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OF ILLINOIS 

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brary Material " The ** F - " 

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ew call Telephone Center, 
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B. W. 

RAYMOND 
Model 



How an Elgin Stood 
By a Globe Trotter 

'T*HIRTEEN years ago I bought an Elgin 
*- Watch. It has been in continual use 
never has stopped and has kept perfect time. 
It has stood 25 below zero, has run equally well 
in a temperature of 114 degrees in Australia, and 
been unaffected by months of sea voyages. It 
has been dropped on the pavements of London, 
and been trodden on by a caribao in the interior 
of the Philippine Islands yet was never hurt." 
(EXTRACT FROM AN AMERICAN TRAVELLER'S LETTER.) 

Such triumphs add force to our assertions that 

ELGIN 

Railroad \Vatcnes 

and all Elgin Watches, both for men and women, 
are supreme as timekeepers, loyal life-companions 
and mechanical masterpieces. Their use is 
world-wide. 

Write for booklet. 



ELGIN NATIONAL WATCH CO. 

ILLINOIS 




B. W. RAYMOND 
MODEL 



192123 jewels. Witll 
or without winding indica 
tor. The B. W. Raymond 
is a wonderful watch, every 
way yon look it over. Its 
driving gear is so strong and 
so accurate th at it will stand 
a 40-hour trick without bat- 
ting an eyelid, and report 
in on the tick of the second. 
You never have ( to cut down 
its head nor "hit 'er up." 
It's the finest piece of 
mechanism that ever pulled 
into the yard. 




_._. 




F. L. Thompson Frontispiece. 

The story of the Illinois Central Lines During the Civil Con- 
flict, 1861-5 9 

Public Opinion 15 

Magnolia, Miss ,28 

Passenger Traffic Department 37 

Engineering Department 45 

Law Department 43 

Always Safety First 50 

How Employes Should Proceed to Purchase Illinois Central 
Stock . eo 

Mechanical Department 62 

Transportation Department GG 

Hospital Department . .- 71 

Claim Department 74 

Industrial, Immigration and Development Department 81 

Roll of Honor _ 83 

Loss and Damage Bureau 86 

Meritorious Service . 88 

Contributions from Employes: 

A Story of a Visit to the Healing Wells at Metcalfe, Miss. 92 
Second Annual "Get Acquainted" Meeting of the St. Louis 

Division 99 

Train-Load 100 

Appointments and Promotions 102 

Division News 103 



( 7 > u6lished monthly 6y the 7/^ois Cenhal < jf?. < ]i. G>., 
in the interest of the Company and its 4^000 ^Employes 

^Advertising rates on application^? 

lVOl^ichigan^lo. ^hone ^IDsBash ' 22O) 
Chicago ' ocal59 

$ 1.50 pr. year ^ 




FRED L. THOMPSON. 

MR. F. L. THOMPSON was born at Grandview, Egar County, Illinois. After 
graduating from the public schools, he attended the preparatory school of 
DePauw University and later graduated from the University of Illinois at Champaign 
in 1896, receiving the degree B. S. in Civil Engineering. 

He entered the service of the Illinois Central in June, 1896, as chairman . on the 
work of depressing the tracks and the grading of what is now Grant Park between 
12th Street and Randolph Street, Chicago. Later was rodman on the work con- 
sisting of removing the old tunnel south of Vicksburg and constructing freight house 
at that point. Later was placed on grade reduction work Fulton to Memphis just 
after the acquisition of that line. He had charge of grade reduction and second track 
Cairo to Fulton and second track Centralia to Carbondale. He was then in the 
Chief Engineer's office in Chicago for one year and from 1903 to 1907 was Road 
Master on the Illinois and Kentucky Divisions. In 1907 he was prompted to Assistant 
Engineer of Bridges and in 1910 to the position of Engineer of Bridges and Build- 
ings. In 1913 was made Engineer of Construction and in 1914 was promoted to his 
present position, viz.: Assistant Chief Engineer of the Illinois Central R. R. and 
Yazoo & Mississippi Valley R. R. 







Vol.4 



JULY 1915 



No. 1 



Tfio Story of tfio 
Illinois Contral Linos 

during the 

Civil ebrrffid i86i-5 



Continued from June Issue. 



It appears that he also assumed the 
truth of the popular misconception that 
the South began open hostilities, and that 
the flag was first fired on at Fort Sumter 
April 12, 1861. Yet General McClel- 
lan's own story shows that the Govern- 
ment ship sent to the relief of Fort Sum- 
ter was fired on in Charleston Harbor by 
the batteries of South Carolina, and turn- 
ed back on Tuesday, January 9, 1861 ; 
South Carolina having seceded and de- 
clared her own independence of the 
United States, Thursday, December 20, 
1860. So the first cannon of the Civil 
War boomed more than three months 
before April 12. The difference seems 
to be that the attack January 9 was only 
on a Government ship, and under 
Buchanan's Administration. An attack 
on a Government Fort, under Lincoln's 
Administration was a much more serious 
matter. But the North's active part in 
the war did not begin till Colonel Ander- 
son undertook his impossible defense of 
Fort Sumter. 

Besides, six other states had quickly 

382 



followed South Carolina "out of the 
Union," as they vainly spent men and 
money to demonstrate, and on Friday, 
February 8, 1861, the Southern Confed- 
eracy was formally proclaimed by its 
newly-elected President, Jefferson Davis. 
The seceding states had seized all un- 
protected Government property within 
their lines ; arsenals, forts, arms, military 
stores, and munitions of war. The works 
at the mouth of the Mississippi were gar- 
risoned. General Bragg with an armed 
force had taken possession of Pensacola's 
navy yard, and on Tuesday, February 18, 
1861, General Twigg surrendered his 
forces stationed in Texas. Fort Pickens, 
Key West and Tortugas in Florida, were 
about all that remained in the Govern- 
ment possession within the seceded 
states outside of South Carolina. Yet, 
we are told that "our Civil War began 
April 12, 1861, when Fort Sumter was 
fired upon." Some humorist said, "I do 
not read history because I dislike fiction." 
For some time following the date of 
his commission as Major-General in the 



10 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



United States Army, the Department of 
Ohio also was a scene of busy prepara- 
tion for the long fierce struggle which 
General McClellan anticipated. He was 
well acquainted with the South, her peo- 
ple, her generals, her soldiers with whom 
he had served ; and with the significant 
fact, from his point of view, that the 
South, unprepared as she was, still was 
much better prepared for quick action 
than the North, which seemed paralyzed, 
making practically no preparation for 
war till after Sumter was fired on, and 
Lincoln had called for 90 day troops. 
Another fact is worth considering; 
almost every white man and boy in the 
South could intelligently use firearms, 
and usually owned them. Some of the 
bloodiest close-range encounters were 
with old-fashioned shotguns, rifles, and 
"navy revolvers," before cartridges and 
breechloaders came into use. 

While preparing for operations in 
Tennessee, sudden necessity arose in. 
West Virginia, included in the depart- 
ment of Ohio. Word came the afternoon 
of Sunday, May 26, 1861, that the seces- 
sionists there were about to destroy the 
Ohio and Mississippi Railroad. McClel- 
lan immediately ordered Kelly's and 
other regiments at Wheeling and Park- 
ersburg to move out along the two 
branches of that railroad and see to its 
protection. The same day he issued a 
proclamation, "To the Union men of 
West Virginia :" to the effect that he was 
informed of the threatened reign of ter- 
ror, and he had ordered troops to cross 
the Ohio River for their protection ; add- 
ing: "Now that we are in your midst, I 
call upon you to fly to arms and support 
the general Government." 

Simultaneously he published an ad- 
dress in Cincinnati, to his soldiers : "You 
are ordered to cross the frontier and en- 
ter upon the soil of Virginia. Your mis- 
sion is to restore peace and confidence, 
to protect the majesty of the law," etc. 

"You are to act in concert with the 
Virginia troops and support their ad- 
vance. I place under the safeguard of 
your honor the persons and property of 
the Virginians. I know that you will re- 
spect their feelings and all their rights," 



etc. Then he said further that when they 
had enabled the people there to organize 
for their own protection, his troops were 
to return home. 

Copies of all this were sent to the 
President with explanation of his im- 
m.diate action without waiting for in- 
structions from Washington. To this he 
received no reply. 

July 13, 1861, he telegraphed his wife: 
"Success complete. Enemy routed. Lost 
everything he had guns, tents, wagons, 
etc. Pegram was in command. We lost 
but ten killed and thirty-five wounded," 
etc. 

Then he received the following tele- 
gram sent before the administration at 
Washington knew all he had accom- 
plished : 

"The General-in-Chief, and what is 
more, the Cabinet, including the Presi- 
dent, are charmed with your activity, 
valor and consequent success. We do not 
doubt that in due time you will sweep the 
rebels from West Virginia; but do not 
mean to precipitate you, as you are fast 
enough." 

(Signed) "Winfield Scott." 

On July 14, the Confederate General 
Garnett was caught, his army routed, 
himself left dead on the battlefield; and 
General McClellan's unadvised, entirely 
self-initiated brilliant campaign in West 
Virginia soon came to a most successful 
finish. 

July 21, at Beverly in West Virginia, 
he received in a telegram from General 
Scott, his first news of McDowell's ad- 
vance, and of the first battle of Bull Run. 
He had not been informed of any east- 
ern military operations. July 22, he was 
summoned by telegram to Washington, 
and he turned over to General Rosecrans 
the Ohio command. 

He started at daylight July 23 ; rode 
60 miles horseback to the nearest railway 
station, took train for Wheeling, where 
his wife met him and they reached Wash- 
ington July 26, 1861, late Friday after- 
noon. 

He was greatly lionized for his success 
in the West. July 25, an order had is- 
sued constituting the department of the 
Potomac, assigning McClellan to its com- 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



11 



mand. "It included the department of 
northeast Virginia, under McDowell, 
which comprised all the troops in front of 
Washington on the Pennsylvania bank of 
the river; and the department of Wash- 
ington, under Mansfield, which com- 
prised all the troops in Washington and 
its vicinity on the Maryland side." 

McClellan assumed command there 
July 27, 1861. Let him tell what he saw : 
"I found no preparations whatever for 
defense, not even to the extent of putting 
the troops in military positions ; not a 
single avenue of approach guarded. 
There was really nothing to prevent a 
small cavalry force from riding into the 
city. The defeated army of McDowell 
could not be properly be called an army 
it was only a collection of undiscip- 
lined, ill-officered, and uninstructed men, 
who were, as a rule, much demoralized 
by defeat and ready to run at the first 
shot. The troops were as insufficient in 
number as in quality. The period of serv- 
ice of many of the regiments had ex- 
pired, or would do so in a few days ; and 
lastly, I was not supreme and unhamp- 
ered, but often thwarted by the lieuten- 
ant-general." 

The following is a statement of the 
situation at Washington, July 26, 1861, 
in a letter to Ex-President Buchanan, by 
Edward M. Stanton, who later became 
"Lincoln's great war secretary" : 

''Dear Sir: The dreadful disaster of 
Sunday can scarcely be mentioned. It 
is not unlikely that some change in the 
War and Navy Departments may take 
place, but none beyond those two depart- 
ments until Jeff Davis turns out the 
whole concern. The capture of Wash- 
ington now seems inevitable ; during the 
whole of Monday and Tuesday it might 
have been taken without resistance. Gen- 
eral McClellan reached here last evening. 
But if he has the ability of Caesar, Alex- 
ander or Napoleon, what can he accom- 
plish ? Will not Scott's jealousy, cabinet 
intrigues and Republican interference 
thwart him at every step? Yours truly, 
Edward M. Stanton." 

The writer of that historic letter 
missed his guess about the dire fate of 
the city of Washington ; but General Mc- 



Clellan later shows that when Mr. Stan- 
ton became war secretary he was largely 
instrumental in fulfilling his own predic- 
tions as to the probable cause of General 
McClellan's future embarrassments at 
the hands of the Cabinet and the Com- 
mander-in-Chief of the Army; not to 
mention Congressional, journalistic and 
other thwarting influences. They feared 
a Democratic President as Mr. Lincoln's 
successor if McClellan's first campaign 
against Richmond succeeded, ending the 
war without the abolition of slavery, 
which many in the North considered of 
vital importance to the future prosperity 
of the nation. 

So General McClellan was caught be- 
tween the upper abolition and the nether 
Republican millstone; and the result is 
only too obvious. General McClellan did 
not fully appreciate the real situation 
himself till it was too late to do anything 
but resign, and he thought his duty to his 
country demanded that he stay and fight 
it out, whatever the result to himself. 
This he did, bravely, but sadly, till the 
end was in sight, and the time had ar- 
rived ripe for the taking of Richmond by 
another general who fitted the Washing- 
ton plan for future development of the 
nation in a way General McClellan did 
not, but by that time the Washington 
plan had largely changed to the original 
McClellan plan. 

November, 1861, he was made Gen- 
eral-in-Chief of the armies of the United 
States, and all his powers of organization 
were needed. 

His Peninsular Campaign against 
Richmond having failed, he was in 
August, 1862, practically relieved of his 
command, which was assumed by Gen- 
eral Halleck. But after Pope's disastrous 
defeat in the second Bull Run campaign, 
President Lincoln again placed McClel- 
lan in charge of the Army of the Po- 
tomac, under an order : "Major-General 
McClellan will have command of the 
fortifications of Washington and of all 
the troops for the defense of the capital." 

September 16 and 17 he fought the 
battle of South Mountain and Antietam, 
driving Lee from Maryland. But as 
Washington was no longer in danger, 



12 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



and as McClellan did not follow up his 
success as authorities in Washington 
thought he should, he was again relieved 
of his command. 

November, 1864, he resigned from the 
army. 

It is said that McClellan drilled and 
accumulated the largest fighting machine 
the world has seen since the Crusades, 
but it was so huge that he feared to use 
it. Lee wrote to Jackson that unless they 
could drive McClellan out of his in- 
trenchments, he would push up those in- 
trenchments till his guns commanded the 
Capitol. It was a case of "needs must," 
which he and Jackson achieved. Mc- 
Clellan per force "changed his base," 
and "the great beleaguering" had to be 
done all over again. 

Then after Pope's short play at the 
front, his "Headquarters in the Saddle," 
McClellan checked Lee at Antietam, and 
defeated the prime object of the great 
general's campaign in Maryland. But 
Gladstone was only partially right when 
he declared at New Castle, October 7, 
1862: 

"There is no doubt that Jefferson 
Davis and other leaders of the South 
have made an army; they are making, 
it appeared, a navy; and they have 
made what is more than either, they 
have made a nation. 

"We may anticipate with certainty the 
success of the Southern States so far as 
their separation from the North is con- 
cerned." 

But Lincoln's Proclamation of Eman- 
cipation, and his implied threat of war 
against England made another combina- 
tion in the great game which then 
dragged along till after McClellan had 
been sacrificed and Grant had won. 

Perhaps no other great general had 
such vicissitudes of military experience 
in a whole lifetime as McClellan had in 
about three and a half years' service. He 
was at war with his environment. As no 
failure could keep him down, so no suc- 
cess could keep him up under the pecu- 
liar conditions which simply dominated 
all incidental considerations. A definite 
end was to be gained, and "The Jugger- 
naut" would crush down any obstacle 



human or otherwise. His brilliant West 
Virginia campaign proves that he could 
lead could take the initiative, better 
than he could submit to the vacillating 
directions of others "who did not know." 

General McClellan is said to have been 
a better organizer than fighter. He laid 
his own plans, all so logically organized 
and inter-dependent, that usually to 
thwart them in part was to cause their 
failure as a whole. This characteristic 
of his operations placed him at the mercy 
of his opponents in Washington. 

Perhaps he was too careful about be- 
ing first sure he was right; too cautious 
to make a decisive move till he knew, like 
Xenophon, that he was "in the state of 
being the best prepared possible." If 
Xenophon's "Ante-paras-kuas-totatos' 
was not McClellan's slogan in Greek, it 
certainly seems to be in fact. 

Some of his best friends say that this 
was his greatest handicap. But one's 
best friends are too often one's most 
mistaken judges. 

In one thing, anyhow, Lincoln and Mc- 
Clellan were closely united as was shown 
whenever Lincoln expressed himself 
freely on that point: Both wished to 
carry on the war to a successful issue 
with just as little pain and other cost 
as, possible. Being a war-lord, McClel- 
lan knew that with a well-prepared army 
of overwhelming numbers carefully 
handled and massed on Richmond, suc- 
cess would be surer and with less ultv 
mate cost in men and money than to 
have small armies scattered around to be 
crushed seriatim by such masters of 
strategy as the Confederate chiefs were ; 
and as he personally knew they were. 

For a long time it was considered 
"TREASON" in Washington to admit 
the strength or ability of the Confeder- 
ates. Not so in the army. The fighters 
knew the facts. 

Besides, both Lincoln and McClellan 
were by instinct and education disposed 
to be always fair and honorable, accord- 
ing to their knowledge, whether dealing 
with friend or foe. Such an attitude was 
not always appreciated in Washington 
amid the mean rivalries, deep hatreds 
and venegeful prejudices then so preva- 
lent in both civil and military circles. 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



13 



The fact that he was nominated as a 
Democrat for President in August, 1864, 
shows that some fears of his political 
foes were not without foundation. But 
his star was descending, and he was 
overwhelmingly defeated; which could 
hardly have been possible had he been 
allowed to take Richmond in his own way 
in the campaign of 1862. But he, him- 
self, was a firm believer in the power 
and wisdom of the overruling Provi- 
dence, as he often wrote his wife, and 
also publicly expressed; and it must 
have been made clear to him in the end 
that his own ambitions did not comport 
with the plans of such Providence for 
the betterment of this nation. 

In 1865-8, he traveled in Europe.' 

From 1870 to 1872 he was Chief En- 
gineer of Docks in New York. From 
1877 to 1881 he was the Governor of 
New Jersey. 

He was quite literary both in taste 
and habit. 

His well known literary works ap- 
peared as follows : 1852, "Manual of 
Bayonet Exercises." 1854, "Govern- 
ment Reports on Pacific Railroad Sur- 
veys." 1864 "Report on Organization 
and Campaigns of the Potomac." 1887, 
"McClellan's Own Story." However 
true this story may be as mere history, 
it reeks with disappointment and dispair 
over the believed fact that defeat was 
thrust upon him by his own Govern- 
ment. 

His soldiers loved him because he 
cared for them and always took care of 
them when the ultimate power of action 
lay with him. 

That he, too, had "the defect of his 
qualities" cannot be denied ; and that de- 
fect was a potent weapon in the hands 
of his enemies, "whose name was 
legion." Enemies that, like the cannon 
on all sides of the "noble six hundred" 
"volleyed and thundered" to his hurt 
and his final undoing. 

His tribute to his horse, Dan Webster : 
"Devil Dan," as his aids called him is 
unusual : "The best horse I ever saw ; 
never ill for an hour ; never fatigued ; 
never disturbed under fire ; could trot 
all day long at a very rapid gait which 



kept other horses at a gallop. Dan and 
I never quarreled, and the dear old fel- 
low survived the war for many years, 
till 1879. No matter how long parted 
once for four years he always knew 
me, and showed his pleasure. On the 
day of his painless death from old age 
he tried to rise in his stall, but could 
only lean his head against me and lick 
my hand. No soldier ever had a more 
faithful or better horse than I had in 
Dan Webster." 

Dan was a strongly built horse with 
"three white feet," which seems to prove 
the exception to the old English rule for 
choosing a horse. 

"One white foot, take care ; two white 
feet, beware; three white feet buy else- 
where." 

But General McClellan, himself, was 
an exception to most rules ; why should 
not his horse be, also. 

He was a pious praying soldier who 
would not willingly fight a battle on 
Sunday, unless it was "a work of neces- 
sity." 

He had the fear of God in his heart, 
"the beginning of wisdom." 

But from youth he showed little fear 
of man, or anything else as a cause of 
personal danger. When not 21, in the 
Mexican War, "where a little army went 
a great way," he rode down a Mexican 
engineering officer, captured him, and 
turned him over to his orderly. That 
was when a lieutenant of sappers and 
miners. 

Soon afterwards he clubbed a panther 
that had wounded Captain Randolph B. 
Marcy, who later became his father-in- 
law, and chief of staff in Virginia. After 
the battle of Fair Oaks he climbed a 
tree to reconnoitre, in range of the 
squirrel rifles of the enemy. He and 
some officers held a council of war right 
then and there up in that tree from 
which they could see the position they 
were considering. 

At Yorktown he crept up almost un- 
der the enemy's works, got sight of their 
armament, etc., and heard the men talk- 
ing, disproving the report of his engi- 
neer on an important point. 

He was under fire at Antietam sev- 



14 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



eral times; each for a considerable per- 
iod, and with great exposure, both from 
artillery and infantry at many criti- 
cal periods of the day. George Tick- 
nor Curtis also says in The Atlantic 
Monthly, in his article, "McClellan's 
Last Service to the Republic," 1880: 
"Once he rode along the lines to draw 
the fire of a concealed battery to find 
it." It opened on him and his staff as 
soon as within range. It is said he was 
not acting under orders at South Moun- 
tain or Antietam, and had he lost, per- 
haps the ambiguous order of September 
2nd might not, or might have saved him 
from a courtmartial trial for reckless- 
ness. 

Most public men live two lives; that 
known to the public may be very differ- 
ent from that known only to intimates. 
McClellan was popular with both. "His 
was no unfeatured soul." Frequently 
when he seems to be letting an oppor- 
tunity slip, according to the observer's 
opinion, he, himself, in the whole combi- 
nation of circumstances had good rea- 
sons for further delay. His conclusions 
were at least logical, based on the facts 
before him as he understood them. On 
convictions so obtained a conscientious 
soldier must have the courage of his 
convictions. He can not do otherwise 
and retain his self-respect. 

It is worth while to note that almost 
any one who will go over the battle- 
ground of Seven Pines in wet weather, 
and test the Chickahominy swamps, will 
appreciate General McClellan's wish to 
try some other route to Richmond. 
About two years ago the old colored 
sexton said he was still finding skeletons 
of soldiers in that grewsome wilderness. 
Secretary of War Stanton later said of 
that swamp : "The like of which we did 
not imagine existed this side of the 
Isthmus of Darien until we saw it." 

But that was too late to help the 
regiments that died there, or to give 
comfort to the broken-hearted Gen- 
eral who had to send them to their 
death. 

One significant fact in McClellan's 
history may be found in something 



told in his Own Story : "During the 
Autumn of 1861, after arriving in 
Washington, I discontinued the prac- 
tice of returning fugitive slaves to 
their owners." 

General and Governor McClellan 
died at his home in Orange, New Jer- 
sey, on Thursday, October 29, 1885, 
after he had declined the office of Min- 
ister to Russia, offered him by Presi- 
dent Cleveland. 

His death affected the popular heart 
as nothing else had done since the 
assassination of Lincoln. 

A letter to his wife, written from 
New Bridge, on the Chickahominy 
river, Va., 7:30 a. m., June 10, 1862, 
during that terrific struggle, gives a 
good insight into the basic character 
of the man called upon to endure things 
which the power of the General could 
not prevent or alleviate: 

"It is raining hard, and has been for 
several hours. I feel almost discour- 
aged that is, I would do so did I not 
feel that it must all be for the best, 
and that God has some great purpose 
in view through all this. It is certain 
there has not been for years and years 
such a season ; it does not come by 
chance. I am quite checked by it. 
First, the Chickahominy is so swollen 
and the valley so covered with water 
that I cannot establish safe communi- 
cation over it; then again, the ground 
is so muddy that we cannot use our 
artillery; the guns sink up to their 
axle-trees. I regret all this extremely, 
but take comfort in the thought that 
God will not leave so great a struggle 
as this to mere chance. IF HE EVER 
INTERFERES WITH THE DESTI- 
NIES OF MEN AND NATIONS, 
THIS WOULD SEEM A FIT OC- 
CASION FOR IT." 

But sometimes, 

"The spirit of the Lord and a dispo- 
sition to storm works" is not sufficient 
even when aided by the highest skill 
of the Soldier and the Engineer, backed 
by the courage of the Patriot and the 
Hero. 



PUBLIC OPINION 



Wfiat the 




World thinks 



PRESIDENT MARKHAM DENIES 

Illinois Central Railroad Company 
Office of the President 

Chicago, June 1, 1915. 
Hon. Geo. R. Edwards, McCool, Miss. 

Dear Sir I have had an opportunity 
to read a small pamphlet, presumably 
issued by you as a campaign docu- 
ment, addressed to your constituents 
in the interest of your candidacy for 
re-election as railroad commissioner 
for the first supreme court district of 
Mississippi. 

On page 7 of the document I find 
the following language : 

"Are you at all surprised to learn 
that the railroads want you to vote 
against me for railroad commissioner? 
Don't you suppose that the railroads 
would be willing to spend $10,000 to 
beat George Edwards for railroad com- 
missioner?" 

Again on page 12, occurs this lan- 
guage : 

"There are several men running 
against me. I do not doubt that the 
railroads will do everything within 
their power to encompass my defeat. 
I am in their way. I am costing them 
too much money. They cannot do as 
they wish so long as I am on the job. 
They cannot control me, therefore, 
George Edwards must be defeated." 

The language you employ is very 
general and, of course, I fully recog- 
nize the fact that you make no spe- 
cific charge that the railroads of Mis- 
sissippi have spent money or used any 
other means to bring about your de- 
feat. Nor do you refer in this connec- 



tion to the Illinois Central or the 
Yazoo and Mississippi Valley by name. 
Yet, in another connection, you do re- 
fer to these lines of railroad, and I 
have felt that, in the absence of any 
denial, some people in Mississippi 
might infer that the railroad com- 
panies which I represent are dabbling 
in politics in the state of Mississippi. 
I, therefore, hasten to assure you and 
through you the people of the state, 
that neither the Illinois Central nor 
the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley has at- 
tempted to influence a single vote in 
Mississippi, nor to elect or defeat any 
candidate for any office in that or any 
other state in which these railroads 
operate. This is the settled policy of 
these roads, and neither you nor any 
other citizen need fear that this policy 
will be departed from in the slightest 
particular in this or any other cam- 
paign. Our sole business is that of 
transportation, and to this we direct all 
of our efforts. We have neither the 
right nor the inclination to meddle in 
politics. A strict adherence to this 
rule, manifestly, makes it improper for 
me to refer to anything else in your 
statement and I refrain from doing so. 
Of course, I can only speak for the 
roads with which I am connected. 

Doubtless your pamphlet has been 
given wide circulation and, therefore, 
I feel justified in making this an open 
letter and giving copies of it to the 
press. Very respectfully, 

(Signed) C. H. Markham, 
President. 
Vicksburg Herald, June 5, 1915. 



15 



16 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



EDITORIAL. 

George Edwards bases his claims 
to election as railroad commissioner 
on the fact that he "is an enemy of 
the railroads." It is a splendid chance 
for the voters to tell Mr. Edwards to 
go way back and sit down. The rail- 
road commission is a court. The mem- 
bers of the commission are supposed 
to pass upon questions without prej- 
udice, and with fairness and justice 
to all concerned. Yet here is a man 
appealing to the people to elect him 
a commissioner on the grounds of his 
enmity to the railroads, questions con- 
cerning which are to be adjudicated 
at every meeting of the board. A 
sweet-scented judge Edwards would 
make! We do not want his kind on 
the railroad commission, or any other 
commission. We want broad-minded, 
business-like, well-poised men, who 
will deal justly with the people and 
the railroads. Men who will advance 
the material interests of the state and 
not cripple them. Deer Creek Pilot, 
June 11, 1915. 



THE TIRADE OF EDWARDS. 

Railroad Commissioner George R. 
Edwards is so far behind the times 
that he imagines that he can win popu- 
larity, and, incidentally, get himself re- 
elected, by attacking the railroads. 

That old stuff used to go great with 
the voters, but it is no longer effective. 
The time was when almost any sort 
of human misfit could grab himself an 
office merely by cussing the railroads 
more vigorously than some other fel- 
low, but it's a political trick that don't 
work any longer. 

The people of the United States have 
been given an awakening. They now 
see clearly the connection between the 
present state of depressed business and 
the present status of railway credit 
assassinated by place-hunting politi- 
cians and cantankerous demagogues'. 

Because of the many unjust attacks 
made upon them from irresponsible 
quarters the railroads have been unable 
to earn dividends for their stockholders 
or to make any improvements or ex- 
tensions for the betterment of service. 



As a result, all other lines of business 
have suffered keenly. You cannot cut 
the arteries of commerce without caus- 
ing the life blood to flow from all veins 
of business. 

Mr. Edwards may not realize the 
fact, but the people of Mississippi do 
not want a destructive administration 
by our railroad commission. They have 
suffered enough from that foolish 
policy, and it is now their desire to see 
a commission in power that will adopt 
a constructive policy to encourage the 
construction of new railroads in our 
state, and bring about a general im- 
provement of conditions. And Mr. 
Edwards has conclusively proven that 
he is not the man for that sort of work. 
Jackson, (Miss.) Daily News, June 
18, 1915. 



ATTORNEY GENERAL SAYS 
ROADS ARE ANTAGONISTIC 

Attorney General Collins in a state- 
ment given out yesterday afternoon 
criticised the management of the Illi- 
nois Central and Yazoo & Mississippi 
Valley railroads, saying "it seems to be 
the policy of these roads to antagonize 
the Railroad Commission, the Legisla- 
ture and the people of the State." 

In the statement he declares that he 
had an agreement with the railroads 
enjoining the enforcement of the elec- 
tric headlight law to the effect that the 
policy of the roads in this State would 
be governed by a similar case before 
the Georgia courts, that in Georgia the 
law has been upheld and that the roads 
are now attempting to shield them- 
selves behind an act of Congress. 
The Statement 

The statement of Attorney General 
Collins in full is as follows : 

"I am surprised at the action of the 
I. C. and Y. & M. V. railroads in 
again contesting the validity of the 
Mississippi electric headlight law. I 
don't know a single locomotive engi- 
neer in the State unfavorable to the 
electric headlight. Numbers of them 
have advised me that the electric head- 
light has saved the lives of many men. 
women and children and much of the 
railroad's property. Aside from this, 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



17 



in 1912 immediately after the law was 
enacted, the I. C., Y. & M. V. and the 
L. & N. railroads enjoined the officers 
of the State from enforcing the law. 

"I entered into an agreement with 
Mr. Mayes, of this city, attorney for 
the I. C. and Y. & M. V. Railroad 
Companies, and also with Hon. George 
L. Smith, of Mobile, Alabama, repre- 
senting the L. & N. Railroad Com- 
pany, that the Mississsippi case would 
be disposed of according to the decision 
of the Supreme Court of the United 
States in the Georgia electric headlight 
case which was then pending in the 
Supreme Court of the United States. 
About a year ago the Supreme Court 
of the United States upheld the Geor- 
gia law and at the next term of the 
United States Court held in Jackson, 
an order was entered upholding the 
Mississippi law and giving the rail- 
roads ninety days in which to comply 
with it. The ninety days has long since 
expired and the railroads should have 
equipped all their engines with head- 
lights. I am informed that the L. & N. 
has complied with the court's order. 

"I am also informed that the I. C. 
and Y. & M. V. have not complied with 
the court's order and are simply using 
a recent act passed by Congress as an 
excuse for again refusing to comply 
with the Legislature's effort to force 
them to adopt a light that will enable 
the engineer to see where he is going. 

"I don't suppose I ought to be sur- 
prised though at the action of the I. C. 
and Y. & M. V. railroads, for it seems 
to be the policy of these lines to an- 
tagonize the Railroad Commission, the 
Legislature and the people of the State 
on substantially every proposition in- 
itiated by them. This is abundantly 
evidenced by the fact that the State 
has more litigation with these lines, 
which are under one management, than 
with all the other railroad lines of the 
State combined." Jackson Clarion- 
Ledger. 



A FRANK STATEMENT FROM 
JUDGE MAYES 

Editor Daily News : I have just re- 
turned from a somewhat prolonged 



absence from Jackson, and the Clarion- 
Ledger of last Friday, June 18, has 
been handed to me, in which there is 
an article headed "Attorney General 
Says Roads Antagonistic," and the 
substance of which is a complaint of 
the action of the Illinois Central and 
Yazoo & Mississippi Valley Railroad 
Companies in connection with the 
headlight matter. 

The reporter says that the attorney 
general declared that he had an agree- 
ment with the railroads to the effect 
that the policy of the roads in this 
state would be governed by a similar 
case before the Georgia court, etc. 

What the attorney general said, ex- 
actly as given by the reporter, was 
this: 

"I entered into an agreement with 
Messrs. Mayes & Mayes of this city, 
attorneys for the I. C. and Y. & M. V. 
Railroad Companies, and also with 
Hon. George L. Smith of Mobile, Ala., 
representing the L. & N. Railroad 
Company, that the Mississippi case 
would be disposed of according to the 
decision of the Supreme Court of the 
United States in the Georgia electric 
headlight case, which was then pend- 
ing in the Supreme Court of the 
United States." 

And the attorney general himself, as 
quoted by the reporter, goes on and 
states that the pending case was so 
disposed of. Continuing the quotation, 
he says: 

"About a year ago the Supreme 
Court of the United States upheld the 
Georgia law, and at the next term of 
the United States Court held in Jack- 
son an order was entered upholding 
the Mississippi law, and giving the 
railroads ninety days in which to com- 
ply with it." 

Thus the attorney general's own 
statement shows that the case was dis- 
posed of in the Federal Court in ac- 
cordance with the agreement. The re- 
porter's statement that the attorney 
general said that the agreement was 
that the policy of the roads would be 
controlled by that case, is entirely un- 
warranted by his interview, as he him- 
self quotes it. 



18 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



The complaint which the attorney 
general makes is, exactly, that after 
the decree was so entered the railroad 
companies did not proceed to carry out 
the decree, and are now engaged in 
resisting the enforcement of it. But 
as he himself shows, in the interview 
quoted, there was no agreement what- 
ever about what would be done after 
the decree was rendered. 

The decrees were rendered on the 
12th day of November, 1914. At that 
time it was anticipated that in the 
practical execution of those decrees 
various difficulties would arise, and it 
might be necessary for the court, in 
supervising the enforcement of the de- 
crees, to make other and further orders 
in the case; and for that reason the 
final sentence in each decree, both in 
the Illinois Central and in the Yazoo 
& Mississippi Valley case, was as fol- 
lows: 

"And this case is retained in this 
court for such further orders and de- 
crees as shall seem to be needed." 

Thus the court expressly retained 
jurisdiction of the matter for further 
action. 

At the time when those decrees were 
entered, it was not anticipated by 
either party (at least, I know it was 
not anticipated by the railroad " com- 
panies, and I believe it was not an- 
ticipated by the attorney general) that 
there would be any change in the law 
itself, under which those decrees were 
rendered, and for the enforcement of 
which those decrees, on their face, 
were passed. 

The point in the litigation had been 
that the railroads contended that then 
the Mississippi statute of 1912, requir- 
ing the railroad companies to equip 
their locomotives, used in the state of 
Mississippi, with electric headlights of 
a certain defined power, was a law 
which the Legislature of Mississippi 
had no power to enact, for the reason 
that the equinment of locomotives was 
provided for by an act of Congress ; 
that the Congress of the United States, 
having taken control of the subject, the 
Legislature of the state had no power 
over it, and no right to pass such a 



statute. The carrying out of that stat- 
ute, by equipping all the locomotives 
with electric headlights would cost the 
railroad companies a very large sum of 
money more than one hundred thou- 
sand dollars, as claimed and accom- 
plish no beneficial results. The rail- 
road companies believed, and they 
were prepared to show evidence to the 
effect, that the electric headlight is not 
the best headlight; that it had many 
elements of danger, which it was very 
desirable to avoid. The United States 
statute which was supposed to control 
the matter was the act of Congress 
of February 17, 1911, known as the 
"Boiler Inspection Act." The litiga- 
tion which was originated by the Sea- 
board Air- Line in Georgia, and which 
was then pending before the Supreme 
Court of the United States was based 
on the proposition that the boiler in- 
spection act of 1911 included the in- 
spection of headlights. But the deci- 
sion made by the Supreme Court of 
the United States in that case, and to 
which Mr. Collins alludes, held that the 
act of Congress, as it then existed, was 
not broad enoueh to include headlights, 
and, therefore, that the power still re- 
mained with the state legislature to 
legislate on the subject of headlights. 

When that decision was rendered, 
therefore, in accordance with the 
agreement made and in full perform- 
ance of it, the Illinois Central and the 
Yazoo & Mississippi Valley Railroad 
Companies submitted to have entered, 
in the two cases, in the Federal Court 
here, the decree to which General Col- 
lins refers, being the decrees of the 
12th of November, 1912. 

