CROSSING THE PANAMA ISTHMUS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume I, Issue 174, 3 June 1864, Page 3

CROSSING THE PANAMA ISTHMUS.

T.v Mr. Anthonv Trollope's very excellent work. -T1 u> West Indies and (lie Spanish Main" published about tour years ago, some interesting particulars are given relative to the I'anaina itaihvay, whieli we quote : — The Panama railway is certainly a great fact, as men now-a-days say when anything of importance is acconipished. The necessity of some means of passing the isthmus, ami the question as to the best means, has been debated since. I may say, the days oi Cortes. Mon have foreseen thai it would become a necessity to the world that there should be sune such transit, aiul every eoneeivahle point of the isthmus lias, at some period or by some nation, been selected as the best f"r the purpose. This railway is certainly the first that can be regarded as a properly organised means of traveling : and il may bo doubted ' whether it will not remain as the best, if not, the. only permanent mode of trai sit. Vory grout difficulty was experienced in erecting this lino. In the first place, it was necessary that terms should be made with the government of the country through which the line should pass, and to effect this it was expedient to hold out great inducements. Anions the chief of these is an understanding that the whole lino shall become the absolute property of the .Now (Iranadian government when it shall have been opened for torty-nine years. 15nr who can tell what Government wiH prevail in New (irunada in 4!> years ? It is not impossible that the whole district may then to an oui!\ing territory K loimimx to the L'nuod Slates. At any rate, £ should imagine that it is vcrv far from the intention of the American company to adhere with rigid strictness to this part of the bargain. Who knows what may occur between this and the end oi the cent ury't And' when these terms were made there was irreat ditliculty in obtaining labour. The road had to be j cut through one continuous forest, and for the ' greater part of the way along the course of the | (.'hamvs river. Nothing couid bo more unhealthy lhan such work, and in consequence the nioii died very rapidh. The high rate of wage- enticed many Irishmen here, but most of them iouud their graves amid-! the works. t'hinese were tried, but they were quite inetlieacious for such labour, and when di>t rested bait a habit of hanging then.soh es. The mo-t useful men were to be ,1:01 Irom the coast round ! ('ni laircna. but lhcy were enticed there only by very high pay. j Ti.r whole road lies through trcs and bushes of thick tr« pical iirowth. and is in this way pretty and j int«'V**>t:!ii-T- -l J 't;t tin 10 is nothing wonderful in the scctii rv, unless to one who has neverhefore witnessed tp'jiit al f< rest scenery. The growth hen- is so quick thai a strip of ground closrly adjacent to the line, some twenty yards perhaps en < aeh sule, has to be j eleart d of timber and 1«-Ii;:ge evei-y mx months. .It ! 1< it ior twelve months the \vh <! le would be covered ; with thick bushes, twelve het high. At intervals of four and a-l.alf miles there are largo wooden houses — pretty-looking houses tiny are, built with niueh tafde,—-in each oi" which a superintendent with a ccr- j tain number of labourers jesides. 'J hese men are : supplied with provisions and all necessaries by the . company. I'Yt theie aie no villages here in which ■ workmen can live, no shops from which they can . j supply themselves, no labour which can he hired as ■ it may be wanted. ' Fn m this it may he imagined that the line is* i maintained at a gnat cost. l»ut, nevertheless, it. j already pays a dividend of twelve ai d a-half per cent. »So much at least is acknowledged ; hut those who pretend to understand the matter declare that tin- real profit accruing to the shareholders is hardly j less than tive-and-twenty per cent. The sum charged : tbr the passage is extremely high, being twenty-five j dollars, or five pounds for a single ticket. 'l'he distance is under fifty miles. Anil there is no class but ' tin-one. JCveryhody passing: over the isthmus, if ho pay bis fare, must pay twenty-live dollars. Stcerag-e passengers Irom New York to San t'rancisco are at present booked through ior fitly dollars. This includes their food on the two sea voyages, which are «>n tm average of about eleven days each. And yet out of this fifty dollars, twenty-five are paid to tin; railway for this oouwyaneo over Jitty miles ! The charge for luygan'c, too, is commensurately high. ! The ordinary kit of a travelling: J'.nylishman—a port - | manteau, bag", desk, and hat-box—would cost two 1 pounds ten shillings over and above his own tare. ! Uut at the same time, nothing can be more liberal ' than general maangement of the line. On passengers ' jonrncving from iNcw York to California, or troui Southampton to Chilli and lVru, tlu