The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1898-08-19
RAILROADS IN SPAIN.


Total Mileage Equal to ons Of Our West
, srn Companies.
= There is not much celebration ol
anything in Spain this year, but II
there was, she might celebrate thu
semi-centennial anniversary Of the
opening OF the first railroad In that
kingdom. In 1S4S the Barcelona Rail.
road, so called, extending eighteen
miles from Barcelona to Mataro, waf
opened to traffic. Mataro is a small
town on the Mediterranean northeast
Of Barcelona, and these eighteen miles
Of road constituted at that time SPANS
only contribution to the railroad mile
age Of the world; the neighboring
country, France, having at the same
period railroad mileage Of 1900 and
Great Britain 5000. Since then there
has been slowly intermittent increase
Of what is sometimes grandlosely call
ed 1.-THE Railroad System" of Spain,
two obstacles to the development Of
which have been the unbusinessllke
methods Of the inhabitants and enor-
nous engineering difficulties. Spain
has been wholly denuded Of forests at
the headwaters Of rivers. and as a
consequence there are frequent over
flows. carrying with them railroad
bridges, trestles, and entertainments to
the constant peril and annoyance Of
passengers.
There are now in Spain 1850 miles
Of railroad, less than one-third Of the
number In Great Britain, France or
Russia, and less than one-fourth Of the
number In Italy. The relative insigni-
hcance of the Spanish railroad "sys-
TEN" appears best In comparison with
American railroads, single line, the
Chicago, Burlington and Quincy, hav-
ing an aggregate mileage Of 7.400,
owned, operated, or controlled, or near
ly as much as all the railroads Of Spain
combined. Spanish railroads are pro-
verbally slow, the rate of express"
trains being twenty-five miles an hour
and Of way passenger trains from
twelve to fifteen. They seldom run on
scheduled time, and 1t is the testimony
Of all travellers that they never make
connections. The amount Of baggage
allowed each first-class passenger on
Spanish railroad Is si1ty-six pounds,
but the railroads are not responsible
for its loss, nor are their officials re-
sponsible for Its Identification. The
charges on Spanish railroads are re-
markedly high, being at the rate Of
cents a mile on flrst-class trains,
and cents a mile on second-class
trains, about double the American average.
The railroad lines Of Spain were
built partly by private capital, partly
from the proceeds Of governmental
subsidies. These subsidies have
amounted to over 5000 900, 900 (1,000,-
100000 pesetas). Although the rail-
roads Of Spain are directly under the
control of the Government, and al
though about one-third Of their con-
struction was paid by the Government,
they are owned by private companies,
=, 49,, 80,
ana ABOUT tnree.ni'ns OF tne STOCK OF
tne spanish raliroaos Is owned IN
FRANCE. Frehch investors nave slau-
ually absorbed the securities, which,
sold at a depreciation, pay high rate
OF interest. french ana Enslish en-
sineers supervised generally the con-
struction or Spanish railroads, put the
stations, or terminal 1acliitles OF the
companies are Inc prooucts OF domestic
Industry, as any opserVant but rorpear-
ing traveller Will ADMIT.
Inc railroads OF the United states
carry IN a year ABOUT ooo'eoo'ooo pas
'engers' ana tney transport ABOUT soo,-
)oo'ooV IONS OF lrelsnL Ihere are 80
per cent. more tons OF 1relsht carried
nan there are lndivlduai passengers.
Inc spanish railroads, despite the IN
erior facilities which they oner to
travellers, depend more upon passen-
ger than upon freight trahc, carrying
n a year a mucn larger NUMBER OF
passengers than they 40 tons OF
reight. In 1887 the Spanish rail-
DADS carried 2f'ooo,ooo passengers, out
hey carried only l2'ooo'oo0 tons OF
reight.
Inc aimcuities OF PASSENGER tralnc
N spanish railroads are enhanced IN
ONE PARTICULARS winch are rainier
muslng thah serious Passengers are
expected 10 arrive at the station al
east half an hour before the Tram
caves, In order that sufficient allow
nee may be made for the dilatory pro-
eedings of the railway officials. Dur
ng mart Of each day land in some cit
a. tho larger mart or each dav, the
.,,uav s.atiors are olosod and Tho
aH"a' ot".ono ~ ..ose. .r CIV wv
cket onices W III. open uii.i' On MUIR
efore the time scheduled TOT the de-
arturo OF the train, closing quarter
+ an hour before 1t is due.
The hapless tourist, in compliance
,,tb snan,sh railroad custom must
auo VIZ .IoLot bo,oro he 10 norrI,tod
~ n .s u.,.,no n.aa, - =. 49,
ehtef 'no "ai'ins ioon' anu as tlis
cRet must De oous nj hi'eeh mlnutes'
least, before tho train starts and as
le train may be anywhere from an
our to three hours late, his oppor-
mites for reasonable complaint are