davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-01-05

Mongolia and Siberia through the
great passes. The cameis from Mon
solia stop now at the terminus of the
railway at Kalgan and those to be seen
in Pekin are natives Of the villages
round about the sreat walls of the
city. There are around Pekin several
coal mines and lime deposits and the
camel will serve as well as the mule
or horse TO convey coal and building
material Through the gates of the city.
The camels OF Pesin are seemingly Of
disgraced class. And the fine ca
PARSONS of their desert brethren are
not TO be seen on these detected beasts.
grimy and dirty with the black dust of
coal or the white dust OF lime.
Pekin is after all the most con ier-
vative of the large cities of China and
the young republican reformers COM
ing there in their western clothes and
talking English to "A large extent with
an American accent have found that
city slow to accept on the whole their
ideas of Immediate reforms of dress.
customs and language. The great ma
jority of the people of Pel<in unlike
the people of the treaty ports where
foreigners are most numerous, have
not yet discarded the queue. The ma
tional assembly, composed mostly Of
republicans with modern ideas, passed
a bill for the abolition Of the ancient
Manchu style OF head dress, but the
wise old President. Yuon Shfh Kai, who
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-01-05
Business by Abolition of Queue

For the foreign educated Chinaman
with his new ideas of republicanism
the new Wal Wu Pu building is most
attractive. 1t is a massive pile two
stories high, 200 feet long, with splen-
did entrance and massive pillars sup
porting the roof. IT is entirely, how
ever the thing one sees in every Amer
lean city of 100000 Inhabitants. Even
the Chinese soldiers who stand guard
at the gate are dressed in modern
Khaki uniforms and are queueless. The
officials who enter and leave this
building are almost without exception
dressed in foreign clothes, but often
the curious paradox is seen of the min
listers from foreign countries accred-
tied to the Chinese government driv-
ing up to the main entrance of this
modern building with Chinese outrlders
on horseback and Chinese footmen in
the most striking. almost affected, old
style Chinese costumes
Quite, as surprising and curious a
contrast also is to be noted in the le-
cation quarter of Pelxin, between the
manners OF the upper class Chinese
woman now endeavoring to enter into
western life and the ,affectations of
the very smart wives of certain Dip
lomatists The Chinese lady no long
er rides in her Sedan chair which was
a distinct emblem of the old Manchu
regime. She will come to visit in the
legation quarter in an ordinary car
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-01-05

est colors these men are clad, generally
in blue with white hats from the CEN
ter of which hang long streams of
brilliant red hair
Meanwhile one misses the ancient
craft that used to ply along the Chinese
canals and regrets the passing of the
camel as a means OF transport. The
railways leading TO speiSin from Tien-
tsin and Hanchow have done away
with much of the overland traffic of
man and beast and few of the barges
that formerly conveyed the tribute
rice to the capital by waterway have
now any occupation except to take the
foreigners to favorite spots in the shape
of old temples and ancient tombs now
beautifully overgrown with trees and
shrubs for picnics in the warmer sea-
sons. Likewise the railway from Kali
gan through the famous Hanchow pass
and the Great Wall up into the borders
of Mongolia have driven from the
streets of Pekin many of the camel
trains that used to come down laden
with those mysterious products of the
great Cobb desert.
There are many camel trains still to
be seen in the winter in PelSin but
tho trad through the great passes is
no ipN4e conducted by this means of
tfeH tion. Tie camel trains that
ere oday in the streets of Pekin
anrs convey fine teas and furs
otl materials coming from outer
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-01-05

ment As yet reorganization can hard
ly be said to have begun. The old Man
chu system is still in vogue and the
provinces, d1smembered TO some extent
by the revolution, are not yet support
ing the central government sufficient
ly for reorganization TO have begun in
earnest.
Here is an example OF the failures
which ardent young enthusiasts have
TOO often made and which has driven
the country to realize that after all
men of the old order of things who
understand at least one form of gov
ernment are still a desirable element
TO have in office in Pekin. A young
American graduate. so hurriedly thrust
graduate, one of several, of an Amer
lean university was appointed upon the
abdication OF the Manchus to a post
In the cabinet newly formed. His first
act in office was to discharge prac-
tically the entire staff of the bureau
of which he had charge. more than
900 men. ] he following day he had no
one in his office who knew where to
find single document for any branch
of the administration. This young
into office lasted less than a fort
night. And man after man. confident in
his brief four years of education
abroad. has given place to men without
foreign education though Of maturer .
years and with less drastic ideas OF
refoy FREDERICK DELINS.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-01-05

