The Republic of Costa Rica

IX.

TRANSPORTATION, POST AND TELEGRAPH.

Port Limon on the Atlantic and Puntarenas on the Pacific Ocean are first in importance among the means of communication of Costa Rica.

In 1894 there entered the Port of Limon 294 vessels (271 steamers, 20 barks and 3 goletas), with a tonnage of 348,355 tons. Of these, 16 vessels bore the national flag, 142 the English, 12 the French, 26 the German, 27 the Swedish-Norwegian, 47 that of the United States, 11 the Nicaraguan, and 3 the Colombian flag.

During the same year there entered the Port of Puntarenas 158 vessels (125 steamers, 24 barks, 5 paileboats 4 launches), having a tonnage of 155,869 tons. Of these, 14 carried the national flag, 34 the English, 1 the Italian, 23 the German, 3 the Swedish-Norwegian, 4 the Danish, 74 that of the United States, and 5 the Colombian flag.

In 1895 there entered the Port of Limon 311 vessels, with a tonnage of 281,361, while in the Port of Puntarenas there entered 147 vessels, with a tonnage of 146,313.

In 1896 there entered the Port of Limon 258 steamers and 41 sailing vessels, while 152 vessels entered Puntarenas, of which 73 were steamers of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, 28 steamers of an English cattle transporting company, 8 German steamers of the Cosmos and Kirsten lines, 9 Colombian paileboats, 16 German barks, 11 Norwegian barks, 3 English barks, 2 Italian barks, and 1 French bark.

The agents of the different steamship lines in the capital, San José, are, for the Port of Limon: Mr. Juan Knöhr for the Hamburg American Steamship Company; Mr. John M. Keith for the Atlas Line; Mr. I. R. Sasso for the Italian Line, La Veloce; Messrs. Lyon & Co. for the Royal Mail Line; Messrs. W. J. Field & Co. for the Prince Line; Mr. Minor C. Keith for the Spanish Transatlantic Line; Messrs. Alvarado & Co. for the French Transatlantic Line; Mr. Minor C. Keith for the New Orleans lines; while Messrs. Rohrmoser & Co. are the agents for the Port of Puntarenas of the Hamburg Pacific Steamship Company, the Kosmos Line and the Pacific Mail Steamship Company.

There are two important railroads, the Atlantic and the Pacific Railroads. The Atlantic Railroad goes from the Port of Limon westerly to Alajuela, a distance of 190 kilometers. The stations on the line are Limon, Moin, S. Mouth, Matina, Siquirres, La Junta, Pascua, Torito, Turialba, Las Pavas, Tucurique, Juan Viñas, Santiago, Paraiso, Cartago, Tres Rios, Curridabat, San Pedro, San José, San Juan, Santo Domingo, Heredia, San Joaquin, Rio Segundo, Alajuela.

A branch of this road starts from La Junta, a point about thirty-four kilometers west of Port Limon, and runs first northward and then westward until it reaches Guapiles, a recently founded colony on the plains of Santa Clara. It was originally intended to lay the track to Carrillo and through the La Palma Pass to San José, but this plan has not been carried out.

Another branch goes from Port Limon to the Banana River, a distance of about five kilometers.

The gross earnings of this road were:

The net earnings were as follows:

It moved during the fiscal year of 1896:

This road has a number of good station-buildings, and a pier at Port Limon with all facilities for the quick handling of freight, especially of bananas. The freight rates are relatively very high.

The Pacific Railroad, about fourteen miles (or twenty-two kilometers) in length, belongs to the Government, and runs from Puntarenas east to Esparta, about seven hundred feet above the sea. It received in 1896, 18,486.60 pesos from freights and 19,392.80 pesos from passengers.

During the same time the Government expended 24,288.31 pesos in improvements.

Another railroad, on Government account, is under construction to connect San José with the Pacific coast, and a million pesos are annually set aside for the work. It is to be about ninety kilometers long and to run most of the way through the valley of the Rio Grande. The western end for about twenty-four kilometers will cross a roughly broken country in order to reach the roadstead of Tívives.

