February, 1918 



C. U. C. P. ALUMNI JOURNAL 



19 



Uravel in Colombia 



By H. H. RuSBY 



In the Oil, Paint and Drug Reporter of January 24, I published an article 

 on the commercial opportunities afforded by Colombia, but was able to say but 

 little therein reg^arding the peculiar methods of travel and transportation that the 

 country affords. It has occurred to me that in these times of emergency, and of 

 military activity, a special article on this subject would prove of interest to many 

 readers of the Alumni Journal. 



Regarding railway transportation, there is little to be said. There are but 

 few railroads and these are relatively short. They are also mostly separated from 

 one another. Instead of combining and centralizing control, as in our country, 

 with an eye to reducing the extent of the managerial staff and of the overhead 

 charges, the tendency in tropical America is to decentralize and divide up the 

 management as far as possible, so as to create the largest number of separate 

 boards and officers. The result is that even when two roads use the same ter- 

 minal, the passengers are obliged to make inconvenient transfers. More often, 

 however, the terminals are separated unnecessarily, sometimes by considerable 

 distances, the resulting inconvenience being very great. The depot facilities are 

 usually very poor. All baggage has to be weighed and papers issued for it. This 



THE TRAVELLER IN THE TROPICS 



