El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1900-03-20
pHILlppINE RAILROADS.
Their Improvement and Extehsioh
w;,, probabIy Develop Farming.

rh fact tbst the entire railway
srs,arn Of the Philippine islands at pre-
80, consists of single line OF anti
cuated ra.tern having length OF 1855
tbauI25 miles, writes w. OlloelS
irwin in Casters Magazine, gives
some idea Of the neglect OF this eccno.
mic form Of travel and tran portssion
nn6er the long Spanish regime. Inc
ro,d intersects the rich pc Mn suia
northwest OF Manila az d connect thas
cjtv with Dagupan, a town on the easC
ocast Of the island of Luzon, winch
viii eventual become al impol ttnt
one. To be exact, the length OF Tue
lire IS l22 miles. The gauge Is . zee.
inches, ard the ties are OF the hnes1
hardwood, obJsiued from tne ioIee
LONG the line. Ga the entire Ieng.h
+he1e are sixty iron bridges. AS
comuared with the fairly suostan tlal
obaraoter of the road bed, the rolling
stock is very light. ,.;,
In sneed and CAPACITY the locomotives
are insignificant, being OF less
than ter tons burden. The usual speed
varied from fifteen to twenty miles an
hour. and when the American troops
toor nnsesssion their railroading
asiooished the natives, the speea being
frequently doubled. Comparatively
coaches are used, and these are DIVIDED
into three classes, or apartments seaGlhg
.Jobt nassepgers. The few first class
coaches are provided with comfor tape
cane chairs, while the second Grass
apartments have rough "o0uen
benches, aud the third-class are oare
and usually crow ed with natives carry
inc hsssets and bundles of all descrlp-
tious. An ordinary train Is MADE up
of eight or ten carriages, most OF theh
third-class, and the fare ranges from
2 to 5 cents, Mexican, per mile. Inc
bulk of the freight now carrleu Is
made up of rice, sugar, hemP anu
building mat rial, and the rates on Bill
traffic are considerable.
Owing to the sxacting requirements
of the Spanish authorities the oui!dlhgs
on the line are first-cla5s. Inc Mania
depot is we'll arranged tWo-story
wooden structure, T0feet long ana 40
feet wide with train sheds so leet
long. covering four tracks. Before tue
recent insurrection natives were large
" employed in operating the road.
They served as clerks, telegraph
operators, station m ssters, conductors,
engineers, frem. and mechanics.
CheaD labor enabled the Inexpensive
onerstion of the road. The wages
paid ranged from about SIS per month.
Mexican money. for laborers, 10 S4o
for clerks, station masters, engineers
and similar employees. The term Mexi-
can is in general use in the Isl snds IN
referring to money values, taking pre-
eedeuce over the Spanish.
This. pioneer road, which was opened
In 1891, has been Of untold benefit to the
country through which it passes. me
damages done to the road during the
war have all been repaired, twenty-five
miles Of track having been shipped
from San Francisco to be used IN the
work of reconstruction. Already Ameri-
can capitalists have turned their after
tion to the matter of railway construc-
ton in the Philippines. AS soon as the
iusurrection is finally blotted out the
work will be comm nced and upon its
neels will undoubtedly follow the
rhenomensl development of the ag-
ricuItural resources of this garden spot
of nature and the opening up Of the
imberlaads and mineral wealth of the
islands