TTTTC OMAHA SUNDAY BHR: APTJ1L 13, 1913.
Mexico Still Building Railways
.JOHN A. SWANKOX, Pros.
WJt. L. IIOLZMAN, Trens.
HI
Copyright. 1913, by Frank G. Carpenter )
13X1CO CITY. Railway travel
In Mexico Just now is mighty
uncertain, although the rail
way officials say they expect
things to quiet down from
now on and the travel and
business conditions to show a' steady Im
provement. For the last few months
things have been decidedly bad on the
roads from hero to tho north. Tho Mexi
can Central to 131 Paso was out of com
mission for moro than a year, and the
Uiredo road has had many holdups and
bridge burnings. Conditions upon It were
t specially bad shortly after Madero was
killed, and some of the regions through
which It passo3 had many rebels and
brigands.
As I came hero over that route, some
months beforo tho battle of Mexico City,
the passengers on my train discussed the
possibilities of a tunnel being blown up,
and since then some of tho bridges have
been burned and rebuilt. Holdups by
bandits and rebels frequently occur be
tween here and Vera Cruz, and, In fact,
thcro nro but few regions where travel
Is positively safe. If there are soldier
on your train, thcro is liable to be shoot
ing by antl-admlnlslfation brlgLWls, and
your llfo is In danger. It thcro aro no
holdiers tho train may bo held up and
lobbed by tho rebels or bandits, and the
passengers, without regard to nationality,
bo forced to hand over their money,
watches and Jewelry at tho point of the
icvolver. In some such cases tho pas
sengers aro searched to sco If they are
Klvlng up all that they have, and In
others foreigners are freed after their
pocketbooks and money rolls have been
handed over. Kor tills reason I am hid
ing my money. I always carry a num
ber of good yellow bills ap a reservo fund
tor arcldents. and these 1 now keep In
my sot-Us whllo traveling by train. I
would say, however, that In several hun
dred thousand miles of travel all over
tho world, this is tho first time I have,
done so.
Mexico' " ItnllrontU. '
.Such conditions have practically .par
Rllyzed travel throughout a great part of
this country. .This Is so, although much
of Mexico, geographically sraklng, is
tjulet, and tho freight and. passenger busl
nt'ss Is being carried on almost as regu
imiv ! In times of peace. Tho most of
the foreigners have sent their families
out of Mexico, but many of them are go-
Inr, about from city to city and thcro are
itlll Bomn thousands at tho capital.
As to tho railway officials, they claim
ihat conditions aro not half so bad as
they have been painted. They arc plan
ning new construction work, arid as sobn
in quiet is restoted'a number Of now
lines will bo built. Tho National rail
ways havo Just completed a final survey
jf a line f rom' Tamplco to Matamoras, a
llstanco gceater than from New York to
Boston, and they have built something
like 800 mlfes on several branches of
their system within tho last twalve
nu-nths. Tho Southern Pacific company
has added considerably to its mileage on
tho west coast during 1912. and tho
Mexico Northwestern railway has com
pleted ita line from Kl Paso to Chi
huahua. II y llnll to Vncatan, - .
In addition to this, concessions have
been asked for a number of lines. Two
railway companies have been formed to
build roads south of the Isthmus of Te-.
huantepeo. One of these 1b to go from
Eanta Lucrotia on the Tchuantepco Na
tional railway to the town of Campeche,
through tho states of Vera Cruz, Tabasco
nd Campeche, and It will there connect
with tho United railways of Yucatan.
This road Is financed by different capi
talists. It la now being surveyed and
construction will soon commence. This
will form a m&tn line between the rest
of the republic and the peninsula of Yu
catan, and will enable one to go from
tho United States to that country by rail.
It will open up some of tho richest trop
ical country of tho world.
Another Important line, financed by
tho Diltlsh, but to be built by Ameri
cans, has been projected from Acapulca
on tho west coast through the state of
Guerrero to Halsas, on tho Halsas river,
whero connection will be made with
the National railways. It will open up
u semi-tropical region and also large
limber and mineral reserves.
Improving the Slain Line.
In addition to this new construction,
1ib old roads are being improved. Not-
h-.an.ifnir tho revolution, the Na
tional raltways havo been relaying much
of their main lino with eighty-five-pound
.tt mils and they have Improved hun
dreds of miles of track on that line with
rock ballast. They have added to the
rolling stock by the addition of many
oil-burning locomotives and of new pic
tenger arid freight cars. The Mexican
railway has during tho same time retald
it. mnln track with heavier steet and
has turned its engines from coal-burning
m nll.burnlnc while the Soutnern ra
Pifin has beon improving Its roadway.
