D.—2.
respectively, or a little less than 5, I\, and 15 cents; and tickets to the second station at 15, 22, and 40 kreutzers (7-J-, 11, and 20 cents). These two patterns of local tickets serve for the whole State system. There are on these railroads stopping-places, distinguished from regular stations— signal-stations perhaps we might call them. A ticket for the next station, however, is good for the whole distance between two regular stations and for all halting-places short of the second regular station, while a ticket for a second station is good for all stopping-places short of the third regular station. The " zone " tariff for longer distances gives only fourteen rates of all possible distances on the railroad system by ordinary trains, and as many for express trains. In the first zone are included all stations within 25 kilometres (15J miles) of the place from which the start is made, for which the rates are 50, 40, and 25 kreutzers (about half as many cents, remember). Each following zone up to and including the 11th adds 15 kilometres to the distance, and 50, 40, or 25 kreutzers to the fare according to the class, so that so far the zone tariff is substantially a distance tariff roughly evened off. The 12th zone is for 175 to 200 kilometres, with the addition to the fare the same as before ; the 13th zone shows a similar addition to distance, but greater additions to fares—loo kreutzers for first class, and 50 for both second and third—but the 14th is the startling feature of the whole system, for if you travel more than the 225 kilometres (140 miles) which is the extreme of the 13th zone, you are charged 100 kreutzers more for the first class and 50 kreutzers for the second or third classes for any distance, from a single kilometre up to the greatest on which it is possible to travel on the Hungarian State railroads, on which routes several hundred miles long can be made. That is, in Hungary the greatest distance for which the traveller is charged is 141 miles. For this or any greater distance his fare is $2 third class, $2 90c. second, and % 4 first, by ordinary trains, and $2 40c, $3 50c, and $4 80c by express trains. Hungary is not a large country ; its greatest length from east to west is hardly 500 miles, and from north to south about a third less. It is not, therefore, quite as if you could travel from New York to New Orleans, or St. Paul, or San Francisco, on any ticket bought for Albany, or Baltimore, or Elmira, or a similar distance. But the effect of the new system is similar—that is, it gives a premium, as it were, on long-distance travel—or what in Hungary is considered long-distance travel —which, with the great bulk of the population, can hardly be said to exist there now, and which the authorities appear to desire to cultivate, perhaps not solely for economical reasons. The population is anything but homogeneous. Little more than half are Magyars, or Hungarians proper, and the great bulk of the remainder belong to various and very different Slav races, with strong prejudices, the masses of each living quite isolated, with just about enough intercourse with the other races under the same rule to hate them cordially. Possibly they would get along together more harmoniously if they knew each other better ; but probably industries which would bring them together in search of employment would be more effective than cheap fares, or, rather, cheap fares without the industries are not likely to have much effect. There is one peculiar limitation to the new Hungarian zone tariff. If a journey is made through Buda-Pesth, the capital, charges are made for two zones, one on each side of that city. Suppose the distance is 600 kilometres, 300 on one side and 300 on the other side of that city—instead of paying for a ticket for the 14th zone, which is good for any distance, you must pay for two such tickets. Imagine such a provision in this country—that you could travel any distance for $5, but if you went by way of Chicago you would have to pay that sum on each side of that city. It is easy to see what the result would be. All passengers from places east of Chicago to places west of it would go by way of Indianapolis, Peoria, Joliet, &c, and thus save half their fares. But the Hungarian rule was not made to hurt Buda-Pesth by any means. The only way to get from the railroads on one side of it to those on the other side is through it; so the chief effect of the rule is likely to be to very greatly limit the number of long journeys that can be made on a 14th-zone ticket. It is near the centre of the railroad system, though far west of the centre of the Hungarian territory. Under the circumstances, the provision is likely to be, and it is acknowledged that it was intended to be, beneficial to Buda-Pesth, by making it cheaper to go there than to places in adjacent countries. But for it, we may imagine that Vienna would profit more by the new tariff: than any Hungarian city. Vienna is but a short distance from the border, and if the passenger could go from the remotest corner of Hungary to the border for as little as to Buda-Pesth, Hungarians must be unlike other people, or a very large part of them would go to the big city to trade rather than to the little city. We invite the attention of soulless corporations which have a pet city to build up to this plan. Two railroads not belonging to the State system have also adopted this tariff system ; but each line has its zones by itself, so that a long 14th-zone ride cannoi be got by running from a State line upon a company's line, or vice versa. With the introduction of this tariff the allowance of free baggage is abolished; but a reduction in the old charges for extra baggage is made, and the charges are made for three zones only—for distances of 50 kilometres (31 miles) or less, for 50 to 100 kilometres, and for all distances above 100 kilometres. For every piece of baggage weighing 50 kilogrammes (1101b.) or less, the charges are 25, 50, and 100 kreutzers respectively for the three zones —in connection with which we may observe that, while we pay 25 cents for our trunk for 31 miles, for 32 miles we pay 50 cents, and only as much for 500 miles. For a piece of baggage weighing more than 50 kilos., up to 100, you pay double ; for any heavier piece quadruple, this latter being doubtless a fine for encumbering the train with anything weighing more than 2201b., which baggagemen outside of Hungary would like to have imposed. One of the advantages claimed for this system is that in the great majority of cases it will make it unnecessary to weigh the baggage, a practice almost universal in Continental Europe, and one which makes a vexatious demajid on the time of the passenger, in some places the rules requiring that the trunks be presented at least fifteen minutes before train-time. The whole Hungarian tariff can be presented in a very small table, as follows : — 3-D. 2.
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