The Birmingham age-herald. [volume], April 13, 1913, MAGAZINE SECTION, Image 48

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Something About the Railways of Mexico
By FRANK G. CARPENTER
Some of the Railroads' Competitors
(Copyrighted, ISIS, by Frank G. Car
penter.)
Mexico City
RAILWAY travel in Mexico Just now
is mighty uncertain, although the
railway officials say they expect
things to quiet down from now on and
the travel and business conditions to show
a steady improvement. For the past few
months things have been decidedly bad
on the roads from here to the north. The
Mexican Central to El Paso was out of
commission for more than a year, and
the Laredo road has had many hold ups
and bridge burnings, Conditions upon it
were especially bad shortly after Madero
was killed, and some of the regions
through which it passes had many rebels
and brigands.
As I came here over that route, some
months before the battle at Mexico City,
the passengers on my train discussed the
possibilities of a tunnel being blown up,
and since then some of the bridges have
been burned and rebuilt. Hold ups by
bandits and rebels frequently occur be
tween here and Vera Crux, and, In fact,
there are but few regions where travel
Is positively safe. If there are soldiers on
your train, there is liable to be snooting
by anti-administration brigands, and your
life is in danger. If there are no soldiers
the train may be held up and robbed by
the rebels or bandits, and the passen
gers, without regard to nationality, be
forced to hand over their money, watches
and jewelry at the point of the revolver.
lh some cases the passengers are searched
to see if they are giving up all that they
have, and in others foreigners are freed
after their pocket books and money rolls
have been handed over. For this reason
] am hfeUimoney. I always carry a
“fcr. il yellow bills as a reserve
yy^hile traveling by train. 1
er, that in several hun
dred miles of travel all over
the world,-this is the first time 1 have
done so.
Mexico’s New Railroads
Such conditions have practically par
alyzed travel throughout a great part of
this country. This Is so, although much
of Mexico, geographically speaking, is
quiet, and the freight and passenger bus
iness is being carried on almost as reg
ularly as In times of peace. The most
of the foreigners have sent their families
out of Mexico, but many of them are
going about from city to city, and there
are still some thousands at the capital.
As to the railway officials, they claim
that conditions are not half as bad as
they have been painted. They are. plan
ning new construction work, and as soon
as quiet iR restored a number of new
lines will be built. The National Rail
ways have just completed a final survey
of a line from Tampico to Matarporas, a
distance greater than from New York to
Boston, and they have built something
like 800 miles on several branches of their
system within the past 12.months. The
Southern Pacific company has added con
siderably to its mileage on the west coast
during 191Z, and the Mexican Northwest
ern railway has completed its line from
El Paso to Chihuahua
By Rail to Yucatan
Tn addition to thl», concessions have
been asked for a number of lines. Two
railway companies have been formed to
build »*oads south of the Isthmus of Te
huantepec. One of these is to go from
Banta Lucretia on the Tehunantepec Na
tional railway, to the town of Sampeche,
through the "states of Vera Cruz, Tabasco
and Campeche, and it will there connect
with the United Railways of Yucatan.
This road is financed by different capital
ists. It is now being surveyed and con
struction will soon commence. This will
form a main line between the rest of the
republic and the peninsula of Yucatan,
and will enable one to go t’romrthe United
States to that country by rail. It will
open up some of the richest tropical
country of the world.
Another Important line, financed by
the British, but to be built by Ameri
cans, has been projected from Acapulca
on the west coast throught the state of
Guerrero to Balsas, on the Balsas river,
where connection will be made with
the National railways. It will open up
a semi-tropical region and also large
timber and mineral reserves.
Improving the Main Line
Tn* addition to this new construction,
the old roads are being improved. Not
withstanding the revolution, the Na
tional railways have been relaying
much of their main line with 85-pound
steel rails and they have improved
hundreds 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 passenger and freight cars. The
Mexican railway has during the same
time relaid its main track with heavier
steel and has turned its engines from
coal-burning to oil-burning, while the
Simanese Twin Engine, Used on the Oldest Mexican Railroad
Southern Pacific has been improving its
roadway. This work has, of course, been
outside the region of active rebellion.
Mexico’s Railway System
Few people appreciate how rapidly
Mexico has been moving during recent
years along railway lines. In com
parison with the character and number
of Its population, it has been building
such lines faster than almost any other
country. It has now more than twice
as many miles of railroad as either
Spain or Italy, it has 2000 miles more
than Austria and an equal amount in
advance of the Argentine Republic. It
is far ahead of Brazil and there is not
a Spanish-American country on this
hemisphere which approaches it in rail
way construction.
