El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1900-04-03
RAILROADlN6 IN MEXICO
Not the Picnic That 1t Is Supposed
To BE BY Railroad Men Who
Flock There

To Be BY Railroad Men Who
Flock There
sDuring the past four months have
been pretty nea' ly all over Mexico;
partly in search of work and partly to
study the condition OF the RANK ana
file of trainmen and enginemen on the
Mexican railroad said an old railroad
man who has for some years past been
in newspaper work.
"Ileft Chicago last fall armed with
letters OF Introduction to several Of
fic.ais connected with Mexican rail-
roads with view OF again entering
train ervice aud, as the letter stated,
desiring TO better my condition L went
10 Mexico as sffording the best oppor-
tunities. But the bet.ermeut oil
con 1ition failed to materialize and the
oppor uunities were confined to chances
for unlimited hours OF work at rate OF
pay even a section man would scorn in
the United States, and to avoid COM
plications with the authorities that
would have resulted in my lying In
Mexican jail for an indefinite time, L
had to leave the country between two
days, leaving my pay, my baggage and
a.few remnants OF reputation behind
me.
For the benefit of any of the rail-
road readers of the HERALD who may
contemplate trip to Mexico in search
of work let me tell how L have Jared:
let me tell you of the actual conditions
you will have to face, and then try it Ii
you want to:
SIN the first place. jobs in train service
in Mexico do not grow on every cactus
plant AID one will have to rustic
TO find position. Every city in
the republl ID overrun with ex-rail-
roadmen who have degenerated into
beggars of the must shameless type
trying to hold the town down until q
Job would show up To get into any
eating house between Ell Paso and the
City of Mexico one has to run tn e
gauntlet of these unfortunate ones
and pay for meals enough to keep him
continually broke.
"But say you find a Job, what have
you goteven then? Nothing. The divi-
sions are all long, from go to $50 kilo-
meters, and Indifferent train dispatch
ing coupled with An enormous amount
of work at stations, for all trains are
local there, make:the hours of work
anywhere from "a to 60 only work
ed on one railroad In the republic, but
/ travelled almost all of them and l
have yet TO hear OF single division
where it was possible to get adequate
supplies for either trains or engines,
and any railroad man knows that a
shortage of this kind always makes 8
lot of unnecessary work.
about pay let me tell you that no
railroad men In Mexico with the pos
sible exception of engineers, are paid
as much for their work as they would
get in the states, ard living Is much
higher. The brakeman who makes
over $50 Mexican money is very rare
and the conductor who maxi s $3.50 IL
the exec ptio1, not the rule. When
you take into consideration the fact
l. b. = L. <,f A nnia
manufacture you pay on an average
three times it's cost in the states. and
for every meal you eat you pay 35
cents,you can see how much you can
save. Let me illust ate. The shirt
1 wore into Ell Paso 1 paid $500 for in
Mexico and L saw duplicate of it In
the window of a clothing store on Ell
Paso street marked so cents. raid
81 so for pair Of Douglas $3.50 shoes.
Star or Horseshoe tobacco costs 35
cents for 10 cent cut, and everything
else the average railroader has been
used to here is in about the same pro-
portion.
SIN conclusion, let me tell you of the
always present menace that hangs over
the railroad man in Mexico. This Is
the danger of injury to native Next
can by the cars. A Mexican killed or
seriously njured means the locking up
of the train and engine crew iu the
ilthtest of jails until such time as the
offc a q may see fit to try them, and
then a tenn in the penite ntiary if there
Is any degree of negligence shown |
American railroad men of today are as |
q rule b"ave end self-relisnt, fercely |
intolersnt of any Injustice and quick
to resent an insult. These character |
istics have resulted in sending many a |
one OF them into Mexican jails for |
years at a time, for, il a 'gringo' com
mits al assault on Mexican or a |
Chipaman, no matter what the provo |
cation, be is surely jailed, and unless |
he possesses unusual influence he will !
hardly get Off with less than q year.
"Sometime 10 the coming years |!
Mexico may be good place for the |
American rsilroader to go to better
his condition. but just now he is a |
fool il he gees there If he can hold a |
Job in the states. for a job Of braking in |
Texas is better than any conductorship |
/ have seen on any railroad in the re-
public"
Don't wear a scab Overall on Union |
job. "Sweet- Orr's" are Union made. |
For sale by the Union Clothing Co.