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APPENDIX C
265

As a matter of fact, nothing could be further from the truth than this assertion. Repairs to all the lines in the Republic have been prosecuted diligently and zealously even during the worst periods of the revolution, and it has been unanimously conceded by foreigners who have travelled over the various lines, government as well as private ones, that their condition compares most favourably with lines in the United States—is, indeed, well up to the standard in such matters. Bridges have been rebuilt, tracks relaid and reballasted, and except for the presence of an occasional pile of bent and twisted rails or of iron work from burned cars by the side of the track, one might well believe he were travelling over one of the best roads in the United States. It is true, many stations were burned during the troubles, but as a rule these were of the poorer class. The fine edifices at Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Hermosillo, Saltillo, San Luis Potosi, Querétaro, Guadalajara, Colima, Vera Cruz, Orizaba, Cordoba, Puebla, one (a stone structure) at Monterey, those in Mexico City, as well as many others, in fact all the best ones in the Republic, were not injured in the least. Most of those that were damaged have been repaired and constant work in this direction is being prosecuted. All these facts are well known to travellers in the Republic and should have been known to the Post's correspondent, as they are apparent to all.

So, too, with the rolling stock. The various rail-