Tiie lines now built, are more than
16,000 miles and their cost has been
over $500,000,000 in gold. Of these
roads, 70 per cent were constructed un
der American auspices, 15 per cent by
the English and other foreigners and
15 per cent by the Mexicans.
The general idea Is that the govern
men owns or controls all the roads. This
is not so. The Mexican railways are
now’ operated by 40 independent cor
porations. The government* has the ma
pority of the stock of the National Rail
ways of Mexico only, w'hich have al
together about 8000 miles, and it oper
ates some other railways, such as the
Iner-Oceanic, under long time leases.
The government is improving these
lines, and it Is now’ building eight
branch lines which aggregate over 1116
miles. The most important of these is
a road from Tampico to Vera Cruz, with
a short line connecting 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 the on© system
in 1909. These lines are the old Na
tional railway, the old Mexican Central
railw’ay and the old Mexican Interna
tional railway. In addition to this, they
include the Vera Cruz and Isthmus rail
ways and the Pan-American railway,
which has been built to the Guatemala
border. These lines belong to the gov
ernment in the sense that it owns the
majority of the stock. The bonds are
held abroad, as Is also a little more
than 49 per cent of the stock. The bond
holders are operating the property, and
the chief officials are Americans. The
net capitalization of the road, including
bonds and stock outstanding, Is about
$135,000 per mile, upon which it had
in 1911 a net Income of 3 per cent. Pre
ferred stock pays a 4 per cent divi
dend.
Southern Pacific Railway in Mexico
Outside of the National railways, the
most important system In the republic
is that of tlie Southern Pacific Company
of Mexico. Tills was projected by Har
rlnian as a connection with our South
ern Pacific, and includes a number of
lines along the west coast. It has now
almost a thousand miles of railroad,
and has concessions which entail the
building of abut 500 miles more. This
road has been seriously injured dur
ing the revolution, but many of the
bridges destroyed have been replaced,
and improvements will be made as sodji
as possible .and the road completed. The
Southern Pacific lines connect the
northwestern part of the country with
the port of Guaymas, and they are now
in operation as far south as Tepic.
They will be extended to Guadalajara in
connection with a short strip of the
National railways, as soon as condi
tions are settled.
Mexico's Oldest Railway
The first railway in Mexico was a
lino two and one-half miles long, which
ran from Mexico City to the Shrine
of Guadalupe. This was built in 1854,
and three years later the concession
wab granted for the old Mexican rail
road. which ran from Vera Cruz to
Mexico City. This was built by Eng
lish capital under a good concession,
and it was completed in 1873. having
at that time received something like
$12,000,000 in subsidies. The road is
about 300 miles long, including its
branches, and it cost over $30,000,000,
or about $100,000 a mile. When it was
begun the Indians objected to its con
struction 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 cap
ital. As all the materials came from
England, this entailed 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 time of the Mexican Central
railroad, which runs from El Paso to
Mexico City.
The road from Vera Cruz was cap
italized at $46,000,000, and it has al
ways paid a good profit on the invest
ment. For a long time it had a mon
opoly and at the start its freight rates
for this haul of loss 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 the 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 boil
ers and two sets of driving wheels to
make it go. With it the train climbs
an altitude of 2500 feet in 12 miles,
and more than 4000 feet in 25 miles,
lifting you out of the tropics and into
the tomperate zone.
Queer Features of Railway Building
A large part of the old Mexican road
had ties of mahogany and ebony. The
chief objection to the ebony ties was
that it wras hard to drive the spikes
into them and almost Impossible to
get thorn out when the rails had to be
changed. On the Tehauntepec road
some of the track is laid on mahog
any ties which cost there from 35 to
50 cents each. The ebony trees do not
grow as large as the mahogany trees
and their ties are more expensive to
make. On -the Mexican road many steel
ties have been employed. These are
hollow plates, about four inches wide
and of the same length as an ordi
nary tie, so made that when turned up
side down they look like a trongh.
The Interoceanic road uses steel disks
to hold the rails, tying them together
with a cross piece of iron, but these
do not work as well as the solid steel
ties.
A large part of the Mexican Central
railway is laid with wooden ties, and
this reminds me of a story one of
the constructors tells as to Mexican
contracts. Said he:
“The average haciendado here has
queer ideas of business. I found a strip
of forest along the line of the Mex
ican Central which might have sup
plied us with a goodly number of ties.