Zacapa, and my meal cost me $40. When
left took a bottle Of appollonaris with
me, for which ] was charged 81, and
also a package of cigarettes which cost
me S.. l gave IS fee to the parlor car
porter at the close of the trip, and once
All of these figures, however, represent
Gratemalan money. of which it takes $17
to make one of ours, so that a So bill
equals just about so cents.
zacapa is the biggest city between the
Caribbean and the capital. 1t is 100 miles
inland. lying at the foot of the mountains
and only 800 feet above the sea. During
the next 80 miles we went upward over
1900 feet, and here at Guatemala City
we are just about mile high.
Railroad Scenes
The scenes on The Guatemalan rail-
road are interesting. The passengers
consist of Indians, half-breeds, or ladi-
nos. and whites, who are few and far
between. The cars are first and second
class, and we had at the end of the
train a little parlor car, the extra
charge for which as about $6S per
day. 1 spent n part of the journey in
the second -class car The seats were
much like those of a street car, con-
sisting of long benches running under
the windows and back-to-b back bench
in the center. Here most of the passen-
gers were Indians or negroes. They
were dressed in cotton and the Indians
had high straw hats with crowns shaped
like a sugar loaf. There We're many
bareheaded Indian women. Both men
and women were smoking cigars or
cigarettes. Their baggage was hung up
on hooks over their heads. An Indian
newsboy in his shirt sleeves passed
through the car, selling candy and
beer.
At one of the stations a company Of
soldiers came in. They were barefoot
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-01-05

~ EKIN. January 4.-(Special )--Trav-
- elers who visit Pegin will find much
to interest them for many years to
come but with the advent of the for
eign educated youthful revolutionary
or republican idealist a number of the
most picturesque features of this old
est capital of the world are rapidly
disappearing AS usual, the new or
der of things is lot less impressive
than the old. and, curiously enough, in
many cases it is the supposedly up-to-
date foreigners who insist on keeping
, up ancient traditions. while the ''ef-
fete'' natives are anxious only to for
get that they ever existed.
Among the many magnificent exam
pies of Chinese architecture-not i'm
posing but unique in its many curves
and Kaleidoscope coloring-which have
been practically superseded by COM
monplace structures on European lines
IS the old Wal Wa Pu building. for
merly the foreign office. which is now
used only as a minor office for clerks
Nnnd for those innumerable attendants
(,pon Chinese officials whose duties are
)clsi,sfly to provide tea, the custom be-
ing among the Chinese, as with the
Russians. TO sip tea continually in their
die moments or even while 1T work.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-01-05
Central Railroad Station in Guatemala City

Regular trains are running over both
these roads, and when Secretary Knox
was here he crossed the continent that
way. He was taken from one ocean to
the other on special cars with pilot en-
gines running along in front to forestall
any danger of accident, and--the unllind
say-to be sure that no dynamite mines
had been planted to blow up the train
The road was decorated for the occasion
and was lined with palm branches, flags
and school children professions from one
end to the other. There were bands at all
of the stations, and when the cars passed
along the shores of Lake Amititlan a
fleet of canoes manned by Indians went
through certain maneuvsrs in his honor.
The Guatemala Railway
The road from Guatemala City to the
Atlantic is now largely owned by Minor
c. Keith and other capitalists, supposed
to be associated with the United Fruit
company, and l am told that they have
made arrangements to acquire the other
roads of Guatemala. This is the Guate-
mala road, which was formerly called the
Northern railway. Its first section was
laid out and built by an American engi-
neer named Miller. 1t was begun in 1884
as a government project, and 1t was then
provided that every Guatemalan should
pay 81 a year to aid in it's building. The
work was started, but war broke out
used to support the president.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-01-05

