The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1899-04-08
THE ONE RAILROAD
IN THE PHILIPPINES
AN OBJECT LESSON IN SPANISH
MIsRULE.
How the Road Was Built and How
1t Was Managed-The Country
Through Which 1t Runs-Crude
Conditions in Construction, Equip
ment and Management.
From the Scientific American.


From the Scientific American.
No better idea of the undcveloped
condition of our new oriental colony
could be conveyed than by the state
ment that this great island group. with
an area of over 1l4,OO0 square miles
and a population exceeding 10000. 900,
has but u single railroad line The
orly railroad line of the Philippines
the Manila and Dagupan railway--ex-
tends for a distance of~130 miles from
| Manila to Dagupan a minor port near
| the centre of the west coast of Luzon.
| 1t thus serves as an outlet to the lar
gest continuous area of valley lands on
| Luzon or elsewhere on these hume rous
| islands.
The lack of interest in transportation
| facilities and in commercial and agri-
cultural pursuits under Spanish rule is
ever apparent, and this neglect is quite
| comprehensive to the average student
of Philippine affairs. The governor
generals, always expecting recall,
had little interest in the development
Of the country, and all save military
! improvements which were imperative
/
making and other internal improve
ments were ignored. or, if any start was
actually made, the work was never
completed, for the funds raised for this
purpose through oppressive taxation
were all misappropriatcd or used for
| improvements here in Manila.
| But in spite of all this and the re-
| strictive methods of the Spanish gov
!
| dustry. the company which constructed
| the Manila and Dagupan railway was
granted quite liberal concessions. This
was due probably to the hope of an in
crease in revenue from taxation on the
| road and to the advantages it would
| offer for transporting troops. rather
| than tC desire to benefit the island
! commercially.
AN ELABORATE SCHEME.
The question of railroads occupied
the attention of the colonial govern
ment as early as the year 1875. At that
time an elaborate scheme was fCrlnu-
! lated. 1t provided for the coustruc-
tion of roads of general utility, either
| by the government Of by subsidized
companies, under concessions granted
| by the home government, and for
roads of private interest under con-
cessions granted by the governor gem
eral of the colony. But no definite
move toward securing a railroad line
for these islands was made until ten
years later. In 1885 the Spanish gov
ernment offered a subsidy of $3.50
per mile on a specified line of 13O miles,
but it was not accepted by any Span
| ist capitalists. The following year an
other and more liberal offer was made.
| Ii included a guarantee of eight per
| cent. annual interest on a maximum
| cost of $i9,643 per mile. In the fan of
| 1856 the offer was accepted by a num-
| Der of London capitalists, and in a.
| COrdanCe with the terms of the con-
| ccsSion the line was to be complete /
| within four years from July -, 1887
| At the end of nincty-nine years the
road, with the rolling stock, was to
revert to the government without COM
| pensation.
Most of the work of construction of
the road was done by native labornrs,
| but quite number of Chinese coolies
| were employed. The track is Of three
| tcet six inch guage, and steel rails
| weighing forty-tive pounds to the yard
are used. The entire road-bed is very
| level and it is quite free from cuts
and curves, but has plenty of bridges,
and this last was the only difficulty
met with in the construction of the
| road. on the whole line there ara at
| least sixty iron bridges, with crlln-
drical steel piers. The bridges are
uniformly of twenty meter spans, and
the largest is that over the Rio Grande
de la Pampagna, which consists of six
| spans. The road-bed has an average
elevation of about four feet above the
general level and is all ballasted with
fine gravel. The ties are of hard vood,
which Is generally cut on the islands
THE ROLLING STOCK.
The rolling stock is very light as
compared with that of our railroads.
The locomotives appear to be little
superior in speed or capacity to the
jerk water" or "dinkey" locomotives
in use about mines and manufactures
in the United States. They are of less
than ten tons weight and the pass
enger cars are correspondingly small.
These carriages are of an English
type and are of three classes, all being
divided into three compartments, with
a gangway running along on the out
side. Each apartment will seat eight
passengers. The few frst-class pass
engers are comfortably seated in cane
chairs. and the second and third-class
carriages have wooden bench like
seats. The secOnd-class cars are the
more comfortable of the two, as they
are seldom crowded, while those of
the third class are usually filled with
natives carrying great baskets ana
| bundles.
At present there are three passenger
and three freight trains each day
daily, hut only one Of the trains carries
mail. The passenger trains cover 1870
miles between Manila and Dagupan i'm
eight hours. A passenger train is us
| ually composed of eight or ten car
riages, of which more than half is
usually Of the third class. The pass
enger rates range from two cents per
mile for third class to five cents for
tirst-class passage, The station houses
and other buildings along the line are
very complete, owing 20 requirement
of the Spanish authorities. The Ma
nila depot is a we'll arranged two
story building, seventy by forty five
feet, with car sheds 1926 feet long. II
covers four tracks but the entire struc-
ture is built of wood. The general Of
fees of the road are located on the
second floor, while the first floor is
quite similar to American station
houses on the road, and while they
differ somewhat as to size, they are
of uniform type. There are good