T called upon the owner and asked
him at what rate he could supply us
wtih 5000. He replied that the price
would be 50 cents each. I then said
said: 'But suppose 1 take 50.000 ties.’
“ ‘Oh.’ replied the man. ‘In that case
I could not let you have them for
less than 75 cents apiece.’
“‘And if l want 100,000?’
“'One hundred thousand ties!’ ex
claimed the farmer, raising his hands.
‘I doubt whether I could get them out.
It would be a great deal of trouble.
Opening One of Mexico’s New Railways
I could not think of undertaking to
supply that number for less than $1.60
each.’ ”
Passenger Travel
I find the Mexican railways w«ll
managed and the cars exceedingly
comfortable. There are Pullman sleep
ers on all the main lines and under
ordinary conditions one can take his
berth or drawing room at St. Ix>uis
and go to Mexico City without change.
The eating arrangements are excellent
and the fares are about the same as
in the states.
As to local travel, the rates are less
than those of our country, the usual first
class fare being tw\> and four-tenths
cents gold a mile and the second class
about one cent and a quarter per mile.
All of the principal railways have first
and second class coaches, but only the
common people and the Indians use the
latter. Nevertheless 75 per cent of tne
passenger revenues come from the second
class. The peons love to travel, and
whenever one 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 religious shrines.
The peons go upon pilgrimages to them
and the3r sometimes travel hundreds of
miles by rail in that way. The 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 $160,000 gold
every year. The railroads receive a large
revenue hy running excursions, and among
the events which add to the traffic are
the celebrations of saint days, fiestas and
such attractions as bull fights, cock fights,
horse races and balloon recensions.
During my travels here I have spent
considerable time on these second class
coaches watching the people. The ears
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 the car with their seats back
to back. There are no cushions and no
rests for the arms. The oars are usually
packed with men, women and children,
ranging in color from white to a dark
copper, the Indian types predominating.
Most of the men are clad in cotton, wear
ing sombreros and ser.ipas. The women
are usually without hats or bonnets, and
they have shawls of cotton or silk over
their heads. All are barefooted, except
for sandals of sole leather tied to their
bare feet with strings of the same ma
terial. They have but little baggage, with
the exception of baskets or bundles, which'
they bring into the oars.
Mexican as Railway 'Employe
I am told that the Mexican Is a fairly
good railroad man. About a decade ago
more than ID per cent of all the men whoe
worked on the roads were Americans. Tho
engineers, brakemen and conductors camej
from the United States, and every city
along the line had its little oolony of
American railroad employes. This has
been changed. Four-fifths of the Ameri
cans have gone and the roads are now
altogether managed by natives.
The highest officials and the olerlcat
force in the general offices here ara
largely Americans, but the rank and file,
who do the operating and running the
trains, are Mexicans.
This has come from a decision of the,
railway maangers made a number of
years ago, that they must educate tho
natives to fill such positions If they
would have permanent employes at rea
sonable wages. They began this, and,
wherever possible, transferred a Mex
ican into the vacancy whenever a
foreigner left. They taught the native
telegraph operators to become train dis
patchers, and they took the best of the
carpenters, mechanics and boilermakers
trained In their shops and made them
foremen, shopkeepers and managers.
They have elevated native firemen on
the engines to locomotive engineers,
have picked out the best native brake
men and made them conductors, and
the same with every branch of the op
erating force.
As a result, more than half of the
railways are now run by native em
ployes, and that at five or six times
tile wages they were receiving when
they entered the employ of the roads,
but at very much lower wages than
foreigners could be had. The natives
received from 25 to 76 cents gold per
day at the time they came Into the
service, and they are now earning from
$1.25 to $3 per day, and In some cases
more.
I am told that this experiment has
proved good for the railways. It has
cheapened the cost, and at the same
time has popularized the'management.
It has alao helped to create a middle
class in Mexico, In which respect the
country is woefully lacking:. Railway
officials pay that these changes will be
continued, and that the number of
American employes will be less and lees
from year to year.
Slow Starvation For Germany's Ever-Increasing Army
BERLIN, April 13.—(Special)—Ger
many is increasing its army at a
mad pace; $250,000,000 above the
usual amount spent annually on the
Kaiser's mailed fist are about to be raised
to make it the most perfect instrument
of war in the history of the world; in
fantry, artillery, cavalry, communica
tions, aeronautics, railways—everything, in
fact, will be improved out of ail recogni
tion. except the stomachs of the soldiers!