have TO watch them carefully to col
lect all the fares. They are smart and
win try to cheat their way from station
TO station. A man VIII buy ticket for
short distance and then change his
ticket while en- route, taking that of
passenger who has q ticket for a longer
ride, slipping the tickets back and forth
so that he gets a good part or his rlde
without pay. Many men buy tickets
short of the station where they ex-
pect to get off. trusting that the con-
ductor will forget them. / wonder il
this is not sometimes the same in our
country.
The Guatemala Central Railway
The railroad from Guatemala City to
the Pacific ocean is known as the Qua
temala Central and connected with 1t
are the extensions which run northward
almost TO the boundary of Mexico. This
system has three or four ports on the
Pacific, the most of which are open
roadsteads, so that passengers have to
be frequently landed in baskets. 1t was
at San Jose that Secretary Knox was
let down out of our war vessel, as
st. Paul was let down from the walls
of Damascus. in a basket This is the
only similarity b have ever observed
between St Paul and the secretary.
The Guatemala Central was the first
railroad built in Guatemala. 1t was
begun about 1877, when an American,
Mr. William Name, who had been gen
eral manager of The Costa Rican rail-
way, came here and built the line from
the seacoast as far as the town of Es-
quintla. This was completed about 1880
and a little later he received a con-
cession to extend 1t to the capital. This
road is well built and well ballasted. |
took a run down ever il few days
ago. Its steepest grade is about II per
cent, but the average grade is not more
than "a. Nevertheless, in going from
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-01-05

The year following another contract
was made, and along in 1892 the work
was again under way At that time 10
per cent of the salaries of the public Off
cials, and 5 per cent of all the town
revenues were ordered to be set aside for
railroad construction. The contracts wers
let, and along about 1896 or 1897 five Sec
tions had been built, extending from the
seacoast 1870 miles up the mountains.
At that place the road stopped. 1t be-
gan at the ocean and its terminus was
a jungle. Many of the ties rotted and
the rails rusted, until 1904 when Sir
William Van Horne, Minor C. Keith and
General Tom Hubbard got new conces-
sion for 1t and rushed it on to its
completion.
1t was finished in January, 1908, and it
is now one of the best roads in Central
America.
This Northern railway is well buit.
The gauge is three feet, and with the
exception of one piece, the greatest grade
is per cent For a short distance 1t is
more than per cent. The road Is
over 300 steel bridges. one of which is
more than 600 feet long, and another
743 feet long. The latter bridge is 229
feet high.
This road has a guaranteed Acome of
100000 a year, the concession providing
that the government will insure the 5
per cent dividend on the s4,000,000 invest
ment in it. In addition to this, last year
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-01-05

ton was furnishing the capital and he
was surprised at the money 1T took.
The story is that he sent word that if
the engineers could not find enough
rock they had better wire New York
and he would send down silver dollars
enough to make the fill.
The western coast is by far the rich
est part. of Guatemala. 1t has many
large coffee plantations and the coffea
traffic forms big item of freight,
This will be increased when the Pan
anna canal is completed. Recently many
eacao orchards have been set out and
this industry is reviving. About so
years ago the cacao was carried north
ward to Mexico on mules and in some
years the amount sent was millions of
pounds. Another export was cochineal,
"A dye made from a bug which covered
the cactus about Lake Amititlan. That
dye brought in sonnet thing like mill
lion dollars a year.
During my stay here in Guatemala
have talked with the chief railroad men
of the country, including Mr.. r. q.
Williamson. manager of the Guatemala
roads; Mr.. ID. b. Hodgsdon, manager of
the Central, and Mr.. w. Il. Jessup, the
superintendent of the Central lines.
They all speak enthusiastically of the
prospects of Guatemalan development.
Mr.. Jessup estimates that there are
zouO square leagues or lana In this
country which will grow sugar cane
and that the coffee plantations might
be enormously increased. He tells me
that there are large forests in the
mountains and extensive tracts which
will grow grain. There are also cot
ton lands and tobacco lands and large
tracts fitted for the grazing of cattle.
There is great deal of land belong
ing to the railroads. and the govern
ment has much wild land which may
be acquired by concession.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-01-05
Railroad Pier of San Jose de
Guatemala