The railroad companies entered im- 
mediately upon the fulfillment of the 
decrees of the court. Mississippi, 
however, is not the only state that en- 
acted laws of this kind ; and the re- 
quirements had become so general 
throughout the 14 states through 
which the Illinois Central operates 
that it was necessary for it to place 
an order for twelve hundred electric 
headlights, and this they did, as I am 
informed. The company did every- 
thing it could to facilitate the de- 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



19 



livery of those headlights, and the in- 
stallation of the same on locomotives, 
as they were received. It was neces- 
sary to distribute them on different 
portions of the road. Up to this time 
the manufacturers have been able to 
deliver to the company only about 
three hundred of these headlights, 
which have been installed. I am in- 
formed by the president that the pol- 
icy of the company is to continue this 
work until all main lines are equipped 
with electric headlights ; and it is not 
true that the company has refused to 
enter on this work, or has suspended 
the progress of it, in the manner in 
which the article, quoted from above, 
indicates. 

In this attitude of the case, and 
while the work was progressing, under 
the decree, as rapidly as the company 
could obtain headlights to be delivered 
from the manufacturers, Mr. Moncure 
Dabney, who claims to have been the 
originator of the headlight bill, in the 
state Legislature, appeared in Jack- 
son ; and a newspaper report of him 
was published in the Jackson Daily 
News of Saturday, May 29th, see page 
3, column 2, bottom, in which it was 
reported that action would be taken at 
an early date, by authorities in differ- 
ent counties, to secure indictments 
against the two railroad companies, on 
account of alleged failure to comply 
with the headlight law of 1912. 

It was this action by Mr. Dabney, 
thus reported in the newspapers, and 
this statement that these indictments 
were going to be obtained by the au- 
thorities in different counties, which 
caused the filing of the supplemental 
bill, of which Mr. Collins now makes 
complaint. A copy of that article was 
sent to the railway authorities, in Chi- 
cago, on May 31st, and in response 
thereto, I received instructions to pre- 
pare and file the supplemental bills 
that were filed, "with a view of an- 
ticipating any action that may be 
taken by the state authorities." 

The bills of injunction were accord- 
ingly prepared, and were filed on June 
15th. That is to say, the tenth day 
after I received those instructions, 



which were immediately provoked, as 
is shown above, by the threat to have 
the two railroad companies indicted in 
various quarters in the state, for not 
doing a thing which they were doing 
as fast as they could get it done. 

Now, in the meantime, the congress 
of the United States, manifestly in or- 
der to meet the decision of the supreme 
court to the effect that the "boiler in- 
spection act" of 1911 was not suffi- 
ciently broad to cover the inspection 
of headlights, passed another statute, 
with broader terms, and made so broad 
as to cover all the appliances of a lo- 
comotive ; and this statute was ap- 
proved by the president, March 6, 
1915. 

Of course, it put quite a different as- 
pect on the whole situation ; and as 
the law now stands, the state statute 
is entirely displaced. The state au- 
thorities have no power over the mat- 
ter at all, and the whole question has 
been taken over by the federal au- 
thorities. The decision of the Seaboard 
Air Line, case was met, and in effect 
set aside, and the decrees of Nov. 12th, 
1914, mentioned above, were made of 
no account. But this was the action of 
congress, not the railroad companies. 
It was not even certain that when the 
companies should go ahead, and install 
those electric headlights, according to 
the specifications contained in the Mis- 
sissippi act of 1912, such headlights 
would meet the approval of the federal 
inspectors, and they might all be reject- 
ed. It is not even certain that the 
federal inspectors will want electric 
headlights at all. They may prefer the 
acetylene gas lights, which many ex- 
perts prefer ; and which, if this case had 
gone to trial on the facts, it was the 
expectation of the railroad companies 
to prove were the better lights, being 
sufficiently strong and clear; and not 
being subject to some of the most se- 
rious objections to the electric head- 
lights. 

But it will be observed that, not- 
withstanding the passage of that act 
of congress, the railroad companies 
did not suspend the installation of the 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



electric headlights, and did not do any- 
thing to retard the progress of that 
work, until these people turned up here 
in Jackson with threats of criminal 
prosecutions at various points in the 
state. 

Judge Niles, as shown above, had 
retained these cases in his court for 
the making of further orders ; and the 
railroad companies appealed, by the 
supplemental bills, to his court in these 
same causes, for protection ; and also 
prayed that the decrees previously 
made be set aside, since the state law 
which they were intended to enforce 
had been nullified by an act of con- 
gress. It was imperatively necessary, 
in so important a matter, to have it 
settled whether the companies were 
under the authority of the state offi- 
cials, or that of the United States gov- 
ernment. 

The railroad companies now know 
well that what they do further, by way 
of installing electric headlights, in ac- 
cordance with the desire expressed by 
the Mississippi legislature is by them 
done voluntarily, and not under the 
coersion of that decree, which has been 
displaced by the act of congress. 

In this situation, I am authorized by 
the president of the company to state 



that, notwithstanding the act of con- 
gress, and notwithstanding all that is 
stated above, the company expects to 
persevere in this work of installation 
of electric headlights, until all the 
main lines are equipped ; at the same 
time, however, the railroad authorities 
do not believe that any necessity what- 
ever exists for the equipping with ex- 
pensive electric headlights of the loco- 
motives running on unimportant 
branch lines; and as to that they ex- 
pect to be guided, as to the future, by 
the obligation imposed on them, and 
to rely on the protection afforded to 
them, by the laws of the United States 
which have taken charge of the mat- 
ter. 

In conclusion, it seems to be a sin- 
gular attitude that any person in this 
country, whether he is a natural in 
dividual, or a corporation, is censured 
because he or it appeals to the courts 
of the land for protection in what he 
or it conceives to be his or its proper 
legal rights ; and for a judicial deter- 
mination of his or its attitude of re- 
sponsibility to answer to the state or 
the United States. 

EDWARD MAYES. 

Jackson Daily News, Wednesday, 
June 23, 1915. 



Ackerman Given Ten- Year Sentence 

Waives Time Following Conviction for Perjury 



Waiving the right to time to file a 
motion for a new trial and also time 
for sentence, J. W. Ackerman, who 
was convicted of perjury by a jury 
last week, was arraigned today before 
Judge Boies and given an indeter- 
minate sentence not to exceed ten 
years in the reformatory at Anamosa. 

Judge Boies granted defendant 
thirty days in which to prepare a mo- 
tion for new trial and set July 1 as 
sentence day. On request of the de- 
fendant these orders were set aside. 

Ackerman, who has been in the 



county jail for the past seven months, 
decided to waive time and take his 
sentence now, so that he might be 
credited with time. Sheriff Hender- 
son will take the prisoner to Ana- 
mosa within a day or two. 

This is one of the few convictions 
for perjury in Iowa, and for this rea- 
son the case has attracted widespread 
attention. The perjury for which the 
defendant was found guilty was in 
connection with testimony he gave at 
the last September term of court in 
the damage suit for personal injuries 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



21 



to Charles Scribner, a lad now seven 
years old. Waterloo (la.) Evening 
Courier, June 1, 1915. 



MY GUIDE 

By T. J. Van Alstyne, Cornell, M. E., 
'03, Alpha Psi of Chi Psi. 

' I A O respect my country, my profes- 
sion and myself. To be honest 
and fair with my fellow-men, as I ex- 
pect them to be honest and square 
with me. To be a loyal citizen of the 
United States of America. To speak 
of it with praise and act always as a 
trustworthy custodian of its good 
name. To be a man whose name 
carries weight with it wherever it goes. 

To base my expectations of reward 
on a solid foundation of service ren- 
dered ; to be willing to pay the price 
of success in honest effort. To look 
upon my work as an opportunity to 
be seized with joy and made the most 
of and not as a painful drudgery to be 
reluctantly endured. 

To remember that success lies with- 
in myself, in my own brain, my own 
ambition, my own courage and deter- 
mination. To expect difficulties and 
force my way through them ; to turn 
hard experiences into capital for fu- 
ture struggles. 

To believe in my proposition, heart 
and soul ; .to carry an air of optimism 
in the presence of those I meet; to 
dispel ill temper with cheerfulness, kill 
doubts wtih a strong conviction, and 
reduce active friction with an agree- 
able personality. 

To make a study of my business, to 
know my profession in every detail, to 
mix brains with my efforts, and use 
c vstem and method in my work. To 
find time to do every needful thing by 
never letting time find me doing noth- 
ing. To hoard days as a miser hoards 
dollars ; to make every hour bring me 
dividends, increased knowledge or 
healthful recreation. 

To keep my future unmortgaged with 
debts ; to save as well as earn. To cut 
out expensive amusements until I can 
afford them. To steer clear of dissipa- 



tion and guard my health of body and 
peace of mind as a most precious stock 
in trade. 

Finally, to take a good grip on the 
joys of life, to play the game like a 
man ; to fight against nothing so hard 
as my own weaknesses, and endeavor 
to grow in strength a gentleman, a 
Christian. 

"So may I be courteous to men, faith- 
ful to friends, 
True to my God, a fragrance in the 

path I trod." 

C. & O. Ry. Co. Employes' Maga- 
zine, May, 1915. 



TROUBLE AHEAD 

'"THE baggage problem in America 
has been simpler and more satis- 
factory, from the point of view of the 
traveling public, than in any other 
country. For this reason habitual 
travelers will view with annoyance the 
plan of compulsory baggage valuation, 
baggage insurance, baggage red tape, 
announced by the railroads under the 
Cummins act. Persons who are not 
habitual travelers, but who are occa- 
sionally passengers upon railroads, will 
view the change with positive alarm 
All complications attending travel are 
alarming to persons who are not prac- 
ticed travelers. All simplifications are 
rejoiced in by everyone who goes any- 
where. America has led other coun- 
tries in making it easy, from all points 
of view save the financial, to get about. 
It costs more to go by train in the 
United States than it does in many 
countries, but having paid the cost the 
traveler is or has been free to for- 
get about his baggage and enjoy his 
book or an idler's view of a lively out- 
of-the-window panorama. 

It is not quite clear just what benefit 
will accrue to anyone under the new 
arrangement. The railroads, apparent- 
ly, have found the established plan of 
baggage carrying satisfactory. That 
part of the public which is American 
born and not foreign-traveled has per- 
haps not been fully awake to its ad- 



22 



vantages. Americans who have trav- 
eled in Europe or the Orient have re- 
turned home with a keener apprecia- 
tion of the benefits of American citi- 
zenship because of the freedom from 
unnecessary detail that makes Amer- 
ican travel restful in comparison with 
travel in countries in which it is neces- 
sary to enter into extended diplomatic 
conversations upon the question of get- 
ting- a trunk shipped, and where it is 
necessary to sign papers the signer's 
death warrant for all he knows before 
getting into the train. 

All customs or laws which have the 
effect of creating difficulties, however 
slight, which necessitate the consump- 
tion of time, inquiry, bother, confu- 
sion, anxiety at the railroad station, 
are damnable to the flustered, perspir- 
ing, harried ticket buyer. They are 
doubly so to the unfortunate employe 
of the road whose daily grind is to an- 
swer questions which appear of tre- 
mendous importance to the unaccus- 
tomed traveler, but seem senseless and 
superfluous to anyone to whom they 
are a part of the day's routine. 

The provision of the Cummins act 
necessitating the baggage bother 
seems an example of pestiferous leg- 
islation owing its existence to the ac- 
tivity of the discoverer of mares' 
nests. It seems likely to make bedlam 
in the railroad station, and make travel 
a trial, without accomplishing any pur- 
pose of such importance as to warrant 
the annoyance. Louisville Courier- 
Journal, June 7, 1915. 



THE STATE AND THE RAIL- 
ROADS 

/^AN it be that political sentiment 
in the state is implacable toward 
railroads, while in their material af- 
fairs railroads are invariably looked to 
by the people for helpfulness? For 
instance, a candidate has for his chief 
argument that he is a fighter of rail- 
roads, and that railroads would spend 
big money to secure his defeat. Such 
a claim to official preferment is pre- 
suming much, on railroad prejudice. 



For instance again, the people wish to 
build up a new industry. The first 
thing they do is told in the following 
telegram from West, Holmes county, 
on the Illinois Central Railroad be- 
tween Durant and Canton, of May 28, 
which says : "Six months ago the 
West creamery made its first shipment 
of butter, which was five pounds. To- 
day they shipped one car load of fine 
creamery butter to Chicago, which was 
sold in advance for a good price. The 
Illinois Central Railroad Company has 
done much for the success of this en- 
terprise." 

Of course in upbuilding such enter- 
prises, the railroad helps itself. Never- 
theless, such self help does not right- 
fully or by rule of reason, extinguish 
appreciation of liberal extension of 
community aid. This has been sup- 
plied in the promotion of the truck 
growing and stock raising industries, 
the establishment of experimental 
farms, turning the tide of farm home 
seekers to this state, in high water 
help, and in other way's too numerous 
to mention. Thus the I. C. road has 
added many millions to Mississippi 
values. In every community and on 
all occasions where the railroads can 
promote material public interests they 
are freely called upon, and invariably 
respond. 

Such a relationship with the people 
and their business interests should 
rightly and reasonably liberalize state 
railroad policy. It is well within the 
truth to say that the Mississippi facts 
are otherwise. With the inherent 
power of state corooration control and 
regulation no one would part. And 
yet so frequent have been the misuses 
of the power, so greatly has it been 
abused by corporation baiting dema- 
gogues, that it can not be looked upon, 
in its workings, as an unmixed good. 
Many instances of the truth of this 
assertion could be cited. About the 
brightest feather in the cap of the pro- 
fessional reformer is a law or a scheme 
for forcing railroads to do something. 
Legislation thus inspired usually 
proves a handicap to the roads without 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



23 



benefiting the public. The latest local 
outcrop of this reform spirit noted, is 
clamor for the "full crew law," the 
utility of which has been thoroughly 
disproved in states where it has been 
applied. 

But in no other manner has the 
abuse of state authority in its exercise 
towards railroads been more flagrant 
than in the anti-merger prosecutions. 
Mississippi has employed, at an enor- 
mous contingent fee, Governor Brew- 
er's fellow townsman and right bower, 
the Hon. Jack Cutrer, in association 
with the Attorney General, to bring 
a confiscatory anti-merger suit against 
the I. C. road. At the same time a 
like anti-merger suit is being carried 
on by Attorney General Collins and 
another political magnate, Mr. Mc- 
Beath of Meridian, against the South- 
ern railway. 

If these two roads were the state's, 
most relentless enemies, instead of her 
greatest instrumentalities of public 
usefulness and help, no harsher means 
could have been devised for their in- 
jury and ruin. Can it be true that in 
the practice code of the demagogue, 
this is the surest way to official prefer- 
ment and re-election? And yet we in- 
fer from a recent alleged statement of 
Attorney General Collins that "the 
purpose of his anti-merger policy is 
not so much to collect money from the 
railroads as it is to secure the dissolu- 
tion of these companies, which are 
now owned and controlled by the same 
people" that it has dawned upon him 
that his demands upon these railroads 
for near a hundred millions in fines 
and penalties, is not approved by the 
people of the state. 

The good faith of the quoted qual- 
ifying statement is contradicted by the 
visible facts. If the Attorney General 
only seeks the "dissolution" of these 
companies, why has he not so pro- 
posed to them to accept their dissolu- 
tion without penalties? This was the 
course of the Federal Government, 
when it obtained the unmerging de- 
cree of the Pacific railroads ; a decision 
which furnished the precedent for the 



state's anti-merger suits. At the 
time, The Herald urged the Governor 
to apply for a like procedure by the 
Attorney General of the United States ; 
in the case of the I. C. and the Y. & 
M. V. R. R. Thus conducted, suit 
would have cost the state nothing, and 
a comparatively speedy conclusion 
reached. Instead these, enormous 
damage suits, at great cost to the state, 
have been carried on. There can be 
but one opinion of the state's suits, 
which is that "the purpose of the suit" 
is to harrass or intimidate the railroads 
involved into a compromise which 
would carry a big fee for Attorney 
General Collins, his brother-in-law and 
political creator, Lawyer McBeath, of 
Meridian, and Governor Brewer's 
"steady," Jack Cutrer, of Clarksdale. 
In the best interest of the state, and 
for its good name, the hope is ex- 
pressed that the greedy scheme may 
fail. Vicksburg Herald, June 5, 1915 



CAPTURE 20 MEN AND BOYS ON 
WAY TO MT. PULASKI. 



I. C. Officials Strike Terror When 

They Hold Up Train Loaded 

with Thirsty "Hoboes." 

Nine officials of the Illinois Central 
Railroad last night struck terror into 
the hearts of about twenty men and 
boys, most of whom were from Clin- 
ton, who were on their way to Mt. 
Pulaski. Headed by Superintendent 
G. E. Patterson, the officials stopped 
train No. 55 two miles east of Mt. Pu- 
laski and grabbed all but four of the 
trespassers as they came tumbling off 
the cars. And these four they caught 
later. 

Each One Known. 

The officials got the name and ad- 
dress of each of the trespassers. Then 
they turned them loose. All but three 
were local residents. These three were 
professional hoboes. One badly scared 
boy stammered out to H. L. Moffett, 
one of the officials : 

"Mr. Moffett, you know my father." 

"No," said Mr. Moffett, "but I know 
you." 



24 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



To Break Up Trespassing. 

Superintendent Patterson and the 
other local officials have for some time 
been trying to hit on a plan to break 
up the heavy traffic on freight trains 
between Clinton and Mr. Pulaski. 
They are continually worried by the 
risk of loss of life run by the trespass- 
ers and last night's action inaugurates 
a scheme to stop some of the trespass- 
ing and incidentally to bring less 
liquor from Mt. Pulaski saloons. 
Officials Who Made Raid. 

Superintendent Patterson was ac- 
companied by H. L. Moffett and P. K. 
Hanley, trainmaster; M. Backus, road- 
master; S. C. Draper, superintendent 
of bridges and buildings ; Master Me- 
chanic O'Brien, A. G. Turlay, traveling 
engineer, and C. E. Lindsey, of De- 
catur, and C. W. Dill, special agents. 
The "Hold Up." 

They went to Mt. Pulaski yesterday 
afternoon by a roundabout way and 
then came out from Mt. Pulaski up the 
I. C. tracks about two miles. There 
they lined up on both sides of the road 
and when No. 55, leaving Clinton 
about 5:15, came along, they flagged 
it. At once heads popped out from be- 
tween the cars and when several of 
the "hoboes" recognized Charles Dill 
the exodus began. But the officers 
grabbed for them and only four got 
away and these hot-footed it up a road. 
Catch Them Later. 

The four who escaped were caught 
later when Officers Dill and Moffett 
got a car at Mt. Pulaski and went back 
over the road on which the four were 
coming into town. They got their 
names and addresses and turned them 
loose. 

May Prosecute Them. 

When pressed as to whether he 
would prosecute the trespassers or not, 
Superintendent Patterson said today : 

"We have not decided just what ac- 
tion to take but we may begin prose- 
cutions. But we are going to stop the 
trespassing on our lines. We are 
afraid somebody will be killed and we 
are determined to stop it." 



Mr. Patterson refused to give out 
the names of the men and boys caught 
in the raid. He is saving them for 
future reference. Clinton Daily Pub- 
lic, June 2, 1915. 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL RAILROAD 
LITERATURE. 

People must change their minds 
about what we used to call railroad 
literature, because it is no longer what 
it once was. In the old days railroad 
literature was looked upon with indif- 
ference by the public at large, because 
it consisted largely of time tables that 
no one but a railroad man could under- 
stand, and flaming posters which no 
one believed. Of late years the rail- 
roads have been giving increased and 
growing attention to what may be 
called railroad literature. A good many 
of these corporations maintain a 
monthly magazine and these are not 
infrequently of a high character from 
a literary standpoint. The Illinois 
Central Magazine for May is a pub- 
lication that will be interesting to the 
general reader. Capt. James Dinkins, 
long a resident of Memphis, and re- 
membered here by many of the older 
citizens, concludes! his story of the 
Illinois Central lines during the civil 
conflict. He tells how he became an 
Illinois Central man, and the names 
and incidents which he has collated 
and presented will be of absorbing in- 
terest to the older generation at least. 
Another good thing about these rail- 
road magazines is their liberality and 
public spirit. They take up particular 
cities and sections and advertise them 
widely. Of course this means that 
they are endeavoring to benefit them- 
selves and the business of the road 
represented ; but the cities and com- 
munities and sections profit by the 
publicity, no matter what its motive. 
Another valuable feature of the rail- 
road magazine is that it affords a ve- 
hicle and a voice to the employes, who 
are encouraged to express themselves. 
In this way the higher-ups often re- 
ceive many valuable tips and sugges- 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



25 



tions that would never occur to them. 
This is of mutual benefit, because it 
brings employer and employe, superior 
and subordinate, closer together and 
puts them upon a more friendly plane. 
Friars Point Coahomian, May 29, 
1915. 



PAYING THE FIDDLER. 

A dry grin is going the rounds of 
the legal fraternity, in Vicksburg, the 
reason and cause for which is as fol- 
lows: 

During the term of the Warren 
county circuit court, which closed last 
week, there was tried the case of 
Wiley Wilson vs. the Y. & M. V. R. R. 
Wilson is a white boy who claimed to 
have received personal injuries while 
employed as apprentice in the railroad 
shops at Vicksburg. This is the case 
which was referred to in the contro- 
versy between the Vicksburg Times- 
Democrat and President Markham of 
the I. C. system. It will be remem- 
bered that the race question was in- 
jected into the discussion, it being as 
serted that the railroad company 
worked white apprentices under negro 
boiler-makers and that Wilson was 
hurt while so working. During the 
trial an attempt was made to substan- 
tiate this charge but failed, and the 
court ruled that the plaintiff had not 
made out his case and instructed the 
jury to bring in a verdict for the de- 
fendant railroad. 

As the plaintiff had been required to 
furnish bond for the costs, his attor- 
neys went on the bond, and as a result 
they will enjoy the privilege of paying 
the fiddler in the form of costs. Deer 
Creek Pilot, June 18, 1915. 



PROTECTING THE UPPER 
BERTH. 

The United States Supreme Court 
has at last called a halt on the as- 
saults on the upper berth. For years 
the upper berth has been the object of 
opprobious comments and the target 
of legislative vengeance. In vain did 
the sleeping car companies maintain 
that the upper berth was a very good 



berth and could be slept in very com- 
fortably. The antagonism .continued. 
It found gratification in the humilia- 
tion imposed on the upper berth by the 
reduction of its price below that 
charged for its lower associate. But 
it was not content to rest there. 

Divers Wisconsin legislators had 
noted with pain and indignation that 
upper berths were frequently made up 
before the said berth had been en- 
gaged. Now, from their point of view 
it was no doubt bad enough for an 
upper berth to be made up at all. But 
to have it made up before anybody had 
even called for it, thus cutting off the 
ceiling view of the tenant of the lower 
berth, apparently struck them as noth- 
ing less than an imposition which 
called for the stern correction of the 
law. Whence the statute passed in 
the legislature of that state forbidding 
this practice. 

But the United States Supreme 
Court stepped in on Monday and said 
that enough was enough. It did not 
expressly place its nullification of the 
law on the ground that "cruel and un- 
usual punishment" is forbidden by the 
Constitution and should not be meted 
out even to an upper berth. But there 
was probably something of this feeling 
in the court. It may now be taken as 
settled by the highest tribunal in the 
land that even an upper berth has some 
rights. Chicago Herald, Thursday, 
June 24, 1915. 



THE DAMAGE SUIT INDUSTRY. 

Following a series of sensational ex- 
posures of the fakers, ambulance chas- 
ers and professional witnesses in the 
courts of St. Paul, the Minnesota law- 
makers are now planning the enact- 
ment of statutes that will put a crimp 
in the damage suit industry which has 
been flourishing in that commonwealth 
for several years. 

The St. Paul exposures were com- 
plete and effective. Several firms of 
lawyers who had waxed fat on the 
business of concocting false damage 
and personal injury claims are now 
seeking new fields and pastures green, 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



and it is not wholly improbable that 
some of them may drift into Missis- 
sippi, where the pickings of this sort 
have always been exceptionally good. 

The newspapers of St. Paul, without 
a dissenting voice, have been vigor- 
ously denouncing the professional 
grafters who have saddled an enor- 
mous expense on the taxpayers by 
bringing hundreds of personal injury 
suits into the state from other com- 
monwealths, and which ought to have 
been given trial in the states where 
injuries were alleged to have been re- 
ceived. 

The St. Paul Dispatch, in discussing 
the question in a recent issue, said : 

"On account of the outside personal 
injury litigation brought in here 
through the activities of soliciting law- 
yers and their agents, this county was 
recently burdened with the expense of 
establishing an additional judgeship, 
and even with this added facility the 
courts are still lamentably behind. 

"It is gratifying to learn that mem- 
bers of the legislature are looking into 
the situation. We think that they 
shall not have to look very far to see 
the injustice of the system which has 
wrought so much inconvenience to our 
own litigants. 

"In its last analysis, this thing nar- 
rows itself down to where there are 
about a half dozen soliciting lawyers 
and their agents on one side of the ques- 
tion and all of the people on the other. 
Are we going to besmirch the entire 
state simply that a few fellows with 
soiled hands may prosper out of all 
proportion to the rewards vouchsafed 
to honest and legitimate efforts? 

"It is injurious to good citizenship to 
allow this thing to go on. It is under- 
mining character. In their* anxiety for 
cases and coin of the realm lawyers 
and solicitors are tempted to take 
chances. Have we not witnessed a 
number of disgraceful episodes in our 
courts in connection with these for- 
eign cases? 

"There are hundreds of personal in- 
jury damage suits from other states 
annually brought in Ramsey county. 



Does any sane person having even a 
remote knowledge of how this traffic 
is carried on believe these cases come 
here naturally and legitimately? If 
there are no such persons then cer- 
tainly we are entitled to relief and, 
furthermore, we believe this is one 
question upon which the people are 
not divided but that the sentiment is 
all one way, barring, of course, the 
handful of beneficiaries of the per- 
nicious system as it now exists." 

We have had much experience of the 
same sort right here in Mississippi. 
Of late years it has become a very 
common thing for litigants from other 
states to come to Mississippi to seek 
satisfaction of personal injury claims, 
selecting for the filing of their suits 
those counties where strong prejudice 
exists against the railroads, and where 
they often receive heavy verdicts 
against the corporations, no matter 
how flimsy and unwarranted may be 
their claims. 

Many of the troubles with which 
Mississippi's judiciary system is now 
afflicted can be attributed to the dam- 
age suit lawyers, the faker, the pro- 
fessional witness and the jury fixer. 

Eight years ago we had only ten 
circuit judges in Mississippi, and they 
were able to attend to all the litiga- 
tion. Congested court dockets were 
rarely complained of. 

Today Mississippi has seventeen cir- 
cuit judges, and in more than one-third 
of the counties of the state the dock- 
ets are so badly congested that the 
judge is not able to dispose of more 
than one-half the business during the 
current court term. Much of this 
business consists of unjust or frivolous 
damage suits against common carriers, 
and as a result litigants who have 
claims involving real merit are com- 
pelled to wait two or three years be- 
fore they can get justice. 

On our supreme court docket today 
there are more than eight hundred 
cases pending. If the three judges 
would work continuously on the pend- 
ing business, giving no attention what- 
ever to new appeals filed, it would take 



27 



more than three years to clear the 
docket. It is the most distressing con- 
dition that has ever confronted judi- 
ciary system in this state. 

Examine those eight hundred appeal 
cases now pending before the supreme 
court and you will find that more than 
one-third of the number are damage 
suits against corporations. Scores of 
these suits are utterly without merit, 
but they have gained places on the 
docket, and cases of merit cannot be 
considered until they are out of the 
way. 

Any man with a just claim who 
wants to have his cause reviewed be- 
fore the state's highest tribunal may as 
well make up his mind that it will be 
at least three years before he can get 
a decision. The damage suit industry 
has the right-of-way. 

And, of course, the taxpayers are 
"paying the piper" for all his miser- 
able mess, while nobody derives bene- 
fit therefrom except the damage suit 
lawyer. The litigant, even if he is suc- 
cessful, is compelled to pay the lawyer 
fifty per cent of the judgment, and 
often has to wrestle the shyster mighty 
hard to get the other half. 

We have had much experience right 
here in Jackson with suits of this char- 
acter. At our last civil court term an 
entire week was consumed with the 
suit of a man from somewhere out in 
Nebraska, who claimed that he was in- 
jured in Memphis. There was not the 
least excuse on earth for bringing that 



suit to Jackson, cluttering up our court 
docket, displacing other litigants on 
the calendar who were entitled to have 
their cases tried, and imposing a heavy 
burden of expense on our taxpayers. 
Other counties of the state have suffer- 
ed more severely than Hinds in this re- 
gard, notably Pike, Copiah, Yazoo, 
Lincoln and Sunflower, which seem to 
be veritable Meccas for the ambulance 
artist, the fake claimant and the pro- 
fessional witness. 

Mississippi can well afford to follow 
the example that Minnesota is about 
to set in dealing with the damage suit 
industry. There should be a rigid lim- 
itation placed on actions of this char- 
acter, a denial of jurisdiction unless 
the claimant was actually injured in 
the country where he seeks to file suit, 
and a requirement that the damage 
suit lawyer, who has on his inside coat 
pocket a contract to receive fifty per 
cent of the judgment, must give bond 
to cover all court costs, and not hide 
his client behind a pauper's oath. 

Wholly aside from the fact that the 
railroads are being outrageously rob- 
bed by the damage suit sharks, our own 
sense of fairness and common decency 
ought to prompt us to put a quietus on 
this disreputable business that has 
usurped so large a place on the court 
dockets that no person, regardless of 
how much merit his cause may offer, 
can get a prompt hearing in our tri- 
bunals of justice. Editorial, Jackson 
(Miss.) News, May 27, 19 15. 





aqnolia./iliss. 

O^ Oleanest town in the state 

CVcxr. H/ . Norwood, 






Cr 



azetfe 



A CONTEST in public sanitation this 
** spring among" the cities and towns 
of Mississippi, which was initiated by 
the State Federation of Women's 
Clubs, and inspection and awards made 
by the State Board of Health, attract- 
ed not only the attention of the people 
of this commonwealth, but of the 
whole country as well. And when, 
after three official inspections had been 
made, the State Board of Health de- 
clared that Magnolia was the Cleanest 
Town in Mississippi, she was accorded 
national recognition as a place worth 
while. 

It is doubtless due to this high dis- 
tinction that she is given so prominent 
a place in this issue of the Illinois Cen- 
tral Magazine, and that its readers may 
learn from illustrations and sketch 
something of the history and progress 
of this community. 

Magnolia's history as a railroad town 
dates back to the year 1856, when the 
old New Orleans, Jackson & Great 
Northern Railroad was completed the 
first hundred miles from its southern 
terminus, and reached the then small 
and inconsequential village called Mag- 
nolia. 

But as far back as 1820, some pio- 
neer families of the older states had 
settled here. In that year, John Felder 



emigrated from South Carolina, halted 
his team on the banks of Tangipahoa 
River, and built a log cabin on the 
identical spot where the Illinois Cen- 
tral depot at Magnolia now stands. 
Four years later was born in that 
cabin the first white child ever born in 
Magnolia. This was Robert H. Fel- 
der, who still lives in this county, hale 
and hearty despite his great age of 91 
years. 

From this period to the coming of 
the railroad, 36 years later, but little is 
known of Magnolia. Indeed, the date 
when the settlement first attained the 
dignity of a name cannot be stated with 
certainty. It is legendary that a New 
Orleans lady, on her first visit here, 
was so impressed with the number and 
beauty of the magnolia trees, which arc 
still characteristic of the place, that she 
called it "Magnolia." 

The New Orleans, Jackson & Great 
Northern R. R. was completed to Mag- 
nolia in the fall of 1856, and soon the 
little town felt the stimulus of com- 
mercial activity which a railroad al- 
ways provides. 

Anselm H. Prewitt was then the 
owner of the land, and under his direc- 
tion the squares and streets were laid 
off as neatly and exactly as a checker- 
board. 



28 



30 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



The location is ideal for a town. On 
its eastern border is the Tangipahoa 
River, a small stream of water fed by 
springs and clear as crystal. Its west- 
ern boundary is a beautiful little brook 
called Minnehaha. Between these two 
streams runs a ridge, and on the slopes 
of the elevation the town is built. 

The outbreak of the Civil War in 
1861 checked the groAvth of the town, 
which had been rapid since the coming 
of the railroad, as it did that of every 
other Southern community. The ensu- 
ing four years of Magnolia's history 
differs in no essential detail from that 
of every other city, town and village 
in the South. With all her able-bodied 
men enlisted in the war, the old men 
and women and children left at home, 
centered their thoughts upon the stern 
problem of daily sustenance. 

Fortunately, the tide of warfare 
flowed away frorrr Magnolia, and the 
town never suffered the ruin and deso- 
lation which fell upon many other 
communities of this state. But, with 
the establishment here in 1863 of a 
large hospital for the care of wounded 
soldiers, she saw the ripened harvest 
of battlefields. In the Magnolia cem- 
etery now there lie buried two hundred 
and twenty-nine soldiers whose iden- 
tity is unknown, and a beautiful cus- 
tom of the community is observed an- 
nually when on Decoration Day the 
school children strew these nameless 
graves with flowers. 

By vote of the people of Pike county 
in 1871, Magnolia became the county 
seat. Since December, 1816, the seat 
of justice had been located at Holmes- 
ville. The corner stone of the new 
courthouse at Magnolia was laid on 
May 27, 1876. This building, togeth- 
er with all the public records and 
county archives, was destroyed by fire 
in 1881. The court house was immedi- 
ately rebuilt, but the loss of the rec- 
ords was irreparable. 

A steady growth has characterized 
Magnolia from the location of the 
court house here to the present time, 
but the decade 1900-1910 witnessed her 
most rapid and substantial progress. 



During this period substantial brick 
buildings replaced the flimsy wooden 
structures in which the majority of 
commercial concerns transacted busi- 
ness. Many handsome residences were 
built and people began to pay atten- 
tion to the improvement of their homes 
and private premises. Several indus- 
trial enterprises were launched, the 
most important of these being the Mag- 
nolia Cotton Mills, in which nearly half 
a million dollars is invested. A hun- 
dred thousand dollar oil mill and a 
sixty thousand dollar compress were 
constructed during this period, as well 
as an ice factory and an electric light 
plant. 

The community began, also, to re- 
alize the importance of municipal im- 
provement. Up to this time typhoid 
fever was prevalent here. The water 
supply was obtained from wells and 
the subterranean springs were so near 
the sufrace that pollution was unavoid- 
able. Responding to suggestion by the 
town authorities, the people voted 
unanimously for the issuance of $25,000 
bonds for the construction of a water- 
works system. The work was begun 
at once. Four hundred feet deep an 
inexhaustible supply of water was ob- 
tained which the state chemist pro- 
nounced absolutely pure. Since then 
there has not been a single case of 
typhoid fever within the corporate lim- 
its traceable to local infection. 

A few years after the installation of 
water works, the board 01 aldermen 
constructed a sewerage system. Then 
followed the erection of a splendid 
modern school building, and after that 
the laying of concrete sidewalks and 
street crossings throughout the mu- 
nicipality. 

With electric lights, waterworks, 
sewerage, sidewalks and public build- 
ings, Magnolia can boast of more mu- 
nicipal improvements than any town 
of its size in the state, if not in the 
Union. 

All of these progressive steps were 
taken without friction. The unanimous 
vote on waterworks bonds was fol- 
lowed by a unanimous vote on school 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



31 



bonds, and not the slightest objection 
has been made to any public improve- 
ment. 

The recent campaign conducted here 
in the Cleanest Town Contest devel- 
oped and emphasized the spirit of com- 
munity co-operation which exists in 
Magnolia to an uncommon extent. 

As soon as the regulations of the 
contest were promulgated by the Mis- 
sissippi Federation of Women's Clubs, 
Magnolia determined, as one man, to 
win the prize. 

There are two women's clubs here 
The Embroidery and the Musicians' 
Club. Since their organization several 
years ago they have been active in the 
work of civic improvement. So also 
has the men's social organization 
Stonewall Club. 

The club women got together and 
planned the work of making Magnolia 
the Cleanest Town in Mississippi. 
They called a mass meeting of citizens. 
The mass meeting appointed a Gen- 
eral, or Central Committee, and that 
committee named sub-committees to 
direct the various branches of the work. 
There were committees on business 
houses, streets and alleys, public build- 
ings, railroad right-of-way, waterworks 
and sewerage, vacant lots, private 
premises, and a committee composed 
exclusively of negroes was named to 
look after their part of town. 

Mass meetings were held every week 
when reports of committees were heard 
and the progress of the work discussed. 
The co-operation of county and town 
officials was enlisted and secured, and 
public buildings, including the county 
jail, received special attention. 