Seven times within the past 13 years the
reichstag passed res dutions asking that
something be done for the payment and
feeding of the nation’s defenders. But
the imperial government has always
pleaded the same excuse-lack of money.
The problem of the “hungry legions'* is
worse today than ever.
During the 30 years in which everything
else in Europe has doubled in prices the
wages of the German warrior has re
mained practically unchanged. The bill of
tw'o years ago attempted to remedy this
grievance, but did not go far. Ho Ger
many’s soldiers remain worse paid than
any others, with perhaps the exception of
Russia's. •
The full infantry private in a line regi
ment get ’, only $1.50 a month; the sergeant
gets $8, and the highest paid man in the
non-commissioned ranks gets only ?’il
This is the sergeant major, or “feldwebei."
The privileged services and a few priv
ileged guards regiments ate a little better
off. The guards infantry private is rich
on $2; the guards cavalry man on $2.50;
but the foot, or fortress, artilleryman, and
the field artilleryman get only the mini
mum. $1.50. Men on the railways gets $2.
The highest wage in the ranks is $15.50
a month; and that can he reached only
after serving at least six years. When
1 lie state is in a particularly generous
mood it gives “rewards." The “reward”
for being the best shot in a guards chas
seur regiment is 02 cents a month.
Every 10 days the German private sol
dier gets his wage of 50 cents. On this
money he has partly to feed and clothe
himself, as the thirfty state does not pro
vide what is necessary lor health. He
has to pay for his washing bill, for hair
cutting and shaving, for soap and for
sewing materials. The state provides for
the washing of his bedclothes; but all
washing of bis own clothing lie must pro
vide out of his monthly $1.50. It is es
timated that on these necessary things
the soldiers spend at least $3 a month; so
that his wage of $1.50 pays only for half.
And nothing is left for amusement.
The state compels the young German
to serve; but does not even provide his
preliminary outfit.
When he is appointed to a regiment he
lias to produce a whole stock of rela
tively expensive tilings which ought to be
part of his outfit, and which he cannot
do w ithout. He has to bring warm jackets
to wear under his uniform in cold weath
« r. five brushes of different kinds; leather
cloths for cleaning his rifle; cleaning pow
ders and socks. The least he can buy
these things for is $5. This is equal
to three months’ wages. As a rule the
-young workingman of IT oi 18 has to save
money in order to be able to enter the
army respectably, if not, bis parents
have to supply him. Often the money is
borrowed, and thousands of soldiers en
ter the army in debt to money lenders
■who demand usurious interest. The young
- goldltr is in trouble during all his two
years' service.
The state shows a particular and ingen
ious meanness in the way it deals with the
»oldiere’ canteens. The rich officers are
BY BASIL SANDWYCH
Smart Uniforms for Parade Are What
the Public Sees
given free use of state buildings for their
clubs and casinos; but the hungry sol
diers liavo to pay the state a rent for the
use of government buildings as canteens.
The state lays a niggard hand on the
surpluses of the canteens, which are en
tirely derived from the men's money. If
compels the canteens to buy large stocks
ot tedious political and religious journals
which the men do not read. When—in a
rai e generous mood—It resolves to give a
reward to a man for good shooting or for
otherwise serving with distinction, it does
not always do this ottt of its own pocket.
It takes the money out of the profits of
the canteen, which ought to go for the.
benefit of the soldiers. Many essentials of
military equipment are supplied In this
way at the men's expense The govern
ment does not even supply the army with
water buckets which are indispensable. It
lets the regiments buy the buckets out of
the profits of the canteen.
Ge many's soldiers, *harkc to the state’s
incredible thrift, are the worst clothed
tn Europe. Both boot*, and overcoats
are cheap and bad. Kotf parade purposes
the soldiers have good and new uniforms;
but for ordinary drill and daily life they
wear patched and ancient garments. The
reason of this is the queer system of al
lotting money. Once a year every army
corps is credited with a fixed sum for uni
forms. which It is told it must not ex
ceed. It is instructed at the same time to
.save as much of this money as possible.
Thus every regiment understands that
Berlin requires it to be as cheaply and
as badly clothed as possible. The “one
year” soldiers, have to pay for nil their
clothes. The ordinary private's uniform
suit goes through miscellaneous adven
tures lasting on an average for nine years
before it is finally cast away. Sometimes
it lies for years in the magazine of a
landwehr battalion before beinf first
<
gen. fosias von kkrringen
German Minister ef War, wile Is Responsible fer Army Organization /
* t
German Soldiers in Their Hand-Me
Downs
worn. Then for years it is worn only
oti parade and special occasions, for the
temporary owner on ordinary occasions
wears old and patched uniforms. The uni
form passes from soldier to soldier; and
as it loses its newness 1s worn more and
more for ordinary every day use. When
it has got to its sixth owner it is worn
every day, and when reduced to a Jag,
more patches than original, it is still
handed on to some unlucky conscript for
wearing in times of rough work.
