The farmer and mechanic., 1913-01-07

OF the mountains and only 500 feet
above the sea. During the next nine
" miles We went upward over 5000
feet and here at Guatemala CITY We
are Just about q mile high.
Railroad scenes.
The scenes on the Guatemalan rail
road are interesting. The passengers
consist Of Indians. half-breeds or
ladinos. and whites. VINO are few and
far between The ~asrs are first and
second class. and We had at the end
Of the train a little parlor car. the
extra charge for " hich was about SIS
per day. | spent q part OF the journey
in the second-class car The seats
We're much like those OF street car.
consisting OF long benches running
under the windows and a back-to-hack
bench in the center. Here most OF ,
the passengers were Indians or ne
groes. They were dressed in cotton, f
and the Indians had high straw hats F
with crowns shaped like sugar loaf. {
There were many bareheaded Indian +
women. Both men and women were .
smoking cigars or cigarettes. Their +
| baggage was hung up on hooks over T.
\ their heads An Indian newsboy in
\ his shirt sleeves passed through the +
\ car. selling candy and beer.
\ At one of the stations a company
I of soldiers came in. They We're bare
| footed and their uniform was Of cal
I leo. while their hats were Of straw.
v E-acn man carried a gun. out TINS WAS
4 the only sign of warfare about him
| am told they receive from 10 TO Is
| cents daily, and that the government
is always behind in its pay. The most
| of the soldiers are Indians, who are
| forced into the army.
American Railway Men.
This train had an American en-
| gineer and an American conductor.
and this is the case with the other
railways of Guatemala. The natives
have no experience and they cannot
be trusted TO handle the trains. The
conductors receive 800 gold per
month. and the engineers have SINH
lar salaries. The conductors tell me
that the Guatemalans are great trav-
elers and that both the first and sec
Ond class passenger traffic is good.
| First class fares are in the neighbor-
hood of cents gold per mile. and
the second-class are about half the
hrst-class. The Indians patroniZe the
roads and the conductors say that they
have to watch them carefully to col
and will try to cheat their way from
station to station. A man Will buy
a ticket for a short distance and then
change his ticket while en- route, taxi
ing that of passenger who has a
: ticket for a longer ride slipping The
t tickets back and forth SO that he gets
: a good part Of his ride, without pay.
Y Many men buy tickets short of the
E station where they expect to get off,
! trusting that the conductor will for
get them [ wonder if this is not
r sometimes the same in our country.
= The Guatemala Central Railway.
d The railroad from Guatemala City
t to the Pacific ocean is known as the
d Guatemala Central, and connected
0 with it are the extensions which run
y nOrthward almost to the boundary OF
$ Mexico. This system has three OF
four ports on the Pacific, the most
Q of which are open roadsteads, so that
r passengers have to be frequently land
:. ed in baskets. It was a San Jose that
n Secretary Knox was let down out OF
e our war vessel, as ST. Paul was lei
s down from the walls Of Damascus, ir
n basket. This is the only similarity
e I have ever observed between st
st Paul and the secretary.
8. The Guatemala Central was th'
u first railroad built in Guatemala. 1
d was begun about 1877, when an Amer
a lean, Mr.. William Name, who hat
A. been general manager of the Costs
t. Rican railway. came here and bull
h the line from the seacoast as far a.
le the town Of Esquintla This was com
is pleted about 1880 and a little later h
fe received q concession to extend it t,
the capital This road is well bull
and we'll ballasted. l took a rul
S. down over it few days ago. 1t
re steepest grade is about IL per cen
but the average grade is not NOR
20 than l IL. Nevertheless, in goin;
Is from here to EsQuintla, distance o
~ twenty-Seyen miles, the fall is nearl
IS 1000 feet.
1s The ride down to the coast abound
le in fine scenery. There are numerou
le horseshoe curves which equal thos
OF of the Pennsylvania railroad, and yO
OF are always in sight Of volcanic noun
re tains. You wind your way out Of on
Ie valley into another, through hills GOV
ut cred with cattle, now and then Seein
In coffee plantations and in the lowland
OF great fields of sugar.
IN About an hour or SO from Guate
IN mala City you reach Lake AmititlaT I
above which the towering Nolcanoe
rs of Aqua and Fuego look down an
ey the scene reminds you of Switzerland
es Lake Amititlan is five miles in lengt
eS and not more than two miles in widtl
G IFS wafer iC hpaItifl,lIy- clear nd ler