Panama and the canal . days of Spanishrule, we should certainly be well rewarded. But, as every-one knows, there is something else to be seen at has been said that the eyes of the whole world are nowturned with tremendous interest to this little country. Dur-ing the remainder of our stay in Panama we shall try to learnwhy this is so. We begin with the story of a most remarkable little rail-road. While at Panama we shall be obliged totravel considerably on this road, and a knowl- Railroad edge of its history will add much to our interest. There was a time, as late as the year 1889, wh
Panama and the canal . days of Spanishrule, we should certainly be well rewarded. But, as every-one knows, there is something else to be seen at has been said that the eyes of the whole world are nowturned with tremendous interest to this little country. Dur-ing the remainder of our stay in Panama we shall try to learnwhy this is so. We begin with the story of a most remarkable little rail-road. While at Panama we shall be obliged totravel considerably on this road, and a knowl- Railroad edge of its history will add much to our interest. There was a time, as late as the year 1889, when ticketsfor a forty-eight mile railroad journey at Panama cost $25in gold,—or more than fifty cents per mile. If we paid thesame rate at home, it would cost more than $200 to gofrom New York City to Buffalo or from Chicago to Minne-apolis. Few persons could afford to take many such rates at Panama are still very high. We shall notice that all the telegraph poles along the road 93 94 FIVE IMPORTANT ROUTES. Map V,—Routes Across Central America, ENEMIES OF THE RAILROAD 95 are of iron instead of wood, and if we get out, when the trainstops, and look carefully at the cross-ties beneath the rails,we shall find that they are all of lignum vitae, almost thehardest wood in the world. It is next to impossible to drivea spike into these cross-ties. Holes for them must be bored
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