Colon. Passengers arriving on a Panama Railroad Steamship at Christobal, practically a part of Colon, may find waiting on the dock a special train to carry them across the Isthmus. The tourist, en route to a Pacific port, with his heavy baggage checked through, may let that go on to Balboa, the place of embarkation on the other side, and himself remain with hand luggage to look about Colon. Tourists on other steamers land at a Colon dock, from which it is a five minutes’ walk to the railway station. Men and boys are about, to assist with hand baggage. All that is checked through should be transported to Balboa without personal care; but the cautious traveler will have an eye upon it to see that it goes to the station here, and aboard the proper steamer on the Pacific side.
Hotels. Washington, E. P. Rooms $3.00 per day and up, December 1 to June 1. June to December $2.00. Meals $1.00 each or à la carte. Imperial Hotel, Park Hotel.
Carriage Fare, 10 cents for one, 20 cents for two, 25 cents for three, 30 cents for four. By the hour 75 cents for one, $1.00 for two, and so on.
Regular trains for Panama (June, 1913) at 5:10 and 10:30 a.m., and 4:25 p.m.; time two and one-half hours. Inquire as to special sight-seeing trains.
Landing early in the morning one may have sufficient time to look about Colon and Christobal before taking the afternoon train for Panama. Those planning a longer stay, to enjoy some of the excursions available, will drive at once to the new Washington Hotel on Colon Beach, near the site of the old house of that name, which, giving way to its stately successor, now stands in the rear of Christ Church and there fulfills its original purpose to supply lodging for the railway employees. The new hotel, built of hollow tiles and re-enforced concrete in a modification of the Spanish Mission style, is quite up to date with baths, electric lights, lounging rooms, etc., broad verandas on the side towards the sea, and a pretty garden between the house and sea wall. A swimming pool has been constructed near by, 100x125 feet, from 3 to 9 feet deep, open on the sea side, where a baffle wall protects it from rough water. In 1903 I looked at the water with longing eyes, but the numerous sharks deter most persons from venturing into the ocean. The hotel with some rooms with bath, and others without, accommodates 175 persons. Like the Tivoli it has no bar, and since April 24, 1913, there are no saloons in the Zone outside of the cities, Colon and Panama, which except for sanitary regulations are under Panamanian control. The hotel enjoys a breeze all the year around and is said to be as cool as Bar Harbor in July, and no warmer in winter; but it did not seem that way to me when I spent a few days in Colon in 1903, the excessive humidity rendering the heat oppressive.
In the center of the garden in front of the hotel is a rather ugly monument, a red granite shaft on a triangular base, bearing busts of John L. Stephens, Henry Chauncey, and of William H. Aspinwall, after whom Americans called the town for some years. To these three men, in December, 1848, a concession was granted by Colombia to build a railroad across the isthmus. The discovery of gold in California made it possible to raise money for the enterprise. Work began in 1850, and the first train crossed the continent January 28, 1855. The passenger and the freight trade have been both heavy and expensive, so that from 1852 to the present time annual dividends of from 3 to 61 per cent have been paid. Most of the traffic to California and Oregon was diverted on the completion in 1869 of the transcontinental railway, but good dividends continued. In 1881 the French Canal Company bought most of the shares, as the road was an obvious necessity to their work; it therefore came into possession of the United States Government, May 4, 1904, when the purchase of the French rights, work, and equipment was consummated.
The city of Colon, which the Colombian Government very properly insisted upon calling after Columbus, is on the Island of Manzanillo (formerly separated by a narrow strait from the main land), a coral reef with a mangrove swamp at the back. Here in 1850 some shanties and stores were built by the pioneers of the railroad. The village grew and prospered in spite of the swampy location, which was improved by the deposits of rock and earth made by the French on the part now known as Christobal for the homes of the employees. In 1904 there were 10,000 people in the town, 9000 living in shanties on stilts in the terrible section back of Front street. Now in Christobal-Colon there are 20,000 people, and the place is drained and healthful.
Just east of the Washington Hotel is the gray stone building, modified Gothic, of Christ Episcopal Church, dedicated in 1865. Built by contributions from the Panama Railroad Company and various missionary societies, it was at first American, after 1883 Anglican, and in 1907 again American Episcopal. Whites and blacks here worship together, with a majority of negroes.
Half a mile farther on is the fine Colon hospital with 525 beds, of course a Commission affair. Built right over the water on piles a few feet high, one is almost tempted to be sick to be housed in so attractive a place. Beyond is the quarantine station where persons coming from plague or fever ports are detained six or seven days.
The numerous negroes from Jamaica and Martinique will interest many, their dwellings on the back streets, the drainage ditch, and Front street lined with stores, where curios of a sort could formerly be purchased better than in Panama,—bags or caps of cocoanut skins, heads carved from cocoanuts, and carved gourds, large and small, the latter used as drinking cups.