University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln University of Nebraska Press -- Sample Books and University of Nebraska Press Chapters 2014 The iC vilizing Machine Michael Matthews Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/unpresssamples Matthews, Michael, "The ivC ilizing Machine" (2014). University of Nebraska Press -- Sample Books and Chapters. 235. http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/unpresssamples/235 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the University of Nebraska Press at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in University of Nebraska Press -- Sample Books and Chapters by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. The Civilizing Machine Buy the Book the mexican experience William H. Beezley, series editor Buy the Book michael matthews The Civilizing Machine A Cultural History of Mexican Railroads, 1876–1910 university of nebraska press lincoln and london Buy the Book © 2013 by the Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska. All rights reserved. Manufactured in the United States of America. An earlier version of chapter 2, “De Viaje: Elite Views of Modernity and the Railroad Boom,” appeared as “De Viaje: Elite Views of Modernity and the Porfi rian Railway Boom” in Mexican Studies/ Estidios Mexicanos 26 (Summer 2010): 251–89. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Matthews, Michael, 1978– The civilizing machine: a cultural history of Mexican railroads, 1876–1910 / Michael Matthews. pages cm — (The Mexican experience) Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn 978-0-8032-4380-4 (pbk.: alk paper) isbn 978-0-8032-4943-1 (pdf) 1. Railroads — Mexico — Social aspects — History — 20th century. 2. Railroads — Mexico — Public opinion — History — 20th century. 3. Popular culture — Mexico — History — 20th century. 4. Mexico — History — 1867–1910. I. Title. he2818.m33 2014 385.0972'09034 — dc23 2013031269 Set in Sabon by Laura Wellington. Buy the Book To my father, Charles Matthews, and to my mother, Rossana Castagnetto Buy the Book Buy the Book contents List of Illustrations . ix Acknowledgments . xi Introduction . 1 1. The Discourse of Development: The Railroad Debate of the Early Porfi riato . 23 2. De Viaje: Elite Views of Modernity and the Railroad Boom . 55 3. Festivals of Progress: The Railroad Ceremony . 103 4. The Price of Progress: Popular Perceptions of the Railroad Accident . 143 5. La Loco-Matona: The Railroad in the Popular and Opposition Press . 199 Conclusion . 251 Notes . 259 Bibliography . 295 Index . 311 Buy the Book Buy the Book illustrations Photographs and Images 1. Optical effects . 72 2. People of good faith . 76 3. “What trouble I would be in if the train were coming!” . 77 4. Better hours early than minutes late . 88 5. El Buen Tono Company plays on fear in the compartment to sell cigarettes . 91 6. In the train . 96 7. Banquet held in honor of Porfi rio Díaz at the Mexican Central Railroad's Buenavista station train yard . 114 8. Commemorative El Buen Tono cigarette pack for the inauguration of Tehuantepec Railway . 119 9. Women’s railway wear . 130 10. The celebrations in Guadalajara . 134 11. Temamatla . 158 12. A response to Temamatla . 161 13. Those journeys! . 186 14. “Sir, was there an accident?” . 187 15. 1893–94 . 189 16. José Guadalupe Posada's “Camino de Ultratumba” . 194 17. Attitudes for the future . 222 Buy the Book 18. Fleeing from what runs . 224 19. La mi non tende . 230 20. A freight train . 234 21. A gift to the Matona . 235 22. The great loco-matona . 237 23. Political races . 241 24. A derailing . 243 25. Flesh and bone . 245 Tables 1. Injury rates of major European railways in 1897 . 145 2. Injuries and deaths on the Mexican Central and National Railroads in 1897 . 146 Buy the Book acknowledgments The completion of this book would have been impossible with- out the support and guidance that I received from many people. And attempting to acknowledge all the personal and intellectu- al debts that I have incurred along the way seems as challenging as writing this entire book, maybe more. That said, I will try anyway. My initial interest in Latin American studies and Mex- ico more specifi cally began at Simon Fraser University, where Richard Boyer provided incredible encouragement when I was an undergraduate and incredible feedback and friendship dur- ing my fi rst forays into graduate work. Also, while I was an un- dergraduate, Edward Ingram and Terrance Ollerhead at the In- ternational History Review offered me a job as assistant to the editor, a job I was lucky enough to keep for fi ve years and that piqued my interest in the study of history. I am thankful for their support at such an early stage in my academic career. Research for this project began at the University of Arizona where my adviser, William Beezley, always provided unwaver- ing support and invaluable