Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1913-09-02
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PANAMA RAILWAY
Famous Old Line About to See Its
Finish.

| colon, =. Z.-Wlln tie coihPlelioh vi
the Panama canal the importance OF
the Panama railway will decline al
most to the vanishing point.
For nearly sixty years this railway
has been carrying people and freight
from ocean to ocean. Though only for.
| ty-seven miles long, 1t has been, fol
certain periods, one Of the most i'm.
portant and most interesting railroad
lines in the world. During the build
ing of the canal, under the ownership
of the United States. it has become one
of the best equipped and most efficient
of railways. 1t has given great help In
the construction Of the canal that will
prove it's virtual death.
The finding Of gold in California was
the cause of the building Of the Pana-
ma railroad. For long years before the
wild rush Of argonauts in 1s4s the 18TH
mus was almost forgotten by the CIV
ilized world, but when the yellow me-
| tai was discovered on the west coast i,
became once more a great trade route
In order to avoid the long trip across
the plains in prairie schooners," thou
sands of gold-seekers went by boat to
Chagres, up the Chagres river to Cor
gona or Cruces and thence over the old
Spanish road to Panama. This, too
was long route and in the rainy sea-
son a painful and dangerous one be-
cause Of the prevalence Of disease.
To the rescue Of the gold hunters
came three bold Americans, w. H. AS
pinwall, Henry Chauncey and John l.
Stevens. In 1S4S these men had asked
the government of New Granada for a
concession for the road, and In 1856
Stevens obtained 1t at Bogota- The Pa
cific terminus could not be otherwise
than at Panama, but at first the har-
bor of Porto Bello was selected for the
Atlantic terminus. However, a New
York speculator spoiled this plan by
buying up all the land about the har-
Dor and holding 1t at very high price
so Navy Bay was chosen instead.
When work on the line was begun In
May, 1850, there was no celebration, no
turning OF the first spadeful of earth
with golden shovel.
Two Americans with gang of In
dams landed on Manzanillo island, now
the site of the city Of Colon, then q
desolate, uninhabited spot, and began
the tremendous task Of clearing the
route through the dense jungle. The
surveying party suffered intensely, fol
the land was so swampy and so infest-
ed with malaria and yellow fever bear
ing mosquitoes that they were COM
PEELED to sleep aboard ship. Much OF
the time they carried their lunches tied
on their heads and ate them standing
waist-deep in the water.
The efforts Of the company to obtain
laborers were attended by terrible
tragedy. Eight hundred Chinese were
brought over from Hong Kong, but
within a week of their landing scores
of them died. Opium was given the
survivors and for a short time check
ed the ravages Of disease. But the sup
ply Of the drug was shut off on ac-
count of it's cost and again the deaths
became numerous. The poor Orientals
in despair began to commit suicide
some by hanging, others by impale-
ment, while some deliberately sat down
upon the seashore and waited for the
rising tide to overwhelm them. In a
few weeks scarce two hundred were
left, and these broken in health and
spirits, were sent to Jamaica.
Another shipload of laborers, this
time from Ireland, met no better fate,
for nearly every man died.
The material difficulties that con-
fronted the railway builders are thus
summarized by Tones in his "Pana-
ma in 1885,: The isthmus did not sup
ply a single resource necessary for the
undertaking. Not only the capital, skill
and enterprise, but the labor, the wood
and iron, the daily food, the clothing,
the roof to cover and the instruments
to work with came from abroad
Most of the material used for the con-
struction Of the road was brought
from vast distances. Although the
country abounded in forests, 1t was
found necessary, from the expense of
labor and the want Of routes of COM
munication, to send the timber, for
the most part, from the United States,
and not only were the rails to con-
siderable extent, laid on American pine
but the bridges. and the houses and
workshops of the various settlements
were of the same wood, all fashioned
in Maine and Georgia. The metal work,
the rails, the locomotives and the
tools were brought either from Eng
land or the United States. The daily
food of the laborers. even, came from
New York market"
The first section of the road was laid
through a mangrove swamp in which
no bottom was found, the tracks being
foated on an immense pontoon. BY
October 1851, eight miles had been
completed, and solid ground was reach
gan to hamper the builders. Investors
| in the states had become discouraged
and the cost of labor had advanced
But a hurricane came to the rescue
| Two ships loaded with gold seekers
were forced to anchor near Manzanillo
island and the passengers paid the
company a handsome sum to carry
them to Gatun in work cars. The
news that the road had carried more
than a thousand passengers reached
New York and funds again flowed into
the Golfers Of the company.
AS the work progressed passengers
were hauled longer and longer dis
tances and before the line was com
pleted the receipts from passengers
and freight were considerably above
$2,OO0.000. The last rails were laid the
night of January 81, 1855, and the mex,
day the first train passed clear across
the isthmus from the Atlantic to the
Pacific. The entire cost Of the road UP