it made more than 100000 and the traf-
fc is steadily growing.
Port BarriOs to Guatemala City
1t was over this road that | came into
Guatemala. | landed at Port Barrios on
one of the regular steamers which call
there on their way from Panama to New
Orleans. The port has a wide and deep
harbor and vessels of the heaviest draft
can come to its docks. The railroads
pass for 30 or 40 miles through the
richest banana plantations of the United
Fruit company and carry their freight
right to the steamers. While stayed at
Port Barrios about 100000 bananas
were loaded, and on my way over the
road we were some hours passing
through the plantations.
Leaving Port Barros the cars 20 right
into the jungle. They wind their way
through the Montague valley, where the
soil is a rich sandy loan about Is feet
deep. Here the rainfall is abundant, and
nature has on her seven-league boots
Palm trees a hundred feet high wall the
railway, and the vegetation is the most
luxuriant to be found in the tropics
After a few miles of such scenery you
enter the great banana estates, and the
cars fan the leaves of banana plants
from 30 to 40 feet high. many of them
loaded with fruit. There is perhaps 40
miles of such riding, and then you come
to the mountains, where the vegetation
is dryer and with many herds of cattle
feeding upon ii.
Like Arizona
The scenery now suddenly changes. 1t
is almost like crossing from the valley
Of the Nile into the desert. In the valley
the rainfall is over 100 inches per year.
On the highlands there is almost no rain,
and as you ascend the mountains you pass
through a region like the desert lands
of New Mexico or Arizona. The ground is
dry and cacu abound. The trees are sill
yer gray. There does not seem to be
enough moisture to color the leaves. The
only green spots are along the beds of
the streams We can stll see the Monta-
qua river, but beyond its banks is the
desert In its upper course the river looks
not unlike the Jordan. and the vegeta-
ton is no more lGzuriant than that which
lines the famed river of Palestine.
Still further inland the mountains make
one think of the Rockies. They are bare,
ragged and torn by ravines and canyons.
There are thirsty trees upon which hang
thirsty air plants, the orchids of the des-
ert. Now and then you pass little val
ley with irrigated patches along the
stream running through it, Here are
tfatched huts. the homes of the Indians.
Such valleys are but a few hundred feet
wide and the population is scanty.
A Ten-Dollar Breakfast
My train stopped for breakfast at
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-01-05

to st. Louis Will be less than six days,
while that TO New York will be just
about one week. From Guatemala City
to st. Louis the distance is 1924 miles.
To New York it is 1884 miles, or only
about 700 miles less than from New
York to San Francisco. 1t needs only an
extension of little more than so miles
to connect the roads here with those of
Salvador, and the day seems to be
fast coming when the Pan-American
railway from New York to Buenos
Aires will be in operation. The dis
tance between these two points by rail
Will be only q little over 10000 miles,
and of this between 5000 and 1000 have
already been built. Add to that an
extension equal to the distance between
here and New York, and We shall have
this great intercontinental railway
with several hundred miles to spare
New Railroads of Central America
Everywhere I go in Central America
I hear the people talking of new rail-
roads. One of the projects of Panama
is to build line from Panama City
to the town of David, the largest place
in the northern part of that republic.
Costa Rica will eventually be connect
ed with Panama, Nicaragua and Hon
duras. and the concessions for the ex-
tension of the roads here have already
been granted. Both the old and new
lines are practically owned by Amer
leans, and from New York to Panama
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-01-05
Carpenter Writes of the Railways of Guatemala

the indications are that the lines Will
be under American eontrolA The pres
iaent Of the Pan-American extension
to Guatemala Is Mr.. D. O. Thompson.
who was formerly our minister to Mex
leo. The railroads of Costa Rica arc
owned by the Keith syndicate and
the same is true of the railroads of
Guatemala. All of the lines have been
planned by Americans and built by
Americans, and there will probably be
one American company operating the
whole.
From Ocean to Ocean
Guatemala has now an inter-continen-
tai line from the Caribbean sea to the
Pacific. This is. with the exception of
the Panama railroad, which is about 10
miles long, and the Tehuautepec line,
which is 1856 miles long, the shortest of
all the roads which connect the Atlantic
and Pacific oceans. Its total mileage is
less than 270. and it runs from Puerto
Barrioss on the Caribbean sea to Guate-
Inala City on the top of the pass, thence
on over the mountains and thence TO
San Jose de Guatemala, the port on the
Pacific. The distance from Barros to
the capital is 1876 miles, and from here
to San Jose it is Just under IS miles
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-01-05

