Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1925-02-03
IN OUR
TOWN


tinuing their slccpfr service between
Matamoross and Mexico City.
Lack Of business was the cause. L,
was insignificant, says a letter from J.
M. Gardenas, general passenger agent Of
the National Lines of Mexico. to Jack
III. Hott. general manager of the Am
crican Chamber Of Commerce, Tampico
Business principles must be, applied
to the operation of railroads as in every
other lipc of industry
1t the Matamoros- Monterrey Mexico
City service did not pay its way, afte,
trial Of two or three years, then mani
festiy thf re was nothing to do but dis
continue it.
The discontinuance of this service
virtually has the effect Of Terminating
prownsvilIc's career as an nternationa
gateway.
There must be some way to resurrec
this port as a freight and passenge
gate way.
What can Brownsville and the re
mainder Of the Valley do to increase tn.
Importance Of the gateway:
The situation is commended to- th'
attention Of the new Chamber &C Cow
fncrce of Brownsville when it gets un
drEway.
a great part Of Brownsvile's future
lies in its busins SIS relations with our
neighbors south of the. Rio Grande. The
progressive business house of today rs
not a modest violet--it goes after busi-
ness. agsressively, intelligently; fights
for it, if Necessary. A city may do the
same thing.
I Getting back to- Mr.. Cardenas' letter,
here is how he explains the situation:
~" - e. / must say that this de-
partment did eevrything possible to pro-
$fct the. Mexico City Houston Pullman
Iife, inasniuch as it is our aim to pro-
vide modern facilities and convenienccs
on oil our trunk lines. However, the
traffic. north of Monterrey was so in
significant that passenger" train and
Pullman service caused serious loss
for long time. In other words. the
lack Of patronage was the only reason
for which that Pullman line had to be
discontinued.
Travellers from Tampico would have
evidently assisted us in preserving pas
sscnger trains and Pullman service be-
tween Monterrey and Matamoros by pa
tronizing that route, but our records
show that BY far the greatest volume
OF traffic between Tampico and Hous'
ton has been moving regularly via La
r;do on the through Pullman sleepers
operated daily over this latter route"
Habit Is strong thing. Difficult to
cvtrcome it. Mexican travel to and
from the United States has been
through the Laredo gateway for possibly
40 years. The Brownsville gateway is
a new one. practically speaking. Also,
it is not as direct as is the Laredo gate.
way. The Gulf Coast Lines spent
great many thousands of dollars in ad-
vertising its Houston Matamoros Mon.
terrey service. The rt suits have been
negative.
Look at the map Measure distances.
Across country. Brownsville is nearest
Mexico City. Between Brownsville and
Tampico is some Of the finest agricul-
tural land to be found anywhere. 1t is
undcveloped Some dav the Brownsville
and Matamoros- Tampico Mexico City
line will be a fact. Progress is being
made On a line between Mexico City and
Tampieo. Eventually this line will be
brought to the border at Matamoros.
s~When that comes, Brownsville and
Ma atamoros will mix it" with the other
EateSsys:
The American Railway Express com
pany's report for 1924 on business at
Brownsville and Laredo shows the busi-s
ness through the latter port to be more
than four times greater than that a,
Brownsville.
But Laredo gets credit for all ship
ments into and out of Mexico. Charges
are payabl. there.
brownsville ranks fourth in South
west Texas offices, San Antonio being
first. Laredo second and Corpus Christi
thitd.
But we are showing the greater
growth.
= Some, ladies' who have at heart the
civic attractiscuess of -Brownsville are
very much concerned over the fact tina;
lets on prominent street' have beeI.
TUNED more. or less into dumping
elounds, They, also charge that sewer.
% ordinances Are not being observed
in district covered by ordinance
No doubt If the ladies would organ.
izc themselves into a committee ana
call on the owners of the property IN
question, the conditions would be rec
titled.
Doubtlsss the fact that some Of these
streets lead to- the center OF the city
and are used by visitors coming IN by
auton,obilc1 has not occurred to these