The farmer and mechanic., 1913-01-07
Copyright, 1912. by Frank G. Car
penter.)
GUATEMALA CITY.

fOoI De connected with the Guato- +
mala system. 1t already comes to the
boundary of the republic and only
twenty-five or thirty miles of track i
are Yet TO be laid to connect it with /
she Guatemala Central, which com
prises the lines running from here to
ihe port of San Jose, on the Pacific |
and those which cover the western
slope of this country. Indeed, travel |
ers can now go to Mexico City by rail- |
Piecing out the short break Of days |
ride on mules Moreover extensive
plans are under way to extend the
Guatemalan railways into Salvador
and Costa Rica, and within a COM
paratively short time We shall be able
to reach the Panama canal by rail
way.
Bv Train TO Guatemala.
In this way Guatemala City is only
within about four days from Mexico
city. When the break is completed
1T will be only three days and the
time to st. Louis will be less than six
days while that to New York will be
just about one week. From Guate-
mala City to ST. Louis the distance
is 2,s24 miles. TO New York it is g.
SS4 miles, or only about 700 miles
less than from New York to San Fran
cisco. 1t needs only an extension Of
little more than fifty miles to con-
meet the roads here with those Of Sal
Nador. and the day seems to be fast
al
way from New York to Buenos Aires
will be in operation. The distance
between these two points by rail will
be only little over ten thousand
miles, and of this between six and
seven thousand miles have already
been built. Add to that an extension
equal TO the distance between here
and New York, and we shall have this
great intercontinental railway with
several hundred miles to spare
New Railroads of Central America:
Everywhere 1 go in Central America
] hear the people talking off ne~O rail
roads. @ One n;,, Of the h protests Of Paf1a, IA.
City to the town, 6EDavid the, laI6as.
1spSoc Rlnss n the eos}s }s1shsS"% fS M svsatuaS 1s
be connecIed with PanaT1a,. Mica
ragua, a ND Honduras and the, conces-
sions.f6r- the .sxtensi6n Of the roads
here AFsg alrsRdy .gesn granted.
aSsh 81 nss srs snFa& 4faG
sew EorlS Is Panama the indications
are That the Tines will be under
Amsrican control. The president Of
me sja Pan i5 Nm sStfSEiSn i SSsf
3 rairoads 81 ysgs k1 afe sso'sD, oW1ed NSy by
the Keith SYNDICATE, sld the same
All of the lines .MyS Jseh planned
oy AInerlcanA ahUpulit py Ame{1eahs
can company. operating the whole.
FrOmI Ocea2 TO OceaIf
Guatemala has ffoW an ipterconti
mental line frofk The Caribbean sea tt
the Pacific. TafS is, with the exceh;
is about forty miles long, and tn,
Tehauntepec line, whicir:. isj 1850 miles
2ong. the shortest of ALI the road
which connect the Atlantic and, pa
cifc oceans. Its total mileage isiles
than 270, and it runs from Puert,
Barrios on the Caribbean sea t
Guatemala City on the top Of tn
pass. thence on over the mountain
and thence to San Jose de Guate
mala. the port on the Pacific. TIL
distance from BarriOs to the capita
is 1875 miles, and from here to Sal
Jose it is just under seventyfiv
miles.
Regular trains are running owe
both these roads, and when Secretar
Knox was here he crossed the con
tinent that way. He was taken fror
one ocean to the other on specia
ears with pilot engines running alon
in front to forestall any danger Q
accident, and-the unkind say-to b
sure that no dynamite mines had bee
planted to blow up the train. Tn
road was decorated for the occasio
and was lined with palm branche
flags and school children procession
from one end to the other. Their
were bands at all of the stations an
when the cars passed along the shore
of Lake Amititlan a fleet of canoe
manned by Indians went thrOug
certain maneuvers in his honor.
The Guatemala Railway.
The road from Guatemala City
the Atlantic is now largely owned b
Minor e. Keith and other capitalist
supposed to be associated with tf
United Fruit Company, and | am tOl
that they have made arrangements
acquire the other roads of Guatemal
This is the Guatemala road, WhiC
was forInerly called the NOrther
railway It's first section was la
out and built by American el
Eineer named Miller. IL was begU
In 1881 as government project, al