The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1905-06-28
FOREIGN ROADS
AND AMERICAN
President George w. Stevens, Of
The Chesapeake and Ohio,
Compares Them.
BOTH HAVE ADVANTAGES
BOTH HAVE ADVANTAGES
Interesting Observations BY Mr..
Stevens on His Tour Of
European Lands.

Mr. George w. Stevens, president OF the
Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad. who, with
his family, has been travelling In Europe
for two or three months. reached the city
yesterday and with his accustomed In
dustry was y, his office hard at work
all the afternoon. When n reporter called
he was busy gathering UP the threads OF
the direction OF a great railway system
and Its progress and achievements during
his absence.
That Mr.. Stevens was delighted with
his trip was apparent even had he not
frankly admitted the fact. He is a tho-
rough, practical railway man. and natu-
rally and inevitably everything relating
to the foreign railway management and
operation Interested him no less than
the great cities and ancient civilization
OF Europe. His estimation Of continent
tai and British railways were not pessi-
5mistic nor were they to the disadvantage
OF American lines. I'VE both have much
+ to learn from each other, :" said Mr.. Ste-s
yvens. In some respects they have the
advantage OF us. and in other respects
we have the better OF them. On the
whole. however, I do not think there
GRAFTON and management here and In Eu-5
rope, certainly not between the British
and American lines.
English Railways.
.The British lines are equipped with
coaches somewhat different In arrange
4ment and construction from ours. but
OF about the same standard. They have
compartments. which are very desirable
for parties travelling together, affording
privacy and seclusion, but they are not
SO desirable for one travelling alone. The
English roads have three classes Of fares,
but the second class is fast falling In
%i,,k <1a,, +
the flrst-class and the old third-class
accommodation The second class fare
is fixed by law at 2 cents per mile,
whereas ours is about 3 cents. The first
class fare is slightly more expensive
than ours, being about equivalent to
our parlor car rates. ~
a.t.As to the speed Of the English trains
1t is fully as good as the average In
this country, II not 8trifle better. We
WENT from London to southampton,
about the same distance as from Rich
mond to Newport News. in about the
same time our trains make the run
IT was a through train, making no stop.
or course, they, have their local trains,
Just as we have.
&c Mr.. Stevens stated that the French
railroads were also of very high stand
ard I'd 4 almost equal to the British
lines The principal difficulty an Eng
:lish & or American traveller encountered
was at the French railway sta tons. In,
the scaf es, II hot els 4 and d pensions English
Is spoken almost as generally as Frenc h,
but tsthe railway stat ions sFrencflSis a.
most exclusively spoken. SSSs It Is, therefo ore.
slightly difficult for an Engl ish -spea king
person to get information. but he had
Jared very we'll in this respect. y
ss5s From Observation.
IT regretted that in my limited time.
~ of n
/ talking with the foreign railway officials,
but as 1t was my knowledge Of their
opera ton of their railways was cleaned
Il merely from travelling over them as a
IN ssenger, and Is, therefore meaEre.
When we were in England, nearly all the
officials of1the great lines were wa W q nd
< SO r had not an opportunity OF meeting
them. OF course, with the dense popula-5
ton their passenger traffic In ENGLAND is
greater than in this country, but we nave
the better of them In freight, and our
freight rates are lower. For inst aflce. We We
haul ton three miles for cent II
Mr.. stevens said he found the Italian.
railroad lines Inferior to those of Eng
land or even of France, but withal 4Yerj
fair. One Of the most interesting portions
Of his trim was the travel through the:
st. Gothard pass The scenery a n1ons the
Alps and in his Journey into Switzerland,
especially from Lucerne to 1nterlaken,5
was grand beyond description.
Mr.. stevens was especially Impressed
with the magnificent highways In Europe.
and especially In Italy. many OF them
built hundreds of years n go, hut kept UP
admirably to this daY. He expressed the.
belief that the maintenance Of such a
system OF roads would be beneficial to
railway traffic, rather than detractng
therefrom$
The Roman Forum,
While in Italy Mr.. Stevenssstated that
he was most interested in the ruins Of.
the Roman forum and of the Coliseum
Hc also visited ancient I'ompeii and It's
disIntcrred ruins The tour included a
tourney through the grand scenic portion
of Switzerland and down the Rhine TO
Cologne and Its celebrated cathedral
In the course Of his trip he visited Pisa
and saw It's leaning tower; viewed the
famous Bay Of Naples; visited the Louvre,
the hotel dcs Invalides, the Champs
Elysees and other Partisan points Il
Worldwide Interest. The British Museum
interested him as much as anything IN
England. except London itself, which he
characterized MS n great city indeed.
While abroad Mr.. Stevens did not seek
n sight of royalty. He did not see King
Edward, who, he said, was very popular
everywhere. He did sec the young King
of Spain, who was In England at the
time, and he also saw King Victor Eman-
uel II, while In italy. hut It was quite
accidental He contemplntes taking an
other trip In "a year or two, and seeing
more of Europe.
WILKINS is 0UsTED
RYL nlRECT0R. POTTER