THE ISTHMUS OF TEHUANTEPEC 



991 



on top of the saddle. A joint of one- 

 fourth-inch gauge, 26 inches diameter, 

 pressure pipe (weight 396 pounds) for 

 the hydro-electric plant is shown in Pic- 

 ture 8. 



A total of 600,000 feet B. M. of lum- 

 ber was packed from saw-mill to mine 

 (3 days' round trip) on burros and 

 mules. The burros handled the lighter 

 stuff — I by 12 inches, 2 by 4, and 4 by 



4. Each mule carried from 88 feet B. 

 M. (2 pieces of 6 by 8 inches by 11 feet) 

 up to 117 feet B. M. (2 pieces of 8 by 8 

 inches by 11 feet). Two pieces of 8 by 

 8 inches by 1 1 feet would weigh from 

 350 to 400 pounds, depending on the ex- 

 tent they had been seasoned, while a 

 few very pitchy sticks, which were act- 

 ually weighed, tipped the scales at 620 

 pounds for the pair. 



THE ISTHMUS OF TEHUANTEPEC 

 "The Bridge of the World's Commerce" 

 By Helen Olsson-Seffer 



THE advantages of the Isthmus of 

 Tehuantepec as a line of commu- 

 nication between the two largest 

 oceans of the world seem to have ap- 

 pealed to the minds of travelers and 

 explorers from the very earliest times. 

 Hernan Cortez predicted that it would 

 become the great transcontinental high- 

 way. Alexander von Humboldt, who 

 traveled in Mexico in the beginning of 

 the last century, called the isthmus "the 

 bridge of the world's commerce." 



Nearly half a century ago the first 

 attempts were made to dig a canal, and 

 many railroad schemes were proposed 

 from time to time. The first work was 

 undertaken by the Mexican government 

 in 1882, but it was not until 1907 that 

 the Tehuantepec Railroad was formally 

 opened, after a succession of failures and 

 after years of unremitting labor. 



The road, as it now exists, is in excel- 

 lent condition, and bids fair to become a 

 formidable rival to the future Panama 

 Canal. With good harbors at each end 

 of the road, with modern and labor- 

 saving , machinery and appliances for 

 loading freight, and with regular com- 

 munication across the oceans, the isth- 

 mus route offers great advantages to 

 commerce. It shortens the distance be- 

 tween the East and West by several days. 



While the route via Cape Horn from 

 New York to Yokohama is 19,802 miles, 

 that via Cape of Good Hope 18,085 

 miles, via the Suez Canal 15,527 miles, 

 and via the Panama Railroad 11,256 

 miles, the distance via the Isthmus of 

 Tehuantepec is only 10,006 miles. This 

 latter route makes the distance from New 

 York to Honolulu 1,273 niiles shorter 

 than the Isthmus of Panama route. At 

 the present day, when rapid transporta- 

 tion is of primary importance, such a 

 saving of time is an item worth con- 

 sideration. 



RIVER OF the: winding SNAKE) 



Before the days of the pioneer and 

 forest roads, the Coatzacoalcos River 

 (the River of the Winding Snake), 

 emptying into the Gulf of Mexico, was 

 the favored highway, and dug-outs poled 

 by dusky natives carried freight and a 

 few passengers up and down the river 

 and its tributaries. Here and there a 

 narrow mule-path trailing away from the 

 banks of the river marked the entrance 

 to some lonely plantation or village. To- 

 day, however, the new stands side by side 

 with the old. Fine steel boats run on 

 the river, but the native still poles up 

 and down in his dug-out canoe. Good 

 roads and mule-paths have been made 