Magnolia had always been remark- 
ably clean and her people were notable 
for the pride they took in their indi- 
vidual premises. But never before had 
there been a community movement for 
a cleaner town. 

It is no exaggeration to say that 
every man, woman and child became 
enthusiastically a working part of this 
movement. There was no opposition, 
no pulling back anywhere discernible. 
During the last days of the campaign 



an inspection by members of the Cen- 
tral Committee disclosed the fact that 
every private premise had been put in 
order. The rich man, with his spacious 
lawns, always well-kept, down to the 
poverty-stricken negro in the rented 
cabin heard alike the call for cleanli- 
ness, and each performed the full meas- 
ure of his part. 

The town authorities backed the 
movement with legal command, and 
enacted an ordinance requiring the 
screening of all outside toilets in ac- 
cordance with the State Board of 
Health regulations. But it was never 
invoked against anybody, and when 
the official inspectors made their close 
and searching survey of sanitary con- 
ditions in Magnolia, they found every 
one of these common menaces to health 
barred to the typhoid fly and their dan- 
gers eliminated. 

During the last days of the cam- 
paign, "everybody worked" even 
"father." Half-hoiidays were given 
the school children, and under the di- 
rection of the club women, they swept 
the town's highways clean of waste- 
paper and trash of all kinds. 

Magnolia submitted to three official 
inspections. 

The first was made by the County 
Health Officer, Dr. W. D. Beacham, 
and the County Superintendent of Ed- 
ucation, S. W. Simmons. Their report 
to the State Board of Health showed 
a practically perfect score, only a frac- 
tion of one point being deducted by the 
inspectors. 

A week later, Dr. Walley, Chief San- 
itary Inspector of the State, made the 
second inspection. His investigation 
of conditions here was very thorough, 
and his report to the State Board put 
Magnolia at the top of the list of con- 
testing cities. 

But the State Board evidently de- 
sired to be indubitably certain that 
Magnolia was the Cleanest Town in 
Mississippi, and that her cleanliness 
was of a permanent character. All 
other towns and cities contesting for 
the prize were inspected and a full 
month elapsed before Dr. W. S. Leath- 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



33 



ers, Director of Health in Mississippi, 
came here to make the last inspection. 

A few days later, the State Board 
made the awards, and Magnolia was 
declared to be not only the cleanest of 
towns in her class, but THE CLEAN- 
EST TOWN IN MISSISSIPPI. 

The growth of the town has been 
checked to some extent during the past 
four years by the havoc wrought by 
the Mexican boll-weevil in the cotton 
fields. 

Five years ago cotton was the chief 
money crop of farmers in this section, 
and the trade of every town depended 
largely upon the size of the crop and 
the price received for it. 

If the crop was good and the price 
at least ten cents a pound everybody 
was prosperous, in the sense that there 
was plenty of money in circulation. 
During the year the merchants fur- 
nished the farmers their supplies. Ba- 
con, corn, oats, meal, flour and all kinds 
of foodstuffs for man and beast were 
imported from the great food-producing 
states of the Middle West, to say noth- 
ing of horses and mules for farm work 
animals. 

In the fall of the year the farmer 
picked and ginned his cotton, hauled 
it to town and turned it over to the 
merchant. The latter credited the 
farmers' account with the proceeds of 
the cotton at current market prices. 
Sometimes there was a balance in fa- 
vor of the farmer; but more frequently 
he closed the year owing his merchant. 

Then came the Mexican boll-weevil 
and revolutionized the business of 
farming in this section. 

Pike county's cotton crop, which in 
normal years had averaged 25,000 bales, 
dropped as low as 3,000 bales. Last 
year, with weather conditions favorable 
to the destruction of the weevil, the 
crop amounted to approximately 8,000 
bales. 

This condition has forced the farm- 
er here to turn his attention to diver- 
sified farming. No longer are his best 
lands planted to cotton. He is grow- 
ing corn, oats, peas, hays, and the com- 



paratively few cotton acres on his place 
are regarded as a side-line. 

Heretofore the Texas fever tick so 
infested this country that the growing 
of cattle was unprofitable. Now, Pike 
county, under the direction of the State 
Live Stock Sanitary Board and the 
Bureau of Animal Industry of the U. 
S. Department of Agriculture, is de- 
stroying the ticks, and it is believed 
that by the first of next November the 
tick quarantine against the county will 
be lifted. 

Farmers are learning that the soil 
and climate of this section are the finest 
in the world for the production of cat- 
tle. The cut-over pine lands afford 
rich pasturage from March to Decem- 
ber, and during the mild winter the 
swamps of small streams and rivers 
furnish an abundance of green stuff. 

There are unmistakable indications 
that prosperity is returning to the 
farmer, and that it will be a prosperity 
resting upon foundations so broad and 
deep that it will be permanent. 

Already the importation of foodstuffs 
here has shown a marked decrease, and 
farmers in this territory are learning 
that the best place for a farmer's corn- 
crib and smoke house is on his farm 
and not in the store of the merchant in 
town. 

The remarkable co-operation of the 
people of this community, and the free- 
dom from factional strife which the 
town enjoys, have been largely respon- 
sible for its substantial growth. 

Not only so, but the moral tone of 
the community is high. Law and or- 
der prevail here. There is no rowydism 
on the streetsj no drunkenness in pub- 
lic; no dens of infamy; no places of ill- 
repute. 

There is not an habitual drunkard 
in Magnolia; nor a professional gam- 
bler, nor a common loafer. 

Even the negro population large, as 
it usually is in Southern towns is 
peaceable and law abiding, and, seem- 
ingly, imbued with the spirit of civic 
righteousness. 

All the leading denominations are 



(0 

CO 



o 

8 



K 




ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 35 

represented here- -Baptist, Methodist, nolia in furnishing superior train ser- 

Presbyterian, Episcopalian and Cath- vice, and there are six trains going 

olic and all have creditable houses of south and five going north, which make 

worship. regular stops. 

The distance to New Orleans is just Taking everything into considera- 

98 miles, and the fast trains of the II- tion, there is no better place in the 

linois Central make the run in two world to live than Magnolia the 

hours and forty minutes. The railroad BEST, as well as the CLEANEST 

has been exceptionally good to Mag- TOWN IN MISSISSIPPI. 



Cleanest Town in Mississippi Campaign 

That the award of first place, Class C, in the "Cleanest Town in Missis- 
sippi Contest" to Magnolia, is not only gratifying to the people of that grow- 
ing and thrifty little city, but to the management of the Illinois Central R. R. 
Co. as well, is evidenced by the following correspondence : 

June 12, 1915. 

Mr. C. H. Markham, Pres. I. C. R. R. Co., 
1201 Michigan Ave., 

Chicago, 111. 
Dear Sir: 

We, the Central Committee for Magnolia, Mississippi, in the recent 
"Clean Up" contest between the cities, towns and villages in this state, desire 
to express the grateful appreciation of this entire community to the manage- 
ment of the I. C. R. R. Co., and especially R. S. Brent, agent, and his helpers, 
Section Foremen J. N. Holmes and Albert Brent, for their splendid efforts in 
the work which contributed so much in enabling Magnolia to win the prize 
for being the cleanest town of its class, plus the distinction of being pro- 
nounced by the Mississippi State Board of Health the cleanest town in the 
state of Mississippi. 

Very respectfully, 

MRS. J. E. NORWOOD, 
MRS. R. E. JONES, 
J. S. MOORE, 
F. C. KORNRUMPF, 
C. E. BRUMFIELD, 
E. W. REID, 

Central Committee. 
Mrs. J. E. Norwood, June 15, 1915. 

Magnolia, Miss. 
Dear Madam : 

I beg to acknowledge receipt of letter dated June 12th, signed by yourself 
and others constituting a Central Committee for Magnolia in the recent 
"Clean Up" contest, and am very appreciative of the spirit which prompted 
you in writing me on the subject. It is gratifying to know that our people 
were of assistance in the work which enabled Magnolia to gain the distinc- 
tion of being the cleanest town in the state (which is indeed an honor), and 
the matter will be brought to the attention of the employes interested. 
Again thanking you, I remain, 

Yours very truly, 

C. H. MARKHAM. 



it-would, be an. unruly cow that 
would not be docile under 

such conditions 





Traffic 
Departm^l 

wth 1 




A Little Dinner Party 



T HAVE my belief, even now, that the 
* Rambler was deliberately going to 
cut me. and only thought better of it 
when he saw that the Trunk Lady was 
inclined to vouchsafe to me the com- 
mon courtesy of a passing acquaint- 
ance. It all occurred on Michigan 
avenue, Chicago, near one of the great 
hotels that face that famous boulevard; 
and, of course, when I mention the 
"Trunk Lady" I refer to she whom 
we met at the Gulf Coast resort and 
whom the Rambler slightly assisted, in 
line with his duty, to recover a lost 
trunk. She to whom I was introduced 
as well as the Rambler, but for whom 
1 had ever since thought the Rambler 
displayed more interest than the sim- 
ple facts warranted. But after all, I 
doubt if I really blame the Rambler 
for that evident temptation to cut me 
when I recall that I caught him stand- 
ing before a shop window with two 
ladies, one of them the Trunk Lady, 
to whom he was pointing out something 
about the gorgeous display of ladies' 
gowns that were temptingly arrayed 
behind the plate glass. I myself had 
just turned on to the avenue from off 
Congress street, and came unexpected- 
ly upon the trio, much evidently to 
the Rambler's embarrassment. In 



turning his head toward one of the 
ladies in the course of his remarks as 
to what interested him in that window, 
he for an instant looked me full in the 
face, and that he recognized me I am 
sure by his expression. But he turned 
quickly away, and would have, I am 
sure, been only too glad to let me pass 
along without acknowledgment but 
for the Trunk Lady herself. She too 
had seen me, and much to my surprise 
not only remembered me but gave me 
a little nod and smile of recognition. 
Of course, it was then all off with the 
Rambler's riding a high horse so swift- 
ly by me. So he came down, and af- 
ter a cordial greeting, at which he pro- 
fessed pleasure at my having so op- 
portunely happened along, introduced 
me to the other lady and proposed that 
we four make up a little dinner party. 
As the ladies rather indicated that such 
would be agreeable to them, I acceded 
with an inward chuckle at the Ram- 
bler's 'smoothness in thus dividing his 
responsibilities as a host. ''Case of 
three being a crowd," I thought to my- 
self. It will be nearer "two is com- 
pany" for him if in dividing my atten- 
tions I unconsciously talk more to the 
Trunk Lady's friend than to her. In 
truth, that thought rather pleased me, 



37 




Business Section, Magnolia., Miss. 



i 




ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



39 



for the friend seemed very charming, 
whereas I was rather afraid of the teas- 
ing procilivities of the Trunk Lady as 
I had noticed them during her evening's 
chat with the Rambler at the Southern 
resort. 

As may be imagined, the Rambler 
led off to one of the famous cafes on 
the avenue, and we four were soon 
seated around a table in a cozy corner. 
For the want of something better to 
say at the moment, as the waiter wa.-> 
taking our joint order from the Ram- 
bler, I asked the Trunk Lady's friend 
if she resided in Chicago. Before she 
could reply the former laughingly 
broke in with, "Of course not! Didn't 
you catch her name Miss Ouri? That 
would indicate she is from the 'show 
me' state, would it not?" "I'm not 
from Missouri. I am from Texas !" 
was the quick but good-natured re- 
joinder. "I will admit, though," she 
went on, "that I am being shown as 
far as Chicago is concerned. It's a 
funny thing," she added musingly, 
"that, aside from the pleasure of be- 
ing with my friend, I should be visit- 
ing Chicago purely as a summer resort. 
I have been to Colorado and to Cali- 
fornia, in the winter season to Florida, 
and at different times to most of the 
principal northern resorts and to the 
great national parks. I have even in- 
cluded lake and coastwise sea trips in 
my itineraries. None of them, how- 
ever, appealed to me this spring when 
I began to think of my summer holiday. 
So I cast about in my mind for some- 
thing new. I wrote to a railroad Gen- 
eral Passenger Agent in the southwest, 
who is a personal friend of mine, for 
literature pertaining to northern re- 
sorts, telling him I wanted to 'go some- 
where' and to send me anything he had 
or could collect for me that would 
help to a decision. I shall never for- 
get his somewhat whimsical reply," 
she added with a laugh. "It was to 
the effect that he would be glad to ac- 
commodate me and was in position to 
do so if I would prepare several shelves 
in our library book-case to receive sam- 
ples of literature that he could forward 



if I still wanted him to. He said he 
was well stocked with hotel, steam- 
ship and railroad folders from almost 
every line in the country north of Kan- 
sas City, Memphis and Pittsburgh, to 
say nothing of beautiful booklets ex- 
patiating on the beauties and advan- 
tages of resorts thickly strewn from 
California to Maine. I remember a 
paragraph of that letter that particu- 
larly amused me. 'In fact,' he wrote, 
'so delighted are we to receive this 
matter for distribution that we have 
placed our own advertising folders and 
booklets under the counter in order 
that we may accommodate *our large 
army of friends in the north who seem 
to need help.' But being, as he ex- 
pressed it. a personal friend of mine, 
he thought perhaps I might get some- 
what confused if he sent me a sample 
of everything he could, and suggested 
that I outline somewhat broadly my 
preferences as to the nature of the re- 
sort desired in order that he might 
make a selection. Of course his letter 
in the main was jocose, but I saw the 
point and was thinking the matter over 
when two things happened that influ- 
enced my decision. I received a let- 
ter from this Trunk Lady here, say- 
ing that she presumed that I would be 
on my travels shortly and that she 
hoped I would so adjust my destina- 
tion as to make her a visit here in 
Chicago, at least en route. At about 
the same time there appeared in the 
Texas daily newspapers an advertise- 
ment of the Illinois Central setting 
forth the claims of your good city 
of Chicago as a summer resort. I 
smiled a little on reading it at what I 
considered was probably a case of look- 
ing through rose-colored spectacles on 
the part of the writer of that adver- 
tisement. However, I answered my 
friend here that I would make her a 
visit. In the meantime, after telling 
her of the claims made for her city, I 
said that the length of my visit would 
depend upon how I found it as a truly 
summer resort, the real facts concern- 
ing which I meant to investigate for 
myself if she would be my guide and 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



chaperon. If Chicago were found want- 
ing I would make plans to push further 
on, taking her with me." 

"Yes," said her friend, "you know 
that letter of her's set me to thinking. 
Chicago has been my home all my life, 
although from time to time I have 
traveled a great deal. Of course, I 
know more or less about the city, and 
you may be sure I am loyal to it. That 
1 take pride in its real material great- 
ness and achievement, but," she added, 
"do you know, it had never struck me 
particularly from the resort point of 
view. I knew and enjoyed its parks, 
its lake breezes and vistas, its shops, 
and other features that have come 
within the routine of my personal life; 
but just how it could be considered, 
with my knowledge of a great many 
so-called resorts, in the light of an 
out-and-out summer resort was a mat- 
ter that dawned upon me for the first 
time. I was really curious to know 
to put together this and that and see 
if the combination made that which 
would justify the claim. I asked the 
Rambler about it one day " "You 
did?" I impolitely broke in. "then you 
certainly got the information, and got 
it right. You're a believer now-, I 
warrant; for give him a chance and he 
will make anyone believe that a beg- 
gar's rags is the same thing as an er- 
mine-lined purple robe of royalty." 

"You're very impolite," said the 
Rambler, "to interrupt the lady, to say 
nothing of . your base insinuation of 
myself. You know I am never given 
to drawing the long bow! Of course, 
I called her attention to the fact that 
from a climatic point of view it was 
doubtful if Chicago could be beat dur- 
ing the summer months, having as it 
has so many delightfully comfortable 
days with sunny skies and with its cool 
breezes from off the lake." "Yes," 
the lady chimed in, "and he also said 
there was nothing pent up or enclosed 
about the city; claiming that its won- 
derful parks and connecting boulevard 
system, its general up-building on the 
open order principle, and its vast out- 
lying prairie country flanking its land 



boundaries, was an aid to the climatic 
influence of the lake, as breezes were 
thus given free circulation from all 
quarters." 

"Certainly," said Miss Ouri, "I was 
told all that when I got here, but for 
a few days I still had in mind the 
thought that as the second largest city 
of the country and the fifth largest in 
the world, Chicago must posses cer- 
tain predominating metropolitan fea- 
tures, such as huge walls of monoton- 
ous buildings, that, while they might 
be interesting in passing, did not seem 
to be in harmony with the generally 
accepted idea of a place for an out- 
ing where the chief thing to be desired 
is the out-of-doors life." 

"It is to be hoped," I observed, '"that 
you have learned by this time (I under- 
stand you have been here now about 
three weeks) that there is practically 
no limit to wliat a Chicagoan and those 
within its gates can do in the matter of 
out-of-doors diversion if they go about 
it in the right way." "That is just the 
delightful thing about it all," said the 
Trunk Lady with animation. "I mean 
the going about of it in the right way. 
After my talk with the Rambler I made 
up my mind that I would try to see my 
home city from a tourist point of view 
and learn all that there is in it to at- 
tract and hold strangers. Hence, with 
Miss Ouri here, I have been extending 
my general knowledge along detail 
lines, both for my friend's sake and my 
own, and really," she added enthusias- 
tically, "I am surprised myself. Thus 
far w r e have been having a beautiful 
time. The Rambler has taken us to 
his Country Club several times, where 
we had some golf and incidentally 
learned of the many additional golf 
grounds in the immediate vicinity of 
the city. We have been motoring and 
found the several tours that we have 
already made, delightful from a scenic 
point of view. We have not yet ex- 
hausted the resources in that line by 
any means, for I am told that within 
the city alone one can travel over 180 
miles of boulevard and park drives." 

"Yes," I added, "and you can make 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



41 



a run of about thirty miles following 
the lake shore through beautiful sub- 
urbs to Fort Sheridan and the Govern- 
ment Naval Training Station; west- 
ward you can motor to the Fox Lake 
and Geneva Lake regions, and to Del- 
avan, Elgin and Aurora ; or southward 
for about 180 miles or more a motor 
trip can be taken to Starved Rock, Deer 
Park, and a section of the Illinois River 
country replete with a historic past." 

"Oh ! we'll find them all," ("and then 
some," interpolated the Rambler), "also 
the lake trips, long and short," contin- 
ued Miss Ouri. "We have already 
taken two of the last, and the Rambler 
has promised to show us Milwaukee 
if we will take the whaleback steamship 
trip next Saturday. But what I have 
most enjoyed so far," she enthusias- 
tically exclaimed, "is what I see and 
enjoy in your parks and at the bathing 
beaches. There is where the universal 
out-of-doors life is enjoyed by appar- 
ently all classes of people. And every- 
thing is on so large a scale, and so free 
and untrammelled with petty and an- 
noying restrictions. I have seen many 
cities and their parks, the most of the 
latter extremely beautiful, but evident- 
ly cherished more as show places than 
for the unrestricted use of the people. 
On the face of things you seem to have 
no restrictions here, and I have yet to 
observe any apparent abuses. Their 
golf courses, their innumerable tennis 
courts and baseball diamonds are free. 
Their ample boating facilities are at a 
minimum toll, and, for which 'glory 
be,' their 'keep off the grass' signs are 
conspicuous for their absence. And do 
you know !" she continued, "they are 
full, these parks are, of the most beau- 
tiful nooks and corners. I know this 
because Avith my kodak I have gotten 
out of the beaten paths and discovered 
them. Really, if gone about in the 
right way, there is more diversion and 
more opportunity in your parks and on 
your bathing beaches alone, for the con- 
tinuous out-of-doors life than I have 
discovered in any one resort that I have 
ever visited before." 

The Rambler had evidently become 



tired of having no chance to say a 
word for at least the past three min- 
utes, so he took this opportunity to re- 
ply to Miss Ouri by saying: "I quite 
agree with all that you say, Miss Ouri, 
and will add that the facilities that you 
speak of have the additional advantage 
of not being located in any one spot. 
Our parks and connecting boulevard 
system alone aggregates 4,612 acres. 
The parks are divided into three prin- 
cipal groups in as many sections of the 
city, and I think you will agree with 
me that they and the boulevards are 
most beautiful examples of the best art 
in landscape gardening. Furthermore, 
it surely is extremely doubtful if in any 
city of the world more is done for the 
pleasure of the people, or that in any 
other city the people of alt classes get 
more rational and continuous enjoy- 
ment out of their parks than is the case 
with us here. Then you know that in 
addition to the large parks we have in- 
numerable small community parks, 
famous the world over, and small mu- 
nicipal parks, playgrounds and bath- 
ing beaches. As to the last, the bath- 
ing beaches, they are as yet with us 
possibly in a relative infancy, although 
even today these beaches are flanking 
the heart of .the great residential dis- 
tricts of the city from 79th street on the 
south, to Clarendon street on the north. 
Alternating with these and for fifteen 
miles north, is also a number of free 
and private beaches. Fees for bathing 
suits and lockers are nominal, and if 
you go to the beaches from your board- 
ing house or hotel in your own bathing 
suit the lake is free. In this connec- 
tion I suppose you have noticed that 
with its location at the foot of Lake 
Michigan, Chicago is practically a sea- 
shore city in every respect, except that 
the waters that lave its shores are fresh 
instead of salt. From its beaches and 
water front one looks out on the same 
broad expense and water-line horizon 
as does one at the Atlantic Coast re- 
sorts. With this naturally goes our 
facilities for lake trips, varying from 
little local excursions to the parks and 
beaches to an extended tour of the 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



43 



chain of Great Lakes. Among these 
sliorter trips are those of a day or more 
to neighboring cities such as Milwau- 
kee, Michigan City, St. Joseph, Benton 
Harbor, South Haven, Holland, Sauga- 
tuck, Grand Haven and Muskegon; the 
steamship service for which is of the 
best, with efficient up-to-date boats rig- 
idly guarded by the federal authorities 
against carrying a single passenger over 
capacity." "That reminds me," said 
the Trunk Lady, with a little nod of ac- 
quiescence to all that the Rambler had 
said, "when we took one of our lake 
trips last week I was surprised as to 
what I saw in the inner, or yacht har- 
bor. I had no idea that the yacht and 
motor boat interests of Chicago were as 
extensive as was indicated by the yacht 
club houses and the fleet of pleasure 
boats of all sizes and descriptions that 
was in that harbor." 

"It is to be supposed," I remarked 
to Miss Ouri, changing the subject, 
"that you ladies have been doing our 
department stores to a finish and that 
by this time you are inclined to agree 
with me that they probably have no 
equal in the world?" "Oh, no!" she 
laughed, "we practically have not be- 
gun on those yet, we have been saving 
them for rainy days when we cannot 
stay out in the open. But he," nodding 
in the direction of the Rambler, "is go- 
ing to take us to the larger of them af- 
ter dinner and obtain a guide for us to 
be shown over the entire establish- 
ment." 

"Huh," I remarked with pretended 
disgust, "don't you believe that all de- 
pends upon him whether you get a 
guide or not. They can be had by any- 
one for the asking." A little laugh fol- 
lowed this sally and then the Trunk 
Lady, with goodnatured sarcasm, re- 
marked that she supposed I wanted to 
know when they were going to visit the 
Art Institute, the library, the Historical 
Society rooms, the Academy of Sci- 
ence, the University of Chicago, the 
Field Museum of Natural History, Hull 
House, the Ghetto District and the 
Union Stock Yards. "Well," she con- 
tinued, "I told Miss Ouri only yester- 



clav that she would probably have to 
visit me again this winter for those at- 
tractions and for the theaters, operas 
and high class movies. I foresee that 
we are going to be too busy out-of- 
doors to encompass that kind of enter- 
tainment during these bright sun-shiny 
clays." 

"I wonder," I said, "if under this last 
head the Rambler has thought to in- 
vite you to a baseball game? You 
know we have three major league base- 
ball teams belonging to the city, and if 
he has not forestalled me I will invite 
you all to see either the 'Cubs,' 'Sox' 
or 'Whales' on the next available date." 
The ladies thanked me and said they 
would accept that invitation, details to 
be arranged later. Being greatly elated 
at thus getting, so to speak, at least a 
foot hold on the ground floor with the 
Rambler, I then suggested that I would 
also be glad to introduce them to some 
of our numerous summer and amuse- 
ment gardens. At this they smiled and 
mentioned two that they had already 
visited, and added that they were 
booked for a third that evening. The 
Rambler said nothing, but I saw by the 
little smile lurking in the corner of his 
mouth that he knew more or less as to 
with whom they had taken in those at- 
tractions. 

But Chicago as a summer resort was 
not the only subject of conversation 
as we progressed from soup to ice 
cream through the courses of that little 
dinner. The ladies were Highly im- 
bued with grace and vivacity, the Ram- 
bler was at his best, and I behaved as 
well as I could with my mind full of 
wonder at the resources of the Ram- 
bler in the matter of being agreeable 
with the ladies, for, as a bachelor, I 
had rather put him down as one who 
rather avpided their society except 
from a purely professional point of 
view. But he demonstrated at that 
dinner that at least he certainly was 
not a woman hater, and from little ev- 
idences from time to time, some of 
which I have already mentioned, it 
dawned on me that with his many other 



44 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



versatile traits he was also a most en- 
joyable companion and entertainer with 
the fair sex. But like all good things, 
the time arrived for the breaking up of 
our party, at which I remarked, as an 
implied compliment to the Rambler's 
evident energy during the past three 



weeks in seeing that his friends had a 
good time, that I supposed of course he 
had shown the ladies the Young 
Women's Christian Association Building 
down the avenue. "We had just come 
from there when you met us," was the 
Rambler's quick reply. 



The Things That Count 



/~)N October 13, 1914, at four o'clock 
^'^ in the afternoon, I was on a Lake 
Shore train half way between Erie and 
Cleveland. I was looking idly out of 
the window and speculating on who 
was winning the fourth game in the 
world series between the Boston 
Braves and the Philadelphia Athletics. 

I was wishing I knew the score. 

Suddenly the door opened and the 
conductor appeared. He was a stout 
and good-humored conductor. He 
looked down the car a moment and 
then sang out : "The score is three to 
nothing in favor of Boston, last half 
of the sixth." He had got the word 
from a telegrapher in a station we had 
just left. 

The men passengers (and some of 
the women) glanced up, smiled, got 
interested, and fell to talking baseball. 
But the point was this the conduc- 
tor had given out some real news. It 
interested and pleased the passengers. 
It opened up a topic that helped pass 
away the time ; and mark this nobody 
told him to do it. His duty was sim- 
ply to collect tickets and look after his 
train that was all. By doing that and 
no more he was sure of his job and his 
pay. He didn't have to rush into a 
telegraph station, ascertain the ball 
score, and then spread the news to a 
lot of strangers without charge. 

But he did. . 

It was a little thing, but it meant 
much to the passengers. 

No one, I think, thanked him; but 



the act was appreciated. He got no 
promotion from it, but he contributed 
to the pleasure of the journey. 

I do not know that conductor's 
name. 

I might not recognize him, if we met 
again. 

No memorials will be raised to him ; 
but he was thoughtful, and went out 
of his way to do a little more than he 
was paid to do. 

It is from among the ranks of those 
men and women who do a little bit 
more than they are paid to do that the 
leaders of the world are recruited. It 
is the men and women who do a little 
bit more than they are paid to do who 
make life easier for all of us. 

It is the men and women who are 
thoughtful and do a little bit more than 
they are paid to do who help prolong 
our lives and make us glad. 

It is true that they do not always 
get their proper monetary reward ; but 
please take note of the fact that they 
are very much more apt to get it than 
those folks who are constantly figur- 
ing on doing a little bit less than they 
are paid to do. And MOREOVER, 
NEVERTHELESS, and NOTWITH- 
STANDING the person who does a 
little bit more than he is paid to do is 
somehow happier than his brother who 
thinks only about himself. 

(Copyright, 1915, W. L. Co., Boston, 
Mass., and used by permission of Mr. 
Henry C. Walker.) 



ENG-INBERIN5- 




DEPflRT/MENT 



Improvements at Mattoon, 111, 

By Assistant Engineer, E. L. Crugar 



r |PHROUGH mutual agreements with 
both the city of Mattoon and the 
Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. 
Louis Ry. Co., the Illinois Central 
Railroad Company is about to bring 
to a successful conclusion a piece of 
work in that city, which, by reason of 
the direct benefits derived by both 
railroads and the city, is one of the 
most important improvements it has 
undertaken in recent years. The work 
included the separation of a dangerous 
grade crossing with the Big Four Rail- 
way, a crossing where four Illinois 
Central tracks crossed two tracks of the 
other road; the elimination of a grade 
crossing of the Illinois Central main 
line and its Indiana Division by the 
substitution of four wye connections; 
grade reduction by means of depress- 
ing its tracks through the city and by 
reason of such depression the greatest 
good of the whole work was accom- 
plished in the removal of ten dangerous 
street crossings at grade and in their 
places overhead bridges provided for 
at convenient points, selected by the 
city. The plan also provided for the 
erection of a handsome commodious 
passenger station to be used jointly by 
the Big Four and the Illinois Central 
Railroads. A further addition to the 
scope of work embraced in this under- 
taking was the relocation and enlarge- 
ment of freight house and freight fa- 
cilities. 

Actual work was started in the early 
part of 1914 with the construction of 
new freight house and tracks. The old 
freight house which had stood for many 



years was located in an inaccessible 
place north of the Big Four crossing, 
and because of the growth and increas- 
ing business of the city, had long ago 
become inadequate for the volume of 
business handled at that point. A mod- 
ern fireproof freight house, amply large 
now and with provision for future in- 
crease in size and capacity, was erect- 
ed on the southwest corner of 18th 
Street and LaFayette Avenue. This 
location is near the business district of 
the city and is of easy access to the 
business interests thereof. The new 
freight facilities are provided with am- 
ple house tracks and team track room 
and driveways thereto. In fact, there 
is no place on the road that is equipped 
with freight facilities superior to those 
now at Mattoon. 

The work of lowering" the tracks in 
order to pass under the streets and the 
Big Four Railway required the re- 
moval of 450,000 cubic yards of ma- 
terial consisting mainly of blue and 
yellow clay. The contract for this ex- 
cavation was awarded to Mr. J. D. 
Lynch, of Monmouth, 111. Two steam 
shovels were started, one at the north 
end and one at the south end about 
April 1st, and these shovels worked 
continuously until the last one finished 
on November 30th, averaging about 
1,500 cubic yards of material per day 
for each shovel. The east half of the 
cut was removed to grade first, after 
which trains were put on the new 
tracks in the bottom of the cut and the 
west side of the cut removed. During 
the progress of the shovel work tem- 



45 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



47 



porary bridges were maintained at 
Shelby. Richmond, Broadway and 
Charleston Avenues, and every effort 
made to cause as little inconvenience 
to street traffic and the citizens of Mat- 
toon as possible. 

When traffic was thrown onto the 
tracks in the cut, temporary station fa- 
cilities, including stairways, platforms, 
baggage elevation and baggage and 
express rooms were provided in the vi- 
cinity of the Big Four crossing. It is 
an interesting fact to note that during 
the progress of the work two main 
tracks were kept in service and there 
was no delay to traffic. There was 
necessarily some unavoidable incon- 
venience to the citizens of Alattoon be- 
cause of interruption to traffic on 
streets, but they showed their appre- 
ciation of the efforts being made to 
reduce the annoyance to a minimum, 
which was of great assistance to the 
company in carrying out the work. 

As soon as the excavation had 
reached the point where the bridge 
work could start, a contract was made 
with the Bates & Rogers Construc- 
tion Company, of Chicago, for the erec- 
tion of the bridges as required by the 
city at De Witt. Champaign, Richmond, 
Broadway and Charleston Avenues. 



These bridges are in accordance with 
the most modern design and will be 
constructed throughout of reinforced 
concrete. They are all made amply 
wide with driveways and walks in con- 
formity with the street approaching 
each particular bridge. Particular men- 
tion is made of the one to be construct- 
ed at Broadway Avenue. This bridge 
will be constructed the same width as 
the street on each side, that is, 100 feet. 
There will be a 50-foot driveway with 
25-foot walks on each side. 

The contractors started work on 
these bridges last fall and constructed 
a portion of DeWitt and Charleston 
Avenues, but owing to freezing weath- 
er, were forced to suspend the work 
until spring. The work was resumed 
as soon as the weather permitted, and 
is progressing to an early completion. 

A 24-inch sewer has been installed 
on the east side of the cut, extending 
from Broadway Avenue north to the 
north end of the cut with a smaller 
connection extending south to La- 
Fayette Avenue. To this line of sewer 
has been connected all the city sewers 
on the east side of the cut and catch 
basins constructed at short intervals in 
the cut so that ample provision is made 
for carrying off the drainage. 




Showing C. C, C. & St. L. Crossing and Union Depot Before Work Was Started, 



the 




/ 

Biographical Sketch No. 1 5 




CHAS. O. BAILEY. 
Local Attorney at Sioux Falls, S. D., Since 1887 



HPHE lines of the Illinois Central 
A Railroad Company were extended 
into Sioux Falls, South Dakota (then 
Dakota Territory) in the fall of 1887. 
The legal formalities attendant upon 
acquiring the right of way and con- 
struction of the railroad were attended 
to locally by Charles Q. Bailey, of 



Sioux Falls, who has ever since repre- 
sented the Illinois Central as its local 
legal representative in South Dakota, 
Mr. Bailey was born in Freeport, Illi- 
nois, July 2nd, 1860, and is the oldest 
son of the late Judge Joseph M. Bailey, 
of the Supreme Court of Illinois, who, 
prior to his accession to the Bench, 



48 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE. 



49 



was, from 1865 to 1877, the attorney for 
the Illinois Central at Freeport. Mr. 
Bailey was educated in the Public 
Schools at Freeport, and at the Uni- 
versity of Rochester, New York, from 
which latter institution he graduated 
in 1880. He studied law in Chicago, 
in the Law Department of the Chi- 
cago & Northwestern Railway Com- 
pany, and was admitted to the Bar in 
1882. He has practiced in Sioux Falls 
since the spring of 1887, and is the 
senior member of the firm of Bailey & 
Voorhees, which is one of the oldest 
and largest legal firms in South Da- 
kota. Mr. Bailey was elected District 
Attorney of his County in 1888, but re- 



signed before the completion of his 
term, and has never since sought any 
political office. His law library is con- 
sidered the largest in South Dakota, 
and one of the largest private law li- 
braries in the country. Mr. Bailey is 
a Thirty-third Degree Mason and Past 
Grand Commander Knights Templar 
of South Dakota. As local attorney 
for the Illinois Central, he takes con- 
siderable pride in the fact that in the 
entire twenty-eight years of his serv- 
ice, the road has been obliged to pay 
but one judgment, and that in a Justice 
of the Peace case involving less than 
fifty dollars. 



Recent Commerce Decisions 



Panama Canal Act. Since the ser- 
vice by water here in question is being 
operated in the interest of the public 
and is of advantage to the convenience 
and commerce of the people, and since 
a continuation will neither exclude, pre- 
vent nor reduce competition on the 
route by water, the ownership by the 
Chicago & Erie Railroad Company of 
certain tug boats, barges and other 
equipment used on the Chicago River 
was held not to be in violation of law. 
Application of C. E. R. Co., 34 
I. C. C. 218. 

Extra Charge for Reconsignment. 

"Following the principle applied in 
Central Commercial Co. v. L. & N. R. 
R. Co., 27 I. C. C. 114; 33 I. C. C. 164, 
and Doran & Co. v. N. C. & St. L. Ry. 
Co., 33 I. C. C 523 ; held, that the Louis- 
ville & Nashville Railroad Company 
should permit the reconsignment and 
diversion of carload shipments of lum- 
ber in transit from Reids, Ala., to Cairo, 
111., at Nashville and other points on its 
line, to Quincy, 111., on the basis of the 
joint rate from Reids to Quincy plus a 
maximum charge of $5.00 per car for 
the extra services incident to the di- 
version." Powell-Myers Lumber Co. vs. 
L. & N. R. R. Co., Unreported Opinion 
2076. 



Lowrey Tariff. Action of Wabash 
R. R. Co. in proposing to discontinue 
its absorption of switching charges in 
the Chicago switching district on hay 
has been sustained, the Commission fol- 
lowing its opinion in Board of Trade 
of Chicago vs. A. T. & S. F. R. Co., 29 
I. C. C. 438, where it was held that the 
failure of five carriers to ansorb switch- 
ing charges on grain delivered to Chi- 
cago industries off their lines, while ab- 
sorbing such charges on other com- 
modities, did not constitute unlawful 
discrimination. Rates on Hay to Chi- 
cago, 34 I. C. C. 150. 

