The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1913-04-15
MEXICANRAuWAYS

bk11lW0y MO 1V6 lIO0 u MA01O$o~y
Queer FEATURES OF Passenger Travel.
me Rates Lower Than Ours-The
Mcxjcnn ~ q Railroad Man.
Copyright. 1913, by Frank q. Car
penter.)
! MEXICO CITY.
Railway travel In Mexico Just now
IS mighty uncertain, although the raii-
5ssy officials say they expect things 10
quiet down from now on ana the
travel and business conditions to snow
A steady Improvement. For the pas
few months things have been oe-
ridediy bad on the roads from mere
10 the north. The Mexican Central
10 FL PasO was out Of commission Tor
mora than q year, and the Laredo
road has had many hold-upS and
bridge burnings. Conditions upon 1t
were especially bad shortly after Ma
Zero was killed, and some of the
! regions through which it passes had
many rebels and brigands.
{ As j camo here over that route.
Nome months before he battle at
Mexico City, the passengers on my
train discussed the possibilities OF a
tunnel being blown up, and since then
some of the bridges have been burned
and rebuilt. Hold-ups by bandits and
rebels frequently occur between here
and Vera Cruz, and, in fact, there are
hut few regions where travel is posi-
lively safe. If there are soldiers on
your train, there is liable to be shoot
ing by anti-administration brigands,
and your life is in danger. If there
are no soldiers the train may be held
M and robbed by the rebels or BAN
dts, and the passengers. without re-
gard to nationality. be forced to hand
over their money, watches and jewelry
at the point Of the revolver. In some
such cases the passengers are search
ed to see il they are giving up all that
they have, and in others foreigners
are freed after their pocketbooks and
money rolls have been handed over
For this reason l am hiding my
money. ! always carry a number of
good yellow bills as a reserve fund
for accidents. and these I now keep
in my socks while travelling by train.
l would say, however, that in several
hundred thousand miles Of travel all
over the world, this is the first time
/ have done so.
MexicO's New Railroads.
Such conditions have practically
paralyzed travel throughout a great
part Of this country. This is so. al
though much OF Mexico, geographical
ly speaking, Is quiet. and the freight
and passenger business Is being car
ileO oH dlIlOSt DIS TcS QUARRY DIS III lIlllcS
OF peace, The most OF the foreigners
have sent DER families out Of Mexico
but many Of them r going about
from city to city n there are still
some thousands at the capital.
As to the railway officials, they
claim hat conditions are not half 81
bad as they have been painted. The!
are planning new construction work
and as soon as quiet is restored
-~-- 49, --:I A,:1A
The National Railways have just com
pleted a final survey of a inc from
Tampico to Matamoras, a distanc
greater than from New York to Bos
ton, and they have built somethir
like 500 miles on several branches O
their system within the past twelv
months. The Southern Pacific Com
pany has added considerably to it
mileage on the west coast during 1911:
has completed it's line from Eel Pas
to Chihuahua.
BY HAIL to Yucatan.
Tn addition to this. concessions hay
been asked for a number Of line
Two railway companies have bee
formed to build roads south Of tn
isthmus OF Tehuantepec. One
these is to go from Santa Lucretia Q
the ~Tehuantepec National Railway
TIC 1--WE VI dIlpttU tuIOuSH u
states of Vera Cruz. TabascO and Can,
peche and it will there Onnec wit
the United Railways of Yucatan. Th
road is financed by different cap
~tslists. 1t is now being surveyed al
construction will soon cOmmenc
h will form a main line betwet
the rest Of the republic and the peni'
sula of Yucatan, and will enable OF
TO go from the United States to tn
country by rail. 1t will open up son
of the richest tropical country Of Il
world.
Another important inc, financed
the British, but to be built by Amel
cans. has been projected from Ac
pulca on the west cOast through t
state of Guerrero to BalSas. on t
Balsas river. where connection will
made with the National railways.
will open up a semi-tropical regi
and also large timber n mineral
serves.
Improving the Main Line.
In addition to his new constr,
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