ir demand no iloubt it- very high. JJnt to men oi* all classes, I merely travelling from Aspinwall to I'anaina for j pleasure- or, nppiircntly on business it travelling .only between those two places, —irco tickets are given almost without restriction. One train goes ; each way daily, and as a rule most of the passengers ! are carried free, except oil those days when packets l have arrived at either terminus. On my lirst passage I ; over 1 paid my fare, for 1 went across with other j passengers out of the mail packet. lint on my re- ; i turn the superintendent not only gave tne a ticket, j i but asked me whether 1 wanted others for any 1 | friends. The line is a tingle line throughout. ! OH' from Panama a tew miles distant in the ! I Western ocean, there are various picturesque islands. t ■ On two of these are the depots oi two great steam j packet companies, tlial belonging to the Americans I which carries on the trade to Calitornia, and an i Knglish companv whose vessels ruu down the l'acitie ' to I'eni and Chilli. 1 visited Toboga, in which are j the head-quarters id' the iaUer. Here i tound a I small Knidish maritime colcny, with a little town , 1 ol'ilicir own, eonipo-i d oi* captams, doctors, engi- | i nee!'.-, ollicers, artiliecrs. and sailors, living together ; on tlie companv s and as regards the upper : das.-cs. at tallies provided by the company. J Jut I saw there no women of any desenpt ion. 1 beg thcre- ; fore to suggest to the eonipauy that their servants would probably be much more comfortable if the instil ion partook less of the monastic order. if, as is probable, this becomes one of t lie h'g'uj roads to Australia, then another large ship company i : will have to fix its quarters here. i ! CitAXF. Pl'D.s. —The crane dues on the Queen- ; street. Wharf will, we perceive, be oll'ered by j public auction, by Mr. Samuel Cochrane, at his rooms, ITort-street. to-morrow, at twelve oeloek.

i-ii r - ".'J I ■! | Tbe Weighbeipge at the Qteex's Whabp has, it appears, been any tiling but the convenience it might have been, and this from a want iof care on ihe part of (lie carters. It has, for | some time been noticed as a curious tact by ! shippers, that cargo often turned out muck lighter in Auckland than when weighed into the I ship nl the port; from whence it eanie. Captain P. Junes, of the • Day Dawn,' has just delij vered a i, ii::;.; i:.y which turned out less I by tuo hundred bushells than when received on board at Sydney. On examining into the matter, and testing a load weighed at the weighbridge, it was found that there were from, twenty-three to twenty-four cwt., in what was passed as a ton, and this was found to arise from the carelessness of the draymen in leaving the load in part resting cm the horse's back while' the dray is on ihe bridge. Thus the deficiency was in some measure satisfactorily accounted for, and now that, the reason is known, there n H'd be no recurrence of so embarrassing an occurrence to all parlies, a deficiency in weight. The bridge itself is very small, and great care is required in keeping it clear and serviceable, a work which we trust, Air. Uussell will see properly attended to. Accidkn't in- y i'kkx-stkeet, —Yesterday a dray, partly loaded, knocked a boy down in Queen-street, and the wheel passed over him, but fortunately the accident happened in the soft mud, where the road has been raised, opposite the Brunswick Hall, and the lad was not, apparently, much injured, and was able to stand and assure bystanders that he was not hurt, he was carried away, however, for medical examination. the result of which we have not been able to ascertain. The Abokiginks Protection Society.—The following quotation shows that we in Auckland are not singular in our ideas on the subject of sentimental Government tortile colonies :—" The Tarannhi AVie.v. in speaking of the impression produced in England that the war in New Zealand was at aii end, says :—' "What we would earnestly point out, and impress on distant readers is that no reliable peace may be hoped for until we have thoroughly rid ourselves of all .sentimentality respecting the Maori character, and come to the decision to deal with him as a clever, courageous, and remorseless enemy, whom it is madness to despise and folly to pet.' " Cuajiukk of Commerce. —It will be seen by reference to the proceedings ol the Chamber of Commerce yesterday, that the mercantile community of this city are full}' alive to the necessity for immediate action in improvement of the harbour of Auckland, and that it will be made a subject of early discussion in all its bearings, with a view to taking up some comprehensive plan of improvement that shall place Auckland in a position which the large amount of shipping now making use ot the harbour calls for. .Ai n. Ai.FiiKH Woollky was yesterday unanimously elected a member of the Chamber of Commerce of Auckland, and at the same time it was announced