The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1899-01-29
than ours and :he bedding is not so good.
Scratch mirrors with Diamonds

In commenting upon the LACK OF tine
furniture enc day an English railroad
manager told me that the companies
found thai ii did not pay 10 make sx-
;ravaganf cars for IL WAS DO difhcuit 20
keep them In order. Said he.
-You would bs surprised at the wanton
damage that is done by passengers Many
OF those Argentines are bern teonoeaasss-
They viii write upon the mirrors VITA
their diamonds aud scratch their names
on the plate glass windows. Some or the
rich fellows from the country think moth
boots on. ana, @rne are filthy in the ex-
treme We have 10 watch things very
closely. FOR they are Stolen or DESTROYED
Why We have had passengers throw can
ksts out OF the windows just Tor 1an.
and we have to make a careful EalIy oi
ogr stock al the close Of every ran
The Railroads Of the Argentine.
And still the Argentine is one of the
best railroad countries In South America
IL has more railroads than any ssther
country. and Il is now building many
new lines. There are Gee miles OF rsai-
read in operation. Three years ago
there were not more than s.eso The roads
are growing better every year. They are
chiefly in the hands OF private parties,
and the government Is gfyins up It's iasa
of controlling them Il is different IN
Chile where the roads are also good, al
though they are not more than one-aftn
as extensive in length OF lines. The
Chilean government seems 20 be grade-
ally acquiring the roads, and " Is also
building new ones.
There is no place in the world wheis
Il is easier to build road than in the
Argentine pampss. The tracks 80 TOT
hundreds OF miles over land wnscl is per
fectiv level and so solid that but little
- &c Tod I'm ~ n
penses is in the matter Of ties. There are
no trees On the pampas. and all kinds or
lumber must be imported The most or
the ties come down the Parana river from
Paraguay. The fayorite kind lis OF CUE
hracho or other hard woods which are so
heavy that single tie will often weigh
so pounds The wood Is SO hard that
spikes cannot be driven into 1t without
first boring holes for them. After the
rails are once fixed IL IS impossible 10
draw the spikes out. Such ties are very
expensive so much 80 that the southern
railroad not long ago tried the expert
ment OF importing ties from Australia be-
cause they were cheaper than the Para
quay ties
How Railroads Are Built.
The most of the railroads are in the
hands of the English. Some have been
built much like our roads at home with a
and downs on the stock market. IL Is safe
to say however. that more than half
billion dollars has been actually spent
In constructing railroads through the Ar
gentine. In 1896 the capital stock OF the
roads footed over s5la. ooo.o1o and their
gross receipts were more than 81, oD.Uo.
while the expenses were not more than
$is,00e0 This made a clear profit or
$la, 900 90 IN gold that year. The most OF
the roads are English broad gauge, or wi
der than any OF our roads at home. The
rails now being used by the Southern rail-
way weigh "a pounds to the yard. They
are OF steel. They are imported from Eng
land, from. where most OF the rolling
stock has been brought. although now
the chief companies have their own stock
and are making cars. There are n few
Baldwin and Rogers engines, but these
are chiefly on the government lines.
Italians are the chief railroad worxmep.
The work is done by contract. one Italian
taking a gang and doing his work by tho
job or the yard. The captain OF each
gang lis called a capitaz and he Is respon-
sibie for the work of his men. Upon q
road in Patagonia which visited l found
% gangs. each containing 10 men. laying
tracks. They were given SO much per