Daily independent. [volume] (Elko, Nev.) 188?-1915, 1913-12-22
OLD PANAMA TRAILS
Taxicab Evidences Change TAX
ing Place on lsthmus.
Trips the Auto Can Make-Tourlsts
May See Many Interesting Sights,
but Cannot Motor From
Ocean to Ocean.


New York.-Along the trail where
the pirate Morgan and his men made
their way more than 200 years ago.
and where the '49ers who chose the
isthmian route, struggled to reach the
Pacific, the tourist today may jump
into taxicab and bowl along finely
kept roads for many miles.
The taxi has just made it's appear
ance in Panama. writes the Panama
correspondent of the New York
Times. The business has started off
with rush and the vehicles now here
Will be added to in a few weeks by
several more which have been or.
dered by the local company.
Automobile trips cannot extend all
the way across the isthmus. for there
is no highway from ocean to ocean,
nor is it probable that any such road
will be built in the near future, be-
cause the construction of the Panama
canal has formed n lake in the middle
of the isthmus 1874 square miles in
area, with broad arms stretching out
In all directions into the hollows be-
tween the hills. Only one location for
such a road is practicable, and that
is along the right of way of the Pana.
ma railroad, which skirts the eastern
side of the lake. This would be very
costly construction.
North of this lake, however, toward
the Atlantic ocean. there is a good
macadam road leading from Gatuu
locks to the city of Colon. There are
half dozen motor cars for hire in
=.
hour to take the ride from the city
to Gatun. And 1t is worth while, too,
because every inch of the way is in.
teresting, the elimination coming at
Gatun, where the locks and dam are
under construction. and from whose
hill one can see the Atlantic entrance
to the canal, with the dredges at
work there and the water lying be.
yond the roofs of Colon.
In Colon itself there is road
along the water front, past the hos.
pital, that has a certain quiet charm,
but on the whole that city is tawdry
looking and full of strange smells,
although 1t is very clean.
South of Gatun lake, between the
village of Gorgona and the city of
Panama there Is a number of good
highways, leach offering some special
inducement for the automobilist
Tourists seem to favor the trip from
the present city to the site of the old
city of Panama, a distance of about
seven miles. This is over good
macadam road, which runs along the
foot OF low ridge. with rolling saba.
mas stretching out toward the bay.
Here and there from the top of some
rise in the highway a glimpse of the
ocean may be obtained The last
mile of the journey is over the loca.
ton of the Gamma Real" or kings
highway, along which the rich trade
of old Panama was carried long ago.
There is little to see, for Panama
was not large city, as tourists know
towns today, probably never number.
ing more than 10000 persons, and
within the walls was only a part OF
this population. After the pirate Nor.
gan captured the city, on Jan. 10,
1871, the governor burned it, and
three years later a new town was
started on the site Of the present city
! OF Panama. Only a few old masonry
walls, half a dozen beautiful arches
and an imposing looking tower mark
the site of one of the three great cit.
les of the new world three centuries
ago.
From the romance of other DAYS to
that Of the present is but an hour's
ride in Panama, for by turning north.
ward from the road to old Panama
ones car can be sent along good
highway that runs along the Panama
canal for 20 miles. The glimpse If
forded OF the canal construction as
the motor car glides along is moi
close enough to permit of any real
knowledge OF the work. but 1t is com
prehensive, for 1t includes dredging
In the Pacific entrance. lock construc
ton at Mirafiores and Pedro Miguel
and excavation in Culebra cut.
At the south end of Culebra cut
the highway leaves the edge of the
canal to run behind Gold hill for two
miles or more. The hill shuts off the
busy life of the canal and one may
look across the valley of the Pedro
Miguel river upon as tangled bit OF
tropical jungle as will be found IN
Central America The hill once
passed. the canal again appears. with
Culebra cut stretching away into the
distance. The roar of dynamite
blasts, the whistling Of score OF 10
coinotives, the crunching Of the heav.
lily laden dirt trains and the monot
onous hammering OF drills beat upon
the ear, while the eye Is held by q
sweep of green hills on whose slopes
are the homes of the canal builders
Immediately in the foreground is the
yawning chasm that has been dug.
Thief Thanka u,%tp, for taas