that -Messrs. Styak and Stark would be proposed for members at the next meeting of the Chamber. The Resident Magistrate's Court. —At this Court there was, yesterday, considerable dilliculty in getting a Bench of Justices. Mr. Teuton was unable to attend. Dr. Pollen being himself a defendant in one of the cases to be tried was unable to take his seat upon the Heuch, and it was almost feared that it would be necessary to ad journ the Court to next Thursday, in apite ol the expense incurred by some of the country witnesses, when the services or James Taber," Esq., and .lames O'Neill, Esq., were obtained. Tkince ok Wales Theatke. —A new attraction whs o lie red last night and played to a very fair house. The lirst piece was a comedy, entitled Charles the Second, or the Merry Monarch, and the evening's entertainment concluded with the burlesque of Lord Lovel and Lady Nancy Bell. Om> * Em.lows' Hall. —Last evening, Thatcher, of course, had a new song, as when has he not. 1 ' and the subject ot it was the Uld ladv who tried on her blarney with the famous justice, Sir George Arney. to the tune of the celebrated lvate Karney. Much applause of course, also rewarded the inimitable man. j J1 is most, absurd song, too, ol the Ci'v Boad, in i wnich he carries farce to its utmost, and winds :up with ".1 im rigley," to the tune ot " Bob liidlcv." is certainly something new on an old i subject. Sniail and Madame Yitelli contributed | their share to the evening's entertainment, and i altogether a very good supply was furnished to | the patrons of tiie Odd .bellows' Mali, i bi'i'iiF.iii: Coi'i:t.—The business of the Court ! was re.-wmd yesterday at ten o'clock. Another ! application was made by a juryman to be dis- ! missed on the ground of his being over the i specilicd age. El is Honor commented on the j inappropriateness of the appeal which should j have been made at another time and to the i Sheriff. Tlios. H orsiield was then charged with i larceny in stealing a quantity of wearing apparel, tVe., from the house of Mr. Edward King ; he I pleaded guilty, and was sentenced to four years' j penal servitude. .James \Vright, for a similar | o/i'cnce, also pleaded guilty, and received sen- ! tcnce of twelve months' imprisonment. Wm. i Doran, charged with stabbing Joseph Martin in i Chancery-street, was sentenced to six years' ! penal servitude. Peter 13rady, for stealing, re- ! ccivcd twelve months' imprisonment with l hard labour: James "Wheelau, for larceny, j two years' imprisonment with hard labour; | and Samuel Leslie, for stealing from the i person, six months' imprisonment with hard j labour. James iiussell. a private in the 2nd i Waikato regiment, stealing from a comrade, re- : ceived sentence of two years' imprisonment with hard labour; and .lobn liiley, charged with j stealing a bag containing thirty-five sovereigns, i three years' imprisonment with hard labour, j The Court then adjourned till ten o'clock this I morning, when the ease against Kate Palmer, j charged with stealing sundry articles of jewellery from a fellow lodger in an Auckland boarding house will be the lirst brought on. Police Couut. Yesterday.—The only business, in addition to the civil cases, transacted at this Court, was the conviction of two drunkards, and lining them the usual penalty. One of the unfortunates was Thomas Iveelan, who it will lie remembered was only acquitted from tke t-upreme Court on a charge of larceny on Wednesday last, and as he was a deserter from the iud Waikato regiment of -Militia, he was ordered, in addition to the line, to be afterwards handed over to the tender care of the Provost Marshall, who will, no doubt, see that he is j amply rewarded for taking such tender care of ; not oul}' another man's goods and chattels, but ! his wile also. : Tiie Band of the 50th Hegiment will peri form this afternoon in the Albert Barracks, | weather permitting, at half-past three o'clock, j The programme will be as follows : — ! 1. .March, "Xahucco" . . Verdi -. Uverture, " Midsummer Night's Dream " ' J\l endelsohn j •>. Vtdse, " Ainazoneu" . . Kein j I. t.'.ivatina, " Tiie Exiled " . Gassnor '■ >). Quadrille, " lJispudanten" . Ijasyar't ! li. i'olka, " jjSrii.iur J,ust:g" . liasyar't Gud Save tiie Queen ! A Family Party.—A recent Salt Lake City letter speaks of the new theatre elected by tiie Mentions ;is one of the inicst in the Union, and a.iu——" i. IM r.igiit 1 ceiiiiii d in IJriirham Ytiung's ; laiuily Ijo\ ninety-three women and cuildren, and tho hii\ \va» i.ot near tuii. lb: occupied an elegant piivite fox. with iiis two favourite wives." | Tit.-: wine drank m J.oiMon, ami called the Elbo ! slteny, is made oul ot [lonooes. There are negrupes , on liiat river.—A. .r J <>, i; I'osl. —Wlml is the JSew ! \. or!; wine luade of '■ j I'i.'aisu aNi> JJla.mi:.- l'raise, when the leasonsfor it are given, is double praise ; censure, without the ' reasons for it. i> oiiK half censure.