An important line of railway is projected to run from Jimenez, on the Guapiles branch of the Costa Rica Railway, fifty-six miles from Port Limon, to the mouth of the Rio Frio, near its entrance into the Lake of Nicaragua.

It is to cross the River San Carlos near El Muelle, from which point it is proposed to extend the line through a low pass of the Miravalles mountains, about two thousand feet above sea-level, to Culebra Bay on the Pacific. Such a railway would contribute enormously to the development of northern Costa Rica. The region traversed by the line is highly fertile. A connection of the Costa Rica Railway with Lake Nicaragua would also give to the State of Nicaragua a much needed convenient access to the Atlantic Ocean for nearly its entire trade.

Another important project President Iglesias contemplates. It is a ship-canal along the coast line from Matina to the Colorado River, and even on to the mouth of the San Juan, a total distance of over sixty-five miles. This coast consists of a continuous narrow sand bank between which and the mainland there is an inlet or arm of the sea, said to be navigable now for the whole distance.

This ship-canal would open an extensive banana region as well as excellent lands for the cultivation of cacao and rubber trees and many other tropical plants.

With respect to other internal communications, there exists a fairly good cart-road, opened about sixty years ago, from Cartago via San José to Puntarenas. Over this road nearly all export and import traffic was done until the Atlantic Railroad was opened in 1891.

Another cart-road runs across Guanacaste to Nicaragua. Besides these roads there is a small number of shorter and more local roads, not counting a well-paved one, about twenty-five miles long, now partly abandoned. It goes through the La Palma Pass towards Carrillo, Santa Clara and the Atlantic coast.

There is a tramway in Cartago, connecting the city with its suburbs and Aguacaliente. In San José a trolley line is soon to be established. Away from the conveniences now enumerated the people are wont to ride on horse or mule trails. The Government, however, takes care to increase and improve the cart-roads and other means of communications. During the last fiscal year over one hundred and ninety-four thousand pesos were spent on roads and bridges, and there is no doubt that Costa Rica, in this respect, too, is far ahead of the other Central American countries. Most of the Government expenditure named was spent on the national cart-road, the roads to San Carlos, Puriscal, Tablazo and Sarapiqui and on bridges over the Rio Grande, Reventazon, Bagaces, etc. In each district there is a “Junta Itineraria” for the conservation and improvement of roads, every proprietor participating in proportion to his property.

The following itinerary of roads and water routes, their distances and character, is reproduced from Mr. Richard Villafranca’s “Costa Rica:”

Distances from San José, the capital of Costa Rica.

The postal service is performed by seventy local post-offices. Correspondence is dispatched twenty-six times per month to foreign countries by steamers, and four times per month overland to the neighboring countries. From the port of Limon the mail goes to Europe, via Hamburg, twice a month, the 12th and 29th; by the Royal Mail on the 9th day of each month; and via Marseilles on the 12th of each month; to Europe and the United States via New York every Friday, and to Europe, the United States and Mexico via New Orleans every Monday.

From the Port of Puntarenas the mail goes to the West Indies and South America, via Panamá, three times a month, and as often also to the States of Central America. Overland to Nicaragua the mail is sent, via Liberia, every Thursday. In the Gulf of Nicoya are three steamers in the postal service, namely the “Puntarenas,” “Fernandez” and “Dr. Castro.” The principal post-offices in Costa Rica are these:

In 1896 there were received from

During the same year there were sent out to

The entire postal service comprised the movement of 3,494,515 pieces, 23,843 money orders and 6919 parcels. The receipts of the postal department were 48,318.69 pesos. On postal money orders there were paid 358,280.76 pesos.

There are 1190 kilometers (744 miles) of telegraph lines connecting the following 65 offices:

The number of private telegrams dispatched in 1896 to the interior was 270,284; of official messages to the interior was 69,172; official telegrams transmitted to Central America, 1086; private telegrams to Central America, 6554; telegrams received from Central America, 5413; cablegrams received, 26,762; cablegrams transmitted, 2845.

The total receipts from the telegraph service amounted in 1896 to 183,791.75 pesos, and the rates are very cheap. The nearest cable station is San Juan del Sur in Nicaragua.

There are also 203 miles of telephonic wire between San José and other communities and plantations, with about 2500 daily calls.