copyright, 1912. by Frank G. Car
peuter)
Guatemala city.
:" HE Pan American railway will
soon be connected with the
i Guatemala system. It already
comes to the boundary of the republic
and only 20 or so miles of track are
yet to be laid to connect it with the
Guatemala Central. which comprises
the lines running from here TO the port
of San Jose, on the Pacific, and those
which cover the western slope of this
country. Indeed. travellers can now go
10 Mexico City by rail, piecing out the
short break of a days ride on mules.
Moreover, extensive plans are Under
way to extend the Guatemalans rail-
ways into Salvador and Costa Rica, and
within a comparatively short time we
shall be able to reach the Panama
canal by railway.
By Train to Guatemala
In this way Guatemala City is only
within about four days from Mexico
City. When the break is completed it
will be only three days. and the time
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-01-05

here to Esquintla, distance of q
m1ies. the IAN IS nearly 1000 feet.
The ride aown to the coast abounds
in fine scenery. There are numerous
horseshoe curves whicn equal those Of
the Pennsylvania railroad and you are
always in sight of volcanic mountains.
You wind your way out of one valley
into another. through hills covered
with cattle, now and then seeing coffee
plantations and in the lowlands great
fields of sugar.
About an hour Or SO from Guatemala
City you reach Lake Amititlan, above
which the towering volcanoes OF Aqua
ane Fuego look down and the scene re-
minds you of Switzerland. Lake Ami
titlan is five miles IN length and not
more than two miles IN width. Its wa
ter is beautifully clear and here and
there are hot springs which bubble up
and breathe forth steam from the sur
face. The railroad runs in and out
along the shores of this lake and in
one place it crosses it. At the time
this section was built c. p. Hunting
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-01-05

ed aud their Uniform was of calico,
while their hats were of straw. Each
man carried a gun, but this was the
only sign of warfare about him. / am
told they receive from 10 to Is cents
daily, and that the government Is al
ways 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 engineer
and an American conductor, and this is
the case with the other railways of
Guatemala. The natives have no eX-
perienee and they cannot be trusted to
handle the trains. The conductors re-
ceive S100 gold per month and the engi-
neers have similar salaries. The con-
ductors tell me that the Guatemalans
are great travellers and that both the
first and second class pa assenger traffic
is good. First class fares are In the
neighborhood of cents gold per mile,
and the second class are about half the
first class. The Indians patronize the
roads and the conductors say that they
The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1913-08-12
PARTY ENROLMENT.

1t is foolish to suppose as some
newspapers allege, that certain
would-be bosses are making an at
tempt to fool the voters into the be-
lief that the party enrolment law is
to be used by the old political or
ganizations to stifle the Washington
party at the primaries. 1t is the non
sensical chatter of those who read
disaster in the air and are trying to
place the blame elsewhere than on
their own heads and to excuse in ad-
vance failure of the masses to sup
port a cause that is failing through
lack of rational purpose and because
of selfish leadership.
Digests of the new statutes have
been published from time to time
and will continue to be published for
the preparation of ALL voters and
instructing them how to proceed in
order to qualify for the primaries.
The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1913-08-12
ORTHODOX JEWS BEGIN
TISHA B'AB OBSERVANCE.

With the setting of the sun Mon
day night and lasting for period of
twenty-four hours, Jews throughout
the country will observe Tisha b'Ab,
the ninth day of the Jewish month
of Alb. The day is, observed as one
of fasting and prayer among ortho-
dox Jews throughout the world. 1t
is popularity called THE Black Fast"
in contradistinction from the white
Fast" which is the day of atone
ment. -
Tisha b'Ab is a day of mourning
and sadness to the large body of de-
vout Jews, to whom it commentaries
the most disastrous episodes of Jew
ish history. On the ninth of Alb both
the first and second temples were
destroyed in Jerusalem, and it was
on this day also that centuries later
(1492) the Jews were expelled from
Spain.
The services will begin at sunset
on Monday and continue until sun
set on Tuesday. During the day
many worshipers visit the graves of
relatives or those of departed Jews
who have been noted for piety.