OCR Text |
Show RAILWAYS IN THE TROPICS. aiard to Keep the Ilapldly-flroiTluir Voll-I Voll-I age from llecoinhiK an Obstraetlon. I Not only Is tho first cost of rullv. ay .nclr,if.ltnn In frnnlenl f.niintrlpl verv -construction In tropical couutrlcs very "heavy, but tho annual malntcnnnco c way Is cxpcnslvo to a degrco which cau- i 3iot bo appreciated by thoso who hava Hiad no experience In this connection. Tbo Antloqula railroad, In Colombia, ays Charles 1. Ycatman, in tho En .glncerlng Magazine, cost in a single .year, for repairs of track nnd bridges, .82,300 ior rjille. Tho Cauca railroad, in tho samo year, cost 83,633 per mtlo. Thcso two roads are In Colombia, und ro sometimes mentioned lthur us future feeders ot tho Pan-American railroad, or parts ot Its main line. On tho Antloqula road, If tho undeir jjrowth wero cut at the beginning of tho rainy season, less than two months' rain was sufficient to form an arch ot ,grcen trees thirty foct high, leaning over tho track so as to shade it com- nlflv. Tho constant chango from dryness 'in tho day to soaking molsturo at might, even in tho dry season, would soon rulu tho best timber, but nature furnishes a still quicker means of i getting rid 0; it, in tho shapoot an act or wood-louse, which Is careful not to mar tho out sldo of his domicile, but will patiently honoycorab tho Inside until what looks llko ti solid twclvc-bj twelve stick Is but a r.hell from one-olghth one-olghth to ono-fourth inch thick, flllcci with dust nnd ants. Tho natlvo ttm bcr suffered fo much from tho Inroartr of thcEO pesta that, upon hearing thrt yellow plno was uvsd in Fanarna to avoid them, a trial of It was mado on the Antloqula road. (Icorgia plno ha'1 io uu uiin;u vy nu in ituw lurit, nt a cost of nearly SUM) per 1.C00 feet, board measure, when put In place. When I left there tho first of my yellow yel-low pine trestles wna being replaced It had been built lebs than tour years |