Augus 15 94TEPAAACNLAuut1,13


the road, is so great that the cars might, like
that of Juggernaut, pass the whole distance over
their bodies." At one time a force of 1,000
Chinese laborers was imported and despite every-
thing done for their health and well being,
including the importation of their hill rice, tea
and opium, a wave of suicides broke out among
them, which, added to the toll of disease, so
depleted their ranks that it was conceded that
less than 200 survived at the end of a few months.
 Contrasted with these gloomy figures is the
statement published by Francis Spies, Secretary
of the Company, a few years after the road was
completed. He stated
that less than one and a
half percent of the 7,000
white laborers perished
during the five years of
construction.
 Fortunately for the
promoters, the railroad
earned a considerable
amount of money before I
the line was in operation
from coast to coast by
carrying passengers and
freight over the com-
pleted part of the line.
By the time the last
spike had been driven,
the gross revenue on
passengers and freight
amounted to more than
$2,000,000. When the
construction account
was closed in 1858 the
railroad had earned more
than the total construc-
tion cost of $8,000,000
and the net profit for
that period was set at
$6,000,000.
 The first twelve years
of operation were the
most profitable ones for
the company. Income The difficulties encountered
flowed into its coffers in Railroad were almost ins
a steady stream. How bed was laid on swampy
such enormous amounts of money could be
earned by a railway which had less track than a
sizeable railway yard in the United States is best
explained by the great amount of freight, specie
and passenger traffic over the road and the
exceedingly high tariff rates imposed. During
those twelve years more than $750,000,000 in
specie alone was transported, and the company
collected a quarter of one percent on the value
of all precious cargo. More than 400,000 passen-
gers used the road, and the fare was $25 each
way. Even ordinary freight was a great source
of income as shipments were heavy and the rates
correspondingly high.
Page forty-two


by
urmo
marsi


 It was during these early years that the rail-
 road company became engaged in several enter-
 prises which have been conducted intermittently
 since its inception and which today overshadow
 the operation of the railway proper.
 During the road construction period it was
 found necessary to establish a commissary sys-
 tem in order that employees might obtain proper
 food and clothing. These stores were operated on
 a very small scale until about 1889.
 Because of the nature of the business opera-
 tions on the Isthmus, the company was forced
 to provide harbor facilities for vessels calling at
 the two terminals. These
 operations were of minor
 importance, however,
 and consisted chiefly of
 S wharfage, lighterage,
 tugboat service and ships
 chandlery.
 In addition to these
 activities, the company
 soon organized regular
 shipping lines to New
 York and Liverpool in
 the Atlantic, and to
 Central American coun-
 tries in the Pacific. By
 1861 the New York serv-
 ice was maintained by
 a fleet of seven sailing
 ships. The organization
 of the Central American
 Steamship Line proved
 a fortunate venture for
 the company, and the
 Central American busi-
 ness soon became one of
 the largest sources of
 income. Although the
 a i traffic between Cali-
 fornia and the east coast
 was enormous, the busi-
 ness over the road origi-
 nating in South and Cen-
the builders of the Panama tral America was nine
ountable. Much of the road- times the freight business
land. to and from California
within three years after the railway began opera-
tions from coast to coast, and in 1860 the South
and Central American business was fifteen times
as great as that from California. The California
business revived soon after the close of the Civil
War and for a time it represented one-third of
the company's business as the tide of emigration
to the west swelled, but it declined again in 1869
when the first transcontinental railroad was
opened to the Pacific coast in the United States,
just 14 years after the first transcontinental train
crossed the Isthmus of Panama.
 Although the company's officials seemed to
 have the touch of Midas during the first twelve


August 15, 1914


THE PANAMA CANAL


August 15, 1939