Defeating Interstate Rate by Rebil- 

ling. In Kanotex Refining Co. vs. A. 
T. S. F. R. Co., 34 I. C. C. 271, it was 
held : "The lawfully established inter- 
state rate applies on shipments first 
billed to an intermediate point within 
the state of origin and then rebilled 
to the intended destination in an ad- 
joining state, this plan having been de- 
vised for the sole purpose of getting 
the traffic through to interstate destina- 
tion at the rates applicable to and from 
the intermediate point, the sum of which 
was materially less than the through 
rate for the through service." 

Reparation. The Commission is 
confined in the making of awards of 



50 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



reparation to the injury or damage sus- 
tained by those who are the real and 
substantial parties at interest. Repara- 
tion was here denied to the Board of 
Trade for account of its members who 
were not damaged. Board of Trade of 
Kansas City vs. C. M. & St. P. R. Co., 
34 1. C. C. 208. 

When Acceptance of Improper Re 
consignment Order is Analogous to 
Misquoting a Rate. "Complainant or- 
dered a shipment reconsigned, provided 
the lowest rate between original point 
of origin and final point of destination 
w r ould apply. Reconsignment was ef- 
fected and lawful charges, higher than 
those which would have accrued at the 
lowest rate from point of origin to final 
destination, were collected. Held, 
That the case does not differ materially 
from one involving merely a misquoted 
rate. Complaint dismissed." Reeves 
Coal Co. vs. C. M. & St. P. R. Co., 34 
I. C. C. 122. 

Protecting Potatoes Against Frost. 
Rates ranging from 4 to 7 cents per 
100 pounds for protecting potatoes 
against freezing in transit were held to 
be reasonable and not unjustly discrim- 
inatory. The rules here approved pro- 
vide, in other respects, as follows : In 
order to protect shipments of potatoes 
from damage on account of frost, ship- 
pers should either provide such protec- 
tion or request the carriers to do so. If 
the shipper elects to provide such pro- 
tection, "temporary lining or false 
flooring, or both, also stoves, fittings, 
and fuel for same, sufficient to properly 
protect the shipment," is required to 
be "furnished and installed by shipper 
and at his expense." Free return of the 
linings, false floors, stoves, and other 
material, via the route over which the 
shipment originally moved, is provided 
for when such articles are delivered to 
depot at destination and billed to the 
point of origin Provision is made for 
free carriage of an attendant each way, 
with one of more carloads, via almost 
all routes. . . . The rules further 
provide that when heater cars under 
heat were reconsigned after arrival at 



original destination a reconsignment 
charge would be made of $4 per car, 
plus $1 per car per day for heater ser- 
ice during the entire time the car was 
held for reconsignment. Albert Miller 
& Co. vs. N. P. R. Co., 34 I. C. C. 154. 

Concerning the Furnishing of Neces- 
sary Equipment. --In Pennsylvania 
Paraffine Works vs. P. R. Co., 34 I. C. 
C. 179, the majority opinion of the Com- 
mission (Commissioners Clark, Clem- 
ents and Harlan dissenting), is that it 
has power to require carriers to furn- 
ish all necessary equipment, both ordi- 
nary and special, upon reasonable re- 
quest ; that what is a reasonably ade- 
quate car supply is an administrative 
question of which the Commission 
alone can take original jurisdiction ; 
that a shipper's request for cars espe- 
cially suited for the transportation of 
his products (in this instance petro- 
leum oil) would not be reasonable if 
the cars must be prepared for shipment 
in a manner peculiarly within the tech- 
nical knowledge of men connected with 
that industry, or if the movement of 
the commodity is a dangerous opera- 
tion which can be safely performed only 
by men engaged in its production; that 
the shipment of petroleum products in 
tank cars does not call for such tech- 
nical knowledge as would render un- 
reasonable the complainants' request 
for the furnishing of these cars ; that 
from the standpoint of economy to the 
shipper, consumer and railroad, "tank 
cars are the only proper cars to use in 
the shipment of petroleum ; that one 
of the tests to be relied upon in de- 
termining the reasonableness of a ship- 
per's request for cars is found in the 
volume of his shipments in the past, 
due allowance being made for the 
growth of his business; that all cars 
used by carriers, whether owned by 
them or leased from private car lines 
or from shippers, must be distributed 
without discrimination ; that whatever 
transportation service or facilities the 
law requires a carrier to supply, it has 
a right to furnish ; and that in this in- 
stance the railroad is required to furn- 
ish a sufficient number of tank cars. 




WAYS SAFEIY FIRS 




Safety Meeting 



Held at Memphis, Tennessee, Friday, June 4, 1915 
PRESENT 

J. M. WALSH, Terminal Superintendent, 
S. J. Hays, Terminal Train Master. 

W. H. WATKINS, Master Mechanic. 

B. J. FEENY, Terminal Traveling Engineer. 
GEO. WEST, General Yardmaster. 

R. R. NETHERCOTT, Assistant General Yardmaster. 
W. F. LAUER, General Foreman. 

J. A. RYAN, Yardmaster 

J. R. BURNS, Chief Clerk to Terminal Superintendent. 
F. J. THEOBALD, Chief Clerk to Master Mechanic. 
L. S. WHITTEN, Chief Yard Clerk. 

H. S. MILLS, Assitant Chief Yard Clerk. 

P. H. WILZINSKI, Clerk. 
Meeting called to order by chairman, and the following subjects discussed : 

TRESPASSING 

Chairman called attention to amounts paid out for personal injuries, com- 
parative figures showing an unusual large expenditure in that direction spe- 
cial mention being made of the trespass evil, wherein trespassers were injured 
jumping on and off trains, and that the idea carried by many that the com- 
pany was not responsible on account of injured parties being trespasser was 
a very expensive one to entertain for the reason that in nearly all of those 
cases trespassers secured judgment in large amounts from the company. 

Action. It was decided that everything possible would be done to instill 
into the minds of the public the care necessary around railroad tracks, and 
that railroad right of way being private property of the railroad, should not 
be used by them as a roadway. 

SHOPS 

Master Mechanic stated that injuries for period June to May had de- 
creased from 67% to 37% that all machinery was now protected and that 
a shop Safety Committee makes regular visits about the premises with view 
of remedying any condition they find which might cause an accident. Also 
when an employe was injured this committee immediately makes a thorough 
investigation regarding the cause of same that is, whether it was defective 
machinery, tools or carelessness on part of the men. 

STATION PLATFORMS 

It was stated baggage, mail, express and news company trucks were 
being left on loading platforms so close to the track as to endanger train 
employes, as well as the public. 

Action. Station master and baggage master advised as to the trucks being 

52 



54 ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 

left so close to tracks as to create risk to employes or passengers about the 
platforms, and they were instructed to make report as to what action they took 
to prevent possibility of injury from this source. 

EMPLOYES' TRAIN 

Question of employes jumping on and off of moving trains brought up, 
special mention being made regarding the employes' train ; also employes 
riding on platforms of coaches on employes' train. 

Action. The dangerous practice of jumping on and off of employes' train 
or cuts of cars, moving, must be stopped and each employe is going to be 
asked to set an example for the other employes by not jumping on or off of 
moving trains or cars, and where employes are found that continue this prac- 
tice after they have been informed that same must be stopped it is- the inten- 
tion to relieve them from service because they not only incur risks themselves 
but set a bad example for other employes. Coaches on employes' train carry 
notice to this effect and bulletin has been issued covering. 

It was also decided that a committee be appointed to go through the train 
each morning on the 6 :30 run, making the round trip at which time prac- 
tically all of the employes could be reached, and announce that this practice 
must be discontinued. Following committee selected : 

J. M. Walsh, 

S. J. Hays, 

W. H. Watkins, 

B. J. Feeny, 

R. R. Nethercott, 

L. S. Whitten. 

BACK-UP MOVEMENTS GRAND CENTRAL STATION 

It was stated that back-up passenger movements were being made into 
the station with flagmen in charge of tail hose and passengers allowed on 
platforms. It was thought that back-up movements should be handled by the 
conductor personally, and no passengers allowed on platforms while move- 
ment was being made. 

Action. Station Master notified that back-up movements into Grand 
Central Station, by this company and tenant lines, should be in charge of 
conductor. 

CINDER PIT PROTECTION 

Question of cinder pit covers was brought up, it being stated that all pits 
had not as yet been covered. 

Action. Superintendent Terminals stated this work was being looked 
after and that it was the intention to cover at least one pit per month, and 
effort would be made to cover two pits, until all were covered. Roadmaster 
was instructed to cover the third pit at Nonconnah two being covered ; and 
three pits at Memphis to be covered. 

FOOT BOARDS SWITCH ENGINES 

Question of having foot board on switch engines in two parts, instead of 
one long piece -as now, discussed at length, it being stated that as it is now 
if board was struck on one end and man standing on other it would no doubt 
throw him off, in addition to damaging the entire board ; whereas, if it was 
in two pieces it would only damage the side on which it struck. It was thought 
that the very smallest space possible to permit coupling of switch engine to 
road engine carrying pilot should be made. This to lessen danger of men 
Stepping in between the boards. 

Action. Committee appointed to investigate and report at next meeting. 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 55 

ROUNDHOUSE ROOF 

The Memphis roundhouse was built at a time when only the small engines 
were in use, and as a result now when a large engine comes into the house 
they extend so close to the roof that men cannot work on top of engines with- 
out feeling the effects of gases which gather underneath account no ventila- 
tion, and it is feared men might be overcome with these gases and fall from 
engines. Roof now being repaired, but question of manner of ventilation not 
settled. 

Action. Superintendent will take up matter of completing repairs to the 
roof, and arrangements will be made for proper ventilation. 

LIGHTS STATION PLATFORMS 

It was reported that lights on the platforms at Grand Central Station 
were not always burning on arrival of train No. 1. 

Action. Station Master notified to have lights burning when train No. 1 
arrives, and see that they are kept burning until after train departs. 

ENGINES 

Attention was called to space between tank and engine on some of the 
switch engines being too close, especially on a curve, but at the same time it 
was standard. 

Action. Master Mechanic and Traveling Engineer instructed to look 
into that feature and make recommendation, if necessary, to increase size of 
end sill to enlarge opening between cistern and engine cab. 

HANDLING EXPLOSIVES, INFLAMMABLES AND OTHER 
DANGEROUS ARTICLES 

Car of oil was noted standing opposite one of our large engines under 
steam. 

Action. Brown Hoist removed car to safe place. Trainmaster instructed 
to handle with Yardmasters and Foremen with regard to prompt placing of 
oil at store room, where it can be unloaded, and not allow oil tanks to stand 
near locomotives. 

POWER HOUSE COAL BIN NONCONNAH 

Attention called to space between coal bin and car was not sufficient to 
clear a man. 

Action. Roadmaster instructed to investigate track centers and if neces- 
sary equalize space between tracks and coal bin to provide best possible 
arrangement. Also that sign be painted on each end of coal bin to the effect 
that persons must not go between car and coal bin on account of the clearance. 

SCRAP 

It was stated considerable scrap was noted between the tracks in various 
yards, which caused car inspectors to consume considerable more time in 
inspecting cars. 

Action. Roadmaster and Supervisor instructed to make all headway 
possible in cleaning up between the tracks. 

Master Mechanic will again re-issue instructions about car inspectors 
removing car scrap from between tracks where light repairs have been made. 

SWITCHES 

It was reported switch stand was on wrong side of track at Nonconnah, 
where employes were getting on and off employes' train, which might cause 
them to fall over it. 

Action. Information given Roadmaster, who put switch stand on other 
side of track. 

Switch stand in center of bridge at Iowa Ave. Subway, "middle lead," 



56 ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 

was considered dangerous, and it was thought switch light should be placed 
on top of girder and pipe connection made so switch could be operated from 
end of girder^ thereby preventing necessity of men going to center of bridge 
to throw switch. 

Action. Superintendent will take up with Roadmaster and have plan 
prepared and, if possible, locate switch stand lever beyond the girder. 

TRACK CENTERS 

Track centers in A Yard, Nonconnah, out of line. 

Action. Roadmaster and Supervisor asked to complete this work as 
early as possible according to the plans for defining centers. 

Track between scales and outbound lead A Yard, Nonconnah, not suf- 
ficient to clear a man standing between same to check trains passing. 
\ Action. Roadmaster will be instructed to investigate track centers at 
that point and see what adjustment can be made. 

MISCELLANEOUS 

It was stated employees at Nonconnah, when going to catch employees' 
train or transfer cuts, crossed under, between and over cars on different tracks 
to reach these trains, without any regard as to liability of cars being moved, 
and that the practice was a very dangerous one. 

Action. All members present will caution employes about necessity of 
being careful and stopping practice of that kind. 

No further business, meeting adjourned. 

Safety Meeting, Minnesota Division 

Held at Dubuque, la., May 3, 1915 

PRESENT 

W. ATWILL, Superintendent. 
H. G. DUCKWITZ, Trainmaster. 
H. G. BROWN, Trainmaster. 

C. C. KUNZ, Commercial Agent. 
N. BELL, Master Mechanic. 
T. QUIGLEY, Roadmaster. 

P. E. TALTY, Chief Dispatcher. 
W. L. ICKES, Traveling Engineer. 
W. B. SIEVERS, Agent, Dubuque. 

B. L. BOWDEN, Agent, Waterloo. 
S. KERR, Agent, Cedar Rapids. 

R. E. DOWNING, Division Store Keeper. 
J. T. TAIT, Claim Agent. 

M. B. BURKE, Special Agent. 

B. A. PATRICK, Division Claim Clerk. 
J. DUNKER, Signal Supervisor. 
C. W. LENTZ, Supervisor B. & B. 
J. W. SIMS, Road Supervisor. 
J. CAREY, Road Supervisor. 

L. N. GUNSTEAD, Road Supervisor. 

I N OPENING the discussion on this subject records were produced which 
showed that a remarkable reduction had been made in injuries to persons 
in the Transportation Department, while an increase was shown in both the 
Mechanical and Maintenance of Way Departments. It was the opinion of 
all present that this could only be explained by the fact that the Transpor- 
tation Department had been giving the 'matter more attention than the other 
two Departments. However, we started a special campaign in these two 



58 ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 

departments March 1st, and nothing is being left undone to instill safe prac- 
tices into the minds of all employes, and thereby eliminate avoidable injuries. 

In the past there has been a great deal said to Section, and Shopmen 
about "Safety First," but few instructions or suggestions were given them as 
to the safe methods that they should pursue. The majority of these men are 
foreigners, or illiterate Americans, and they cannot be expected to take the 
initiative and think out safe ways of handling work assigned to them. It is 
incumbent upon their superiors to do this and then carefully instruct the 
men. This, all of our Foreman have been instructed to do. The Roadmaster, 
Master Mechanic, Supervisors and Shop Foremen will follow up, hold meet- 
ings with Foremen as frequently as possible and at these meetings the dif- 
ferent classes of work will be discussed, the safest method of handling will 
be determined, and all men instructed accordingly. 

It is also thought that photographs showing the proper way to handle 
the various duties assigned to these men should be issued and posted in 
conspicuous places around Shops, Camp Cars, Tool Houses, etc. 

It is also suggested that instructive placards be printed in the language 
of foreign laborers and posted in a like manner. The foreigners pay little 
attention to instructions printed in English, but take a great deal of interest 
in those printed in their own language. This is emphasized by the interest 
they took in the placards issued several months ago, in different languages, 
concerning the methods used by certain Labor Agents. It is safe to say 
that every foreign laborer was thoroughly familiar with the information 
given. If we can get out similar "Safety" placards, there is no question 
but what a great deal of good will result. 

We have also arranged to designate two men with each Section Gang, 
Extra Gang and Shop Gang, as the gang's "Safety Committee." One of 
them will be a foreigner who appears to have the most influence with men 
of his nationality. It will be the duty of these two men to assist the Fore- 
man in seeing that safe practices are followed. 

It is our earnest desire to bring the Mechanical and Maintenance of Way 
Departments up to a point where they will at least equal the Transporta- 
tion Department in this important movement. While doing so, the Trans- 
portation Department will not be neglected. 

It was brought out in the discussion of this subject that we are having 
a great many injuries to Road and Mechanical Department men caused by de- 
fective tools. This is especially true in the Road Department in the work of cut- 
ting rail. The chisels and mauls are not properly tempered, the heads batter, 
pieces of steel fly, strike employes and cause injuries, which sometimes are of a 
serious nature. It is thought that these accidents can be eliminated if a bet- 
ter grade of tools were furnished, and that the decrease in expense brought 
about in this manner would more than offset the additional expense incurred 
through the purchase of very best grade of tools obtainable. We recom- 
mend that this be given serious consideration, especially in so far as mauls, 
chisels, and similar tools which are subject to hard usage, are concerned. 

Another matter of importance referred to was claims presented by em- 
ployes on account of rupture. It is the consensus of opinion that the com- 
pany is not responsible for many such injuries, but that weaknesses of this 
nature prevail at the time men enter the service. It is our recommendation 
that Company Surgeons make a very careful examination of all applicants 
for ruptures. If we let such men enter the service, and they later claim to 
have received an injury of this kind, it is almost impossible to disprove their 
statement, and the fact they passed a successful physical examination at the 
time they entered the service certainly gives them some winning evidence in 
case of court procedure. 



60 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 









t\V Employes max/ become stock- 




holders in the Illinois Central R.R. 






on the installment plan. 






Ibr the information of employes 






desiring to acquire stoclc in the Illinois 






Central R.R.,we quote below from the 






Circular issued by the President May 95* 






1896, addressed to officers and employes: 






(ohe pnce to 6e quoted for which applications will be ac- 
cepted for purchase ofcZC.cffocA. is based upon me mar- 

,1 ,/ / / J -y ; 'i /"> / 

ket price on the dau the application is received in L-ompfrot- 






1 ( SY* s/ 1 // /V- ) / * */ /" ^f '/ 

lers- office... C^In employe is offered the privileoe otsubscnD- 
ma -for one share at a time, pay aole by installments in sums 






of $5 or any multiple of$5~, on the. completion of 






which the Company mil deliver to him a certificate of 
we snare registered in his name on tne booRS, of me Com- 
pany, c^te can men, if he wishes, beam the. purchase of 
another share on the installment plan . &ie certificate 






of stock is transferable, on the Company's books, and 
entitles the owner to such dividends as may be de - 






dared by the &oard ofDirectors, and to a vote tn, 
/ / j ^ 






their election. 






Csfnv officer or emplove making payments on this 
, J-,, JJ f / / J . .7 r 7 /) 

plan will be entitled to recerve interest on his deposits, 






at the rate of -four per cent per annum, dunna the time ne 
is payma for his share of stock, provided he does not al- 
low twelve consecutive months to elapse without making 
any payment, at the expiration of which nenod interest 
will cease to accrue, and the sum at his credit will be 






returned to him on his application therefor. 






O^?i/ officer or employe moRinq payments on the fore- 
Jl" j y rs _)? F- 7 . j- ; J 
ooina plan, and for any reason desinna to discontinue 






them, can have jhis money returned to Aim with accrued 







ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 61 



interest, DV mahinq application to me Aeaa of me de- 

J- / / /// / > y 

partment in which he is employed. 

Cxf/z employe, wAo has maae application for a snare 
ofstocK. on tne installment plan , is expected to make, 
the firstoayment from the first wages which may be due 

mm. J'orms are provided /or me purpose, on which, the 

L '/ ' f J' ' J. 'P IC?^ 

subscribing employe authorizes the cJ^ocai- (treasurer in 

Chicago, or the oUocal^oreasurer in < ifyew (Orleans, or 
the Paymaster or the C^issistant Paymaster to retain 
from his wages the amount of installment to be credited 
monthly to the employe for trie purchase or a snare of stock. 

c7n case an employe leaves the service of the Company 
from any cause, Ae must then either pay in full for trie 
Share far which fie has subscribed ana receive a certifi- 
cate tnerefor, or take his money with the interest which, 
has accrued. 

C 7one foregoma does not preclude the purchase of 
shares of stock, for cash.. Cx//z employe who has not al- 
ready an outstanding application for a share of stock on 

me installment plan, which is not fully paid for, can in any 

,/ ' / /' /* f/ ' Y ' /" ^ / /" ' f 
given month make application for a share orstodzfor cash 

at the price guoted to employes for that month, ana he can 
m the same month, if Ae so desires, make application for an- 
other share on the installmQnt plan. 

(employes Who Want to purchase more man one snare 
at a time for cash, should address the Comptroller in Chi- 
cago, who will obtain for them the price at which the stock 
can he purchased. 

Cxmy employe desiring to purchase stock (except in 
special purchase of more than one share for cash) should 

1 ' / ' '\* ' IP / ' /" y/ 

apply to his immediate superior ojfftcer, or to one of the 
<*Uocal c fDreasurers py filing in the following coupon : 

Mr.O. T. Nau. Date 

Local Treasurer. 

C/uca^o 111. 

Will ^ou please send me an application blank^ 
forme purcnase o^I.C. Stock on trie installment plan. 

Signed... 

Employe' 

At fetdtic 



yed as. 
ition... 



Mechanical Progress 

By O. Kinsey, Tool Room Foreman 



A SURVEY of the Burnside Shops 
*r of the Illinois Central Railroad 
cannot fail to impress the observer of 
the immensity of modern railroad busi- 
ness. Many mountainous problems are 
encountered which require original 
methods in handling. 

The past ten years have been epoch 
making in locomotive development, 
which has revolutionized shop practice 
and taxed to the utmost the present 
equipment. 

In the Burnside Shops a complete 
re-arrangement of machinery has been 
found necessary in order to expediently 
handle the heavier power and its ap- 
purtenances. 

Most of the heavy duty machinery 
has been equipped with motor drive 
in order that frictional losses may be 
reduced to the minimum in the trans- 
mission of power, and secondly to per- 
mit unobstructed crane service. 

This re-adjustment of the shop to 
conditions has obviously entailed an 
enormous amount of work. However, 
when finally completed the saving of 
labor effected will greatly off-set the 
expense. 

The Burnside Shops are a striking 
example of modern railroad shop 
cleanliness. Unlike many large shops 
of this class, much attention is given to 
the matter of pleasant working condi- 
tions, sanitation and safety precau- 
tions. 

The management believes that win- 
dows are made for light and that good 
light is essential for good work, other- 



wise there would be no excuse for 
having same. The shop windows are 
kept clean and the walls and ceilings 
are white-washed regularly, making 
working conditions pleasant, and invit- 
ing to the better class of workmen. 

Much attention has also been given 
the Safety First movement throughout 
the plant. This important work is 
taken care of by a committee to whom 
all unsafe conditions are reported. 
This committee under the leadership 
of a chairman makes a monthly in- 
spection of the entire plant and has 
authority to handle all matters per- 
taining to Safety. 

On the first of each month a meet- 
. ing known as a Shop Crafts meeting 
is held in the office of the Shop Super- 
intendent. The membership is made 
up from the several crafts and ap- 
pointments made by the workmen 
themselves. 

The object of this organization is 
to harmonize the management and em- 
ployes, and bring to light any dissat- 
isfaction or grievance if any exist. 

It also tends to create more loyal 
service making each man feel that he 
is more than a cog in the big wheel, 
thereby encouraging his best efforts 
and causing him to look out for the 
many little details which cause waste 
of material, etc. 

Many valuable suggestions originate 
in the Shop Crafts meetings, and the 
genuine interest and co-operative spirit 
shown is most gratifying. 



Tonnage Rating and Rating of Locomotive 

By W. O. Moody, Mechanical Engineer 



IN presenting this subject, we are con- 
fronted with two facts which influence 
the character of the article, the abundance 
and variety of literature bearing upon it 
coupled with its presentation by speakers 
who have specialized upon it or its details. 
In consequence, the following is more in 
the nature of a narrative touching upon the 
historical, practical and somewhat of the 
technical as influencing the practical: 

It is well understood by all motive power 
officials that increase in tonnage per loco- 
motive mile cannot be accomplished with- 
out recourse to some form of equating this 
tonnage to each class of locomotive in ac- 
cordance with varying car weights and to 
have the tonnage handled over the line at 
a practical minimum speed. 

The calculations for determining the trac- 
tive effort of a locomotive as well as the 
resistance of grades is within the limits of 
fundamental mechanical formula but the 
variable resistances which are without these 
rules are the ones most difficult to arrive 
at. The rules governing the resistance per 
ton of freight on curves varies with dif- 
ferent authorities while in that covered by 
speed, we find greater conflict among the 
authorities. For example: At a speed of 
ten miles per hour, one authority calculated 
the resistance in pounds per ton at 0.584 
while another gave this as high as five 
pounds. 

Reliable authorities maintain that the re- 
sistance of freight cars within the limit of 
five to thirty miles per hour does not in- 
crease as speed is increased. An extensive 
series of tests conducted by the University 
of Illinois to determine this important ques- 
tion developed the fact that under the con- 
ditions of their tests, the resistance does 
increase as the speed increases. Some years 
ago, the average gross weight of freight 
cars averaged 40 tons and the table below 
was taken from the University of Illinois 
bulletin giving the resistance of a car of 
this gross weight in pounds per ton at the 
speeds shown: 

Speed in Resistance in 

Miles per Hour. Ibs. per ton. 

10 4.7 

15 5.1 

20 5.5 

25 6.0 

30 6.6 

35 7.2 

40 7.9 

Investigating the practice of various rail- 
roads, we find that there is a practical agree- 



ment as to the speeds of freight trains. One 
road has adopted, on low grade lines, a 
schedule speed of 12 to 15 miles per hour 
while on high grade lines, they reduce to 
from 10 to 12 miles per hour with an ac- 
tual running time of 20 miles per hour. On 
the ruling grade, they maintain a speed of 
8 miles per hour unless the grade is long- 
er than 2 miles and then the tonnage 
is adjusted to permit the engine to main- 
tain a speed varying from 10 to 12 miles. 

The adjustment of tonnage to satisfy 
lower temperatures varies but there is a 
practical agreement on the percentage basis. 

A fixed rule in this regard, except in north- 
ern latitudes, presents some difficulties in 
application as there may be a radical dif- 
ference between temperature of the two 
terminals at the time of the run or a local 
storm midway of the division calling for re- 
duced tonnage. 

It was early discovered that the tonnage 
of a locomotive was affected by the train 
length, the disturbing factor being light or 
partially loaded cars and this resulted in 
the adoption of the five ton rule, a crude 
method of equating which read as follows: 

''When one-half or more of a full train 
consists of empty cars, five tons must be 
added to stencil light weight of each empty 
car for wheel friction. When less than 
one-half of the train is empty, no allowance 
will be made for wheel friction." 

We will take an example to illustrate its 
operation, selecting for the purpose an en- 
gine with a rating of 1,950 tons. The pro- 
posed train will be made up in the following 
order: 

30 empties at 12 tons 360 tons 

31 loads at 50 tons 1550 tons 



61 cars TOTAL weight 1,910 tons, actual 

Rating for engine 1,950 tons 

This leaves our engine, 40 tons short of its 
assigned tonnage, and as but fifteen tons is 
allowed above or below this, we must re- 
arrange the train by cutting out two loads, 
the result of which will cause the number 
of empties to exceed one-half our train, and 
allow an addition of five tons to each of 
these cars. Our train will now appear thus: 

30 empties, 12 plus 5 17 tons 510 tons 

29 loads at 50 tons 1,450 tons 

59 cars, TOTAL weight 1,960 tons 

Actual tons hauled 1,810 tons 



Loss in tons 150 tons 

By the clever manipulation of this rule, we 
actually handle 150 tons less than schedule, 



63 



64 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



but were credited with an overload of 10 
tons, an efficiency of about 101 per cent. 

This rule, however, cannot be indicted 
for partiality, as like a double edged sword, 
it is capable of cutting both ways, as deter- 
mined by conditions. An engine with a 
rating of 2,000 tons leaves the yard with 
1,960 tons and picks up two 50-ton loaded 
cars in order to fill out its rating, but as 
this results in the number of loads exceed- 
ing the number of empties, the readjust- 
ment of tonnage becomes necessary. The 
additional 100 tons would result in a train 
weighing 2,060 tons, but the application of 
the 5-ton rule in this case reverses con- 
ditions and the engine is credited with only 
1,910 tons; or, in other words, by an in- 
crease of 100 tons, our train weighs 50 tons 
less than when we responded to the switch- 
man's go ahead signal. 
Original train 

30 empties at 12 plus 5 17 tons.... 510 tons 
29 loads at 50 tons 1,450 tons 



59 car train, weight, by rule 1,960 tons 

59 car train, weight, actual 1,810 tons 

Final train 

30 empties at 12 tons 360 tons 

31 loads at 50 tons 1,550 tons 



61 car train, weight, actual 1,910 tons 

Loss in tonnage, 1960-1910, by rule 50 tons 
Increase in tonnage, actual 100 tons 

The fundamental idea of equated or ad- 
justed tonnage for locomotives is to have 
each train, regardless of length, offer the 
same resistance, which is well within the 
tractive power of the locomotive, as pre- 
viously determined by calculation supple- 
mented by experiment. 

There would be no occasion for adjusted 
tonnage if all cars were of one weight and 
capacity, and always received their full 
load, but such is not the case. 

The loss in tonnage by reducing on long 
trains is more than compensated for by 
the additional tonnage handled when 
freight is being moved in large cars load- 
ed to their full capacity. For example, an 
engine on a grade of 26 feet per mile 
would be rated at about 2,400 tons with 
a train of 64 cars, but if this train was re- 
duced to 39 cars, it would negotiate this hill 
with 2,800 tons, an increase of 400 tons per 
train. 

The preceding paragraphs refer only to 
that rating which concerns the transporta- 
tion department and the finances of the 
company, as affected by tons of freight 
hauled per year, the most important factor 
under consideration by the operating de- 
partment of railroads. There are other 



ratings compiled for the purpose of deter- 
mining the relative performance of en- 
gines by class and service, which are known 
as engine miles and ton miles, the latter 
being the product of the miles run by tons 
hauled, exclusive of the engine. The ton 
mile does not give an accurate account of 
work performed by the engine, unless the 
loading is assigned to the engine on the ad- 
justed basis, giving equal resistances to 
each train, and not fully under these con- 
ditions, unless the speed is taken into con- 
sideration recording the ton mile hours or 
ton miles per hour. The actual work 
which the locomotive performs can be re- 
corded only when the three fundamentals 
which determine the amount of coal and 
water consumed, are taken into considera- 
tion, viz.: miles run, tons hauled and av- 
erage speed in miles per hour made dur- 
ing the run. 

The stationary engineers lead the rail- 
roads in this particular, as they record 
the horsepower developed while we record 
the load handled, disregarding the amount 
of resistance imposed upon the locomotive 
by speed. The equivalent of the station- 
ary engineers' horsepower for the locomo- 
tive is the draw bar horsepower devel- 
oped at rear of tender, and is equal to the 
tractive power multiplied by the speed in 
feet per minute, divided by 33,000 the 
number of foot pounds in one horsepower 
but as the tractive power per train can- 
not be obtained, a fair approximation is 
represented by ton mile hours. 

The efficiency of the locomotive as a 
revenue producer places it under the ju- 
risdiction of the highest authority earn- 
ings and this is materially reduced by high 
speed of freight trains unless the nature 
of the comm6dity demands it. 

Consider the standard, or the 100 per 
cent, freight engine of the road and calcu- 
late the reduction in tractive effort with 
increase in resistances for units of 10 miles 
per hour ranging from 10 to 40 and secure 
figure for thought. 

At 10 miles per hour with 0.5 per cent 
grade resistance, the tractive effort of a 
selected engine will be 50,856 pounds, 
while at 30, it is but 26,693, or 51.7 per 
cent. 

The total resistance of the engine in- 
cluding wind pressure is 2,819 pounds at 
10 miles per hour, while at thirty, it has 
reached 3,014 pounds. 

On the other hand, the horsepower 
which at 10 miles per hour was 64 per 
cent of the total, has risen to 100 per cent 
at 30 miles and is one of the factors which 
keeps nearly a parallel course with the 
coal consumption. 




TRANSPORTATION 
DEPARTMENT 




The Regime of Today 



By T. L. Dubbs 



P ROB ABLY no word is so often 
* misapplied or more generally mis- 
understood than the word efficiency. 

The technical definition of the word 
efficiency is "The ratio of useful work 
to energy expended." More plainly 
speaking it means doing what is to be 
done in the quickest and best manner 
with an expenditure of a minimum 
amount of energy. 

Efficiency is not a new proposition. 
It has existed under various titles for 
ages, but has not been given any great 
amount of attention or prominence un- 
til recent years. 

Some of us endeavor to make use of 
it from a theoretical ; others from a 
practical standpoint. The best results 
are obtained by the use of a proper 
proportion of both, associated to- 
gether, for the reason that theory is 
imagination ; practice a knowledge of 
actual performance. 

It is impossible for us to remain sta- 
tionary, for the reason that the world 
is moving forward; therefore we must 
advance or we must retrograde. 

It has long been a well known fact 
that a large percentage of the poten- 
tial heating power of coal passes from 
a locomotive into the atmosphere with- 
out its energy being utilized, owing to 
the fact that no one has yet been able 
to produce a combustion chamber and 
the accessories necessary to conserve 
all of the heat units contained in the 
coal which are released during the 
period of combustion. The same can 
truthfully be said of the human ma- 
chine, for few, if any of us, realize our 
inherent power and therefore we pass 



through life producing only a small 
percentage of our possible attainment. 
Figuring upon this basis, the loss sus- 
tained by humanity and the world in 
general is beyond our power to com- 
pute. 

One of the prime causes for failure 
to obtain results commensurate with 
our possible potentiality is the fact 
that we accept conditions as we find 
them; in other words, continue in a 
rut formed by those who have pre- 
ceded us without devoting sufficient 
time to a careful and thoughtful 
analysis of the problems which we are 
required to handle each day. 

Every man possesses genius to a 
greater or a lesser extent; to develop 
it requires exercise. This power can 
be developed by thinking out original 
ideas applicable to one's present line 
of business, proving them practically 
sound; then putting them into effect. 
Our endowments are our own to 
cultivate. If we fail to do so and to 
take advantage of our opportunities, 
the loss is our own and we should not 
blame luck, the world, or anyone in it 
for our failure to succeed. 

We should make it a plan to think 
seriously about our work or duties, 
devoting sufficient time and study to 
the proposition not only to understand 
it thoroughly, but to improve upon 
present methods. By so doing we will 
learn that much of the work we have 
heretofore performed with difficulty 
can be dispatched with ease by apply- 
ing the new methods we have thought 
out. Work heretofore considered a 
task will then be regarded as a 
pleasure. 



66 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



67 



The greatest pleasure we can ex- 
perience comes to us from the knowl- 
edge of having performed our duty to 
the best of our ability. 

This world usually pays a man what 
is due him ; occasionally there are ex- 
ceptions to this rule, due to a possible 
unfortunate combination of circum- 
stances; but generally speaking, such 
conditions exist only temporarily and 
if our efforts are prompted entirely by 
honorable and trustworthy motives, 
we will eventually receive that which 
is justly due us. 

The problems which we are called 
upon to solve embrace all lines of en- 
deavor and every man in the service 
of the Railroad, from the one who 
tamps the tie to the president, is con- 
cerned. 

The departmental idea must be 
eliminated when a subject is being 
considered, for due thought must be 
given to how it will affect the whole 
or any part of the Railroad and it 
must not be viewed from the narrow 
standpoint of one particular organiza- 
tion, plant or division. 

Co-operation should be the watch- 
word. Little or nothing of conse- 
quence can be accomplished by one 
person without the assistance and 
moral support of his business and so- 
cial associates. 

Our Management realizes this and 
they are constantly working toward 
the end that the Railroad, its employes 
and the public, may become more 



closely identified, each aiding and co- 
operating with the other and thus at- 
taining that high degree of efficiency 
which is so much to be desired. 

Every officer and employe should 
feel a just pride in being associated 
with an organization which is work- 
ing together to improve the general 
condition of the system upon which 
they are employed. 

No obstacle or combination of ob- 
stacles can continue to exist when as- 
saulted by men who are impelled by 
such a motive. 

There are officers and employes 
whose duties bring them into constant 
touch with the public, and the Rail- 
road is measured by their deportment, 
both in a business and a social way, 
and a favorable or unfavorable impres- 
sion is created accordingly. 

An opportunity should never be 
overlooked which will advance the in- 
terests of the Company employing, 
either by increasing its business or 
creating an attitude of friendliness 
among its patrons and the people re- 
siding adjacent to the property. 

The Management can and do exert 
their efforts continually along these 
lines, but the employes by exercising 
their prerogatives can do more to bring- 
about a desirable condition than can the 
officers. 

All great men whom the world has 
known have performed service. The 
more arduous the service the greater 
the man and his reward. 



What We Need 

By B. A. Porter, Supt. 



