The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-11-09

. -
NOVEMBER 8, 19O2.---'
yard at all the chief stations, and you
see such piled behind the locomotives.
There Is no waste In using them and
they are more easily handled than the
coal itself.
French Railroads.
like the French railroads. They are
we'll built and the cars make fairly good
time. The trains are of three classes and
the second class is good enough for any
one The rates of fare are about the
same as those of the American railroads,
but the charges for baggage are higher.
Only sixty-six pounds are allowed free.
all overweight costing about half cent
per pound per mile.
The French cars are long. They are
divided into compartments or little rooms
about six feet wide, cunning across the
cars, with a passage at one side. Both
seats and back are upholstered They
run across the compartments and face
each other four people being supposed to
sit on each side. The seats next to the
windows are the best, and the first ar
rivals reserve them by putting their bag
gage there. The conductor punches the
tickets before the train starts, and they
are also punched as you come out of
the cars
The tracks are not fenced Indeed.
there are few fences anywhere. and their
absence adds to the beauty of the land
scape. In coming to Lyons I rode for
otal of
many colored crops interspersed with
pasture and cut by white roads bordered
with tall poplars and other green trees.
Along the railroad was a fringe of the
most brilliant red peoples and the yellow
wheat fields showed thousands of these
peoples set as 1t were in a gold ground.
| saw cattle here and .nere in the fields,
but every animal was tied to stake and
ate a circle out of the green. At each
road crossing there wa. flag woman to
warn the people to keep back while the
train passed, and now and then we rode
through sections where the road was be
ing repaired.
What Railroad Men Get.
I asked some questions as to wages.
They are lower than in the United States.
Engineers earn about $36 per month and
in addition have commission on the
amount of coal they can save over
certain fixed quantity by which man
can raise his wages to $50 month.
Suckers get S25 month. foremen in the
shor s4S a month and ordinary workmen
about SO per month. Station agents have
proportionately low wages md the scale
on the whole is far under that of our
country. More than one-tenth Of all the
men in the service get less than $l7 a
month; a little more than one-third re-
ceive from 81 to $22, and moro than half
get less than $25 per month. The men
work from seven to twelve hours per day
and on the average about twenty eight
and a half days per month. The women
at the crossings usually get from ten to
twenty cents per day. They live close
to the road and have to be on duty only
at the time of the trains.
American Locomotives in France.
There are now a number of American
locomotives employed on the French rail
roads. They are very SUCCESSFUL and
some of them on their trial trips have
maintained an average speed OF seventy
miles an hour. The locomotives were
| somwhat changed after they were re-
ceived here, because the French engineers
| did not think the weight was equally dis
| tributed over the wheels.
| The French have some fine looking loco
motives of their own. and 1t seems to mt
| that their engines are somewhat better
| finished than ours. Their cars are very
light and neither freight nor passenger
| cars will cary as much as those OF thu
| United States.
| France has now 24,OO0 miles Of railroad!
| and a little over ten thousand locomo
| tives The average engine travels $500
miles during the year and the speed o.
the express trains range from seventeen
to sixty miles an hour Freight trains
run from four to seventeen miles an hour
and they carry much less than similar
| trains in the United States. AS whole
1t seems to me that we are far in ad'
vance of the French as to all matters re-
lating to railroads.
About the Stations.
The French railroad stations. however
are better managed than ours. The res
taurants are good. L took my dinner al
the Paris depot before l left for Lyons
The meal included soup, an excellent
fish, and also meat potatoes, cheese and
Strawberries, with half bottle of Cha
bills. The charge was 10 cents. You car
get a good dinner without wine at al
most any station for so cents, and the
trains stop long enough for you to cal
your meals. There are but few dining
| cars, ana only tHe last eApISSS bLdHis
| carry sleepers.
Newspapers and magazines are not solo
| on the cars. The newsboy brings then
| to you at the stations. holding his racl
| of papers outside' the car windows. II
| the towns the newspapers are sold by wo
men in booths on the streets. Some o.
the booths have advertisements abou
their tops, and among these are Otter
| cards advertising American goods.
Indeed, the Americans are better adver
| Users than the French. l see signs de
scribing the virtues of American sewing
machines and typewriters everywhere
and a common advertisement in France
is that of American mint. or "menth
| Americana"
AS a whole, however, st. Eteinne does
not buy much American goods. There
are some California fruits and Phila
delphia pickles sold in the stores, ant
there Is the usual exhibition of typewrit
ers, cameras and sewing machines. Thu
Mutual and Equitable life insurance com
panies have offices here. but as to Ameri
can shoes matches and cereals, they ar
| conspicuous by their absence.
FRANK G. CARPENTER.