Evening journal., 1913-08-01
NEW NEWS OF YESTERDAY
How the Port Of ASpinwaII
Became Colon
By Holland

81 never could understand why the
use of the name Aspinwall was aban
doned and Colon substituted for the
port and town which are TO be the
northern terminal of the Panama
canal said the late General William
Sewell to me at a time when he was
discussing a route across the isthmus
which he regarded as preferable for
a canal to the one which was. selected
between Panama and Colon.
ut may be that / have a purely
sentimental interest in the name As
pinwall II ] have. il is, / am sure,
a very reasonable sentiment | had
been engaged with Theodore N. Vail
and one or two others in laying out
the route for the telegraph line which
Professor Morse intended to establish
between Baltimore and the city of
Washington. / remember having
heard Professor Morse speak of Will
liam r. Aspinwall. who. he said, vas
one of the few men who encouraged
him in undertaking to establish the
first telegraph system.
"Mr Aspinwall was, l learned, a
successful shipping merchant
sW York. | had reason, how
ever 10 r, II this name several years
later as informed that almost
Immediately after the discovery of
gold IN California, William II. Aspin
wall decided to raise the capital neces-
sary for the construction of a rail-
road across the lsthmus of Panama
"You see. as a shipping merchant
whose vessel sails every ocean, Mr..
Aspinwall was especially qualified 10
pass Judgment upon the speediest and
best means of opening communication
between the Atlantic ocean and Cali
fornia.
1T was chiefly through Mr. Aspin-
wall, as I have learned, that ! was
employed al one of the engineers who
we're to make the survey by which
the most feasible route for the pro-
posed railway could be laid out.
II saw much of Mr. Aspinwall. He
was a perfect dynamo of energy.
know that he was confident that the
discovery Of gold in California would
inevitably In the course of few
years result in the construction Of
a railroad line stretching from th'
Pacific TO the Atlantic. He though
however that it would be ten ol
fifteen years before a line Of tha
! kind could be built. Meanwhile, al
there was only about forty miles o
| railroad construction necessary q
complete a line across the isthmus
Mr.. Aspinwall was confident that /
the engineers could find a good lay
out the road could be built within ;
! year or two.
well. we did locate the line, al
though we met with some rather Sc
rious problems. The road was built
Mr.. Aspinwalls energy and the abil
ity with which he secured the neces
sary capital, together with the i'm
provements which he planned for tn
little seaport which was to he tn
northern terminus of the line, cause
his name to be given to that sea
port.
"Fevery man who was a scheolbo
in the ffties and the sixties will re
member that the biographies al
named the terminals of the Panam
Railroad as Aspinwall on the mort
side of the isthmus and Panama o
the south.
"That name should have been KEEP
II was. however. allowed to die on
have always been told that the pee
pie of the department of Panama /
the Republic of Columbia We're al
WAYS dissatisfied that the name of
citizen of the United states shoul
have been given 10 that town. Fo
that reason, they determined TO 50
up statue in honor of Columbus. 6
that the could change the nam
from Aspinwall TO Colon wish on
government, however had never rec
ognized that change. The nam
should have remained Aspinwall, fC
a Vr.e 10 William II Acnfu wall fhf
the town owes its commercial impor
ance"
Copyright, 1918. by r.. J. Edward
All rights reserved)