T ONG years ago, to be exact, in 
the year of our Lord 1884, Su- 
perintendent Frye disembarked from 
Train No. 6 at Okolona, Miss., a divi- 
sion terminal on the Mobile & Ohio. 
This was our new Superintendent's 
maiden trip ; he was three days behind 
the notice of his appointment, and 
his movements were therefore watched 



with more than usual interest. Up to 
this time we had jogged along in a 
nice easy gait during the eight months' 
experience of the writer as a railroad 
man. It required about one minute 
for the aforesaid Frye to introduce 
himself to Agent Allen, Chief Clerk 
Cox, Yardmaster Brown, and the other 
fifteen or twenty lesser lights who 



38 



helped to run up an unnecessarily 
heavy pay roll at this important sta- 
tion. 

Superintendent Frye spent three 
hours on this trip, and if ever a sta- 
tion and yard and roundhouse organi- 
zation got a trimming Okolona did on 
this fatal day. I got a promotion. 
When Frye landed we had a nice 
"kid" organization. Billie Griffin, 
messenger boy, Scrap Morris, caller, 
Skinney Porter, car checker. When 
Frye left Skinney Porter was Assist- 
ant Chief Clerk, and had assigned to 
him the duty of delivering messages, 
calling crews and checking cars, and 
to his salary of $30.00 there was added 
$15.00, which had formerly been paid 
to Operator Scales by the Government 
because the negro porter took the 
maximum and minimum temperature 
and rainfall ; for this increase the new 
Assistant Chief Clerk was to be on 
hand at 2 :47 a. m. to ticket an early 
morning train and check baggage. 

Mr. Frye also pointed out the fact 
that 10 per cent of the links and pins 
scattered around the yard would last 
us about one month, that the ink on 
hand would run the Auditor's office 
for one year, that the stationery 
would supply Mobile. Meridian and 
Cairo for one-half year, that we had 
three warehouse, and two cotton 
trucks more than were needed, that 
the water tank had been running over 
for two hours, the pump still running, 
and the pumper asleep ; pointed out 
many other unnecessary expenses, and 
wound up his short stay by stopping 
two truckers and weighing their load 
of inbound freight with the result that 
220 pounds moving on a 72c rate was 
added to the revenues. 

After Frye left the "kid" organiza- 
tion held a call session. Billie Griffin 
and Scrap Morris voted "strike" ; Skin- 
ney Porter stuck on his new position as 
Assistant Chief Clerk, voted not to tie 
the road up, and as a result lost one 
tooth and had one eye blackened for 
being a traitor. 

Twenty-five years healed this breach 
and the last time the aforesaid Porter 



visited his early haunts Attorney Grif- 
fin in a $5,000.00 touring car took him 
for a ride and pointed out his 3,000 
acre prairie plantation, and also the 
handsome residence of Dr. Morris, 
who was away for the summer in 
Canada. 

The Assistant Chief Clerk, no longer 
''Skinney," as his belt measure is now 
46, plods away and thinks bf Frye 
every day. 

Superintendent Frye was correct so 
far as the necessity for economy was 
concerned, but in the application of 
the plan there was no permanent up- 
build, as we have on our line under 
the present management. Under his 
system there was no investigation to 
determine the needs; things were seen 
to be wrong and instanter 'one or 
more employes lost out. No one dared 
to think and suggest ; everyone lived 
in dread as to what would befall him 
next. The constant desire which is 
now shown on the part of 90 per cent 
of our employes to want to help make 
everything just a little better, the pride 
we feel for working for what, we at 
least, believe to be the best railroad in 
the world, was lacking. No appeal to 
pride, no co-operation, no partnership 
arrangement, no infusion of that great- 
est of all lubricants, where men are a 
part of the great machine, GINGER. 

What has been accomplsihed in the 
past few years on our line is only an 
index of what we can do. If every 
employe could only know how loyal, 
efficient work is appreciated the battle 
is won. Parsimony is not the thing 
desired. One spike or bolt on each 
section saved, one less scoop of coal 
for each fireman, one less pencil each 
week for each station, one less rubber 
band, one less pint of oil, a little care 
and one less drawhead, a little hurry- 
up and one hour overtime saved ; this 
list might be drawn out a sufficient 
length to fill our Magazine. Every 
employe competent to hold his job 
three months knows when his work is 
100 per cent, and this is the mark to 
be attained. 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 69 

While we are neutral in the conflict their potatoes so they can be skinned 
now raging in the Old World, we do to save the waste of paring, 
doff our hat to a nation that boils Let's all of us follow. this example. 



Office of Supervisor of Signals 

Staff Meeting Held at Carbondale, May 16, 1915 

PRESENT 

P. G. PENDORF, Supervisor of Signals. 
R. C. BINGHAM, Signal Inspector. 
J. SHADWICK, Signal Foreman. 
E. E. GODDARD, Repairman. 
C. L. KRUGER, Maintainer. 
W. REICK, Signalman. 
J. O. BRADY, Maintainer. 
J. WELLS, Maintainer. 
F. TOLIN, Maintainer. 
J. E. COLEMAN, Maintainer. 

J. RADER, Maintainer. 
A. RADER, Maintainer. 

C. E. FERRELL, Maintainer. 

GEO. McKEOTHEN, Maintainer. 
J, E. BETHEL, Maintainer. 
O. CAMPBELL, Maintainer. 
T. A. DOUGHRE, Maintainer 
F. KENNEDY, Maintainer. 
H. R. WASMER, Maintainer. 
S. SPECK, Maintainer. 

C. ANDERSON, Repairman. 
J. GOODWIN, Repairman. 

'~P HIS meeting was called to order at 2 p. m. and closed at 5 p. m., in 
* Supervisor of Signals' Office. Topics discussed : Handling of signal 
lamps, B. S. C. O. and track battery, the keeping of tool houses in clean 
and orderly condition, the handling of B. S. C. O. relieved battery re- 
newals, inspection of batteries and signals, the renewing of trunking loca- 
tions by Signal Maintainers when new steel has been layed, thereby relieving 
the expense of extra labor, also the discussion of the number of extra bat- 
tery jars each Maintainer should keep in stock, the adjustment of switch 
boxes and lastly, "SAFETY FIRST." 




70 ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL 

AND 

The Yazoo and Mississippi Valley Railroad Companies 

Publicity Bulletin No. 12 



It is the desire of this company that its employes 
be courteous. 

eave the grouch out of your work and 
et affability take its place. 

[ n your contact with the public you will find that 

Nothing irons out anger so quickly as courtesy, 
and that 

f\ nly those who are polite and obliging, as a rule, 
succeed. 

I t is essential, therefore, that this be not forgotten 
oft answers turn away wrath. 



COURTESY 



Jti liminates 
N aturally 
T he 
K. efractory 
rV nimosities. 

et all Illinois Central employes keep this in mind. 




Hew to 





It is not tne Science (/curing Disease so much as me prevention of it 
mat produces trie greatest gpod io Humanity. One of trie most important 
duties of a Health Department should be tne educational service 
A A A A A teaching people now to live A A A A A 



Vacation Health Hints 



w 



ITH the advent of warm weather 
and the consequent closing of the 
public schools comes the thought of 
leaving the home for a sojourn in some 
other region, possibly the visiting of 
some distant friend or a sojourn to the 
seashore or leaving the city for the cool 
country. The tried office clerk, the 
weary train master, stenographer, and 
the worried official wishes to leave their 
cares for a time to spend a part of the 
hot summer months in some shady 
rural retreat. Too frequently the real- 
ization of this happy anticipation is a 
hasty return to the city and a long stay 
in the hospital, to be followed, per- 
haps, by the death of some loved one. 
Much of this may be avoided if reas- 
onable care is exercised in the choice of 
the place to spend the summer months. 

Ordinarily the questions which are 
asked when one is seeking for such a 
place include the character of the food 
and beds, the extent and nature of the 
social life, the temperature of the air, 
the shade and the opportunities for 
bathing. All of these are important, 
but they are of secondary considera- 
tion as compared with the question of 
the healthfulness of the locality in 
which it is intended to spend the warm 
months. Therefore, in choosing a sum- 
mer residence the first thing to have in 
mind is the sanitary environment in 
which this time is to be spent. 

Every autumn there is an increase in 
the number of typhoid fever cases in 
the cities and when this is investigated 
it is frequently found that they are 



simply cases which have been imported 
from the country, or occurring in peo- 
ple who have spent their vacation in the 
country. Persons have left the city 
in search of health, and, as they are ac- 
customed to think that health may be 
obtained and maintained best in the 
country, they accept it without ques- 
tion as the place to get health. 

Bowel disturbances and typhoid fe- 
ver are diseases which summer tourists 
frequently contract; therefore, it is al- 
ways well to bear the avoidance of 
these diseases in mind in choosing a 
summer residence. 

Intestinal disturbances are often pro- 
duced by a change in the water sup- 
ply. A water heavy in salts may irri- 
tate the intestinal tract if drunk in 
large quantities, but it would be wise 
to look into the source of all water sup- 
ply at any or all summer resorts. Ty- 
phoid fever is a disease of man. The 
germ which causes it, the bacilli typho- 
sus, leaves the body of the person sick 
with the disease in the discharges and 
when these are taken by a well person, 
a secondary case of the disease is 
caused. The germs of typhoid fever 
are carried from the sick to the well, in 
the water, milk, and food and by flies 
and on the fingers. If one does not take 
into his system the bacillus of typhoid 
fever he does not get typhoid. 

At the present time typhoid is es- 
sentially a disease of the country, be- 
cause in the country the opportunities 
for the transference of the germs of the 
disease from the sick to the well are 



71 



72 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



greater than in the city. Therefore, in 
the choice of a place to spend the sum- 
mer one should inquire into the occur- 
rence of typhoid fever in the commun- 
ity in which it is intended to stay, and 
one should determine the opportunities 
which exist there for the carrying of 
the germs of typhoid fever from the 
sick to the well visitor. 

Inasmuch as diseases are contracted 
from the drinking of contaminated wat- 
er, it is very important that all drinking 
water be carefully selected. Since the 
germ is carried in the discharges of per- 
gons sick with typhoid fever, a careful 
inspection should be made of the toilet 
facilities. A place which has a surface 
privy to which the domestic animals 
and fowls have free access should not 
be chosen. Places which have a pit 
privy or a cess-pool situated only a 
short distance from a well should be 
avoided. Places which take their drink- 
ing water from streams which receive 
the drainage from outhouses or other 
buildings should likewise be regarded 
with suspicion. Other things being 
equal, place^ having a water supply 
from artesian or deep wells should be 
given the preference. 

Unscreened toilets, because of the 
flies, and because of the chance which 
these insects have to pick up germs of 
typhoid fever therein to carry them to 
the food supply, are particularly dan- 
gerous. It is equally important, both 
for the comfort and health of the 
guest, that the house should be well 
screened. 

In the choosing of a place for a sum- 
mer residence, consideration should al- 
ways be given to the milk supply and if 
it is found, as is too frequently the 
case, to be from dirty, fly-infested sta- 
bles, in which dirty cows are milked 



by dirty hands, it is best to give the 
place a wide berth. 

Another danger to be avoided is the 
mosquito. This pestiferous insect in- 
fects people with malaria by biting 
them and injecting the germ as it bites. 
Therefore, when a place of summer 
residence is chosen, it should not be 
an unscreened house, nor should it be 
in a swampy region, nor in a locality 
in which there are small pools of water 
well adapted to the breeding of mos- 
quitoes. 

But a word of warning should be 
given our readers as they travel to this 
summer home. Avoid people who are 
sickly who cough habitually at least 
do not allow such to cough or sneeze 
in your face or near you. It has been 
proven beyond dispute that this fine 
spray thus thrown off has the germs 
that may gain entrance into your per- 
son through your nose or mouth. 

Do not eat fruit sold at uncovered 
fruit stands, without first washing or 
peeling it. Do not eat from dishes 
used by other people unless washed 
in boiling water. When going to a 
cooler climate be sure to carry heavy 
clothes, as the nights are unusually 
cold and such garments are needed. 

Now, a climate which embodies all 
the above is an ideal summer resort. 
The City of Chicago offers all the above 
with a competent health board, good 
drinking water, fine shade and a fine 
body of water for bathing and on which 
most delightful boat rides can be had 
at all times of the day or evening, pub- 
lic parks to delight you and the Mu- 
seum, where all kinds of animals can 
be seen, and the public libraries are 
a delight to all. 

We cannot too strongly urge you to 
spend your vacation in the great city 
of Chicago. 



Letter of Appreciation of Treatment Received at 
the Hands of the Hospital Department 

Chicago, May 19th, 1915. 
Dr. G. G. Dowdall, 

Chief Surgeon, Chicago, 111. 
Dear Sir: 

Just a few lines to express my appreciation for treatment afforded me 
while a patient at Mercy Hospital. 

I cannot find words to express my gratitude for the excellent treatment 
and attention given me by yourself and staff; also, I must not overlook men- 
tioning the excellent and efficient Nurses and Attendants at the Hospital. 

In conclusion, I might add that the benefit which I have received from 
the I. C. Hospital Department can only be repaid by praise and good wishes, 
and the amount I contribute toward its support each month is one of the 
greatest investments I ever made. 

Again thanking you and your staff, I am, 

Yours very truly, 

L. E. HOWARD, 
Schedule Inspector. 







1. H. C. Boehmler, Engineer. 

2. S. M. Hull, Engineer. 



3. J. Poland, Engine Inspector. 4. J. E. Nihlean, Gen'l Yard Master. 

5. J. A. James, Eng. Messenger. 
WATERLOO, IOWA 



73 



CLEANINGS 

from me 

CIAIMS DEPARTMENT 

Tragmonts of a Sfo/y 
Seldom &vor Told 



i r 



REDUCING LITIGATION 

The illustration which appears else- 
where in this Department of the Mag- 
azine, entitled, "Swat the Fly," seems 
appropriate in view of the splendid 
manner in which personal injury suits 
are being reduced all over this system. 

Four counties in Mississippi, namely, 
Hinds, Yazoo, Lincoln and Warren, 
have in recent years furnished the great 
bulk of personal injury litigation aris- 
ing in Mississippi against the com- 
pany. The following statement shows 
the status of personal injury litigation 
in those counties on June 1, 1915, as 
compared with the same period two 
years ago: 

Number of suits pending in Hinds 
county June 1, 1913, 71, as against 21 
June 1, 1915, or a decrease of 70.5 per 
cent. 

Number of suits pending in Yazoo 
county June 1, 1913, 15, as against 6 
June 1, 1915, or a decrease of 60 per 
cent. 

Number of suits pending in Lincoln 
county June 1, 1913, 25, as against 8 
June 1, 1915, or a decrease of 68 per 
cent. 



Number of suits pending in Warren 
county June 1, 1913, 145, as against 13 
June 1, 1915, or a decrease of 91 per 
,cent. 



DEATH OF L. L. LOSEY 

Former Chief Claim Agent L. L. 
Losey died at St. Luke's Hospital, this 
city, at 8 :10 o'clock p. m., June 25, after 
an illness of about ten days. The fu- 
neral was held at the family residence 
at 2322 Calumet avenue, Sunday after- 
noon, June 27, and was largely at- 
tended. The remains were taken to 
Nashville, Tenn.. accompanied by rel- 
atives and friends, and were interred 
on the following Tuesday. 

Mr. Losey was the Chief Claim 
Agent of this system for more than 
twenty years, but retired from active 
service about five years ago. He was 
on the pension list at the time of his 
death and, until the last, took a deep 
interest in the affairs of the company. 

The Claims Department of this sys- 
tem was organized by Mr. Losey and 
was ably conducted by him during 
the many years that he was at the head 



74 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



75 




L. L. LOSEY. 

of it. He had a large acquaintance 
among the officers and employes of the 
company, and his friends were legion. 
He served as President of the National 
Association of Railway Claim Agents 
and in other positions of prominence 
in claim work. Among the railway 
claim agents no man in the country had 
a wider acquaintance and none stood 
higher in their esteem. 



WILL LOCOMOTIVE ENGI- 
NEERS PLEASE TAKE NOTICE 

The Aberdeen District of the Illinois 
Central, running from Durant to Aber- 
deen, penetrates a section where there 
is perhaps more live stock to the acre 
than in any other portion of Missis- 
sippi. In this section a great deai of 
attention has been paid to improving 
the breed of stock, and this has been 
going on for a number of years. The 
waylands on this district are unfenced. 
There is no part of the line where en- 
ginemen are required to be on the look- 
out for live stock more than on the Ab- 
erdeen District. To show that loco- 
motive engineers can do a great deal 



toward reducing the killing of stock it 
is but necessary to state that Engineer 
George Allen, of the Aberdeen District, 
who has made daily trips during the 
past two years, has during that length 
of time killed but one animal. When 
asked for an explanation as to why 
he had only killed one animal in two 
years, Engineer Allen stated that he 
not only preached, but he also prac- 
ticed, the principles of "Safety First." 
He said he thought any locomotive en- 
gineer could, by the use of care and 
precaution, avert the killing of stock 
except in rare instances. We trust that 
locomotive engineers all over the sys- 
tem will try to emulate the example 
set by Mr. Allen in the matter of kill- 
ing live stock on the track. 



AN INTERESTING CASE 

Walter Fisher, an old colored man, 
sued the owner of a garage down in 
Mississippi, in the Circuit Court of Tal- 
lahatchie county, alleging that the 
owner of the garage had negligently 
and wrongfully injured him. 

Fisher was driving a buggy up a 
steep hill on the main street of Charles- 
ton. He was on the right side of the 
road, where he had a right to be, and 
was pursuing the even tenor of his 
way in a careful and cautious manner. 
A negro chauffeur for the Red Star 
Garage, driving one of the garage cars, 
was going down the hill on the left side 
of the road, and when he got within 
about 60 feet of the buggy occupied by 
the old negro, he called to the driver 
to turn out. The horse was turned out 
and the front wheels of the buggy fol- 
lowed, so that the automobile could 
drive between it and the edge of the 
road or bank, but the rear wheel of 
the buggy did not quite clear the auto- 
mobile and, consequently, there was a 
collision, in which the old negro was 
thrown violently out of the buggy. The 
testimony in the case, which was tried 
at Charleston, Miss., showed that his 
right wrist was sprained, left hand in- 
jured and a hernia, from which he was 
already suffering, aggravated to a con- 
siderable extent. The owner of the 



PUBLIC 
OPINION 




Swat the Fly " 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



77 



automobile testified that the chauffeur 
was inexperienced and an incompetent 
driver; that the brake on the car was 
worn out and of no service, and that he 
had known for some time it was in that 
condition, but in spite of that permit- 
ted the car to go out to carry passen- 
gers. The case went to the jury, which 
returned a verdict for $50.00 in favor 
of the plaintiff. One of the attorneys in 
the case made the statement that if he 
could get such a case as that against 
the railroad, his fortune would be made. 



RIGHT OF WAY FIRES 

Claim Agent M. B. Rothrock, of Mat- 
toon, has contributed the following: 

I am handing you herewith a compar- 
ative statement of right-of-way fires oc- 
curring on the Indiana Division during 
the years 1913-14 ; showing some splen- 
did results obtained: 

Reduc- 
tion in 

Number Per 
District 1913 1914 of Fires Cent 

Peoria 101 32 69 68 

Mattoon ....377 164 213 56 
Indianapolis . 97 38 59 61 

Effingbam ...194 94 100 51 



Total 769 328 441 56 

The districts are in charge of the fol- 
lowing Supervisors : 

John C. Crane Peoria district. 

J. L. Pifer Mattoon district. 

G. A. King Indianapolis district. 

T. J. Flynn Effingham district. 

To whom special credit is due for 
this great reduction in the number of 
fires occurring during the year 1914, 
although it is said the greatest drought 
in seventen years prevailed over the 
territory traversed by this division. 

We should not, however, overlook 
the part taken by the Section Foremen 
in their watchfulness to discover and 
extinguish fires, thereby limiting the 
damage and loss which would have 
otherwise resulted. This decrease was 
brought about by vigilance on the part 
of these men, the plowing of fire 
guards, etc. This demonstrates that 
much can be done in the matter of pre- 



vention of the starting of fires and like- 
wise much can be done in the matter 
or limiting the destruction of property 
when a fire does occur. 

It is the practice of our foremen to 
request the farmers to stack and shock 
their hay and grain a reasonable dis- 
tance from the right-of-way. If they 
are unwilling to do it, they will gen- 
erally give the foremen permission to 
move it, also to burn fire guards, which 
is frequently done, and losses are not 
only reduced but saved entirely. In 
my interview with farmers. I have re- 
quested them when gathering their 
corn in the fall of the year to, when 
possible, gather that along the track 
first. Our right-of-way, for the most 
part, is very narrow and special atten- 
tion has been given to inducing farm- 
ers to plow fire guards, and while it 
it true, it creates more or less of an 
inconvenience when it is necessary to 
have to drive over them in gathering 
or cultivating crops, a great many pos- 
itively decline to plow them or permit 
them plowed in their fields, we are 
meeting with better success each year. 

There has been an unwarranted an- 
tagonism on the part of the farming 
community toward railroads augmented 
by failure, too often, in the past to give 
their claims and grievances proper at- 
tention ; and other causes. To over- 
come this : 

We must get acquainted with them. 

We must cultivate them. 

We must prove to them that we de- 
sire to treat them on a fair and square 
basis. 

That we are neighbors and friends. 

And if we will do that, my faith in 
them is such that I am convinced we 
will be able to adjust our differences 
without trouble and with proper re- 
gard for the rights of both sides. 

When we shall have broken down the 
prejudice due to misunderstanding 
that has prevailed in the past, I feel 
warranted in saying the vast majority 
will join hands with us in an effort to 
prevent the killing of stock as well as 
the starting of fires and I feel, then, 
in order to bring about these results, all 



78 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



of us must treat them courteously, pay 
proper regard to their rights, correct 
their grievances, which in many in- 
stances are well founded, settle their 
claims on a fair and equitable basis 
even to the extent of liberality, where 
they have come forward and assisted us 
in the prevention of fires by plowing 
guards, removing grain, hay, etc., from 
the track, thereby limiting what might 
have been a great loss. 



SECTION FOREMAN W. H. FAR- 
ROW 

Section Foreman W. H. Farrow, 
whose picture is shown, has been in 
the service of the Illinois Central for 




w. H. FARROW. 

more than ten years, rising from sec- 
tion laborer to section foreman. He 
has been in charge of sections at Clin- 
ton, Wickliffe and Bardwell, Ky., dur- 
ing these years, and is now located at 
the latter place. On many occasions, 
Section Foreman Farrow has person- 



ally interested himself in the investiga- 
tion of suits and claims originating on 
his territory and rendered the Claims 
Department valuable assistance in fur- 
nishing names of witnesses to defeat 
fraudulent claims. It is a pleasure to 
publish in this Department the record 
of one who appreciates the responsi- 
bilities of his position to the extent 
that his services have become so valu- 
able as is true in the case of Mr. Far- 
row. 



TO PROBE LAWYER'S CONDUCT 

The following article appeared in the 
Waterloo (la.) Courier of the llth ult. : 

Attorneys C. E. Ransier, J. W. Ar- 
buckle and J. E. Williams, appointed 
by Judges Mullon and Boies to investi- 
gate the alleged misconduct of Attor- 
ney Loren Risk, will soon begin their 
work. They are empowered to sum- 
mon witnesses and procure documents. 

The order says in substance that be- 
cause of "the conviction of J. W. Ack- 
erman of perjury in the case of Charles 
Scribner vs. the Waterloo, Cedar Falls 
& Northern Railway, and because of 
information brought to the knowledge 
of the court since his conviction by 
his written confession, wherein he says 
that by promise of payment of money 
he was induced by Loren Risk, the at- 
torney for Scribner, to commit perjury, 
and that he was summoned in other 
cases; the court deems it its duty to 
have an investigation made for the pur- 
pose of ascertaining whether the 
charges made in the confession are true 
or untrue, and whether charges should 
be preferred against Risk. 

"In view of contradictory statements 
made by said Ackerman in regard to 
his connection and transactions with 
said Loren Risk," the order continues, 
"it is by the court deemed advisable to 
appoint a committee of representative 
members of the bar of the county to 
make investigation and report the re- 
sult thereof to the court." 



S. M. COPP WINS PROMOTION 

S. M. Copp, recently appointed chief 
clerk to H. B. Hull, chief claim agent 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



79 



of the Illinois Central, at Chicago, was 
in the city Monday with his wife, on 
his way to Galvesfon. Mr. Copp is a 
young Orealian who is rapidly winning 
promotion. For several years he was 
chief clerk to N. G. Pearsall. general 
superintendent of the New Orleans 
Great Northern, and later became the 
road's first claim agent. He then went 
with the Illinois Central and served as 
claim agent at Fort Dodge, la., until 
named chief clerk under Mr. Hull. 
New Orleans Times-Picayune. 



BETWEEN TWO FIRES 

"I educated one of my boys to be a 
doctor and the other a lawyer," said 
Farmer Corntossel, as he shifted his 
crutch. 

"You should be very proud of them," 
answered his visitor. "That seems like 
an excellent arrangement." 

"I don't know about that," replied 
the aged agriculturist; "it looks as 
though it was a-going to break up 
the family. I got run into by a loco- 
motive, and one of 'em wants to cure 
me and the other one wants me to go 
lame so he can sue for damages." Ex- 
change. . 



ONE BAG SWEDE FALLER 

Elbow minn. 

Oct. 14 1914 
Mr. Presedent Central Railroad 

Chicago ill. 
Deer Sirs. 

Day before today, bout 25 minit pass 
four oclock on de mornin, ven da train 
vas pass 127 mile pose near pole tela- 
graf on my farms, cla ongoneer he bain 
blow whisle on da train an hay make 
noise like a yack. Bout do tarn ma boys 
Emil hey pas da sain plac vid milk 
vagon. Hey notic bag sine vat say 
"Luck qvick for day enchine" He luck 
off right avay qvick, but hay look on 
dey rong plac, ven he look off on von 
plac day train hey hit him in anoder 
plac. Det train hey bus da vagon and 
trow dey boy on hay feel. Ven dey 
boy was stan up, he fine hisself lay 
dawn again and sais he is feelin like ay 



vas run tro a trashin machine. Dey 
horses ay can no use for netting as he 
vas bot ded. Von vas havin a colt in 
yanuary, but dis come too qvick in Oct. 
an aye cant use ham. How much you 
vil tak and settle day hole bill. I ban 
tellin you someding now, van you dont 
write prety qvick, I bain goin to drop 
day hole basnass an mak som law suit 
vid you. 

much oblige 

Ole Lindrew. 



WHO IS THE WINNER? 

Mr. J. D. Doty, Agent, Hackleburg, 
Alabama, is moved to propound the 
above inquiry after observing the re- 
sult of litigation by three farmers near 
his station in suits brought by them 
against the railroad for damages on 
account of small fires on their prem- 
ises. The claim agent offered each a 
sum which he and others who ap- 
praised the damage thought sufficient 
to cover it. The offers were refused 
and suits brought in the J. P. Court, 
where each recovered a judgment for 
$30.00 or $90.00 in all. .The railway 
appealed the cases to the Circuit Court, 
where the combined judgments for the 
three were reduced to $58.00, and they 
were assessed with the J. P. costs, 
amounting to $36.60. As their attor- 
neys received half the amount recov- 
ered, the plaintiffs were left $29.00 with 
which to pay the costs of $36.60. Con- 
sequently they are out $7.60. 

Agent Doty in writing about this 
matter, says: "I understand one of the 
gentlemen says, 'A man loses in a law 
suit if he wins.' " It is an example for 
others- to be careful how they bring 
suits and will probably cause these 
gentlemen to try and put out the next 
fire that catches on their land, even 
though they think the railroad set it 
out. They made statements that they 
could have put it out in fifteen minutes, 
but that the railroad set it out and 'we 
will have a law suit.' Well, we had it. 
Who wins?" 

Many others like Agent Doty have 
often wondered why claimants will not 



80 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



accept reasonable offers of compromise 
made by the railroad to save them- 
selves the annoyance and expense of 
litigation. They seldom litigate with 
their individual neighbors. The rail- 
road is also a neighbor. Why litigate 
with it? Is it because demands are 
made upon the railroad that would not 
be made of an individual neighbor, and 
is it not about time that the farmers 
realized that their interests and the 
railroad's are largely one, and that their 



difficulties ought to be settled outside 
the courts if possible? 

In this connection we want to com- 
ment upon and commend the interest 
displayed by Agent Doty in these 
cases. He readily and eagerly assist- 
ed the claim agent in investigating the 
claims, selecting the appraisers and ar- 
ranging for the witnesses. In other 
words, he was thoroughly alive to the 
company's interests and performed his 
dutv. 




McCOMB SHOP CLERICAL FORCE 




Industrial. 
Immigration 

^5 and 

Development 
Department 



The Lay of the Land 

By Herman J. Selferth 
Louisiana's Human Factor 




C. N. Brtinfield, the agricultural 
agent of the Illinois Central's Southern 
territory, recently came a long way to 
talk to the Rural Progress convention 
at Baton Rouge, and his message was 
more to the business men than to the 
farmers of Louisiana. He said his 
road had done its share in co-operating 
for agricultural success, because the 
railroads recognized the importance of 
the industry of production. 

Increased output means increased 
prosperity for the common carriers 
which must bear the crops to market. 
They also realize that the lumber in- 
dustry will come to an end with de- 
forestization, while agriculture will not 
only grow but be permanent. 

The trend of the times is towards 
co-operation with the farmers and his 
travels from Louisville to New Orleans 
had shown him that the business men 
of many centers were awakening to 
their duty and were joining with the 
farmers in studying and solving the 
problems of the tillers of the soil. He 
cited the instance of Tipton county, 
Tennessee, in which Covington is lo- 
cated, which has formed a club for the 
advertisement and development of re- 
sources, and goes out weekly among 
the farmers to get into closer touch 
with them. 

The Boards of Trade in many places 
are inviting the farmers to attend their 
meetings so as to learn their needs and 
aid in supplying them. Jackson, Tenn., 



Jackson, Miss., Fulton, Ky., Vicksburg, 
Clarksdale and Greenwood, Miss., were 
examples of such practical fellowship 
and concern. 

There must be an amalgamation, a 
better sentiment, truer understanding 
between the business men and the 
farmers. The stronger and better 
status must be brought about by the 
business men and the agencies they em- 
ploy/ armed to reach the farmers with 
proof of sincerity and eagerness to ad- 
vance the common cause. 

If the towns become thoroughly 
posted in conditions around them, and 
the farmers acquire more accurate 
knowledge of conditions in the towns 
it will be an easy matter to evolve mu- 
tual and model relationship. 

Mr. Brunfield asserted that there 
would not be more intelligent and tell- 
ing union until there was more educa- 
tion. There was a lack of scientific 
education combined with practical art. 
There are a million head of cattle in 
Louisiana. A tax of five cents a head 
would go far towards properly main- 
taining the main institutions for agri- 
cultural education. The fact that there 
are still farmers in this state who mar- 
ket hogs weighing forty pounds, con- 
vinces that there is room for education 
that would guide them to market two 
million hogs a year, at a weigh of 200 
pounds each, which would not cost the 
farmers any more and mean the differ- 
ence between failure and prosperity. 



81 



82 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



Agriculture is the basis of the de- 
velopment of every state in the South. 
Science has to do with finding out the 
working resources of the soil. Art is 
applying this science so as to bring 
about the largest yield with the great- 
est certainty at the least cost and the 
most profit. 

Few farmers understand the re- 
sources of their land, and the science 
and art of production and marketing. 
They do not study carefully the condi- 
tions of their own farms and the cap- 
italization of their own labor. 

The business men must shoulder the 
responsibility of furnishing the busi- 
ness ideals which will rescue the 
farmers from the slough of despond. 
He regretted to say that not all bank- 
ers were business men, and assured 
them that they must learn more of co- 
operation and constructiveness before 
the state would make any long stride 
in progress and before the argicultural 
resources and opportunities were 
known and appreciated beyond Louisi- 
ana herself. 

The question of markets was being 
most discussed wherever he went. 
Farmers told him they could raise a 
hundred bushels of sweet potatoes to 
the acre but could not sell them. 
Others said they reared and fattened 
hogs, but could not find the way to 
dispose of them to advantage. He 
thought that the market problem 
would eventually solve itself. 

The man who is generally most re- 
mote from market is the man who 
has nothing to sell. If each farmer in 
the same section would learn to grow 
the same crop or the same variety of 
live stock they could not only gain 
reputation for their output and mar- 
ket in quantity at less exoense, but 
the very fact that they had so much 
of something good to sell would at- 
tract dozens of buyers from the cen- 
ters of demand to pay them the high- 
est price and pay cash besides. 

Mr. Brunfield said that Louisiana 
had impressed him with her splendid 
possibilities. When she removes cer- 
tain obstacles she will be the peerless 
feeding and breeding ground of the 



entire country. The main thing is the 
human factor and education and co- 
operation will make that efficient and 
triumphant. - - The Trmes-Picayune, 
Tuesday, June 15, 1915. 



MISSISSIPPI WHEAT. 

The St. Louis market is just in re- 
ceipt of a carload of Mississippi wheat, 
raised in Adams county and shipped 
from Natchez. 

The owners of this wheat refused an 
offer of $1.30 per bushel for it and 
shipped it to St. Louis, where they 
expect to get a better price. The car- 
load graded No. 2, and is fully as good 
as the majority of wheat shipments 
from any of the old wheat-growing 
States. 

There is no reason why wheat can- 
not be profitably grown in Mississippi. 
While never attempted on a large 
scale, in the years previous to the war, 
wheat was grown on many Mississippi 
plantations. In those days railroads 
were few and transportation slow and 
difficult. To meet home needs neigh- 
borhood flour mills existed, and on 
many large plantations all the wheat 
necessary for home consumption was 
grown and carried to these neighbor- 
hood mills and converted into flour. 

The same soil conditions exist in 
Mississippi as were present then, while 
the necessity for the production of 
wheat is a great deal more urgent. If 
it could be raised profitably then, it 
can be raised profitably now, and those 
Adams county farmers are in a fair 
way to prove this assertion. 

In Lowndes county, located almost 
entirely across the State from Adams, 
wheat is being profitably cultivated 
and a wheat mill has been established 
and is in successful operation. These 
two experiments in widely separated 
sections of the State prove that Missis- 
sippi lands are well adapted to the 
cultivation of wheat, and the fact that 
the price must, of necessity, stay well 
advanced for some time to come, 
should encourage more Mississippi 
farmers to gfo into its cultivation. 
The Daily Herald, Vicksburg, Miss., 
Wednesday, June 16, 1915. 



Name 

Wilhelm H. Kile 
R. R. Sutherland 
William M. Hicks 
Numa Gravelle 
Frank Moran 
Chas. H. Stickley 
Archie R. Wylie 
Wm. D. Paterson 



Occupation 
Section Laborer 
Carpenter 
Section Laborer 
Switchman 
Section Laborer 
Train Baggagm'n 
Conductor 
Agent 


Where 
Employed 
Mt. Pulaski 
Paducah 
Milan, Tenn 
New Orleans 
Dubuque 
Dubuque 
Waterloo 
Cherokee 


Service 
23 years 
16 years 
36 years 
43 years 
25 years 
28 years 
28 years 
33 years 


Date of 
Retirement 
Feb. 28, 1915 
Mar. 31, 1915 
April 30, 1915 
April 30, 1915 
Mar. 31, 1915 
May 31, 1915 
Feb. 28, 1915 
June 30, 1915 




ALPHONSE E. CLERMONT 

PENSIONED ENGINEER. 
A LPHONSE E. CLERMONT, for 
** 27 years an employe of the Illi- 
nois Central Railroad Company, was 
retired on pension, affective March 1, 
1915. 
IVIr. Clermont was born in Quebec, 



Canada, October 26, 1848. He received 
his education in the public school. He 
left school at the age of 16 years, fol- 
lowing various occupations until 1867, 
when he came to the United States. 
He commenced his railroad career in 
1868, when he entered the service of 
the C. B. & Q. Railroad at Aurora, in 
the capacity of brakeman and switch- 
man. He was married June 20, 1870, 
to Miss Annie Leveque. Five children 
resulted from this marriage, four of 
whom are living. In 1872 he left the 
train service and transferred to the 
position of fireman on the Chicago 
and Iowa branch of the C. B. & Q., 
between Aurora and Forreston. Was 
promoted to position of engineer in 
1875, in which capacity he worked in 
both freight and passenger service un- 
til 1888, when he came to the Illinois 
Central as a locomotive engineer, be- 
ing employed on what is now known 
as the Wisconsin division, June 21, 
1888. He continued in the service of 
this company in this capacity, both in 
freight and passenger service, until his 
retirement. 

Mr. Clermont was considered one of 
the best and one of the most reliable 
engineers on the Wisconsin division, 
and it is unfortunate that the Illinois 
Central is being deprived of his active 

83 



84 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



services as a result of his being re- 
tired on pension, which, of course, 
comes to him well deserved. 




