The Washington critic., 1886-02-05
STREET. CARS IN MEXICO.
Funeral Cars. Baggage Cars and First
and Second-Class Passenger Cars.

anu uSeCoHu-SlasS Iassenser vars
The District Railway Company OPP
crates $50 lkilometers of track, or about
03 miles English measure. Its rolling
stock consists of 139 first.class cars, 6j
second class cars, 4G platform cars for
transporting furniture, merchandise,
etc, 26 funeral cars Degrading which
will speak later ON and 26 wagons
for transporting material and fodder
The company owns 1900 mules, cs-
tatcs in the city and IL in the suburbs.
1t transports nearly 100000 passen-
gers yearly. Fares range from 80 to 3
cents, according to distance and class,
but in the limits of the city proper the
first. class fare is 81 cents, or medic,
equal to five cents American money.
The divisions of the cars into first
and second classes will be noted. This
is an excellent idea, for people who
want good company pay double what
those less particular are charged. The
first.class cars are painted yellow and
the second.class green. These cars
run in trains" of two or three. There
is always one first and one second -class
cur in train" On long distances
sometimes two first-class and one sec
ond class car are run, and sometimes
four cars.
The hours for running cars are from
early morning till 9p. M, and on some
lines, stopping at 7p. m. There is no
all.night service anywhere.
There are few short open cars, but
the great majority are close cars with
the windows down, except in cold or
rainy weather. Everybody smokes as
much as he pleases on any cal, from
conductor to driver. Smoking is 50
universal here that a prohibition of
smoking would make the people rise
in revolt; they would regard it as an
infringement of their dearest privilege.
Sometimes, regret TO say, the conduc-
tor has novel and reads slyly, to the
neglect of noticing passengers hailing
his car from the sidewalks. The con
ductors do not take up tickets, but
these are gathered up by inspectors,
who board the cars at regular stations
and after collection, make a compari-
| son of books with the conductor This
system is said to work very we'll
Conductors are paid from 81 to 50
Itl uuN llSlNIlol5 Sl.tV, ullNtlS ~
cents. Deduct from this 90 per cent.
to get the equivalent in American cur
rency. This would make the pay Of n
driver so cents.
The city lines are fourteen in num-
| ber, and there IS system called the
Circuit" system-not exactly belt
| railway, but system of narrow gauge
| tracks running away through the city
| up one block and down another. These
| lines go east, west north and south,
ana really form n useful feature of the
system. There are seven narrow-gauge
circuit roads.
A novel and very useful feature is
| that of platform, and even box cars,
in which furniture or goods are moved
from point to point. Pianos are largely
carried in this manner, and costly mir
rors and such fragile goods. A plat
form car, to point four miles out,
costs but 50 or 81. 40 American money.
| Six dollars pays for service to the
distance of twelve miles, Very mod
crate rates are charged inside the city.
Not over 1000 pounds are allowed on
single car ! should think this fea.
ture might advantagcously be intro
duccd into the street car service of the
United States, especially in cities where
the lines are not crowded with pas
sengcr cars Its utility is readily ap-
parent.
The tourist in Mexico frequently
sees, slowly travcrsing the city streets,
black, lugubrious looking platform
cars, with canopy of the same SOM
brc color. This is funeral car, and
following IL there will be one or two
cars filled with mourners, all on their
way to some neighboring cemetery by
rail. The coffin is in plain sight on the
funeral car. In the case of young
children, white cars are used. This
service costs from $l2 TO 81 per car
according to the class, and is the usual
mode of conducting funeral here,
Although the etiquette of n Mexican
street-car is free aud easy, and mcr
smoke inside or on the platform
women are invariably treated with re
spect, and half a dozen men will sc
up to give place to any woman, young
or old, rich or poor. The Mexican
gentleman has all the courtesy fo'
which the Latin races are famous, ant
life is smoothed and its angles rounded
by the constant courtesy of this mos
polite nation. Do not imagine tha
because people smoke in the street,car
their interiors resemble the AmcricAl
l IL.