the amount of postage should be paid. The Government officials attach the stamps to the envelopes. In the national capital there are various shops, in the business part of the city, at which letters will be received and forwarded.
XVIII.
Telegraphs.
There are several lines of telegraph in operation throughout the Republic. The Federal Government has its wires all over the country, and the States of Zacatecas, Hidalgo, Morelos, and Michoacan, also own telegraph-lines. The Mexican Railway Company, the Mexican National Railway Company, the Mexican Central Railroad Company, and the Morelos Railway Company, have erected lines of telegraph.
It may be remarked that, in the case of the Mexican National Railway Company, the General Government reserves the right to put up two wires on its poles.
There are private lines in the States of Jalisco and Vera Cruz. That of the latter State extends from the capital to the city of Vera Cruz, and is called the Commercial Telegraph Line. A New York corporation, entitled the Mexican Telegraph Company, has established itself in the country; and there are submarine cables running from Mexico to the United States, Central America, and South America.
All the railway stations contain telegraph offices, and the hours of business are in general from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. The principal offices of the lines belonging to the National and State Governments are in the business part of the larger cities. English is rarely spoken by the operators;