MARTIN VANBUREN HAM 



subject of this sketch was 
born in Otsego County, New 
York, March 14, 1850. Began railroad- 
ing when a young man as a fireman. 
Promoted to an engineer. Took serv- 
ice with the Illinois Central Railroad 
Company at Water Valley, Miss., as 
an engineer, March 7th, 1898, serving 
until May 1st, 19J.5, at which time he 
was retired on pension at the age of 65. 

Mr. Ham was happily married and 
has two children, a son, Ralph, who is 
an electrical engineer, and a daughter, 
Mrs. H. W. Clowe, wife of Civil En- 
gineer Clowe of the Illinois Central 
Railroad, located at Chicago. 

During his career as an engineer, 
his entire time has been spent on a 
local freight run between Water Val- 
ley and Durant. Mr. Ham was al- 



ways regarded as a loyal and efficient 
engineer and retires with the good will 
of division officers of the Mississippi 
Division and all of his associates. On 
his retirement, he was presented with 
a medal of the International Brother- 
hood of Locomotive Engineers for a 
lifetime membership. This medal he 
prizes very highly. 



ALEXANDER WILSON. 

A LEXANDER WILSON, for forty- 
one years an employe of the Illi- 
nois Central Railroad Company, was 
retired June 1st, 1915. Mr. Wilson 
was born on a farm near Equality, 
Saline County, Illinois, August llth, 
1853. 

In 1874 Mr. Wilson entered the 
service of the Illinois Central as a 
Switchman at DuQuoin. He remained 
in this position until 1877 when he 
accepted service in the Car Depart- 
ment of the old St. Louis, Alton & 
Terre Haute, and in the fall of 1879 
went to Centralia and took up road 
service as a brakeman. He continued 
in this capacity until 1881, having as 




ALEXANDER WILSON 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



85 



his run the "local way freight" be- 
tween Centralia and Cairo. 

Since that time he was employed as 
Car Repairer, Switchman and Engine 
Foreman until his retirement. 

Asked how he now spends his time, 
Mr. Wilson replied : "Well, sir, I just 



take things easy ; go over to the yards 
and watch the boys work, then go 
home and read. The Illinois Central 
has certainly been good to me, and I 
am happy that I chose my lot with 
them way back yonder in the '70s 
when we were both young." 



The following letter is self explanatory and was brought about by pre- 
senting a chair and pipe to Mr. Mackintosh by employes of the Car Depart- 
ment. 

4121 Ellis Avenue, Chicago, May 8th, 1915. 
Mr. J. M. Borrowdale, 
Supt. Car Dept., 

I. C. R. R. 
Dear Mr. Borrowdale and Friends: 

Your handsome and valued gift reached me this morning. Words fail 
me when I attempt to thank you all, sufficiently, for your most generous 
remembrance of my long and very pleasant association in your midst. 

Please accept my heartfelt thanks for the magnificent chair and pipe, and 
think of me as spending many happy hours in the enjoyment of your gift. 
In your selection of the chair for my comfort you could not have pleased me 
better, and the accompanying letter, with all good wishes, will be cherished 
by me the remainder of my life. 

It is a great consolation to me to know that my services have been sc 
highly appreciated as to receive such honorary retirement from the Company. 
The chair is indeed beautiful and the solace received when using the pipe 
will ever bring to memory that life without friends is not worth living. 

Thanking you again, and assuring you that my many kind friends in the 
machinery department will never be forgotten, 

Believe me, 

Ever sincerely yours, 

C. F. MACKINTOSH. 



COURTESY 

AND 

EFFICIENT SERVICE 

ALWAYS i^L 




LOSS & DAMAGE 
BUREAU 



Acceptance of Freight for Shipment 




T^HERE is only one time that the 
agent can protect the Company 
against payment for loss or damage to 
freight that exists when received for 
transportation, and that is at time of 
delivery for shipment, before bill of 
lading is signed. This document holds 
us responsible for delivery of the ship- 
ment that it covers, at destination in 
good condition, unless some exceptions 
are shown to have existed when re- 
ceived. The public is not generally in- 
terested in our methods of handling 
their shipments, nor do they concern 
themselves with drafting new sugges- 
tions as to improved plans dealing with 
transportation of freight. They do not 
anticipate any loss or damage to their 
shipments, for they rightfully assume 
that when a Bill of Lading, or receipt 
is given them, the person signing the 
Railroad's name has undoubtedly sat- 
isfied himself that the shipment is in 
the proper condition to insure its safe 
transportation to marked destination. 
If it were presented in any other condi- 
tion, it would surely be rejected and a 
reason given, so the shipper feels ab- 
solved from any liability in connection 
with its future safety. 

We can, therefore, see the great im- 
portance attached to acceptance of 
freight, and the saving that will be 
made with the proper attention ac- 
corded this feature. 

The various classifications provide 
for the proper manner in which most 
shipments must be prepared, but it 
seems a few commodities escape us 
more than others. Cement sacks, for 
instance, are frequently accepted when 



improperly prepared. They must be 
securely bound with not less than 3 
separate wire or rope ties, rope to be 
not less than 3/16 inch in diameter. 
Each bundle must be tagged with a 
linen tag securely attached by wire, 
showing names and addresses of both 
consignor and consignee. Freight 
charges must be prepaid. If these re- 
quirements are enforced, there will be 
no question of shipments arriving 
safely at destination and delivery ef- 
fected. 

In some cases failure to insist on cer- 
tain commodities being properly pre- 
pared, results in damage to other ship- 
ments. One instance is, rendered tal- 
low in barrels. No provision is made 
in different territories for the accept- 
ance of such shipments in barrels with 
cloth tops or without tops and if the 
agents accept these shipments improp- 
erly prepared, the loss is not only re- 
stricted to the tallow, but to the other 
freight with which it comes in contact. 

The most frequent cases of loss and 
damage resulting from failure to com- 
ply with instruction relative to packing 
and marking, are in connection with 
shipments of household goods. The 
only way to avoid payment of claims 
for loss and damage to freight, result- 
ing from failure to properly pack and 
mark, is to enforce literally the classi- 
fication requirements and otherwise be 
convinced that we have the freight and 
that it is properly prepared, before af- 
fixing the name of this Company to a 
Bill of Lading at time of delivery to us 
by shippers. Equally as important in 
receiving and receipting for shipments, 



86 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 87 

is the careful check to verify the nurn- paring them with Bill of Lading, and 

her of pieces given us, and at no time our agent satisfied that all are properly 

should a Bill of Lading be signed by packed and marked in accordance with 

an Agent of this Company for a less classification requirements, 

carload shipment, until he has actual- If these features are observed, freight 

ly seen and checked the freight for is properly billed, loaded in the right 

which he signs. In counting the num- car and properly stowed, the originat- 

ber of pieces and otherwise inspecting ing agent can feel assured that he has 

the freight, preparatory to signing Bill done his part toward sending the ship- 

of Lading, careful notice should be ment in good condition to its destina- 

made of the marks on each piece, com- tion. 



WESTERN WEIGHING AND INSPECTION BUREAU 

1822 Transportation Bldg. 
Circular No. 87. 

Chicago, June 3, 1915. 

FRAUD ON RAILWAYS NIPPED BY CAMPAIGN. 
Victory in Damage Claim Case Prosecuted by the Commerce Commission. 

HP HE Interstate Commerce Commission has gained a victory in its cam- 
* paign against commission companies which for years have defrauded 
railroads through claims for alleged damage to goods in shipment, when the 
Davidson Brothers Commission Company, of Des Moines, pleaded guilty 
to such a charge in the United States district court at St. Louis yesterday 
and was fined $2,500. 

The suit grew out of claims filed by the Davidson company with sev- 
eral southern railroads for alleged damage to peaches shipped in 1912. The 
company asked for $15,000, alleging that the shipments were delayed, roughly 
handled and not given proper refrigeration facilities. The, Davidson com- 
pany and two other firms were indicted on evidence collected by the com- 
merce commission. The Chicago Daily News of June 2, 1915. 



liGinonous oorvice 



entry has been made 
on the records of the following 
conductors for their special efforts in 
lifting and preventing the use of ir- 
regular transportation in connection 
with which reports (Form 972) were 
rendered to the auditor of passenger 
receipts, who, in cases of this kind, 
advise the other departments con- 
cerned, so that proper action may be 
taken, all pass irregularities being 
brought to the attention of the vice- 
president : 

Illinois Division 

Suburban Flagman T. Ruther on 
train No. 118 May 27th lifted employe's 
commutation ticket account having ex- 
pired and collected cash fare. 

Conductor J. Cavanaugh on train 
No. 2 May 13th declined to honor card 
ticket account having expired and col- 
lected cash fare. Passenger was re- 
ferred to the Passenger Department 
for refund on ticket. 

Conductor D. S. Weigel on train No. 
3 May 15th and on train No. 21 May 
22nd declined to honor card tickets ac- 
count having expired and collected 
cash fares. Passengers were referred 
to the Passenger Department for re- 
fund on tickets. 

On train No. 3 May 15th he also de- 
clined to honor trip pass account not 
being countersigned and collected cash 
fare. 

Conductor J. P. Burns on train No. 
426 May 27th lifted trip pass account 
being in improper hands and collected 
other transportation to cover trip. 
St. Louis Division 

Conductor A. E. Reader on train 
No. 623 May llth declined to honor 
card ticket account having expired and 
collected cash fare. Passenger was re- 
ferred to the Passenger Department 
for refund on ticket. 

Conductor G. Carter on train No. 5 
May 17th declined to honor card ticket 
account having expired and collected 
cash fare. Passenger was referred to 



the Passenger Department for refund 
on ticket. 

Conductor A. E. Reader on train 
No. 22 May 25th declined to honor 
card ticket account having expired and 
collected cash fare. Passenger was re- 
ferred to the Passenger Department 
for refund on ticket. 

Kentucky Division 

Conductor W. Y. Hansbrough on 
train No. 103 May 13th lifted 48 trip 
coupon pass book account being in 
improper hands and collected cash fare. 

Conductor C. O. Sims on train No. 
323 April 25th lifted 30 trip family 
ticket account having expired and col- 
lected cash fare. 

Tennessee Division 

Conductor J. E. Nelson on train No. 
103 May 2nd declined to honor mileage 
ticket account having expired and col- 
lected cash fare. 

Conductor J. W. Robertson declined 
to honor several card tickets during the 
month account having expired in con- 
nection with which passengers' were 
referred to the Passenger Department 
for refund on tickets. Also lifted ex- 
pired card ticket on which passenger 
admitted having previously secured 
transportation, and collected cash 
fares. 

On train No. 134 May 27th he lifted 
mileage ticket account being in im- 
proper hands and collected cash fare. 

Conductor S. E. Matthews on train 
No. 9 May 10th lifted two employes' 
trip passes account being in improper 
hands and collected cash fares 

Conductor J. A. Cunningham on 
train No. 10 May 20th lifted identifica- 
tion slip Form 1572 account having 
been altered and parties not being pro- 
vided with pass. Passengers refused 
to pay fare and were required to leave 
the train. 

Mississippi Division. 

Conductor C. M. Anderson on train 
No. 1 May 6th lifted employe's trip 
pass account being in improper hands 



88 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



89 



and honored mileage ticket to cover 
trip. 

Conductor W. D. Howze on train 
No. 131 May 9th lifted Mississippi 
family mileage ticket account being in 
improper hands and collected cash 
fare. 

Conductor J. Sitton on train No. 3 
May 12th declined to honor mileage 
ticket account having expired and col- 
lected cash fare. 

Conductor N. S. McLean on train 
No. 124 May 15th lifted identification 
slip Form 1572 account having been 
altered and collected cash fare. 

On train No. 143 May 22nd he de- 
clined to honor card ticket account 
having expired and collected cash fare. 
Passenger was referred to the Pas- 
senger Department for refund on 
ticket. 

Conductor J. T. Nason on train No. 

5 May 20th declined to honor card 
ticket account having expired and col- 
lected cash fare. Passenger was re- 
ferred to the Passenger Department 
for refund on ticket. 

Conductor H. Weir on train No. 234 
May 31st declined to honor returning 
portion of Sunday excursion ticket ac- 
count having expired and collected 
cash fare. Passenger was referred to 
Passenger department for refund on 
ticket. 

Louisiana Division 

Conductor L. E. Barnes on train No. 

6 May "2nd, and train No. 3 May 20th 
declined to honor mileage tickets ac- 
count having expired and collected 
cash fares. 

On train No. 6 May 12th he lifted 
54 ride individual ticket account hav- 
ing expired and collected cash fare. 

On train No. 6 May 28th he lifted 
family commutation ticket account 
having expired and collected cash fare. 

Conductor R. D. Robbins on train 
No. 24 May 6th lifted annual pass in 
accordance with bulletin instructions 
and collected cash fare. 

Conductor W. Moales on train No. 
34 May 19th declined to honor mileage 
ticket account having expired and col- 



lected mileage from another ticket to 
cover trip. 

On train No. 34 May 25th he lifted 
mileage ticket account being in im- 
proper hands and collected cash fare. 

On train No. 34 May 27th he lifted 
54 ride individual ticket account hav- 
ing expired and collected cash fare. 

Conductor H. T. Erickson on train 
No. 31 May 21st lifted 54 ride indi- 
vidual ticket account having expired 
and collected cash fare. 

Conductor W. E. McMaster on train 
No. 4 May 30th declined to honor mile- 
age ticket account having expired and 
collected cash fare. 

Conductor E. Moales on train No. 

33 May 30th declined to honor mileage 
ticket account having expired and col- 
lected cash fare. 

Memphis Division 

Conductor F. B. Bell on train No. 
40 May 5th lifted employe's term pass 
and identification slip Form 1572 ac- 
count identification slip having been 
altered and collected cash fare. 

Conductor J. M. Carter on train No. 
13 May 18th and train No. 15 May 25th 
declined to honor mileage tickets ac- 
count having expired and collected 
cash fares. 

Vicksburg Division 

Conductor H. J. Lawrence on train 
No. Ill May 27th lifted mileage ticket 
account being in improper hands and 
collected cash fare. 

New Orleans Division 

Conductor T. Lang on train Ex. 302 
May 9th lifted returning portion of 
special excursion ticket account being 
in improper hands and collected cash 
fare. 

Conductor C. E. Gore on train No. 

34 May 9th and train .No. 33 May 26th 
lifted 54 ride individual tickets account 
having expired and collected cash 
fares. 

Illinois Division 

Favorable entry has been placed on 
the service record of Conductor George 
Lindsay, train 71, June 25th, for dis- 
covering and reporting BRC car 408 
with no light weight stencilled on same. 



90 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



Arrangements were made to have car 
stencilled. 

Favorable entry has been placed on 
the service record of Conductor F. Ken- 
ney, train 73, June 29th, for discover- 
ing and reporting I. C. 34261 with no 
light weight stencilled on same. Ar- 
rangements were made to have car sten- 
cilled. 

Favorable entry has been placed on 
the service record of Conductor George 
Martin, train 391, June 14th, for dis- 
covering and reporting I. C. 47910 im- 
properly stencilled. Arrangements were 
made to have correction made. 

Favorable entray has been placed on 
the service record of Conductor F. Van 
Meter, train 92, June 14th, for discov- 
ering and reporting I. C. 131068 improp- 
erly stencilled. Arrangements were made 
to have correction made. 

Favorable entry has been placed on 
the service record of Conductor H. L. 
Beem, train 73, June 20th, for discover- 
ing and reporting car in his train im- 
properly stencilled. Arrangements were 
made to have correction made. 

Favorable entry has been placed on 
the service record of Agent L. E. An- 
drews, Humboldt, 111., for discovering 
and reporting I. C. 33001 improperly 
stencilled. Arrangements were made to 
have correction made. 

Favorable entry has been placed on 
the service record of Conductor I. G. 
Bash, Extra 1675 south, June 15th, for 
discovering and reporting I. C. 112572 
with no light weight stencilled on same. 
Arrangements were made to have car 
stencilled. 

Favorable entry has been placed on 
the service record of Conductor Ruby, 
Extra 1553, June 6th, for discovering 
and reporting I. C. 29823 with no light 
weight stencilled on same. Arrange- 
ments were made to have car stencilled. 

Favorable entry has been placed on 
the service record of Conductor C. H. 
Martin, train 392, June llth, for dis- 
covering and reporting I. C. 15935 with 
no light weight stencilled on same. Ar- 
rangements were made to have car sten- 
cilled. 

Favorable entry has been placed on 



the service record of Brakeman H. C. 
Davis, train 73, at Kankakee, June 16th, 
for discovering and reporting brake beam 
down on I. C. 42633. 

Favorable entry has been placed on 
the service record of Agent J. M. Purtill, 
Kankakee, for discovering and report- 
ing broken rail in south middle track 
June 16th, thereby preventing possible 
accident. 

Favorable entry has been placed on 
the service record of Fireman H. A. 
Kunde for discovering and reporting 
brake beam down on C. St. P. M. & O. 
car 29228, Extra 1510, south, June 5th 
at Kankakee Junction. Brake beam was 
removed, thereby removing possible 
cause of an accident. 

Favorable entry has been placed on 
the service of Brakeman J. I. Kinkaid, 
Extra 1597, for discovering and report- 
ing broken arch bar on M. & Co. car 
7925. 

Favorable entry has been placed on 
the service record of Section Foreman 
John Johnson of Section D-86 for his 
watchfulness during storm which oc- 
curred at Del Rey, May 15th. 

Favorable entry has been placed on 
the service record of Section Foreman 
Frank Martin for discovering and re- 
porting broken ! brake beam dragging 
in train Extra 1730 while passing Ash- 
kum Section Gang, one mile south of 
Ashkum, June 8th. 

Favorable entry has been placed on the 
service records of Engineer Smith and 
Fireman Edmunds, returning from Blue 
Island July 2nd, for finding a sack of 
U. S. mail between tracks 2 and 3 at 
107th Street and turning same in to 
office at Fordham. 

Favorable entry has been placed on 
the service record of Engineer C. A. 
Jenkins for discovering and reporting 
broken rail while going north on stock 
train at Ashkum, March 16th. Neces- 
sary action was taken to protect trains 
until repairs could be made, thereby pre- 
venting possible accident. 

St. Louis Division. 

At 2:15 p. m., May 7th, Engineer 
G. S. Brinker and Switchman Harry 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



91 



Stafford, of Carbondale uptown switch 
engine, observed in train Extra North, 
engine 1716, passing through yard, 
bent axle on I. C. 67011. They at once 
notified dispatcher who stopped the 
train at North Yard office, thus per- 
haps heading off a very serious acci- 
dent, and for which favorable entry 
has been placed upon their records. 
Car Inspector Ben Chamberlain, of 
Carbondale, on May 26th, observed 
train 91 pasing through yard with 
brake beam dragging on I. C. car 29726, 
stopped train and made necessary re- 
pairs. His action without doubt pre- 
vented an accident, and favorable entry 
has been placed upon his record. 

Springfield Division 

Favorable mention has been placed 
upon the efficiency record of Brakeman 
E. C. Bailey for discovering and prompt- 
ly reporting a car improperly stencilled. 
Arrangements were made to correct 
same. 

Favorable mention has been placed 
upon the efficiency record of Conductor 
W. A. Knight for his watchfulness 
which enabled him to discover fire in 
car, and his prompt action in extinguish- 
ing same. 

Favorable mention has been placed 
upon the efficiency record of Conductor 
J. W. Carroll for discovering and 
promptly reporting a broken rail. 

Favorable mention has been placed 
upon the efficiency .record of Conductor 
C. A. Lawrence for discovering a brake 
beam down under a car in passing train 
and taking action resulting in train be- 
ing stopped and defect remedied before 
damage was done. 

Favorable mention has been placed 
upon the efficiency record of Engineer 
J. W. Gallagher for discovering and 
promptly reporting a broken rail. 



Indiana Division 

Favorable entry has been placed on 
the efficienty record of Operator J. F. 
Glass for discovering I. C. 34298 im- 
properly stencilled. Arrangements were 
made to correct same. 

Favorable entry has been placed on 
the efficiency record of Conductor E. M. 
Thomas for discovering I. C. 115203 
improperly stencilled. Arrangements 
were made to correct same. 

Favorable entry has been placed on 
the efficiency record of Operator J. F. 
Glass for discovering broken arch bar 
on engine 128, Indianapolis, Ind. 

Favorable entry has been placed on 
the efficiency record of R. M. Ferris, 
agent at Anita, Ind., for discovering 
brake beam hanging from car in Extra 
925. 

Minnesota Division 

Favorable entry has been placed on 
the service record of Brakeman H. H. 
Everhart, train No. 71, June 27th, for 
discovering brake beam dragging on 
P. F. E. 1772 in train Extra 1710 East. 
Train was signalled to stop and brake 
beam was removed before damage re- 
sulted. 

Favorable entry has been placed on 
the service record of Conductor R. J. 
Flynn, Extra 886, on passing track at 
Epworth for train No. 60, June 18th, 
for discovering rod dragging on I. C. 
39362 in 60's train. Train was signalled 
to stop and rod removed before damage 
resulted. 

Mississippi Division 

Favorable entry has been placed on 
the service records of Engineer Cullen, 
Fireman Flake, Conductor Monroe, 
Flagman Reynolds and Brakeman Glenn 
for prompt action in cutting tree off 
track and telegraph wires north of 
Toone, June llth, thereby preventing 
delay to train movement. 




A Story of a Visit to the Healing Wells at Metcalfe, 

Miss. 



By F. B. Wilkinson 



'M 



IS' SALLY, yo' sho' hasteh 
git sumboddy en my place. 
Ise bin had sech er turrerbul mizry 
en my bak dat er jes' cain't wuk no 
mo' tell er gits rid o' hit." 

"Why, Aunt Caroline, you haven't 
been complaining of being sick. I am 
surprised that you should get so bad 
off all at once. Why don't you let me 
send for Dr. Gamble and have him 
give you some medicine like he did the 
last time you had rheumatism?" 

"Lawd, Mis' Sally, dat med'cin' ole 
Doctah Gambul gib me nevah dun me 
no good er 'tall. All dat old Doctah 
doos es ter gib pills en pills en pille. 
I tuk em, en tuk em, en tuk em, 'tell 
finully, sez I ter my se'f, I sez ; 'I ain' 
gwiner tak' no mo' uv dem pills. Whut 
I need is sum lickrish med'cin" Den 
I jes' tuk merself rite down ter de drug 
sto en er buys merse'f er bottul uv 
lickrish med'cin' en er tuk it. En er 
fooled dat ole Doctah fur he thinks 
on'tel yit dat he kuoard me when twuz 
dat lickrish med'cin' en not him !" 

"Well that's all right, Aunt Caroline, 
but you haven't been complaining and 
I cannot understand why you should 
get so sick all at once." 

"Well, Mis' Sally, hit's jes lak I tole 
yer. Whut's de use complainin' whin 
yer aint got noboddy but ole Doctah 
Gambul ter doctah on yer? I'se bin 
er hurtin' en er hurtin', end dis mawnin' 
Ise bin tawkin' ter Brudder Johnsin en 
he's dun bin telin' me 'bout whut he 
dun seed down ter de Healin' Well. 



Ef er kin git down dar en drink dat 
watter I won't be havin' ter suffah 
all dis heah mizry en my pore ole bak all 
de time sosen er kain't wuk in de day 
time en er kain't sleep at night." 

"All right, Aunt Caroline, you can 
go home and rest up, but I wouldn't 
throw away my money paying railroad 
fare and all, going down to that Heal- 
ing Well, because it won't do you any 
good. It would be best for you to go 
down home to your daughter's and rest 
up for a few days. We can get Susie 
to take your place." 

"Yas'm, Mis' Sally, dat'll be all rite, 
fer Ise dun seed Susie en she sed she 
wood be heah brite en early in de 
mawnin' en hev yo breckfus' reddy en 
on de table time yo' gits up. Yo' ain't 
gwiner be putt ter no trubble er tal." 

"Well, Aunt Caroline, be sure and 
see that Susie is here in the morning." 

"Yas'm." 

Aunt Caroline ambled off to the 
kitchen where her pastor, Brother 
Erastus Johnson, was waiting to ad- 
vise with her for the good of her soul ; 
and, incidentally, to get his handout, 
without which no pastoral visit would 
be complete. 

She came into the kitchen with a 
frown on her usually good-natured 
face, mumbling to herself about what 
curious ways white folks had. 

Her pastor, scenting trouble, asked, 
"Sistah Ca'line, whut in de worl' am de 
mattuh?" 

"Nuthin' 'zackly, but yo' no Mis' 



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ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



93 




HEALER'S CABIN PECAN TREE, AT THE BASE OF WHICH, IS THE WELL. AND ALTAR 
AND MAIN ENCLOSURE WITH CONGREGATION WAITING FOR HEALING RITE 



Sally jes' lak all dem white fo'ks, she 
don' berleeve in nuthin' er nigger 
wants. She tell me ter go home en 
res' up en hab ole Doctah Gambul cum 
pokin' pills down by thoat. Dat ain't 
whut I needs." 

"Cos' dat ain't whut yer needs, Sis- 
tah Ca'line. Whut yer needs ez ter go 
down ter de Healin' Well en hab de 
Lawd reemove frum yo' boddy de 
ufflickshuns whut he dun sont uppun 
yo', fur Glory be ter Gawd, us is bin 
dare en us knows ef yo' 'umbles yo'sef 
in de dus' dare dat he gwinter gin de 
powah ter hez Holy Man ter kuoar yo' 
uv all yo' onfurmertez. Al' yo' gotter 
do ez jes' lay yo'sef in de dus' befo' 
Hem en de Holy Ghos' sho' gwinter 
kuoar yo' jes' lak ten thoussan udders 
is bin kuoared." 

"Yassar ! I knows whut Fse gwinter 
do ! I'se gwine strate ter dat deppo' 
in de mawnin' en I's gwinter cotch dat 
'Vine jes' ez sho' dat 'Vine runs, en 
ef hit ever gits ter Met caf ? I'se gwinter 
be settin' rite on hit." 

"Dat's rite, Sistah Ca'line, dat's rite. 
Putt yo' trus' in de Lawd, en He sho 



gwinter tek kere uv yo' en kuoar all 
yo' sic'nes', but, Sistah Ca'line, w'en 
yo' gits dare ter de well, doan' fergit 
ter drap yo' conterbushun inter de free 
will offerin' box, 'caze Brudder Meyers 
kaint wuk all dem merricles en den 
make er crap et de same time. He 
ain't got no way ter git sump'in t'eat 
'ceptin whut is drapped inter de free 
will offerin' box." 

Sunday morning, when the train 
pulled into the station, Aunt Caroline, 
dressed in her Sunday clothes and ac- 
companied by her pastor, who had de- 
cided to go with her, at her expense, 
was standing on the platform waiting, 
and when the train came in they 
boarded it. In the course of the trip 
the conversation naturally turned to 
the wonderfully curative properties of 
the water. 

An old negro who sat across the 
aisle, said : "I'se gwiner tell yo' whut 
I'se seed wid my eyes. Brudder Miles 
hed dun felled up erbout er hunderd 
bottuls en jugs wid de Healin' Watter 
en whilst he wuzen't er lookin' er nig- 
ger stold wun bottul en hid hit undah 



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ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



his coat fur he hedn't putt nuthin' in 
de box en he wus ershame ter ax fur 
enny watter. Brudder Myers wuz er 
lookin' de udder way when dat nigger 
stold dat bottul, but de Holy Ghos' tol' 
him whut dat nigger hed gone en 
dun so he ses, 'Sum thievin' nigger dun 
stold er bottul er dat watter. De Lawd 
tells me dat dat nigger gwiner fal' 
down in er fit in less'n er minit.' Shore 
nuff, fus thing yo' no dat nigger fall 
down on de groun' er slobberin' en er 
spittin', den Brudder Miles step up en 
tak' dat watter frum outen his shurt 
whar he dun gone hid it! Now how 
he know dat nigger dun stold dat wat- 
ter ef he ain't seed him do hit? En ef 
dat ain't er merricle whut is er merri- 
cle?" 

"Metcaf is de nex' stop. Eve'rboddy 
git reddy ter git off et Metcaf !" shout- 
ed the train porter, and all was confu- 
sion for nearly everybody was ticketed 
to disembark there. 

From Metcalfe to the well is about 
four miles and on the way they met 
swarms of negros walking, both old 
and young, each carrying a jug or a 
bottle of the water, and each negro in 
each wagon or other conveyance they 
met had his or her bottle of water 
stowed away where it would ride safe- 
ly. On the way out they passed fifty 
or more negroes, some so old and 
feeble that they could barely walk, but 
each had an empty bottle or jug jn 
which to bring back some of the 
precious water. 

About 600 feet, from the yard in 
which the wells are located, they came 
to the end of the road, so they had to 
alight from their wagon and walk a 
foot path which winds along the side 
of a ditch bank. 

Sitting beside it were old negroes 
and young ones, the halt, the lame, 
and the blind. Some too old, or too 
sick to walk, had been brought on 
stretchers and beds by their friends, 
who sat beside them in the hot sun, 
and fanned away the flies that tor- 
mented them. 

One poor old darkey, deserted by his 
friends, was lying in the hot sun on the 



ditch bank, with no cushion between 
his emaciated body and the hard earth 
except a thin, ragged quilt, an abject 
picture of misery, friendless and alone, 
he suffered in silence save when now 
and then a pitiful moan would escape 
from his parched lips. 

As Aunt Caroline waddled by, she 
snorted in derision : "Dey sho' is er lot 
uv sic' niggers er layin' aroun' heah! 
Dey sho' is !" 

Not being acquaintances of hers, she 
felt absolutely no interest in the poor 
suffering creatures. 

* * * * 

Around the cabin and yard in which 
the wells were situated a high board 
fee of ten cents was charged for col- 
ored and twenty-five cents for white 
people. 

Aunt Caroline and her escort paid 
their fee and entered. 

Directly in front of them was a 
rough, wooden platform which stood 
about three feet above the ground. It 
was provided with steps and a cover 
made of a ragged piece of canvas. It 
had bench seats and a railing running 
around it on the north, east and south 
sides, leaving the west side open to 
admit those who came up to the steps. 

The front porch of the Healer's 
cabin, facing south, marked the north- 
ern boundary of the main enclosure. 
A distance of perhaps 20 feet sepa- 
rated the west side of the cabin from, 
the fence on the west and that portion 
of the yard between the cabin and the 
west fence had been sequesterd from 
the main enclosure by a close, high 
board fence and an entrance gate was 
closed tightly and securely fastened 
with a chain and a big brass padlock, 
making it necessary to pass through 
the Healer's living room in order to 
gain admittance to it. 

In this enclosure, hidden from Aunt 
Caroline, were the two famed Healing 
Wells, one of which is for the healing 
of males and females and the other for 
females only. One was three feet two 
inches deep and the other three feet 
six inches deep and each had been 
cemented around and equipped with a 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



95 



pitcher pump with pipe with free end 
extending about 2 inches below the level 
of the water in the pools. The first one 
was dug near the base of a large pecan 
tree. 

Let us hear what the Healer himself 
has to say of them. 

"Las fall, boss, erbout seben muntz 
ergo, I wuz ersleep en my bed en de nite 
when er man cum ter me en my sleep en 
he sed : 'Gawage, aw Gawge !' I wake' 
up but hit twa'nt no natch ful wakin' fur 
I wuz stell ersleep. I sed en mer sleep, 
'Lawd, whut doos yer want?' He says 
'Gawage, I wan' yo' ter go outen yo' 
yard clos' ter dat big puck-cawn tree, en 
dig down en de groun' en cut dat big 
puck-cawn root entwo, en dig what I'se 
gwine sho' yo' in de groun' by dat puck- 
cawn tree en when yo' doos yo' is gwine 
ter see two blubbers rize up, den dey is 
gwiner bus'. When dey bustez two 
streems uv watter is gwine ter rize up 
en run tergedder. Dat watter gwine be 
fer de kuoarin uv al' de sic' peepul.' 

Well sar, dat dreem kep 'er cummin' 
ter me ebery nite en I gits wurried en 
my min' fer I doan' no whut ter do. I 
wuz ershamed ter go out en dig fer fears 
peepul wud make fun uv me en think 
dat I hed dun gone crazy so atter erwhile 
I tol' my wif erbout hit en den I tol' sum 
udder peepul erbout it. Wun day I 
wuz readin' my bibebul 'bout dinner time 
en sumpin tol' me ter go en dig, but I 
dident wanner do hit. I wen' ter my pig 
pen atter er while en sumpin tol' me ter 
go rite now en deg en I wuz skeered en 
went. 

Yo' see dat big puck-cawn tree root 
dare, whar it runs out en goes down en 
ter de groun' ? Well, sur, I dug er leetle 
en sho' 'nufF I cums ter dat root jes' lak 
de angul sed en I hed ter stop. I sez ter 
my wife 'o' man, bring me dat ax !' I 
tuk dat ax en er cut dat root en er dug 
down en two big blubbers cummenced 
ter rize jes lak two big eyes outen de 
groun' jes' lak dat angul sed an day riz 
en riz en den dey bus' jes' lak dat angul 
tol' me dey wuz gwine ter bus' en de 
watter riz up frum whar de two blubbers 
wuz 'fare dey busted. Hit stay jes' so 



high al' de time no matter how much yo' 
pump outen dem." 

"Well, George, why do you do all of 
the pumping of the water and filling the 
bottles yourself, why don't you have 
your wife or someone else do it for you 
and save time?" 

"Boss, dat angul tol' me not ter let no- 
boddy cep' merse'f dip up de watter en 
sed ef dey did dat de watter gwine ter 
go 'way en not cum back. Er white lady 
cum out chear las' week en fo' us cud 
holler she dun started ter lif up dat 
pump hanel en de watter 'gin ter swurge 
eroun' en dry up. Hit skeered me so 
dat I hollered 'Lawdy, Lawdy,' en she 
drap dat pump hanel en run, fer she wuz 
skeered, too." 

"George, you say that this well is for 
men and women, too? How did you 
come to dig the one for the women 
only?" 

"Well, sur, de angul cum ba'k ter me 
en he said, 'Gawage, dat fus' well es 
bettah fur de men dan tis fur de wim- 
men. Yo' cum wid me en I wel sho' yo' 
what ter dig en git watter fer de kuoarin 
uv de wimmen', en er dug whar he say 
en dis hear watter cum bilin' up." 

"How does the water in the men's well 
taste ?" 

"De watter don' always tastez erlike. 
Sum days hit is salty, sum days hit es 
sweet en dem hit es jec lak lime." 

"How does it taste to-day, George?" 

"Well sur, les see. Terday es Sun- 
die. Terday hit tastez lak lime, termor- 
rer hit well be salty en nex' day hit well 
be sweetish lak." 

After George had dug the male and 
the female drinking wells and the fame 
of them had spread abroad, he says that 
the angel again came to him and this 
time told him to dig under the center of 
the extreme eastern end of his front 
porch and he would find a well of heal- 
ing water which would cure all who 
bathed in it. This well has been dug 
and the water found and now he says 
he has had a further vision directing him 
to again dig in another spot which he has 
not yet made known. This well, when 
dug, will be for the healing of all kinds 
of animals. 



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ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 




REV. GEORGE MILES (HEALER) AND WIFE 

WHEN HEALING HE DRESSES IN LONG 

FLOWING WHITE ROBE AND A 

WHITE SKULL CAP 

He says the angel gave him strict or- 
ders not to make a charge of any kind 
for the water for, like Salvation, it is 
to be free. 

Therefore on the front of the cabin is 
a box and above it the legend: 

"Put Y o Pen in Hear. The Lord will 
Bless Yo. 

So many came to the wells for drink- 
ing water that the Healer found it im- 
possible to serve all of them without 
working practically all day and all night 
and he was greatly worried about it, he 
says, until the angel came again to him 
and told him that it would be sufficient, 
except in extraordinary cases, for him to 
shower the water upon the sick by sprin- 
kling it upon them with his hand so at 
stated times he now performs this rite. 

When Aunt Caroline entered the main 
enclosure there was in it probably one 
hundred and fifty negroes of all ages, 



sexes and infirmities and their number 
was being constantly augmented by oth- 
ers who were hurrying in, in order not 
to be late and thus miss the act of heal- 
ing. 



Aunt Caroline soon noticed a negro 
preacher standing on the front porch of 
the cabin and he began exhorting the 
people to draw nigh and place a free will 
offering in the box for the benefit of the 
Healer. 

"Cum rite up good peepul en drap yo' 
offerin' in de box fo' de Holy Man. He 
aint erloud ter charge fer de watter, en 
he aint makin' no crap, en he aint got no 
chickins ner nuthin t'eat so he'se gottah 
live en we'se gottah he'p him. Cum rite 
up now en drap yer conterbushun inter 
de box fer Gawd's Holy Man. 'Mem- 
ber dat de Lawd lubs er cheerful gib'er. 
Ef yo' wants change Fse got hit fer yo', 
so cum rite up. De white fo'ks es er 
lookin' at you' ! Don' let dem say yo' es 
stingy. Cum rite up en drap sumpin en 
de box !" 

