The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1912-08-20
Copyright, 1912, by Frank G. Car
penter.)

BuIIulnS the ROAD 10 OlO lid.
This road runs over the way picked
out by the Spaniards centuries ago.,
and much of the new pavement is re-
laid with the cobblestOneS over which
the Indians and mules carried their
Of gold from the Atlantic to
the Pacific. All the treasures Of the
Incas which Pizarro stole passed over
this highway. They amounted TO
millions and were enough to have al
most paved it with gold. The road
went from here over the old Cruces
trail. It was originally covered with
field rock, and our government is now
planning to reopen 1t, and 1t Will
m~acadamize the highway as far as
Cruces on the ChagreS river, a dis
lance of about eighteen miles. 1t was
over that road that Henry Morgan.
the buccaneer, came to capture aid
Panama, and it remained the chief
highway across the iSthmus until
1888, when the Spanish treasure ships
stopped calling at Porto BellO.
In Old Panama.
| drove out Over this roa today to
visit old Panama Gov. laurie H.
Thatcher, who will have charge Of the
repairs on the Cruces road, was with
Inc, and together we examined the
work now being done on the road to
old Panama.
Leaving AncOn, we Skirted the Sa-
vannas OF open grazing country out
side, crossed the limits Of the Canal
Zone and after a ride of about seven
or eight miles came to the old Spanish
bridge beyond which are the ruins Of
was once the most important
town on QUE hemisphere.
Old Panama was founded just bOu
100 years before our Pilgrim Fathers
landed on Plymouth Rock. It was
fed by the riches of Peru, which were
brought for shipment across the 18TH
mus n rapidly grew. AS time went
on the city increased in importance
and mighty buildings were erected.
One Of these was a cathedral, the tow
er and some of the walls Of which are
still standing. l have climbed into
the tower and had myself photo
graphed in one Of the secOnd-Story
windows. The town is, I judge, 100
feet high, and at one side Of it is a
great well containing the stairway
which led to the bell on its summit.
These ruins are now OVergrOWn
with v~eoetation. They are half buried
in the earth, and in places trees have
sprouted and now shade the ruins.
Inside the walls Of the cathedral is
one tree more han 100 feet high,
Others W spread their roots about
the walls as though to protect them,
and some nave raised parts of the
"d1lS d10 Lin IIkSII Op With AIlCAIl
The whole country about is covered
with the debris Of the old masonry
including bricks n pieces Of pot.
terry and carved stone. All were {
part Of the Panam of three centu
ries ago. In making the new road
way a great deal Of the old site ha.
been dug over and the and remind,
one of The ploWed fields about Car
thage in northern Africa.
Panama in 160
It is said by the best authorize
that old Panama was considerably lar
ger than the Panama of today. Whel
destroyed by the pirates it had owe
fifty thousand inhabitants. 1t ha'
200 warehouses, 1000 fine dwelling
and 5000 houses Of ordinary build
Many OF its buildings were of brick
The bricks were made square an
were about two inches thick. The
were burnt red. Many of these brick
lie about the ruins today.
am told that it is the %ntentio.
of the Panama government to max
excavations all over the site Of tn
old city and to open the past as ia
as possible to the light Of the pres
ent. Already there is a great tours
travel out to old Panama, and wit
the completion Of the canal this wi
be one Of the sights of the countr.
A concession has already been give
10 Dulld an electric railway, and tn
will probably be constructed in tim,
In the Footsteps OF the Buccaneer
This country fairly teens with hi
tory. All the wealth Of the Pacif
coast OF our continent was brougl
mere, and the pirates and buccanee1
lowered about these waters. hopir
to catch and rob the Spanish galleon
Now and then the cities were besiege
n n Of the most graphic stories
Dy1r have &C.
ry Morgan and his band in the ca
ture of Panama. The story W;
noted down by one Of the pirates. wi
kept a record Of everything. It W;
published about seven years after Il
events occurred, and it describes Il
expedition as a whole and in detail.
The pirate writer's name was 10
E~sQuemeling, and he published /
narrative in 1878. 1t was first prir
ed in Dutch, but it has been done ov
INTO Spanish and English, and copi
of 1t may now be bought.
E~SQuemeling tells first of the ca