The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1907-02-17

very light; SO light that they skip and
dance over the rails when the engl-
neer is trying to make time. Many
Of the lines are SO rough that it Is Inn
possible to carry dining cars.
In the coaches from Berlin 10 ORES
den the passengers nre locked In sepa-
rate compartments. six passengers to
n section. In these compartments
there are no lavatores.
Passengers may travel first. second,
third or fourth class. F'irst-class Is a
little better than the ordinary tourist
accommodations at home. The fourth
class cars would not be used by any
respectable American for horses.
There are no seats, and no accomnlo-
cations Of any kind; the luckless pas
sengers sit on their luggage or @Slie
on the floor. The manner IN which
these passengers are penned IN at the
stations and driven about by the Ger
man government railway officials
would not be tolerated In the captain
OF the chain gang in Gallo mia.
The hrst-class fare on the German
roads Is about equal to that OF round
"trip fares at home; but there Is this
very important exception. no baggage
Is carried free on the German gov
eminent railways Every trunk must
be paid for at express rates.
This year there Is another innova-
ton. When bought my ticket | was
compelled to pay 81 extra as a gov
ernment tax. This tax Is Imposed on
all foreigners: the proceeds go to build
| the new German navy. BY the time
| one pays the ticket tax and the ex-
| cess baggage the flrst-class ratef on
| tho German government roads Is high
! er than that on the American railways.
AT Dresden stepped from flrst-
class carriage and asked one or a
group OF Englishmen standing In tho
station to direct me to an English or
American hotel
.1ts all right" he said. turning to
the other members Of the group, "hes
| an American"
Later lle explained to me that 1t Is a
| matter Of common comment in Germany
! that only fools and Americans travel
/ first class. learned that the first-class
compartments are occupied chiefly by
government officials, officers OF the army
and members Of the German nobility.
| The proletariat Is supposed to travel
I second class or third-class
HIGHER FREIGHT RATE,
have made some brief inquiries into
freight rates here. Tho lowest appears
to be ] cent ton: in America 1t Is
1 six-tenths OF a cent ton. The average
| is easily half a cent ton greater than
the corresponding rate on the private
| lines Of the United States.
The reason for this is easy to discover;
the German lines are operated by the
& government for purposes of revenue.
There Is no disposition to give cheap
and efficient service. The manifest OBJ
ject is to convey the soldiers and off,
cials about in style at the expense OF
the travelling public and to raise q few
. million dollars year by Indirect taxa
ton In the way OF profits on tho rail-
ways.
II There is no incentive to build new lines
or to maintain a high standard OF equip
ment for tho old ones. The German pas
senger cars arc Of cheap, unsubstantlal
construction. Most OF them arc dingy
without and dirty within, and many OF
tho local trains are apparently slowe.
than a mule express.
Conductors and other trainmen are
chiefly Prussian ex-soldiers. This is
seemingly the only qualification required
4 rode on half dozen different German
railway lines without finding an en-
ploye, either OIL train or in a station
who could speak English. There Ia nc
competition, and consequently no incen-
tive to improve the service.