AND THEY ALL DID. 

Soon a negro man, evidently another 
preacher, came out of the Healer's door 
and with bowed head and downcast eyes, 
walked slowly across the yard and 
mounted the platform. Immediately the 
negroes swarmed around it and the 
preacher, when they had uncovered their 
heads, spoke as follows : 

"Brudderen en Sistahren, us gwinter 
hab wun prayer en wun song fo' de Holy 
Man cums out ter putt yo unner de show- 
ah uv hiz han'. I wants sum man whut 
ez ustah tawkin ter de Lawd ter cum up 
heah on dis heah alter gn HP up er prayer 
dat de Holy Ghos' may cum down on us 
dis ebenen." 

He did not have long to wait for a 
small, extremely black little neg.ro 
preacher was standing ready at the foot 
of the platform and he lost no time in 
mounting it and kneeling, while with 
arms outstretched he prayed a passion- 
ate prayer. 

His audience knelt on the ground in 
the dust with heads bared to the hot rays 
of the southern sun, and as the preacher 
made each point, they joined in with fer- 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



97 



vent "Amens" and "De Lawd he'p." 
"De Lawd he'p !" 

When he had finished, his companion 
gave out the first line of a hymn, and all 
united in singing, all swaying to and fro 
keeping time with their bodies as they 
chanted each succeeding line, finally end- 
ing in a plaintive wail and moan. 
****** 

The tall form of the Healer could be 
seen coming out of the cabin. His skin 
black as ebony, upon his head a white 
skull cap, home made, of muslin, and 
his body covered with a long flowing 
white robe of the same material, he re- 
sembled a surgeon gowned and ready 
for an operation. Slowly he mounted 
the steps of the platform and Aunt Car- 
oline, pressing forward, touched the hem 
of his garment. Rolling his eyes heav- 
enward, until only the whites were visi- 
ble and with ebony hands outstretched, 
he clasped and entwined his fingers as if 
trying to wrest power from some unseen 
antagonist and commenced to pray: 
"Bow yo' knee, O Israel, 'umble yo'se'f 
down ento de dus'. Git down on yo' 
knees en de dus' en sho' de Lawd dat His 
peepul is not fersaken Him." 

"Blessed is de puoar en hart fer dey 
,shall be healed. Putt mallus en bac'- 
bitin' en all sin outen yo' harts for Lawd 
aint gwiner heal noboddy whut air en 
reebellyun 'ginst Him ! O' Lawd ! make 
us 'member dat in de skriptures yo' is 
sed dat ef er pus'un thow hisse'f ento 
de pool uv Saloam, when de Angul trub- 
bled de watters dat he wood be healed, 
but O Lawd! Ef he thow'd hisse'f in 
berfo' de Angul trubbled de watters dat 
hit wuddunt du no good er tall! 

"O, Lawd ! make us 'member dat man 
whut set far 28 years by de side uv de 
gate whut am cauld beutterful or waitin' 
fur Peater ter cum en kuoar hem ! 

"Oh Holy Ghos', cum down on dy ser- 
vunt en gib him powah ter heal al whut 
corns under de showah uv his han' ! 

"Holy Ghos' ! cum down uppon dy 
peepul, Israel, dat all be healed whut 
cums tinner de showah uv my han' dat 
my name may be 'membered thu all gen- 
nerashuns ! 

Lawd us knows dat us kaint be healed 



'ceptin us is puoar! Oh Lawd, puoarify 
us harts dat menny may be healed dat 
my name may be 'membered thu all gen- 
nerashuns ! 

Oh, Holy Ghos', cum in powah terday ! 
Cum Holy Ghos'! CUM HOLY 
GHOS !" 

The Healer paused. 

Looking across the fields a gentle 
breeze could be seen coming, swaying 
the leaves, of the not far distant trees. 
In the enclosure not a breath of air was 
stirring. 

"Oh Holy Ghos' ! ef yo' ez gwine ter 
cum in powah terday, cum nom, Holy 
Ghos' ez er coolin' breeze ter fan dy pee- 
pul Israel!" 

The Healer lifted his eyes Heaven- 
ward. 

Gently the breeez began to blow. 

Feeling its cooling touch as it played 
across her sweaty face, Aunt Caroline 
burst out shouting: "De Holy Ghos' 
dun cum! He dun cum! Glory ter 
Gawd ! He dun cum !" 

Again the Healer paused. 

Standing on tiptoe, with hands out- 
stretched, perspiration pouring down his 
face in rivulets, he grasped the air as if 
trying to clutch some unseen spirit and 
draw it to him as he moaned : "Thou ez 
cum Holy Ghos'! Thou ez cum Holy 
Ghos'! Pourify dy peepul Israel dat dey 
may be healed dat my name may be 
'membered thu all gennerashuns !" 

Heated by the rays of the summer sun 
which had poured down mercilessly upon 
their heads for the past hour, superheat- 
ed by being wedged between hot, un- 
washed, perspiring bodies, and lashed 
into a frenzy of excitement by the mag- 
netism of the speaker and his mesmeric, 
hypnotic gestures, his audience shouted 
and sang and many fell upon the ground, 
their sweaty bodies and limbs stiff as 
if in a trance while others moaned and 
cried. At the height of the excitement 
the Healer took in his left hand a small 
tin basin of the healing water and with 
his right he dipped in and throwing with 
all his migfht he began to circle and 
sprinkle all the people around the altar. 

Each time as he would shower the wa- 
ter from his right hand he would ex- 



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ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



claim: "Cum Holy Ghos'! Cum Holy 
Ghos' ! Cum Holy Ghos' ! Heal all whut 
cum unner de showah uv my han' !" 

Three times he circled and sprinkled 
them. This ceremony ended, the Healer 
waited and from the audience a negro 
brought his little 5-year-old daughter 
who seemed unable to walk or to stand 
without some assistance. 

With her father holding her tightly 
in his arms the Healer took her by the 
hand and with water from the basin 
rubbed her arms gently, all the while 
crooning, "Cum Holy Ghos' ! en shake 
dis little leg. Cum Holy Ghos' en shake 
dis little arm ! Cum Holy Ghos' ! en 
shake dis little body dat my name may 
be 'membered thu all gennerashuns ! 
Cum Holy Ghos', Cum Holy Ghos'! 
CUM HOLY GHOST 

Standing erect before her he passed 
his hands up and down as does a hypno- 
tist when inducing sleep, all the time 
crying : "Cum Holy Ghos' ! Cum Holy 
Ghos'!" 

Finally he stood her upon her feet and 
passing his hands, wet with the healing 
water, up and down her little limbs and 
body he cried, "Cum Holy Ghos' ! Cum 
Holy Ghos' ! CUM HOLY GHOS' !" 

Suddenly with an exultant cry he 
shouted, "I'se got er witnes'. I'se got 



er witnes'," for the child was standing 
upon her feet alone. 

Quickly catching both her hands in 
his he lifted her arms high above her 
head and turning them loose bade her 
stretch out her fingers, which she did! 
Now crook your fingers. AND SHE 
DID ! Again came that exultant cry, 
"I'se got er witnes' ! I'se got er witnes' ! 
My name shall be 'membered thu all 
gennerashuns ! Dy Healing Watter shell 
heal all dy peepul." 

Bathed in perspiration, with trembling 
steps and blood-shot eyes, the Healer 
crept down the steps. 

Awe stricken, the crowd opened and 
made way for him, some reverently 
touching his robe as he passed by. 

Aunt Caroline stood for a moment as 
one petrified, then shouted: "I'se seed 
er merricle. Ise seed er merricle! De 
Holy Man dun healed dat chile en 
kuoard de mizry in dis heah ole boddy er 
mine. Glory ter Gawd! Glory ter 

Gawd !" 

******_* 

Too busy talking to notice them, Aunt 
Caroline passed by the father and lit- 
tle girl as she went toward the gate. 

He was standing dejectedly, support- 
ing the child who clung to him as before 
to keep from falling. 




Second Annual "Get Acquainted" Meeting of the 

St. Louis Division 



(~)N June 20th the second annual "Get 
Acquainted" meeting of the St. 
Louis Division was held in the Opera 
House at Carbondale, 111. Superin- 
tendent W. S. Williams presided, and 
there were about 450 of the employes 
present. In addition "to the division 
employes there were the following 
guests : 

Mr. E. J. Ingersoll, Hon. W. W. 
Barr, Mr. E. K. Porter, mayor, Dr. H. 
C. Mitchell, Dr. M. Etherton, Mr. M. 
W. Moore, Mr. C. E. Feirich, all of 
Carbondale, 111. 

Mr. J. C. Muench, secretary, Y. M. 
C. A., Mounds. 

Mr. A. E. Clift, general superin- 
tendent. 

Mr. S. S. Morris, chairman, General 
Safety Committee. 

Mr. J. L. East, agent, Loss and Dam- 
age Bureau. 

Also pensioners as follows : ' 

Mr. John Ridenbaugh, Brookport. 

Mr. M. Corcoran, Carterville. 

Mr. Benjamin James, Centralia. 

Mr. D. E. Stedelin, Centralia. 

Mr. John Ruttinger, Centralia. 

Mr. D. E. Foley, Carbondale. 

Mr. H. C. Mertz, Carbondale. 

Mr. Joseph Lantrum, Marion. 

Mr. Mat. Hamilton, Mounds. 

Mr. Alexandis Wilson, Du Quoin. 

Mr. W. R. Thompson, Du Quoin. 

A very enjoyable and profitable 
meeting was held, the proceedings of 
which follow: 

Meeting was called to order 8 :30 a. 
m. by Superintendent Williams, chair- 
man, who made a few remarks explain- 
ing the purpose of the meeting. Pro- 
gram throughout the day as follows : 

Introduction of Mayor E. K. Porter, 
who welcomed the visitors to the city. 

Introduction of Col. E. J. Ingersoll, 
one of the early mayors of Carbondale, 
and present watch inspector for the Il- 
linois Central. In a five minute talk 
Col. Ingersoll commented on the 



growth of Carbondale and its railroad 
interest. 

Mr. A. E. Clift, general superintend- 
ent, Northern and Western lines, was 
introduced and made a talk on benefits 
to be derived from such meetings, and 
also comments on the showing made as 
compared with last year's figures. 

Mr. S. S. Morris, chairman, General 
Safety Committee, Illinois Central Sys- 
tem, was introduced and gave a very in- 
teresting talk on the subject of Safety 
First. 

Mr. J. L. East, agent, Loss and Dam- 
age Bureau, Illinois Central System, 
was next introduced, and gave a re- 
view of the results obtained by the 
Loss and Damage Bureau, and par- 
ticularly as applicable to the St. Louis 
Division. 

Mr. P. E. Odell, Chief Train ^Dis- 
patcher, St. Louis Division, presented 
the subject, "Selecting the Man," in a 
forceful and able manner. 

Mr. F. Rauch, Car Distributor, St. 
Louis Division, made a five minute talk 
on the subject of "Car Handling and 
Reports." 

At this point the audience was fa- 
vored with a selection, "Illinois," sung 
by Mr. William Hays, of Carbondale, 
which was very much appreciated and 
enjoyed by all present. 

Chairman announced adjournment 
during noon hour, at which time pic- 
ture of those present would be taken 
in park immediately after adjourn- 
ment, also announced program for the 
balance of the day. Pensioners were 
invited to the homes of Division Offi- 
cers for dinner as special guests. 

Afternoon Session. 

Started with four reels of moving pic- 
tures, two of which were comedy offer- 
ings by the opera house management, 
and two of Illinois Central films on 
Safety First and proper handling of ex- 
plosives and inflammables. These later 



99 



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ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



were very instructive and interesting. 

Drs. H. C. Mitchell and M. Etherton 
of the Hospital Department were pres- 
ent and addressed the meeting in the 
interest of that department. 

Hon. W. W. Barr, District Attorney, 
and Mr. C. E. Feirich, Local Attorney, 
were present and responded to invita- 
tion to address the audience and their 
talks were of value and interest. 

Mr. J. L. East again addressed the 
meeting, going into detail concerning 
the loss and damage showing, causes 
thereof and urging upon all present the 
necessity for greater effort. 

Mr. J. C. Miiench, General Secretary 



of the Y. M. C. A., Mounds, addressed 
the meeting, calling attention to the 
close relation of Illinois Central em- 
ployes and the Y. M. C. A. His re- 
marks on the word "Thought" were 
beneficial and interesting. 

The meeting was addressed at fre- 
quent intervals by division officers and 
other employes in five minute talks on 
different interesting subjects. 

This meeting was attended by ap- 
proximately 500 employes, the greater 
portion of whom registered, and the 
above indicates that each department 
was well represented. 



Train-Load 

By P. E. Odell 



A PROPOS of recent changes in 
comparative statements whereby 
credit is given each division for train- 
load instead of percentage of power 
efficiency utilized, it seems that ap- 
preciative recognition of the advan- 
tanges and benefits derived therefrom 
is due from Chief Dispatchers. 

In the mind of every progressive 
operating official there can be no ques- 
tion but the system of working on a 
time-table tonnage rating basis is ob- 
solete and wasteful in the extreme, un- 
less such ratings are changed every 
time the wind shifts or the thermom- 
eter rises or falls. In order to make 
statements compare favorably and to 
indicate that power is hauling maxi- 
mum the tonnage rating can easily be 
made to fit the report, while average 
train-load comparisons are an incen- 
tive to all concerned to reduce train 
miles by taking advantage of condi- 
tions and increasing train-load regard- 
less of fixed time table ratings which 
by no means are a fair guide through- 
out the life of a time table. 

No one is in a better position to 
determine the train-load than the Chief 
and Trick Dispatchers who have 
gained their knowledge by experience 
and who are in a position to take ad- 
vantage of opportunities and every 



dispatcher who is interested in the wel- 
fare of his company can assist ma- 
terially in increasing the earnings by 
watching the individual train. JL,ocal 
freight trains can frequently be used 
to assemble loads at points on the dis- 
trict where grade conditions are such 
as will permit through trains to han- 
dle additional tonnage, if not through 
to terminal, to a point in territory 
where turn-arounds can be used to ad- 
vantage at convenient hours of the 
day. 

In our efforts to increase train- 
load we should not lose sight of the 
importance of short lay-overs for 
crews at points other than their 
home terminals. When there is a 
large amount of power at an out- 
side terminal it causes dissatisfac- 
tion among the crews and to pacify 
them yard masters will often run 
a train which could have been held 
for consolidation thereby running up 
expense of additional and unnecessary 
high-class train mileage. Where there 
is an abundance of power it is an easy 
matter to order out crews to "clean 
up the railroad" but the day of reckon- 
ing comes when we are confronted 
with train-load performance sheets, 
and we have an idea that it only takes 
two sets of figures to convince the 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



101 



higher officials whether men on certain 
divisions are "cutting the corners" or 
not and with the privileges allowed 
local officials by the present up-to-date 
broad-minded management there is no 
reason why we cannot boost the stock 
of the Company and incidentally our 
own. The man who either believes re- 
ports and comparative statements are 
a joke or is afraid of them is the one 
who says a great deal about "paper 
railroading," but intelligence is fast re- 
placing bull-headed force. 

Without any question proper car 
distribution contributes largely to in- 
creased net earnings and this branch 
of the business is too often left to in- 
competent clerks who do not appre- 
ciate the importance of education in 
car distribution. If the man in charge 
of equipment on any division does not 
study and keep thoroughly posted on 
the handling of cars he is not in a po- 
sition to place instructions to Agents 



and Yard Masters and is therefore an 
expensive man to have in service as 
the the mishandling of equipment in- 
creases train mileage from which there 
is no revenue. Train mileage has been 
decreased materially within the past 
few months by the very sensible and 
practical manner in which empty 
equipment is being hauled from one 
territory to another, viz., moving when 
light power is required and not on 
iron-clad instructions to deliver a cer- 
tain number of cars per day. 

Altogether we believe that every one 
is falling into line on the question of 
train-load and the result will be mu- 
tually beneficial. As a Government of- 
ficial recently remarked, "If the Gov- 
ernment looked after the interest of 
the people as well as you fellows are 
looking after the interest of the rail- 
road we would have some Govern- 
ment." Ain't it the truth? 



Fuel Economy 



Greenville, Miss., June 22, 1915. 
Mr. A. H. Egan, General Superintendent, 

Memphis, Tenn. 
Dear Sir: 

We have engineers on the Vicksburg Division who are very much inter- 
ested in fuel economy. 

A number of gratifying records have been made. 

The most efficient performance, however, was made by Engineer A. R. 
Bigleben, trains 35 and 36, 135 and 136, between Greenville and Vicksburg; 
train consisting of three (3) cars, June 18th to 20th, inclusive. Actual miles, 
460, including fire maintained during lay-over periods at Greenville and Vicks- 
burg. Total amount of coal consumed, nine (9) tons. 

This is the most remarkable record for fuel efficiency which has come 
to our notice since we have been connected with the system ; especially when 
the fact is taken into consideration that this train performs local service ex- 
clusively, and made 153 stops during the period referred to. 

I am assuming that you may wish to have some mention made of this 
remarkable performance in the Illinois Central Magazine. 

Yours truly, 
T. L. DUBBS, Superintendent. 



Appointments and Promotions 



Effective July 1, 1915, Mr. Fred B. 
Oren is appointed superintendent of the 
New Orleans Division, with office at 
Vicksburg, Miss., vice Mr. John W. 
Meehan, resigned. 

Effective July 1, 1915, Mr. John W. 
Bledsoe is appointed train master of the 
Peoria and Mattoon districts, with office 
at Mattoon, vice Mr. Fred B. Oren. 

Mr. Victor V. Boatner is appointed 
train master of the Effingham and Indi- 
anapolis districts, with office at Mattoon, 
vice Mr. John W. Bledsoe, transferred. 

Effective July 1,1915, Mr. Arthur M. 
Umshler is appointed train master of the 



Memphis Division, with office at Mem- 
phis, Tenn., vice Mr. Victor V. Boat- 
ner. 

Effective July 1, 1915, Mr. Frank E. 
Hatch is appointed train master, office 
at Centralia, with jurisdiction Branch 
Junction to Irvington, vice Mr. Arthur 
M. Umshler. 

Effective July 1, 1915, Mr. James D. 
White is appointed train master Johns- 
ton City and Golconda branches, and Car- 
bondale and Eldorado districts, except 
between DuQuoin and Pinckneyville, 
with office at Carbondale, vice Mr. Frank 
E. Hatch transferred. 




MECHANICAL DEPARTMENT SUPERVISORY FORCE ON THE LOUISIANA DIVISION 

MECHANICAL DEPARTMENT SUPERVISORY FORCE, 

LOUISIANA DIVISION 

' I A HE Louisiana Division has five outside points, namely, New Orleans, 
Harahan, Asylum, Canton and Gwin. On the first Monday in each month 
the General Foremen from these points are called to McComb and together 
with the General and Shop Foremen of McComb Shop a Staff Meeting is 
held, the Master Mechanic presiding. During these sessions subjects of inter- 
est to the Foremen are gone over, such as: Mechanical Department payroll 
allotment and expense, repairs to locomotives, engine failures, rebuilding 
and reinforcing freight cars, etc. 

These subjects are thoroughly discussed by all present, and proves very 
beneficial to them, especially to the Foremen from outside points who do not 
have the advantage of personal supervision of the Master Mechanic. 

102 



Qivisit. 




ILLINOIS DIVISION. Toole, rf 4 1 1 

Fordham. Manion, 2b 3 1 3 

Mr. Preston Blair is back among us 
after a siege of tonsilitis. Total 35 3 9 27 12 

Mr. James Ferguson passed from Ashkum Collies, 

boyhood to manhood Wednesday, AR R H PO A F 

June 23rd He is now 21 years of pl f 5* 6 6 0* .6 

age and allowed to smoke. Grovelit, 2b 5 00131 

Mr. H. Holcomb is able to get Collett ' 3b 4 1 1 1 1 

around nicely Butler, c 4 1 16 

Mr T. M Kavangh is glad the N j lb 4 Q Q g Q Q 

street car strike is over. It does away j^ 4 2 

with the four long miles he had to walk Bonzet> \( ..400100 

everyday. Schayea, ss '.'.'.'. '.'.'.'.'. 3 00031 

TU T r ^ f f sc . V , . . Jensen, rf 3 1 

The I. C. Safety First baseball team 

at Fordham continued its winning T , . .36 3 24 9 3 

streak by defeating the Ashkum and g f pirst ... . 1 1 1 0-3 

Buckley 111., earns of Iroquis County. Ashk i m Collies.O 00000000-0 
The feature of the last two games was Two . base hit _ B . Johnson. Struck 

the plavmg of Johnson on first base T> A/T iu n A ic u T u 

, i, " -f , J . Y. , ,, , out By Mulholland, 15; by Johnson, 

and the pitching and catching of Mul- ->. r> u n r\cc \* iu n A 

u 11 j j TXT-U 1 ..u c- r ^ T?- 14. Bases on balls Off Mulholland, 

holland and Whalen, the Safety tirst ,. rr T u -. 

.^ , . TT , ' , 4; on ohnson 1. 
star battery. Captain Holcomb, al- 
though unable to play on account of in- June 13, 1915. 
juries he received the early part of Safety First, 
the season, was out in uniform coach- AB.R. H. PO. A. E. 

ing on the side lines and it seemed Pilot, ss.. ..6 14 3 

to make the boys try all the harder to Toole, rf. . ..511000 

bring home a victory. The Safety Mulligan, 3b 5 23121 

First has now won 5 and lost 1 and Berry, If 5 2 2 1 

would like to hear from some of the Whalen, c.. . .5 2 2 12 

western towns. Address all communi- Mulholland, p 5 1 4 1 

cations to V. Schle^er, care I. C. R. R., Johnson, lb 5 1 2 8 

Fordham Yards, Chicago, 111. Manion, 2b 4 1 2 2 2 

Tune 6, 1915. J. Mulholland. cf. .. .1 00000 

Safety First. Dawson. cf 3 11000 

AB.R. H. PO. A. E. 

Pilot, ss 4 1 1 5 6 Total 44122124 8 1 

Mulholland, J., If.... 4 00000 Buckley. 

Mulholland, p 4 1 3 2 AB.R. H. PO. A. E. 

Berry, 3b 4 00010 Gleason, 2b 6 32121 

Whalen, c 4 1 2 18 1 A. Krumwed, rf 5 23002 

Keiser, cf .4 1 VV.Kntipple.3b 5 22230 

Johnson, lb 4 11600 E. Krumwed, lb. .. .5 12600 

103 



104 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



Lietz, ss 5 1 1 2 1 

Luhrsen, c 5 1 13 

H. Knupple, If 4 1 2 2 

Doyle, cf 4 2 

Lammers, p 5 1 

Total 44 9 15 25 8 4 

Safety First ...02000063 112 
Buckley 3103100019 

Two-base hit Knupple. Three-base 
hits Dawson, Pilot, Krumwed. Home 
run Johnson. Struck out By Mul- 
holland, 10; by Lammers, 11. Base on 
balls Off Mulholland, 1; off Lam- 
mers, 1. 

Chicago Terminal. 

The Signal Department employes on 
the Chicago Terminal have organized 
a Base Ball Club, H. Brandon being 
elected President, O. C. Hinkle, Man- 
ager, and P. J. Knoop, Captain. 

The team has not yet lost a game 
and would like to arrange games with 
other I. C. R. R. teams. 

Communications concerning games 
should be addressed to H. Brandon, 
1612 East 53rd Street, Chicago. 
South Water Street. 

Heard the new office motto? ''All 
business." 

Ernie Cook spent Decoration Day 



in Minneapolis with his brother, who 
is connected with the Hamburg-Amer- 
ican Line in that city. 

\Ye hear in-freight girls are making 
clothes for the Belgium orphans. 

Mr. D. Leer, assistant station ac- 
countant, is on the sick list. 

Mr. Taylor, the stationer, was the 
first clerk to wear a straw hat. E. H. 
Belk was a close second. 

Howard Haney, our excellent and 
unexcelled office boy, rides forty miles 
to and from work each day. Howard 
will be mayor of Harvey some day. 

Mr. Leo Froehlich of In-freight De- 
partment went to Denver, Colo., June 14. 

Mr. Jerry Casey of Claim Depart- 
ment is quite a violinist ; also a very 
accomplished Irish step dancer. 

Mr. John Brennan and Tom Rus- 
sell of car record desk are going to 
spend their vacation on the Missis- 
sipi River. They leave on a special 
train over the I. C. to St. Louis June 
21st. 

We understand that H. J. Bowling's 
Boy Scouts, Benton Mullin and Frank 
Hanley, were present at a banquet in 
Louisville, Ky., May 1st. 

Jimmy Murphy (the chief's right 
hand bower) intends to spend his va- 
cation in Denver, Colo. 




T-XDEFEATKI) SUPERINTENDENT'S OFFICE BA8EBALJ 



MEMPHIS, TENN. 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



105 



The Misses Henry and Rhen pre- 
sented Howard Haney, our gallant of- 
fice boy, with a pair of black silk sox 
on his birthday, Wednesday, May 12th. 

Quite a few of the notice boys went 
to St. Louis with Mark Bowling and 
Harry Stahl for Decoration Day. 

Our sympathies are extended to Mr. 
J. A. Pierce, who had the misfortune 
of losing his father and mother last 
month. 

Indiana Division. 

John F. Dillsworth, for the past 
twelve years janitor in the Indiana 
Division offices at Mattoon, died of 
heart disease June 1st, after an illness 
of less than an hour. He performed 
his duties the day before and seemed 
in his usual health. John will -be 
greatly missed by everybody about the 
office. He was well liked and respect- 
ed by all who knew him and had many 
friends in and around Mattoon. His 
widow survives and to her we tender 
our sympathy in her bereavement. 

To John Dillworth, the Janitor. 

It is only the Janitor, 
Someone has said, 
As they passed by the bier, 
And gazed on the dead. 
So they laid him to rest 
In a house made of clay, 
There he will sleep 
'Til the Judgment Day. 

He was only the Janitor, 

Yet faithful and true 

To perform all the duties 

He was required to do. 

Was always contented 

Whatever his lot. 

When supplies were needed 

John never forgot. 

Yes, only the Janitor, 

From the rank and file. 

But he was loyal, 

On his face was a smile. 

Sometimes as he labored 

The world may have looked drear, 

As he had been in service 

For fifteen long years. 



He was only the Janitor, 
But kind-hearted and true. 
Though humble his station 
He had friends not few, 
Who surely will miss him 
As the days roll by. 
Peace be his ashes 
In the grave where- he lies. 

Earl McFadden, formerly file clerk 
in the Superintendent's office, has re- 
ceived a well-deserved promotion. His 
new title is Tonnage and Mileage 
Clerk. 

Roy Stevens of Princeton, Ky., has 
recently come to Mattoon as File 
Clerk. 

Now that the Illinois Legislature 
is threatening to adjourn, the Division 
Offices anticipate being favored occa- 
sionally with the presence of the genial 
Superintendent. 

Conductor Chris Richmond is very 
popular nowadays with Master Me- 
chanic Bell's office force because of the 
vigorous measures he took to recover 
a handsome umbrella belonging to one 
of the young women in the office. The 
umbrella was carried off of a train by 
a passenger. As soon as the loss was 
discovered Mr. Richmond wired the 
agent at Sullivan and had the umbrella 
returned. 

Mr. A. F. Buckton, Chief Clerk to 
Master Mechanic Bell, was recently 
the victim of a birthday surprise party. 
Archie is the possessor of a beautiful 
traveling bag as a souvenir of the oc- 
casion. 

Division Accountant A. C. Wilcox 
has returned from a three weeks' va- 
cation spent in St. Petersburg, Fla. 

Speaking of vacations, Saturday 
afternoons off makes a vacation every 
week, and isn't it great? 

Miss Edna Riggs, stenographer in 
the Superintendent's office, expects to 
leave on her vacation the latter part 
of June. She will visit friends in 
Princeton, Ky. 

Miss Victoria Gustafson, stenogra- 
pher in Train Masters' office, is plan- 
ning an extensive trip to the far west. 

For some time it has been a sus- 



106 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



picion on the Indiana Division that 
Conductor J. V. Fitch keeps a poem 
up his sleeve for every occasion. The 
suspicion appears to be well founded. 
A few evenings since a reception was 
given at the First Presbyterian Church 
at Mattoon in honor of Mr. and Mrs. 
F. J. Blickensderfer prior to their de- 
parture for Cincinnati, Mr. Blickens- 
derfer having been promoted to a po- 
sition in the General Offices of the Big 
Four Railway. During the course of 
the evening Mr. Fitch was called upon 
and responded with the following 
graceful verses: 

The Faithful Few. 
J. V. Fitch. 

When at morn or evening service, 
As I look around the room, 
I am sure to see some faces 
From out the shadows loom ; 
They are always at the service, 
And stay until it's through 
Those you sure can count on 
The always faithful few. 



They fill the vacant places, 
And are always on the spot ; 
No matter what the weather, 
Though it may be very hot; 
It may be dark and rainy, 
But they are tried and true 
The ones you can rely on 
The always faithful few. 

Tonight we lose a member 
Who is loyal and is true ; 
The Session sure will miss him, 
And also the Pastor too ; 
One we could depend on 
When there was work to do; 
We'll think of him forever 
As one of the faithful few. 

We are loath to have him leave us, 
And his faithful helpmeet too; 
We shall miss their smiling faces, 
We are sad to say adieu ; 
Wherever fortune leads them, 
Friends they'll find both leal and true; 
But we who've loved them longest 
Still call them the faithful few. 




SIGNAL DEPARTMENT BASE BALL TEAM 
CHICAGO TERMINAL 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



107 



Springfield Division. 

Switchman Louis L. Lynn has been 
granted a leave of absence and is 
spending the time with friends and 
relatives in Minnesota. 

Harry Zimmerli, Clerk to General 
Yard master at Clinton, has returned 
to work after three days' lay-off. He 
spent the time with his parents in 
Rochester, 111. 

Conductors C. P. Freeman and W. 
C. Harris have recently purchased new 
automobiles. The former has a new 
Mitchell 6, and the latter a Moon 4. 
Anyone wanting a free auto ride, 
please notify A either of these gentle- 
men. 

Brakeman L. J. Oswald of the 
Springfield District has taken a 30 
days' leave of absence and is spending 
the time with relatives in Alhambra, 
111. 

Brakeman C. L. Gilliland has gone to 
Denver, Colo., and other points in that 
state. He expects to be away about 
sixty days. 

Conductor C. L. St. John has been 
granted a leave of absence for six 
months, account sickness and has gone 
to Rochester, Minn., and other points 
in the northwest for the benefit of his 
health. 

J. W. Alexander, employed as Pas- 
senger Flagman on the Clinton District 
for the past two years, has resigned 
from the service and returned to his 
home in Patoka, 111., where he has pur- 
chased a canning factory. 

Conductor W. B. Herron, of the Ha- 
vanna District, who was granted leave 
of absence for one year, account sick- 
ness, writes from Hastings, Mich., 
where he is located on a farm, that his 
health is improving, but not yet able 
to return to work on the road. 

Conductor Wm. Sharkey has re- 
turned to work after a few days' lay- 
off. He visited with friends and rela- 
tives in Amboy and Chicago. 

Road Department. 

James Throckmorton, formerly 
bridge Foreman and Supervisor of the 
Rantoul District of the Springfield Do- 



visron, died recently at his home in 
Urbana, 111. He was on the honor roll 
of the pension department, having been 
retired from active service about 
twelve years ago. 

Joseph Charbonneau, retired bridge 
carpenter on the Springfield Division, 
died recently at his home in Clinton, 
111. He had been on the pension list 
since June, 1914. 

Frank Reed, Foreman of concrete 
gang on the Springfield Division, now 
constructing concrete pile trestle at 
bridge 264-3, will visit with his parents 
in Vandalia during the inclement 
weather. 

After several months' leave of ab- 
sence account ill health J. O. Mathews, 
fourth oldest Agent on Springfield Di- 
vision, returned to duty at Bondville 
Station May 18th, releasing Extra 
Agent E. A. Witte. 

J. E. Ward, Agent at New Holland, 
took a few days' lay-off and was re- 
lieved by Extra Agent O. S. Jackson 
May 10th. 

P. R. Bryson was checked in as per- 
manent Agent. at Hanson May 19th. 

Dickerson Station on Rantoul Dis- 
trict will be discontinued as an agency 
and established as a prepay station 
July 1st. 

W. Stone, Agent at Marine, returned 
from 25 days' vacation 31st May. Ex- 
tra Agent A. L. Vallow looked after 
the station during his absence. 

A. M. Clark, Agent at Beason, made 
a business trip to Chicago May 10th 
and was relieved by Extra Agent L. F. 
Giffin. 

Extra Agent J. R. Watts is holding 
down the station at White Heath 
while E. R. Deland is taking his annual 
vacation. 

G. S. Phillips returned to agency at 
Elwin latter part of April, having been 
off duty couple months account sick- 
ness. 

C. E. Baugh, Agent at Toronto, will 
lake two weeks' vacation commencing 
Tune 8th and will be relieved by J. L. 
Moore. 

Mr. Louis Lighthall, Machinist 



108 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



Handyman at Clinton Shops, will visit 
friends in Taopi, Iowa. 

Mr. A. D. Wilson, Blacksmith Ap- 
prentice at Clinton, will visit friends 
in Indianapolis, Ind. 

Mrs. J. Harris, wife of engineer, will 
visit in El Paso, Tex., and New Or- 
leans, La. 

Mr. F. Franek, Car Inspector at Glen 
Carbon, is visiting relatives in Indian- 
apolis, Ind. 

Mr. Martin Tucker, Carpenter, and 
wife, will visit relatives in Tustin, 
Mich. 

Mr. W. S. Reigle, Fireman on the 
Rantoul District, will visit relatives in 
Philadelphia, Pa. 

Mr. E. G. Sterling, Chief Accountant 
at Clinton Shops, has returned after a 
visit with relatives in Onawa, Iowa. 

Mr. Jack Agee, Fireman, and wife 
will visit in Brunswick, Mo., with rela- 
tives. 

Mrs. A. Rathburn, wife of supply 
man, will visit in Eureka Springs, Ark. 

Mr. R. N. Hoyt, Engineer, will visit 
in Buffalo, N. Y. 

Mr. F. W. Sievekinsr, Engineer, and 
wife will visit friends in Lewistown, 
Mont. 

Mrs. L. O'Brien, wife of engineer, 
will visit in Minneapolis. Minn. 

Mr. D. C. Potter, Engineer, and wife 
and son Wilbur will visit in LaFayette, 
Ind. 

Mrs. J. M. Dale, wife of painter, will 
visit in Milwaukee, Wis. 

Mr. E. J. Callahan, Engineer on the 
Havana District, will visit in San Fran- 
cisco, Los Angeles, Portland, Seattle 
and other points in the west. 

Mr. Andrew Johnson. Car Oiler, will 
visit in Menominee, Mich. 

Mr. Geo. Ives. pensioned Engineer, 
and wife will visit in Denver and Colo- 
rado Springs, Colo., for the summer. 

Mr. Robert E. Arndt, Machinist 
Handyman and wife, will visit relatives 
?n Tustin, Mich. 

Mrs. M. P. Dougherty, wife of Fire- 
man, and two daughters, Frances and 
Delores, will visit in Charles City, 
Iowa. 



Vicksburg Division. 

It has been noted that since the last 
issue of the Magazine, our efficient 
agent at Greenville. Mr. F. B. Wilkin- 
son, made a trip to the "Healing 
\Vells," near Metcalfe, in search of the 
remedy to better his health, and from 
the best information obtainable, Mr. 
Wilkinson is now enjoying good health. 
All concerned are glad to know of Mr. 
Wilkinson's restoration of health. 

It also has been noted that Ticket 
Agent at W right, Miss., Mr. F. Men- 
linger, made a trip to the "Healing 
Wells" for the purpose of "Taking Pic- 
tures" of this noted place, and its sur- 
roundings, as well as to partake of the 
"Healing \Vater." 

Engineer Louis A. King reported do- 
ing nicely after having undergone an 
operation at the Kings Daughter's 
Hospital, for appendicitis, June llth. 
A certain visitor called at the Hospital 
to see Mr. King while" he was there, 
and asked the nurse where Mr. King 
was, the answer was : "Just go up 
stairs." 

Chief Clerk to Superintendent, Mr. 
Seymour Simmons, left Greenville June 
23rd to attend a meeting at Chicago in 
connection with the- handling of the 
tonnage in Division offices ; the tonnage 
to be compiled in the Office of Su- 
perintendents, effective July 1st. 

