. Illustrated history of the Panama Railroad; together with a traveler's guide and business man's hand-book for the Panama Railroad and its connections with Europe, the United States, the north and south Atlantic and Pacific coasts, China, Australia, and Japan, by sail and steam . refunded, with interest, onthe completion of the road within the given time. Up to this period calculations for the ultimate success ofthe undertaking were based upon the advantages it wouldafford in shortening, by many thousand miles, not only theroute to California and Oregon, but to China, Australia, andthe East I
. Illustrated history of the Panama Railroad; together with a traveler's guide and business man's hand-book for the Panama Railroad and its connections with Europe, the United States, the north and south Atlantic and Pacific coasts, China, Australia, and Japan, by sail and steam . refunded, with interest, onthe completion of the road within the given time. Up to this period calculations for the ultimate success ofthe undertaking were based upon the advantages it wouldafford in shortening, by many thousand miles, not only theroute to California and Oregon, but to China, Australia, andthe East Indies, and in the development of the rich, butthen almost inaccessible countries bordering the whole Pa-cific coast. At this time, however (the latter part of 1848),the discovery of gold in California, with its accompanyingtide of emigration across the Isthmus of Panama, changedthe prospects of this projected road; and, from an enter-prise which looked far into the future for its rewards, it be-came one promising immediate returns from the capital andlabor invested, and in which the people, as well as the gov-ernment of the United States, must be immediately anddeeply interested. A charter was now granted by the Leg-islature of the State of New York for the formation of a. PANAMA RAILROAD. 21 stock company, under which one million dollars of stockwas taken—the original grantees having previously trans-ferred their contract into the hands of this company. Alarge and experienced party of engineers, under the com-mand of Colonel G. W. Hughes, of the United States Topo-graphical Corps, were sent down, in the early part of 1849,to survey and locate the line of the road. The result oftheir work not only confirmed the previous reconnoissancein regard to the entire practicability of the railroad, but an-other summit gap was discovered by Mr. J. L. Baldwin,thirty-seven feet lower than that previously established byhim, and a line was run from ocean to ocean not exceeding-fifty miles i
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Keywords: ., boo, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1860, booksubjectpanamarailroadco
