. An American engineer in China . 115,222. Nor are the rates of fare at which this businessis done so very low; in fact, some of the chargesare high enough to excite the envy of the ordi-nary American traffic manager. In India thereare four classes of passenger accommodation, therates per mile ranging from cent to centsgold. In Japan there are three classes, thecharges being cent for the third class, for the second, and cents for the last rates, adopted one year ago, are an in-crease of one-third over the previous figures, itbeing found that the natives dema
. An American engineer in China . 115,222. Nor are the rates of fare at which this businessis done so very low; in fact, some of the chargesare high enough to excite the envy of the ordi-nary American traffic manager. In India thereare four classes of passenger accommodation, therates per mile ranging from cent to centsgold. In Japan there are three classes, thecharges being cent for the third class, for the second, and cents for the last rates, adopted one year ago, are an in-crease of one-third over the previous figures, itbeing found that the natives demanded betterfacilities and were willing to pay for them. Onthe Chinese Imperial Railway the rates are 15^cents for first-class and % cent second-class, atwhich prices, considering the shortness of theline, an enormous business is done. Althoughthe rates for the lower classes seem low, it is tobe remembered that the accommodations offeredare of the simplest and cheapest character, pas-sengers in China being transported in open gon-. Chapter IX : Railways 279 dola cars. The charges for first-class travel in allthe countries referred to are seen to compare fa-vorably with American charges, again bearingin mind that the heavy, expensively decoratedAmerican coach is unknown in the East. Butfreight rates are proportionately higher, the largercharges being rendered possible by competitionwith man-carried transportation, in which neces-sarily the cost is great, even in spite of the verylow wages paid. In India the freight tariff perton per mile ranges from to cents ; in Japanon ordinary goods from i to 2 cents with reduc-tions for large consignments, and in China to cents. In 1898 the average charge perton per mile on the whole Japanese system was icent, as compared with cent on the New YorkCentral. It would appear from these figures that two pop-ular beliefs in regard to traffic conditions in theFar East are fallacious; viz., that the natives aretoo poor to aff
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