad
builders of Central America These men
are matter-Of-fact railroad men, to whom
profits look more important than senti-
ment, and they assert that such a through
system would not pay at the present time.
No one who has Travelled from the Mex
lean border to Washington cares to do it a
second time, and any one who has tray
eled over the railroads of Central Amer
lea would never plan such a trip as a
pleasure outing. Freight hauled by rail
for such distance would have prohibitive
tariffs to encounter Therefore, local traffic
would have to support the system, and in
Central America the natural lanes of
traffic lead from the interior to the sea-
ports. The proposed Pan-Arnerican would
cross these natural channels of trade at
right angles.
Even when the day comes that the gaps
in the proposed system are filled in it
will be impossible to take a through train
if the roads now built. or seriously pro-
jected. south of Guatemala are to be con-
sidered in the construction of the Pan
American system. Almost without excep-
ton they are narrow-gauge roads and
their construction has been projected on
such basis that nothing but rebuilding
would serve to transform them into stand
ard-gauge lines.
So far as the Pan-American of Mexico
is concerned, it will serve its part ad-
! mirably in the ultimate plan of project
ing standard-gauged railroad south of
Panama. 1t has been laid with fifty-six
and sixty-pound steel rails, it's bridges
are built on granite foundations, its ties
are of mahogany and other hardwoods
and it's gradients are suited to compare
lively heavy traffic. 1t passes through
an undeveloped country wonderfully rich
in its resources, a coastal plain in places
nearly hundred miles wide.
y
The Pan-American is built under
ninety -nine-year concession, and the
Mexican govern
Received Subsidy ment gave it's
Of $4,000 Mile. sidy Of approxi-
mately $4,000 a mile. our money. to-
ward its construction. The terms Of the
mortgage under which 1t is built provide
for bond issue of $4,000 mile, with
the reservation that the issue shall not
exceed 5000 q. mile until such time as
the nat earnings are twice as great as the
interest charge on the total authorized
bond issue. A son Of President Diaz is
one Of the directors Of the road.
The trains Of the Pan-American run on
peculiar schedule. The trip from
Gamboa to Tapachula is too long to be
made in a single day, SO the trains start
in the morning, run as far as Tonala.
stop there over night. and continue the
journey next day. reaching Tapachula by
SHUTDOWN. On the section between Tapa-
chula and Mariscal there Is only one
train a week, and that runs on Sunday.
However, the operating officials of the
Pan-American. being from the United
States, have a warm spot in their hearts
for American travellers and often allow
them the privilege of riding on q con-
struction train any day in the week.
The operation Of the Pan-American has
been taken over by the National Rail-
ways of Mexico, and the line will become
an integral part of that system. strong
! effort is being made to exploit the terri
| tory through which the line passes. Sit
uated no farther from the markets of the
eastern part OF the United States than
southern California, and many days
| closer to New YORK. and the Atlantic sea-
board via the Panama canal, 1t is claim