Cathedral Drug Store

ARTURO KÖHPCKE.

No. 73 Central Avenue, Panama.

THE OLDEST DRUG STORE IN THE CITY. Importer of Drugs, Chemicals, Patent Medicines and Perfumery.

Prescriptions Carefully Prepared by Skilled

and Competent German Pharmacists.

English, French, German and Spanish Spoken,

link of the Atlantic and Pacific is completed, the Panama Railroad is finished, and the first train has made its appearance amongst us, opening up a new era of prosperity for the people of the Isthmus of Panama".

"On Sunday afternoon about half past three o'clock thousands of people gathered along the line to witness for the first time the appearance of the iron horse as it rattled over the tracks to the station, and many were the expressions of surprise and wonder at its appearance, and the facility with which the wild creature was managed. Mules and pack saddles are now forever supplanted by the steam engine, and the mud of the Cruces trail is exchanged for a comfortable seat in a railroad coach. The twenty-five cents per pound charged for transporting freight across the Isthmus is now reduced to a mere nominal cost, and the long tedious journey over the Isthmus has been transformed into a pleasure trip of a couple of hours".

"What will follow the opening of the railroad it is hard to foretell, but we can see great things looming up in the distance for Panama. Doubtless there are those that will suffer a temporary loss in their business by the opening of the railroad, but this must be expected as a natural consequence and will be of short duration. Far away to the confines of the Pacific the opening of the Panama Railroad will be hailed with delight. From north to sonth; from east to west of this mighty ocean will its beneficent influences be felt. From Cape Horn to Oregon, from Kamschatka to Japan, the Panama Railroad will tend toard commercial development. Australia and all the isles of the sea are brought by it into immediate contact with the old world, and the colonies will now look upon Panama as a bridge over which the traffic with their mother country must pass".

"But what British money and French ingenuity could not accomplish in upwards of a quarter of a century, Yankee enterprise has undertaken and carried through in five years, and has given to the world an enduring monument of what a few determined spirits of the United States can do".

"The names of William H. Aspinwall and his associates who headed this great scheme of Col. Totten, and those who with him carried out the work, are worthy to be immortalized, and it is to be hoped that such men may long be spared to witness the benefits which they have conferred on the world by their indefatigable zest and unflinching determination in building the Panama Railroad".

In November, 1866 the Legislative Assembly of Panama adopted a resolutio'n honoring the builders of the railroad, and authorized the placing of a portrait of each in the reception room of the government palace in Panama, the expense thereof to be paid out of the public treas

ury.

With the opening of the road, a heavy traffic soon developed, which with the extremely high rates charged for passenger and freight hauls, made large profits for the stockholders. After a time these excessive charges became the subject of complaints which came to the notice of the Colombian Government. A head tax on each passenger carried over the road was thereupon ordered, and in addition a large number of government employes, politicians and influential citizens were instructed to be placed on the free list. This resulted in an exchange of notes between the American Minister resident at Bogota, and the Colombian Government, and a compromise was finally effected by which the head tax was to be removed upon the railroad company inaugurating a lower passenger tariff. The steamship combinations constituting in effect a monopoly were not changed until after the purchase of the road by the United States Government.

Panama Not What it Used To Be.

That the railroad would benefit the Isthmus was not immediately apparent. Six months after the opening of traffic the Star & Herald prints the following article signed "Traveler":

"Panama is not what it used to be; it is not the Panama of 1849-54. Then the California travel afforded a large business to the storekeepers, muleteers, transportation agents, hotels, bankers, baggage smashers, gamblers and thieves. The completion of the Panama Railroad enables passengers and freight to pass through from California without delay. Now all is changed. The grass grows in the streets and on the Plaza, where once busy crowds thronged. A large number of business houses have broken up or changed to a more prosperous location. It looks to me more like a deserted graveyard than the Panama of old. It is quite clear that the railroad has not benefited the Isthmus, but rather the reverse".

MILLINERY AND DRESSMAKING ESTABLISHMENT

OF

C. C. S. Du Bois & Co.

No 339 Central Avenue.

Ladies who have sewing to be done, or any work
in our line will do well to call on us.

WORK PROMPTLY AND CAREFULLY EXECUTED AT REASONABLE PRICES.

Railroad Concession Extended.

With the extension of time given by the Colombian Government in 1867, an agreement was entered into whereby the railroad company consented to extend its line to one of the islauds in the harbor, or to a point where the wharves could be reached at all times by large sea-going vessels. The company took no steps to commence this work and in 1877 the matter was made the subject of considerable correspondence between it and the Colombian Government. The railroad company took the stand that the agreement could be complied with at any time during the years of extension, while the Bogota authorities maintained that it meant from the date of the extension. The point however was lost sight of, or allowed to pass in the more important canal negotiations that came up about this time.

Investigating Traffic Complaints.

The traffic arrangement fomerly in vogue between the Panama Railroad Steamship Company, and the Pacific Mail Steamship Company whereby the latter had the exclusive privilege of issuing through bills of lading on freight from San Francisco to New York became the