The German infantry equipment has
been repeatedly condemned. The ar
ticles composing it are too light; and many
of them fall to pieces. This Is a result
of state thrift. The infantry hoot in par
ticular was condemned. Similar boots
were worn by the Russians in the far east,
and was one of many causes of their de
feat by the Japanese. Whether worn
with socks, or as Gormans mostly wear
it. with ”fusslappenM wound round the
foot, it causes soreness. The superior
marching of French infantry is ascribed
to their wearing a smaller and Tighter
boot.
Germany’s warriors are probably the
worst fed in Europe. Certainly they are
the* cheapest fed, although food in Ger
many is dearer than anywhere else.
Thirty pfennigs a day, or about eight
cents, is allowed for morning, midday
and evening meals. Until three years
ago the amount allowed was only 6
cents. The morning meal is merely cof
fee. costing less than a cent; the even
ing meal, coffee and a fragment of sau
sage. The midday dinner is the only
real meal supplied, and It is prepared by
the men themselves, with the result of
waste. The corporals and other non
commissioned officers are little better off
than the privates. The corporal's board
costs one cent a day extra, and the ser
geant major’s costs 3 cents extra. The
8 cents a day is for board on what
Is known as “lower scale.” This is al
lowed when the men are in garrison.
When they are on active service, during
manoeuvres, they are put on 'higher
scale,” and get 4*4 cents extra. For the
lower scale allowance the soldier gets
about 1*4 lb of bread, a little coffee, 5
ounces of raw meat, including 10 per
cent of bone; *4 lb. of vegetables, and
some salt. The "higher scale-” allowance
contains about 2 ounces more meat.
Whatever more the German soldier eats,
whether of necessaries or luxuries, comes
out of his own pocket, or the pockets
of relatives or adoring cooks.
Germany's feeding system dates back
to the eighteenth century—to the glori
ous days of Frederick the Great, when
Prussia was a poor state, and when the
standard of living was very much lower .
than it is today, ft is estimated that
since then Germany has multiplied her
wealth more than twenty-fold. But she
persists In feeding her soldiers practical
ly in the same way as she did l.'iO years
ago. The food is rough in duality and
insufficient in quantity. At an age when
they have not ceased growing, young
Germans are thus taken from relatively
prosperous working class and peasant
families, and kept for two years in a
state of underfeeding. And with this go
underhoiising anil inferior clothing. Al
though the army lias increased by o0,
<M!0 men in the last 10 years, the barrack
accommodation remains unchanged, and
many men are put up in temporary iron
shelters. The barracks are always un
derheated. and as in summer time no
oil is allowed for lighting, men have to
go to bed in tlm dark.
That is the way in which thrifty Ger
many treats her defenders. - No wonder
her army costs less per head than the
The weak side of the system Is its reac
tion on the men. The discipline is fa**
too good to allow of hunger revolts, but
tiio men show their discontent by ob
stinately refusing to serve on as non
commissioned officers after their two
years' term has expired. Under the two
years’ service law,, all non-commissioned
officers are got by inducing men to stay
on; but no compulsion can be used. Thp
ihducement given is a promise of a post
in the police and on the railroads after
i*etirement to civilian life. These posts
are much coveted. But such is the dis
like of remaining In the army that tbe
best men usually refuse; second best
men must bo taken for training as non
coms, and this operates Injuriously upon
the discipline and morals of the whole
ai my.
The new army bill, as far as is known,
will not do anything to remedy these
evils. A few military journals are clam
oring "that something be done at least
toward improving the Infantry privates
food. But the usual objection will be
made that the state has got no money,
arid Germany's hungry legions will re*
main as hungry as ever.
He Was Truthful
From the Chicago Record-Herald.
“Teacher,” said a boy In a New York
city school, "my sister’s got the
measles.” "Well, then, my boy, you
go home and you stay at home until
your sister has entirely got over
them.” After the boy was gone an
other boy raised hig hand and said:
“Teacher, that boy’s sister what's got
the measles lives In Omaha."
•“. , ' .*• I
i