El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1915-04-17

gers travelling equipment is a duster
10 keep his clothes clean.
Railway travelling in the Argentine
is pleasant. The fares are dearer than
those Of our country, but the cars are
good and exceedingly comfortable. The
seats are wider than ours. and those
OF the first class are upholstered in
leather. They have also chair cars and
special sleeping compartments. On
nearly every train tea is served in the
afternoon, and the passengers univer-
sally go 20 the dining ear for their tea.
Most of the cars serve a table dhOte
dinner at about p. M This costs
S1.25 and for that one may have a
soup. fish. stewed chicken. roast beef
with vegetables and ice cream. cheese.
fruit and coffee. The dinner is much
like the old style dollar dinner OF the
American roads, save that it is served
in courses.
Compartment Sleeping Cars.
The compartment sleeping cars are
such that one has all the advantages
OF the drawing room OF our Pullman
coaches. II he is alone he can have the
upper berth put up and have a good
lying dom place in the daytime, and
at the same time he has the seclusion
OF a room TO himself on some OF the
trains there is a sleeping car reserved
for the ladies', and on all the cars there
are special compartments for smoking.
As to baggage, the trains usually
carry 10 pounds free on each ticket
all additional weight being charged
for at high prices
The two chief sources Of Argentine
traffic are live stock and grain. At al
most any time OF the year you may see
long trains OF cattle and sheep moving
In caravans, as II were, across the
country. The cattle cars are better
than ours. They open at the ends in
stead Of at the sides, and are so made
that the whole train can be made into
one street Of cars so that the cattle
can be driven in single file from one
end Of 10 to the other.
This enables the stock TO be loaded
in a much shorter time than with US.
The cattle are started in at, one end
As soon as the first car is filled the
platform between IL and the second car
IS raised and the second is filled, then
the platform at the end OF that is raised
and so on. The unloading of the cattle
is equally simple.
One Of the big items Of grain export
is in getting the goods to the railroads
The most Of il is carried upon bullock
carts. hauled by from IS TO "a or more
animals The average wagon freight
rate for comparatively short distances
is = cents per mile per hundred
weight, so that IL a mans farm is ten
miles from a station. IL costs him IS
cents per hundredweight TO get his
grain there, or something like cents
for every bushel OF wheat As a re
suit OF this high wagon freight, the
most or LLE wheat LaELllh are EA11E 10
the railroads the extra freight eating
up the profits OF those far away
Foreign Labor Used.
The labor on the Argentine railways
is largely foreign. The roads are Off
cered and managed by high priced Of
ficials from other countries. some OF
the superintendents and general man
ayers receive from 100000 to $4,000
per year. and all such high class
brains are well paid Farther down
the scale the salaries are greatly re
duced. and are seldom as large as SINH
lar salaries in the United States.
There is a labor union here Of en-
giueers and firemen known as la
Fraternidad,' or the Brotherhood It
is somewhat similar TO the Brother
hood OF Locomotive Engineers OF the
United States, and IL has had much 10
do with fixing railroad wages Accord
ing to this brotherhood, the engineers
are classified in grades, and should be
paid according TO the length Of serv-
ice. There are now five grades, and
the wages OF engineers range from $50
TO $50 per month Firemeu get from
about $40 to SIS per month The days
are graduated by hours and the maxi
mum working day under express or
ders is u hours. although in case Of
accidents or extraordinary occasions Il
may be longer
The most Of the road. construction is
by Italian and Spanish labor. and the
In this case the captain OF the gang
takes the contract. by the job or the
yard. and he is responsible for the
work Of his men. Upon one OF the
roads in Patagonia saw 20 gangs OF
ten men each laying tracks They were
paid so much per mile. They carried (
their tents with them. and were sup
piled with their food from d provision I
car.
Department store on Wheels.
The provision car was a little gro Z
Gerry or department store on wheels. !
It was fitted with shelves. upon which Z
were bottles OF liquor and packages Of Z
tobacco. groceries and clothes It has !
a stOrekeeper furnished by the rail- I
way, and its goods were sold at reas- [
enable rates Among the CHEZ arti- I
cles OF consumption was the native I
wine. without which the men viii not I
work This was sold at a few cents (
a bottle.
bon may he drawn. is charming for the I