This work has, of course, been outalde
the region of actlvo rebellion.
airxlco'M Ilutlwuy System.
Few people appreciate how rapidl
Mexico has been moving during recent
yeurs along railway lines. In comparison
with tho character and number of Its
population, It has been building such
lines faster than almost any other coun
try. It has now moro than twice as
many miles of railroad as oitbc Brain
or Italy. It has 2,000 miles more thin
Austria and an equal amount In advanc
of the Argentine republic. It tls far
.ahead of Brazil, and there Is not a Spanish-American
country on this hemlspuere
hlch approaches It in railway construe.
Ion.
The lines now built are more than
16,000 miles and their cost has been over
IJOO.OOO.OOj in gold. Of these roads 70 per
ceat wore cpu-ucted under American
Some o hc 2&i7roae& coj&peJ-jt-oTS
auspices, 15 per cent by tho Kngllsh tnd
other foreigners and 15 per cent by the
Mexicans.
The general Idea la that tho govern
ment owns or controls all tho roads. Th's
Is not so. Tho Mexican railways are now
operated by forty Independent corpora
tions. Tho government has the majority
of the stock of the National Railways
of Mexico only, which have altogether
about S.O0O miles, and it operates some
other railways, such as the Inter-Oceanic,
under long-time leases. The government
Is Improving theso lines, and It Is now
building eight branch lines which ngarj
gato over 1,116 miles. Tho most 'im
portant of these Is a road from Tampicj
to Vera Cruz, with a short lino connect,
ing with Mexico City.
The government roads are known as
the National Railways of Mexico. They
consist chiefly of three main lines, which
were merged Into tho one system In
1903. Theso lines ale the old Natlin'il
railway, the old Mexican Central railway
and the old Mexican International rall-
when the rails had to be changed. On
the Tehuuntepec road some of tho track
Is laid on mahogany ties which cost there
from 25 to 50 cents each. Tho ebony trees
do- not grow as large us the mahogany
treeB and their ties arc more expensive
to make. On tho Mexican road many
steel ties have been employed. These
are hollow plates, about four Inches wide
and of the samo length as an ordinary
tie, so made than when turned upside
down they look llko a trough. Tho Inter
oceunto road uses steel disks to hold the
rails, tying them together with a cross
piece of lion, but theso do not work as
well as tho solid steel ties.
A largo part of tho .Mexican Central
railway is laid with wooden tics, and
this reminds me of a story one of the
constructors tells as to Mexican con
tracts. Bald he:
"The average haclondado hero has
queer Ideas of business. I found a strip
of forest along tho line of tho Mexican
Central which might havo supplied us
with a goodly number of tics. I called
way. In addition to this they .Jncuivvl upon tho owner ami nsneu mm at wnai
the Vera Cruz and Isthmus rallwuys nryl rate he could supply us with 5,000. Ho
Pan-American railway, which has Lven I replied that the price would lie U) cents
built to tho Guatumalu border. Thesy
lines belong to tho government In the
sense that It owns the majority of the
stock. The bonds are held abroad, on Is
also a little more than 49 per cent of the
stock. . The bondholders are operating
tho property and. .tho chief officials nM
Americans. The net capitalization of tho
road, Including bonds and stock out
standing, 1b about $135,000 per mile', upon
which It had In 1911 a net income of 3
per cent. Preferred stock pays a I pa?
cent dividend.
Southern' 1'm-lflc Itnllivny In Mexico
Outside of the National railways tho
mbst Important system In the repuntic
Is that of tho bouthern Pacific Company
of Mexico. Tills was projected by Huril
man as a connection with our Soutnern
Pacific, and Includes a number of lines
along- tho west coast; It has now almost
1,000 miles of railroad and has conces
sions -which entail the building of about
500 miles more. Tho road has been s;rl-
ously Injured during the revolution, but
many of the bridges destroyed have' ,he"l
rdplaccd, and improvements will bo made
as soon as possible and the road com
pleted. Tho Southern Pacific lines con
nect the northwestern part of the coun
try with the port of. Quaymus, and they
arc now In operation as far south as
Teplc. They will be extended to Guada
lajara In connection with a short strip
of the. National railways, as soon as con.
dttlons are settled.
Mexico's Oldest Railway.
