New Britain herald., 1916-04-18

Washington, D. C., April 1S.-The railways of Northern Mexico, the use ot which was fraught with grave mom- ent to the punitive eXpcditionarN force under General Pershing a few days ago, because of the serious question of transporting supplies, is the subject of an informative bulletin just issued by the National Geographic society of Washington.
 The railway system of Mexico has a mileage which exceeds by twenty five per cent. the com bined mileage of all the other countries of North and South America, with the eXcep- tOn of Canada, the United States, Ar gentina and Brazil,' says the bulletin. This vast system has been built up in fOrty-fiVe years, for while there was tiny track from Mexico City to the su- burb of Guadalupe as early as 1854. it was not until 1873 that President LerdO inaugurated the first important line, that which runs from Vera Cruz to the national capital. President Ter do, was opposed to the building of railways across the desert plateauS of northern Mexico, for he believed it is said, that these arid plains afforded q certain security against the political
 
 United States. President Porfirio Diaz had a far broader vision, however, and during his long regime railroad build ing was one of his chief concerns, so that when he retired from the presi- dency these steel arteries of commerce had crossd the United States border at six places-LaredO, E1 Paso, Nogales, Eagle Pass, PresidiO, and Brownsville, and 11,0OO,00O people were carried an- nually together with 11,000,000 tons of freight.
 "One of the most interesting fea- lures of the railway system under Diaz was his insistence that the Amer ican managers of the merged Mexican national railways should employ, whenever possible, Mexican conduct ors, bra<emen, telegra ph operators flagmen and section foremen. In this way we hoped to build up a substan- tial middle class from among the peons, one of the crying needs of the country.
 The first railroad connecting Mexico City with the United States border was that to El Paso, opened by President Diaz thirty-two years ago last month. This line has been eX- tended in recent years to TampicO on the east and to Guadalajara on the 1 west and now embraces a system of 1 4,000 miles.
 The shortest line from Mexico 1 City to the United States (S00 miles) l is that of the National railway, which 1 crosses tho border at Laredo.
 "Whcn the four important railway 1 systems known as the Mexican Central 1 the National, the International and ] the Interoceanic were fused into the i National railways of Mexico, the gov ernment retained majority of the | capital stock of 615, 1000, ,000 pesos.
 'All of the railways in Northern 1 Mexico are equipped with American | locom otives, passenger and freight i cars and Pullman accommodations l are to be had on most of the lines. | The first class passenger rates are l slightly higher than on American lines l but there iS a lower second class rate, l by which tho pCOnS profit. Distances 1 arc measured in kilOm metreS-fOur 1 cents first class and 1 F cents second | class. Restaurants at the important ! stations serve table d hotC meal for $1, | and the trains usually make tWcntN- 1 five minute stops for breakfast, lun- l chcon and dinner