advice. Kevin Gosner, Bert Barick- man, and Linda Green all shared their vast knowledge of Latin America with me and, in so doing, shaped my approach to the study of history and culture. The Barbara Payne Robinson Re- search Grant from the History Department at the University of Arizona provided funds for archival research in Puebla, Zacate- cas, and Mexico City, and the Tinker Foundation Summer Re- search Grant provided funds for archival research in Querétaro Buy the Book acknowledgments and San Luis Potosí. My graduate school compadres cultivated an intellectually stimulating environment and a profound sense of camaraderie and community. I would like to thank Ageeth Sluis, Amanda López, Jeff Bannister, Karin Friederic, Erika Korowin, Robbie Scott, Vikas Rathee, Ryan Kashanipour, and Sigma Co- lon for their support and friendship. ¿Cómo no te voy a querer? William French, Stephen Neufeld, Tracy Goode, James Garza, Victor Macías-González, and Áurea Toxqui offered wonderful advice while I was either researching or writing this book. Tak- ing time out of his busy schedule to read the manuscript, Pat- rick Eberlein offered feedback from a refreshing perspective as someone outside the fi eld, far outside the fi eld. Ernesto Lunds- ford unwearyingly worked with me to translate numerous po- ems in this volume, although any errors in translation are mine and mine alone. I am thankful to Bridget Barry and many oth- ers at the University of Nebraska Press for their fi ne expertise, making it possible for this book to be published. The archivists and staff at the Nettie Lee Benson, Archivo General de la Nación, Hemeroteca Nacional, Colección Porfi rio Díaz at the Universidad Iberoamericana, Centro de Estudios de Historia de México, Archivo Histórico del Estado de Queréta- ro, Archivo Histórico del Estado de San Luis Potosí, Archivo Histórico del Estado de Zacatecas, and Centro de Document- ación e Investigación Ferroviarias in Puebla were all extremely helpful and supportive, often demonstrating considerable enthu- siasm for my project. Most of all I would like to thank Emilio García Teja, Carla Sánchez Gómez, and Magda Juanchi Gó- mez at the Biblioteca Lerdo de Tejada, who patiently catered to my (what I’m sure seemed like) endless requests and patiently endured my initial fumbling through the catalogues and docu- ment request forms. Also, while in Mexico City, Alma Busta- mante helped me to navigate the city and showed me the routes to several archives. She also introduced me to the Pumas de la unam, and for that I am likewise truly grateful. xii Buy the Book acknowledgments Elon University and the Department of History and Geogra- phy provided two things usually in short supply for young pro- fessors: time and money. The Hultquist Award and the Elon Fac- ulty Research and Development Grant allowed me to undertake further research in Mexico City and Austin, Texas. Generous course releases offered me time to complete my writing and un- dertake the revisions that transformed my dissertation into a book. I thank my colleagues at Elon for promoting such a col- legial environment, making it a superb place to work. At Elon I have benefi ted from the advice and support of David Crowe, Clyde Ellis, Mary Jo Festle, Charles Irons, Nancy Midgette, and Kirsten Ringelberg in preparing this manuscript. Finally, I wish to thank my parents, to whom this book is dedicated. My unconventional upbringing offered me an oppor- tunity to see a wider world at a young age, an experience that sparked my curiosity about different people and places. xiii Buy the Book Buy the Book The Civilizing Machine Buy the Book Buy the Book introduction The nineteenth century, when it takes its place with the other cen- turies in the chronological charts of the future, will, if it needs a symbol, almost inevitably have as that symbol a steam engine run- ning upon a railway. h. g. wells, Anticipations of the Reaction of Mechanical and Scien- tifi c Progress upon Human Life and Thought (1902) Mexican newspapers and periodicals in the 1890s printed art, poetry, literature, and social commentaries that revealed a fas- cination with the country’s booming railway network. These works exploited the symbolic power of the locomotive, a tech- nological development closely associated with economic, politi- cal, and industrial modernization. Two poems published months apart show the starkly different views that people held about not only the railway but also a number of pressing issues re- garding ideas about material progress, economic growth, so- cial order, and national sovereignty. In 1894 Mexico City’s El Mundo (Semanario Ilustrado), a weekly journal catering to tastes of the well-to-do, offered readers a sonnet dedicated to the marvels of the iron horse. The poet rejoiced at the locomo- tive’s capacity to compress time and space as it dashed majesti- cally across the landscape.