The first railway In Mexico was a line
two and one-half miles long, which ran
from Mexico City to the Shrine of Guada
lupe. This was built In 1854, and three
years later the concession was granted
for tho old Mexican railroad, which ran
from Vera Cruz to Mexico City. ThU wa
built by British capital under a good
concession, and It was completed In 1S73
having at that time received something
like J12.000.000 In subsidies. The road 1
about 300 miles long, Including Us
branches, and It cost over $30,000,000, or
about $100,000 a mile. AVhon It was begun
the Indians objected to its construction,
and In order to pacify them the work
was begun at both ends and carried on
to the meeting point, half way between
the coast and the capital. As all the ma
terlals came from England, this entalloi
an enormous expense. It costing as much
as $5 to bring a steel rail from Vera Cruz
to the capital by wagon. The same was
so for a tlmo of the Mexican Central
railroad, which runs from El Paso to
Mexico City.
The road from Vera Cruz was capital
ized at $40,000,000, and It has always paid
a good profit on the Investment. For a
long time It had a monopoly, and at the
Btart its freight rates for this haul of
less than 300 miles Were $76 a ton, and
Its passenger fares were 10 cents a mile.
The road Is a marvel of engineering and
It has some of the steepest grades upon
record. It runs from the lowlands at
Vera Cruz right up tho mountains, and It
has some grades so steep that a Siamese
twin engine, with a double-header, has
been constructed to mount them. This
engine has two fire boxes, two boilers
and two Bets of driving wheels to make
It go. With It the train climbs an alti
tude of 2,500 feet In twelve miles, .and
more than 4,000 feet In twenty-five miles,
Uftlnp you out of the tropics and into the
temperat" won.
A large pa. " Jie old Mexican road
had ties of mahout, end ebony. The
chief objection to the ebony ties was that
It was hard to drive the spikes Into them
each. I then said, Hut suppose I take
60.0CO ties.'
" 'Oh,' replied tho man. Mn Hint case
I could not let you havo them for less
than 76 cents apiece.'
" 'And If I want 100,0007'
" 'One hundred thousand ties!' ex
claimed tho farmer, raising his hands. 'I
doubt whether 1 could get them out. It
would be u greut deal of trouble. I could
not think of undertaking to supply that
number for less than $1.50 each."
raHxciiKOP Travel.
I find the Mexican railways well man
aged und the curs exceedingly comfort
able. There are Pullman sleepers on all
the main lines and under ordinary con
ditions ono can tako his' berth or draw
ing room at St. Louis and go to Mexico
City without change. Tho eating arrange
ments aro excellent and tho fares aro
about tho samo as in the states.
As to local travel, the rates aro less
than those of our country, the usual first
class fare being 2 4-10 cents In gold a
mllo and tho second-class about V& cents
per mile. All of tho principal railways
have first and second-clans coaches, but
only the common people and tho Indians
use the latter. Nevertheless 75 per cent
of tho passenger revenues come from the
second-class. The peons love to travel,
and whenever ono of them gets a few
dollars ahead he spends It by giving
himself and his family a railway journey.
Sometimes he rides as far as he can and
then comes back upon foot. One of the
great sources of such traffic Is the re
Ilglous shines. Tho peons go upon pil
grimages to them and they sometimes
travel hundreds of miles by rail In that
v.ay. Tho passenger head of the National
railway tells me that his road brings
thousands every year to tho church of
Guadalupe, and that this traffic alone
pays his road $150,000 In gold every year.
Tho railroads receive a large revenue
by running excursions, and among the
events which add to tho traffic aro the
celebrations of saint days, fiestas and
such attractions as bull fights, cock
fights, horse races and balloon ascen
sion. During my travels here I have spent
considerable tlmo on these second class
coaches watching tho people. The cars
are of the cheapest description. Their
seats are hard wooden benches which
run along under the windows like an old
fashioned street car and have another
double row of benches running through
the center of tho car with their seats
back to back. There are no cushions and
no rests for the arms. The cars are
usually packed with men, women and
children, ranging in color from white to
a dark copper, the Indian types predomi
nating, Most of the men are clad In cot
ton, wearing sombreros and serapas. The
women are usually without hats or bon
nets and they have shawls of cotton or
silk over their heads. All are bare
footed, oxcept for sandals of sole leather
tied to their bare feet with strings of tho
same material. They have but little bag
gage, with the exception of baskets or
bundles, which they bring Into the cars.
The highest officials and the clerical
force In the general offices here are
largely Americans, but the rank and file,
who do the operating and running the
trains, are Mexicans,
FRANK O. CARPKNTER.
The Persistent ana Judicious I 'so of
Newsnaner Advertising is tha Hon,!
and almost Impossible to get them out ' rci n-ft
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WM.L.HOLZMAN.THrAS..
11 WW WW
CORRECT APPABEL FOB MEN AND WOMEN
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