The road passes through many coffee fincas, or plantations, after passing a small junction point, Mulua. From this place a branch line runs to San Felipe, within about twenty-five miles of Quezaltenango, which city for a long time was in control of the coffee market of the country and the second city in the republic. The earthquake of 1902 not only ruined that city but destroyed many a fine coffee plantation. It lies in a basin surrounded by hills nearly a mile and a half above sea level and is shadowed by the volcano Santa Maria. Before disaster overtook it, the city housed a population of twenty-five thousand people. It has always been noted as one of the strongest centres of the priestly power—at least second only to the capital. The road to Quezaltenango in the rainy season is almost impassable. Take one of our country lanes, cut ditches across it, dig deep pits in it, throw some big stones in the centre of it, and run a few streams across it, and you have a fair sample of what this road is when the rains are beating upon it each day. A concession has been granted to complete this branch to Quezaltenango, and it is an improvement much needed. The completion of the line is promised in the near future by the government.
A number of towns of more or less importance are reached by the railroad. With the exception of Mazatenango, a town of about the size of Retalhuleu, and Patulul, they are all sleepy looking places where the hungry-looking dogs and buzzards are the only creatures that seem to be busy or even looking for something to do. It is a good thing for these places that these scavengers do keep busy, for they are the only health officers in commission, and they have no human assistants. The most of the dogs are not fed in order to encourage them to forage for a living, and the number of thin, cadaverous-looking dogs wandering around and searching for a chance to fill a great aching void in their interior anatomy is truly astonishing and equals Constantinople. Bernal Diaz, the historian of the conquest, says the natives used to raise a certain species of dog that never barked and was very good eating and the flesh of which was sold in the market.
A WATERFALL NEAR ESCUINTLA.
At Escuintla the Occidental Railway connects with the Guatemala Central, which runs from San Jose, the principal port, to the capital. This city seems destined to be the railway centre of the country for here the Pan American railroad will cross the interoceanic line. At present it is a much less important city than formerly, when it was the headquarters of the dealers in the coffee, indigo, and the cochineal trade. Aniline dyes have taken the place of the old dyes, other towns have shared its importance as a coffee centre and the town is said to be only a ghost of its former self. It is, however, still an ideal, lazy, tropical town where the greater part of the twelve thousand inhabitants take life easy. The narrow, cobbled streets are bordered by dismal-looking adobe huts, and palms line the Avenue of San Luis which were ancient when the oldest inhabitant was a youth.
In the winter time Escuintla is a resort for the inhabitants of the capital who come here for the hot baths and a warmer climate, for the elevation is only about three hundred feet above sea level. In the summer the temperature at midday is decidedly hot and even animals seek the shade. The large-leaved plants fold up until about three o’clock, when the rain begins first with a few large drops. A torrent then follows which ceases as suddenly as it began, when a new life appears, the plants open, and the roses are again fresh and fragrant. The Indian women of Escuintla are quite attractive and will draw the attention of an American as they walk along the street balancing jars of water holding from three to five gallons on their heads. They are well developed and naturally graceful and wear many coral necklaces or bangles of small silver coins. From ten to thirty they are in their prime and at forty they are old women.
The Central railway was built by C. P. Huntington and his associates, and is the oldest and, for a long time, was the only railroad in the country. It is about seventy-five miles in length and is a well-constructed road. The most of the traffic from the capital and interior to the Pacific passes over this line to its port, San Jose, which is very similar in its facilities to Champerico.
SAN JOSE, THE PORT OF GUATEMALA CITY.
This road, in connection with the Guatemala Northern, completed a year ago, makes the third interoceanic railway south of our own borders, the other two being the Tehuantepec National, in Mexico, and the Panama railroad. Another road will soon be completed in Costa Rica, so it is claimed. Over the Guatemala Northern Railroad it is now possible to travel from Guatemala City to Puerto Barrios, the principal Gulf port, by rail. This road was the dream of President Rufino Barrios a quarter of a century ago, as he had already at that time granted a concession for its construction. The first spike was driven in 1892 and two years later the line was opened as far as El Rancho, a distance of one hundred and twenty-nine miles, while the entire distance from port to capital is nearly two hundred miles. The government finances running low by that time, it was leased to a private company who operated it for revenue only. It was not a bonanza for the operators even when they used all the income for profit and operating expenses without placing any of it back in the road. The difficulties in the operation of a railroad in a tropical country are many and they were all encountered here. The ties soon decayed, and in the rainy season the streams became raging torrents which washed away bridges and the tracks along their banks. The rolling stock was likewise neglected and in a few years the road was practically abandoned. Furthermore, the road being without a good terminus, the freight offered for transportation was relatively small.