File Clerk, Mr. W r . B. Marks ten- 
dered his resignation June oth, on ac- 
count of poor health. Mr. Marks was 
relieved by Miss Zetta Beulah, who has 
been working for the past several 
months as Clerk in Chief Dispatcher's 
Office. The many friends of Miss Beu- 
lah are glad to learn of her promotion. 

Gravel Inspector, Mr. P. R. Hender- 
son promoted to position of Masonry 
Inspector, effective June 15th. Mr. 
Henderson's headquarters are at Du- 
buque, Iowa. Many regrets have been 
expressed at this young man's depart- 
ure, but we congratulate him on his 
promotion. 

Effective June 16th, Roadman W. J. 
Apperson promoted to position as 
Gravel Inspector, vice Mr. P. R. Hen- 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



109 



derson. Mr. F. K. Anderson was ap- 
pointed to the position as Roadman, 
relieving Mr. Apperson. 

Conductor Mack Mahoney, Baggag-e- 
master W. E. Hardin and Porter Eu- 
gene Harris, attended court in the Doll 
Wade case, May 26th, 27th and 28th, as 
witnesses in behalf of the company. 

Mrs. Myrtle Hammons, Clerk in 
Greenville Freight Office, recently 
made a few days' stay at Leland with 
home folks. 

June 6th Baggage Master, Mr. C. G. 
Hill tendered his resignation. The 
many friends of "John Brown" regret- 
ted to see him leave. 

Conductor W. E. Ross is now cany- 
ing his right arm in a sling, clue to in- 
jury sustained in an accident in Green- 
ville yards, June 2nd. 

Flagman W. S. Ford returned to 
work June 9th after making a trip 
down in Mexico in search of something- 
better, but failing to find this, returned 
to his post of duty, and now seems to 
be satisfied. 

Conductor N. B. Kaigler has returned 
to work, after absenting himself from 
duty for several days, he being off for 
the purpose of rest and giving "the 
other fellow a chance." Kaigler was 
relieved by Conductor D. C. Parker. 

Conductor Tom Hyer has again re- 
sumed duty on his run, Train Nos. 197- 
198, after a few days' illness. 

Time Keeper M. P. Massey spent a 
couple of days with his home folks at 
Eupora, Miss., the latter part of June. 

Division Accountant, C. Bourgeois 
made a "flying trip" to New Orleans 
June 29th, for the purpose of attending 
to "Some unfinished business." 

Anderson Gladney, who has been in 
Red Cap Service at the Grand Central 
Station, Memphis, has returned to his 
old job, as Porter in Superintendent's 
Office at Greenville, relieving Porter 
Arthur Washington. 



St. Louis Division. 
DID IT EVER OCCUR TO YOU 

That You don't have to have a 
search light turned onto you to pick 
you out of a crowd in the dark. Just 
do something different. 



That Many a disabled booze fight- 
ing soldier wishes he had been killed 
in the first battle? 

That This is not a Christmas rail- 
road in the Five and Dime store win- 
dow, and that it takes somebody be- 
sides a boy in knee pants to run it? 

That You can often separate some 
common sense from the stuff that 
floats around the roundhouses and 
switch shanty? 

That You sometimes visit too 
long on the telephone while a higher 
salaried man is waiting to use it? 

That No good sensible "working 
Bee will take business advice from a 
Bed Bug? 

That There is another way to raise 
the figures on your pay check besides 
being crooked? 

Here is what happened at DuQuoin 
recently. Soon after No. 260, St. 
Louis stock train passed the telegraph 
office a man informed the operator 




Have 

Healthy, 
Strong 
Beautiful 
Eyes. 

Oculists and Physicians used 
Murine Eye Remedy many years 
before it was offered as a Domestic 
Eye Medicine. Murine is Still Com- 
pounded by Our Physicians and 
Guaranteed by them as a Reliable 
Relief for Eyes that Need Care. Try 
it in your Eyes and in Baby's Eyes 
No Smarting Just Eye Comfort. 

Twenty years of honorable success have 
firmly established Murine "In the World's 
Eye" as the "Standard of Eye Remedy Qual-^ 
ity." Autoists Golfers Tour- 
ists Mechanics All should 
have Murine handy by as First 
Aid in Emergencies. 

Ask your Dealer for Murine 
accept no Substitute, and if 
interested write for Book of 
the Eye Free. 

Murine Eye Remedy Co, 
Chicago 




110 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



that a cow had evidently fallen from 
the train as there was one on the right 
of way just south of the station. Dis- 
patcher stopped the train at Yard Of- 
fice and sent Night Yard Master 
Carlyle after the cow. While driving 
her up the track he was stopped by a 
man who inquired, "Where are you 
going with that cow?" He was told 
and replied, "I'll be damned if you 
are, that's my cow." And it was. The 
next time this cow or any other cow 
is found on the right of way at Du- 
Quoin, Carlyle says she is going to the 
stock yards. 

We very often hear outsiders re- 
mark that the Illinois Central has the 
best looking locomotives of any road 
in the country. We know that is the 
truth, and we also know that they are 
just as good as they look. Some of 
us have worked on railroads from 
Portland, Me., to Mexico City, and 
from Florida to Oregon, but the Cen- 
tral has about the best of everything, 



officials, employes, equipment, ahd 
there is some satisfaction in working 
under these conditions. Think it over. 



They Need the Money 

It is no disgrace to die poor but it's 
a mean trick to play on your relatives. 



The Excelsior Hotel 

For Sale or Lease 

One-fourth cash, balance to suit 
purchaser. Good patronage. 
Present owner retiring. 

Apply to Mrs. Gibson-Davis 

MAGNOLIA, MISS. 



XAVIER A. KRAMER 

Consulting Engineer 
and Architect 

Design and Supervision of Water Works, 

Sewers, Electric Light and Power 

Plants, Drainage, Highways, 

Public Buildings 

MAGNOLIA, MISS. 



For Sale 

2,500 acres good farming land, 
in and near Magnolia, Miss. 
$10.00 per acre. One -fourth 
cash; balance, terms to suit 
purchaser. 

Apply to 

H. B. DAVIS, Magnolia, Miss. 



Farm Products a Specialty 

Meyer & Neugass 

General 
Merchandise 

Give Us a Trial Order On Our 
Special "Mississippi Cane Syrup" 

MAGNOLIA, MISS. 



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In Regard to 

Magnolia and Vicinity 

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MAGNOLIA, MISS. 



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ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



111 



Work on the new extension to West 
Frankfort known as the Benton and 
Southern, has been completed and 
will open up new coal fields in that lo- 
cality. It is expected that coal load- 
ing on the Eldorado district will in- 
crease to considerable extent the com- 
ing season, and additional facilities;' 
are being installed in anticipation. 

News items and articles of interest 
for publication in the Magazine. should 
be addressed to P. E. Odell, chief dis- 
patcher, Carbondale. 

The clerks in the local office at East 
St. Louis have organized a uniformed 
baseball team and are open for all out- 
of-town games. Anyone wishing a game 
with this team address A. J. Siratman, 
care local office. 

Miss Estelle Matthaei, stenographer in 
Mr. Wells' office, will spend Sunday at 
Coulterville, 111., visiting relatives. 

Inbound Warehouse Foreman N. R. 
Huff attended the Western Handicap 
shoot at St. Louis last week and made a 
very favorable showing. 

For 12 months May 31, 1914, to May 




5^?S^9S^ ! ^5???S5 

WHEN Tom Jones comes over 
to the station just after dark 
to get Aunt Martha's trunk, 
or a package from a Chicago mail- 
order house, the up-to-date Station 
Agent picks up his 

Federal Electric Lantern 

and goes out to the baggage nxm and takes 
care of the work to be done without the in- 
convenience of filling and lighting the old 
smoky, greasy oil lantern. Thereisnoflame. 
No danger. It is a wonderful help to all 
railroad men who work at night 
The hardest wind and rainstorm can't put 

this lantern out. L'ghts instantly without 

matches by a single turn of the handle. Cheapest battery cost. 
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and use one. 

Write your name, occupation and address in the margin of this 
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circular, completely describing this new Electric Lantern. 

F'DERAL SIGN SYSTEM (ELECTRIC), Dek 124. CWcgo 

Dealers and Ac/ents Wanted, Everywhere (7) 





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112 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



31, 1915, 49,360 cars of perishable were 
handled through Mounds yard. 

June 10, 1915. was heaviest day in 
history of Mounds icing plant when 236 
cars perishable were iced in 24 hours. 



An Emergency. 

The station master on the Eastern 
Indian Railway had been given strict 
orders not to do anything out of the 
ordinary without authority from the 
superintendent. This accounts for his 
sending the following telegram : 

"Superintendent's Office, Calcutta- 
Tiger on platform eating railway por- 
ter. Please wire instructions." 



The Limit 

"She is simply mad on the subject 
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622 to 63O East Main St. 

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imis 




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WE'RE on the job ALL 
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It's the cloth in the 
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Standard for over 75 years. 

Its continuous use by three generations 
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quality. Stifel Indigo wears like leather. 
Every washing makes it like new. 

This little mark is put 
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on the inside of the gar- 
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Cloth manufactured by 

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J. H. Nash Frontispiece. 

The Story of the Illinois Central Lines During the Civil Con- 
flict, 1861-5 9 

Public Opinion 16 

Paducah, Ky 20 

A Letter Complimentary to the 57th Street Training School.. .. 27 
How Employes Should Proceed to Purchase Illinois Central 

Stock ; 28 

Baggage and Mail Traffic Department 30 

Hospital Department . . 37 

Loss and Damage Bureau 40 

Claim Department 44 

Roll of Honor 52 

Always Safety First 54 

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Engineering Department 74 

Industrial Immigration and Development Department 77 

The Intelligent Box Car 76 

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Contributions from Employes: 

Performance of Tubes in Superheated Locomotives 89 

Claims 89 

I Should Worry 92 

Loyalty and Disloyalty 92 

There Is No Car Shortage 94 

Excess Baggage 97 

The Country Agent 98 

Division News . . . . 100 



ished monthly 6y the ffl/no/s Central *J?. < J^. Gb., 
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J. H. NASH 
Superintendent of Motive Power. 

AFTER leaving school Mr. Nash started in railroad work as an apprentice to the machinist 
trade with the Vandalia R. R. at Terre Haute, Ind. After completing his apprenticeship 
and serving two years as a journeyman machinist on that railroad, he was employed in a 
similar capacity by the Big Four, Santa Fe, C. & E. I. and various machine manufacturers. He 
entered the service of the Illinois Central R. R. on April 6, 1897, as a journeyman machinist at 
Burnside shops, and after serving in that capacity for seven months, was advanced to position 
of gang and machine shop foreman. On April 21, 1901, he was transferred to East St. Louis, 
taking up the duties of general foreman at that point, and on January 1, 1903, he was made 
general foreman at Waterloo. On December 1, 1904, he was promoted to position of master 
mechanic at East St. Louis, and on October 4, 1907, was transferred to Paducah as master 
mechanic. On May 24, 1910, he was promoted to position of shop superintendent at Burnside, 
and on June 1, 1913, was promoted to position of superintendent of motive power in charge of 
northern and western lines. 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL 

Magazine 



Vol.4 



AUGUST 1915 



No. 2 



T(iQ Story of tfie 
IllinoisContral Linos 

during tfi 

Civil Conflict 186-5 

From Helena to Vicksburg in August, 1 862 

By Major John D. Crabtree 
(Read before the Loyal Legion of Illinois, July 3, 1 893) 



HpHE object of this expedition was 
understood at the time to be of a 
two-fold character. 

First, as a reconnaissance in force, 
to ascertain what was being done by 
the Confederates towards sending men 
and supplies into Arkansas, and 

Second, to destroy, as nearly as pos- 
sible all means of transporting the 
same, from the east to the west side, 
of the Mississippi river. We had or- 
ders to destroy everything in the shape 
of water-craft, large or small, to be 
found on the river, or in the arms or 
bayous connected therewith. The 
forces comprising the expedition were a 
fleet consisting of the gunboat Benton, 
under the command of Captain Phelps, 
of the gunboat flotilla, the ram Lioness 
and three other rams under the com- 
mand of Lieutenant-Colonel Ellet, and 
also two transports carrying the Fifty- 
eighth and Seventy-sixth regiments of 
Ohio Infantry, with four pieces of 



Hoffman's Fourth Ohio Battery, and 
also a detachment of about eighty men 
of Bowen's battalion of Missouri 
Cavalry, with two twelve-pound moun- 
tain howitzers, under command of 
Lieutenant-Colonel W. D. Bowen ; the 
whole expedition being under the com- 
mand of Colonel Charles R. Woods, of 
the Seventy-Sixth Ohio Infantry. 

The expedition left Helena, Arkan- 
sas, on Saturday, August 16, 1862, and 
proceeded down the river, first landing 
at Island No. 65. On the way down 
many boats were destroyed, of almost 
all shapes, sizes and kinds (except 
steam boats), and it is safe to say that 
after we got through there was little 
chance left for carrying troops or sup- 
plies across the river. 

At one large bayou, or arm of the 
river, we must have destroyed forty or 
fifty boats, large and small, from a 
little skiff to the largest kind of flat- 
boats. Some were cut to pieces with 



10 



ILLINOIS. CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



axes, some destroyed by fire, while 
many were turned adrift in the river 
and cut to pieces by the rams. During 
a portion of the time when the last 
mentioned process was in operation, it 
was my good fortune to be on board 
the ram Lioness, and if there is any- 
thing more exhilarating than a cavalry 
charge or a toboggan slide, it seems to 
me it is being on board a ram, when, 
with a full head of steam on, she seems 
to put her head down and go for her 
victim, with all the vim and viciousness 
of the animal after which she is so aptly 
named. 

Beyond this destruction of water 
craft, not very much of importance 
transpired on the downward trip until 
our arrival at Milliken's Bend, Loui- 
siana. Of course there was the usual 
occasional firing upon the boats from 
shore whenever the channel carried us 
near enough so that the fellows along 
the bank thought it worth while, but 
as the decks were all pretty well pro- 
tected by cotton bales, no one was hurt, 
and if it did the rebels no good it cer- 
tainly did us no harm. On the morn- 
ing of August 18th we reached Milli- 
ken's Bend, just as the early dawn 
began to give promise of the coming 
daylight, and there at the landing was 
tied a small steamboat called the "Fair- 
play," which had just come up from 
Vicksburg that morning, and proved to 
be a valuable capture ; but as there was 
other business on hand just then, we ^f 
the cavalry had to defer paying o / 
respects to her officers, and our visit 
to her bar, until a later period of the 
day. On the levee were about eighty 
negroes chained together, who had just 
been brought in to unload the boat. 
On the shore, a short distance away, 
was the camp of the Thirty-first Loui- 
siana Infantry, with camp equipage for 
about 1,000 men, but there were only 
about 700 in camp. They evidently 
belonged to the Southern chivalry, and 
were no poor white trash, for the offi- 
cers had fine wall tents, furnished with 
carpets on the floors, mirrors hanging 
on the tent poles, and other articles of 
luxury which soldiers are generally 



supposed to dispense with. Had they 
supposed the "Yanks" were going to 
capture that whole oufit, no doubt some 
of those luxuries would have been left 
at home. This camp, however, was 
evidently not the "last ditch," for none 
of the so-called chivalry died there. On 
the contrary, when they saw "the 
smoke way up the ribber," wher the 
"Linkum gunboats" were coming, to 
their everlasting discredit be it said, 
they incontinently "skedaddled," there- 
by saving themselves for an opportu- 
nity "to fight some other day." 

It happened that the squad of 
twenty men of Bowen's battalion, 
which I had the honor to command as 
Second Lieutenant, was the first to 
land, and having learned that the per- 
sonal baggage belonging to the officers 
of the valiant regiment which had just 
departed, had shortly before started 
out after them on the road towards 
Richmond, Colonel Bowen ordered me 
out on that road in pursuit. It was not 
yet fairly daylight, but we went out 
with a vim, and about two miles from 
the river landing we came up with an 
old gray-headed darkey, driving a pair 
of mules as fast as he could, and behind 
them, in all their glory, were six or 
eight large trunks, said to contain the 
baggage of the gallant officers of the 
Thirty-first Louisiana. That darkey 
was, or no doubt would have been later 
in the war, an "intelligent contraband," 
but at that particular moment he ap- 
peared to be a little the worst scared 
specimen of humanity possibly to be 
imagined. When ordered to stop, turn 
around and head his team for the river, 
he jumped off his wagon, and running 
to the head of his team, then to the 
rear of the wagon and back again, he 
groaned out in pitiful accents, "My 
God-a-mighty, Massa, whar my 
mules?" 

When we got him calmed down 
sufficiently to distinguish the difference 
between a mule and a worm fence, he 
started back towards the river, with 
one man as an escort, but not before 
he had been relieved of the information, 
that portions of the fleeing "Tigers" 



ILLINOIS. CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



11 



were just ahead of us, and having still 
nineteen good 'men left, we went for- 
ward at a brisk trot to investigate. We 
had gone but a short distance before 
we came in sight of a squad ahead of 
us, who at once climbed the fences and 
broke for taller timber. 

When about three miles from the 
river what appeared to be the main 
body of the regiment, was discovered 
in and around some cotton gins and 
negro quarters, in such a position as 
to render it impossible to charge them, 
on account of the fences and other 
obstructions in the way, and my little 
band of nineteen men being outnum- 
bered, in about the proportion of thirty 
or forty to one, it was deemed best to 
parley a little before going too far, and 
at once one man was ordered to go 
back to the river and bring up our 
little howitzers. In a very short time 
Colonel Bowen came up with the guns, 
and about sixty more men, and after 
dropping a shell or two into the enemy, 
we had the satisfaction of seeing them 
hastily disperse, and retreat rapidly to- 
wards Richmond. We at once charged 
them and succeeded in taking a num- 
ber of prisoners and capturing the 
colors of the regiment. The pursuit 
was continued until we came within 
about a mile of the town, where we 
could see that the enemy was trying 
to make a stand ; a few more shell, how- 
ever started them on the run again, 
but when we got within about three 
hundred yards of the railroad station 
they again showed fight, and again we 
gave them more shells, and charging 
them with the old-fashioned yell, there 
was a hasty throwing away of guns 
and knapsacks, and a final and com- 
plete exodus of the Johnnies, while we 
were left masters of the situation, with 
full opportunity for investigating and 
destroying at our leisure. 

On getting into town we found quite 
a large amount of supplies for the Con- 
federate Army, being a considerable 
quantity of clothing, twenty-two hogs- 
heads of sugar and many other valua- 
ble stores. It took but a short time to 
fire the whole lot, burn the railroad 



station, the warehouses, as well as de- 
stroy the railroad bridge and telegraph 
lines, all of which was speedily done, 
with no loss whatever to us, the rebels 
having hardly fired a gun. 

As soon as possible Colonel Woods 
came up with the infantry, they having 
hastily marched about ten miles, on a 
very hot morning, no doubt thinking 
from the sound of our guns that we 
might need help, and indeed we would 
had the Confederates stood their 
ground, and shown the same disposi- 
tion for fight, that we have all known 
them to do on so many other occasions. 
To me their conduct on that day has al- 
ways been most unaccountable. Pos- 
sibly they were not all armed, or were 
without ammunition, or something of 
that sort; otherwise it would be incre- 
dible that some seven hundred men 
should allow eighty cavalrymen to 
drive them ten miles, take their colors, 
some twenty-five prisoners, and de- 
stroy a large amount of stores, right 
before their eyes, and scarcely fire a 
gun. But for some reason they seemed 
panic stricken from the start, and never 
once got in shape to show fight. Un- 
doubtedly our appearance at Milliken's 
Bend was a very great surprise to them, 
and yet, knowing the usual courage and 
bravery of the Southern soldiers, as 
displayed on many a well-fought field, 
I am at loss to understand why, in the 
course of the ten miles' retreat, and 
when they could see what a small force 
was pursuing them, they did not make 
at least a decent show of resistance. 

Having no "unfinished business" at 
Richmond we leisurely retraced our 
steps toward the river, stopping to rest 
for a while at one of the finest planta- 
tions I ever saw. The owner had busi- 
ness in some other locality that day, 
and was not at home, but Madam was 
there, a high-bred, blue-blooded South- 
ern lady, who showed a great deal of 
indignation to think that the northern 
mud-sills should thus trespass upon 
her premises. We were the first Fede- 
ral troops that had ever been at that 
particular plantation, and consequently 
the cellar and smoke house were well 



12 



ILLINOIS. CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



stocked with plenty of good things to 
eat and drink, and as the boys were hot 
and tired, hungry and thirsty, they 
were not absolutely prohibited from 
helping themselves to something with 
which to satisfy the cravings of nature 
in this respect. Madam complained 
bitterly at this, and very indignantly 
asserted that we could never subdue 
the South, preserve the Union, or put 
down the rebellion, especially if our 
men were allowed to thus trespass on 
private rights. 

I remember saying to her : "Madam, 
the Union will be preserved, the South 
will be subdued, and the rebellion will 
be put down, if we have to make the 
South a desert and sow it with salt." 
At a later period of the war she no 
doubt became better acquainted with 
Yankee troops, for they are reported 
to have been quite numerous in that 
locality when Grant went down to 
Vicksburg in 1863. 

The capture of the steamer Fairplay 
proved to be a valuable one, as her 
cargo consisted of 5,000 or more En- 
field rifles and muskets, in the original 
packages from Europe, a very large 
quantity of ammunition, and a great 
many boxes filled with accoutrements 
and army equipment, which were said 
to have been destined for Little Rock, 
Arkansas. The boat was not wanting 
either, in that necessary part of a Mis- 
sissippi steamboat, to-wit, a reasonably 
well-stocked bar, in which, to our great 
surprise we found, among other things, 
ice water, and after the hot and dusty 
ride of the morning, it is not surprising 
that we made frequent visits thereto to 
quench a soldier's thirst, singing Jack 
Stibb's favorite song, "Oh, Lord, how 
dry I am, Oh, Lord, how dry." It is 
needless to say that the eighty negroes of 
the chain gang didn't unload that boat at 
Milliken's Bend, neither did they stay 
in that locality. On the contrary, they 
came on board our boat, and no one 
attempted to put them off. There be- 
ing just eighty cavalrymen, and eighty 
of the colored boys, every one of our 
little command had a servant for the 
remainder of the trip. The contra- 



bands did all the stable duty, and it was 
very funny, when orders were given 
to be in readiness to land at some place 
along the river, to hear each private 
soldier say to his particular darkey, 
"Boy, saddle my horse," and when the 
landing was reached, to see him strut 
along the gang plank followed by a 
darkey leading his horse, holding the 
stirrup for him to mount, and as the 
soldier rode away, touching his forelock 
with that peculiar deference so common 
to the slave in the days "befo de wah." 
The capture of the Fairplay and her 
cargo was a severe loss to the enemy, 
and, judging from the official reports 
concerning it, found in the volume to 
which reference has already been made, 
it was a complete surprise to the Con- 
federate general commanding the dis- 
trict in which it was made, and whose 
headquarters were at Vicksburg. After 
finishing our business at Milliken's 
Bend we dropped down the river to 
within a short distance of Vicksburg, 
so near, in fact, that we could hear the 
alarm bells ring and guns fired. It 
was said afterwards that had we known 
the actual condition of things in the city 
at the time, we could have captured the 
place, as all the available forces had 
been taken to Baton Rouge under Breck- 
enridge, there being then no anticipation 
of danger to Vicksburg. We lay off the 
mouth of the Yazoo river for a couple of 
days, while three of the light draft rams, 
the gunboat Benton, and the Mound 
City, proceeded up that stream, and at 
Haines' Bluff, seventeen miles from the 
Mississippi,- they captured six pieces of 
ordnance, being two forty-two pound- 
ers, two thirty-one pounders, one twelve- 
pounder brass field piece and one twen- 
ty-pounder brass coast howitzer, with a 
large amount of ammunition for ord- 
nance, as well as small arms, besides some 
muskets and camp stores. The four 
large guns being too heavy to be re- 
moved, were destroyed by bursting, but 
the remainder of the captured property 
was safely brought away. 

On the 23d of August we commenced 
the return trip up the river. At Green- 
ville, Miss., we landed and had a brush 



ILLINOIS. CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



13 



>vith the en my, near which place they 
had a considerable force, not only of in- 
fantry, but also cavalry and artillery. On 
our approach, however, they fell back 
some two miles from the river, and 
seemed to be maneuvering to draw us in- 
to an ambush, when orders came to re- 
turn to the boats, our force being evi- 
dently too small to successfully meet the 
one opposing" us, so far away from the 
support of the gunboats. 

The latter, however, shelled the woods, 
and, as it was, there being no good place 
there to land our horses, orders were 
given for our boat to go up stream until 
a good place was found to get them 
ashore, which was done in about half a 
mile. In the meantime, however, Cap- 
tain Benteen (lately Major Benteen of 
the Regular Army), Lieutenant Ballou, 
and myself, had gone on shore with the 
infantry, not knowing but that a land- 
ing of the cavalry would be made at that 
place, until our boat had pushed off and 
left us. Hastening along the levee on 
foot, we noticed tied to a post near a cab- 
in, a cavalry horse, having upon him a 
McClellan saddle equipment complete, 
even to nose bag and picket pin. 

Seeing no one in the vicinity we se- 
cured the horse, and proceeding on after 
the boat, keeping a sharp lookout for 
signs of the enemy, we discovered over 
the woods, about half a mile away, a col- 
umn of dust arising, which seemed to us 
to mean business. 

Reaching the boat, however, about 
the time the gang plank was shoved 
out, the men were mounted, and or- 
ders were given me to proceed with my 
twenty men a short distance down the 
river to reconnoiter, and we had not 
gone to exceed fifty rods when I halted, 
and bringing my men to the front, dis- 
covered quite a large force of rebel 
cavalry not more than eighty rods 
away, marching through the woods. 
Reporting this fact to Colonel Bowen, 
he immediately sent me a couple of the 
howitzers, with which we commenced 
'shelling the woods in our front, and 
the enemy at once fell back out of 
range. 

The infantry meanwhile were some 



distance away under Colonel Woods, 
and we having only our eighty cavalry, 
were not in position to crowd matters 
very fast, and so' could do little more 
than reconnoiter. To this end Colonel 
Bowen ordered me up the river with 
my squad, and we had not proceeded 
over half a mile above the boats, when 
we came upon a picket of four men, 
who seemed so surprised to see us, 
that they appeared perfectly dazed, and 
neither attempted to fire a gun nor to 
get away, but surrendered at discre- 
tion. 

They were evidently not regular sol- 
diers, but home guards or something of 
that sort, neither uniformed nor well 
armed, and no doubt just put into serv- 
ice for the particular occasion. 

Disarming them, they were sent 
back to the boat, with an escort of one 
man and we proceeded down a road 
leading away from the river, and which 
brought us to a plantation where there 
were plenty of negroes, who were, of 
course, interviewed as to the number 
and situation of the enemy in the vicin- 
ity. From their statements it would 
appear that quite a large force had been 
gotten together, for the purpose of pre- 
venting, if possible, the return of our 
fleet up the river. We were sitting 
on our horses in a little yard, the ne- 
groes getting water for the men and 
being interviewed by me, when a 
mounted rebel suddenly dashed out of 
a corn field near by, immediately fol- 
lowed by another, while two of my 
men, without orders, at once started in 
pursuit. Feeling satisfied it was a 
scheme to draw us into ambush, I 
shouted to the men to come back, but 
the order, if heard, was not obeyed, and 
I waited with some anxiety the result, 
expecting every moment to hear a vol- 
ley fired, or my men coming back with 
the rebels in pursuit. 

Several shots were fired, but in a 
minute or two my men came back all 
right, bringing with them the belt and 
revolver of one of the men they had 
pursued, whom they had shot off from 
his horse as he ran, and dismounting 
had secured his belt and revolver as a 



14 



ILLINOIS. CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



trophy. They had better luck than a 
squad of Company A of our battalion 
had the same day, under somewhat 
similar circumstances, when they were 
drawn into ambush and lost one man 
killed and two severely wounded. 

Concluding it would be unsafe to re- 
main inside the enclosures of the plan- 
tation much longer, we passed out 
into the highway again, and were sur- 
prised to see a single horseman ap- 
proaching us, clad in a fine new gray 
uniform, and having on a military cap 
with plenty of gold bullion around it. 
He was splendidly mounted, and came 
riding towards us apparently without 
any misgivings, until he was within 
some six or eight rods, when he shout- 
ed out an inquiry as to where a certain 
Confederate regiment was, the name 
and number of which I have forgotten. 
I replied to him, "Here it is," when he 
again started toward us, but had. not 
advanced more than a rod or so before 
he wheeled his horse like a flash, and 
showed us his heels, but we followed 
rapidly and commenced firing, and pre- 
sumably the balls came so uncomfort- 
ably close to him that he halted, threw 
up his hands and surrendered. He 
proved to be an officer of the regular 
army, C. S. A., just come from Rich- 
mond to join his command, and hav- 
ing only arrived that day had not yet 
found it. Notwithstanding he was a 
high-toned Southern gentleman, he 
was that day a much chagrined and 
crestfallen Johnny, and found a place 
on the boat with our other prisoners. 

Rejoining Colonel Bowen, the en- 
emy was discovered in large force 
down in the woods, and the colonel had 
just ordered a charge, when Colonel 
Woods came up with the infantry and 
countermanded the order. For my 
part I was very glad he came just at 
that particular moment, for the infor- 
mation obtained from the negroes had 
satisfied me, that there was a large 
force of the enemy down the road upon 
which the charge was ordered, and that 
eighty men had no business in there. It 
'simply meant a ride to death, without 
accomplishing anything. 



It was afterward learned that the 
Confederate force consisted of some 
2,000 cavalry and 1,000 infantry, be- 
sides some artillery. They had a whole- 
some fear of the gunboats, how- 
ever, and that is probably all that saved 
our small force from a fight on that 
occasion, as they seemed determined 
that we should get away from the river 
before they would attack us. As it 
was we followed them a mile or more, 
taking a number of prisoners, horses, 
arms, etc., and then Colonel Woods 
being satisfied a further pursuit would 
be fruitless, the command was ordered 
back to the boats. The loss of the 
enemy must have been considerable, 
as the Benton shelled the woods with 
great persistency, and must have done 
considerable execution, as its shells 
certainly dropped in the vicinity where 
we knew the rebel force to be. 

The results of the expedition were a 
complete success. We had captured a 
steamboat loaded with arms as stated, 
together with about forty prisoners, 
among them five commissioned officers. 
We had, also, a large amount of am- 
munition, two field pieces, camp equip- 
age for about 1,000 men, and many 
other military supplies. We had de- 
stroyed a railroad bridge and tele- 
graph, on lines communicating with 
Vicksburg, besides the railroad station, 
and a large amount of Confederate 
stores. We had destroyed four large 
siege guns at Haines' Bluff, and every 
boat we could find on the Mississippi 
river and its immediate tributaries, 
thus very materially interfering with 
the transfer of troops or supplies from 
one side of the river to the other, which 
had up to that time been carried on to 
a very large extent. The only losses of 
the expedition were one man killed and 
two wounded, all three being members 
of our little cavalry force. We had 
gone where we pleased, and done pret- 
ty much as we pleased, and our work 
being accomplished, we proceeded leis- 
urely up the river and back to Helena. 
We stopped at one plantation on the 
way up, located in a horshoe bend of 
the river, where it was said to be 



ILLINOIS. CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



15 



twelve miles around by water, and only 
three miles by land between the two 
points. The plantation was raided for 
arms, of which a number were found, 
consisting- mostly of rifles and shot 
guns. These were carried out upon 
the lawn, where the lady of the house 
watched the process of destroying 
them, which was mainly accomplished 
by trying to wind them around the live 
oak trees by which the mansion was 
'surrounded. Seeing the fun the boys 
were having in this proceeding, Madam 
turned to her coachman who stood by, 
and remarked in the most haughty and 
sarcastic tone and manner, "There, 
Sam, you see what gentlemen these 
Yankees are." "Yes, Missis, I sees it,'' 
returned Sam, in a tone of sincere sym- 
pathy, which proved, however, not to 
be very heartfelt, for when, later in the 
day, we had passed around the twelve 
mile bend, and were still only three 
miles from the plantation, a bandanna 
handkerchief was waved from the bank 
of the river and upon landing, there 
stood the identical Sam, all his worldly 
goods tied up in a bundle and asking 
the Yankee gentlemen to take him 
along toward the North and to free- 
dom. The Yankees were good enough 
for him. It is needless to say that for 
the remainder of the trip Sam was a 
passenger. 

Among our prisoners was one for 
whom I formed quite an attachment 
during the few days he was with us 
on the boat, to whose limits he was 
paroled during our return trip to Hel- 
ena. He was a Captain Tucker from 
Richmond, Virginia, and at the out- 
break of the war was one of the pro- 
fessors in a University of Virginia. It 
was my good fortune to capture him 
with my little squad while following 
the Thirty-first Louisiana three or four 
miles out from Milliken's Bend. He 



was a scholarly, cultured gentleman, 
and from his standpoint no doubt a 
true patriot. Sitting on the guards of 
the boat during those summer even- 
ings, we had many long conversations 
about the war, its causes, its probable 
termination and results; and altogeth- 
er I found him one of the most inter- 
esting and companionable gentlemen 
I had ever met. One evening the 
naval officers paid a visit to our boat, 
and, of course, we entertained them as 
best we could according to the custom 
of those days. On my invitation Cap- 
tain Tucker joined us. It was a jolly 
party, wine flowed freely and the even- 
ing was passed with song, joke and 
story. We sang all the old songs, 
such as America, the Star Span- 
gled Banner, Red, White and Blue, 
and others of that character, in 
all of which Captain Tucker joined us, 
with apparently as much earnestness 
and spirit as any one, and being a good 
singer he was quite an acquisition to 
our party. All at once, however, I 
missed him, and going to his state- 
room, upbraided him for leaving us 
and insisted on his return. 

In the pleasure of the occasion I 
had forgotten the difference in our cir- 
cumstances, but he recalled them to 
mind by saying: "Lieutenant, please 
excuse me. You forget that I am a 
prisoner. I am obliged to you for 
your kindness, but all at once the 
thought came to me that I was a pris- 
oner and I had to leave. Please ex- 
cuse me." Of course, there was noth- 
ing more to be said, and I left him to 
his own sad and bitter reflections. 

On arriving at Helena we parted, 
and I have never seen or heard of him 
since, but have often wondered wheth- 
er he survived the conflict or what 
became of him. 




PUBLIC OPINION 



What the 



A CONCRETE EXAMPLE OF 

EVIL IN STATE RAILROAD 

OWNERSHIP 

A PROPOSITION fraught with dan- 
^ ger to the future of Georgia is be- 
fore the general assembly at Atlanta. 
It is embodied in two bills, one of which 
is to amend the state code of laws and 
the other to amend the state constitu- 
tion, the purpose of each being to pre- 
vent the construction of any railroad 
which would parallel the Western & 
Atlantic Railroad, that is owned by the 
state and extends from Atlanta to Chat- 
tanooga, 137 miles. This road is. now 
leased to the Nashville, Chattanooga & 
St. Louis Railway Company until De- 
cember 27, 1919, the latter road being 
controlled by the Louisville & Nash- 
ville railroad company through stock 
ownership. 

These contemplated changes in the 
law and the constitution are results of 
an application last October to charter 
the North Georgia Mineral Railway 
Company to build a line about 55 miles 
long from Atlanta northward to War- 
ford's Crossroads, in Bartow county, 
connecting there with the Louisville & 
Nashville Railroad. There was an im- 
mediate agitation against the projected 
enterprise, arguments being advanced 
in the public press and elsewhere to 
the effect that the granting of a char- 
ter for it would depress the rental value 
of the Western & Atlantic Railroad 
when the question of renewing the 
lease had to be considered. It was sug- 
gested that a special session of the leg- 
islature be called to act in the situation, 
for the secretary of state could not le- 
gally do otherwise than grant the char- 




World thinks 



ter requested. But after an exchange 
of correspondence with the governor, 
the petitioners withdrew their demand 
for a charter and awaited the regular 
session of the legislature this summer. 

On behalf of the petitioners it is as- 
serted that the contemplated line would 
not in any sense parallel the Western 
& Atlantic Railroad, that it would con- 
nect with the Louisville & Nashville 
Railroad's direct line to Knoxville, that 
it would cost between $3,000,000 and 
$4,000,000, and would moreover, re- 
sult in extensive mineral and industrial 
developments in Bartow county, where 
before the civil war there were four- 
teen iron furnaces, and there is now not 
one, although the iron ores are of ex- 
cellent quality and are sent to Chat- 
tanooga and Birmingham for smelt- 
ing. 

Leaving all questions as to the value 
of the state's railroad property and its 
rental aside, there remains the still 
greater question of the public welfare, 
and if the general assembly were to 
make the changes proposed, and there- 
by lay down a narrow rule of conduct 
respecting railroad charters, a blow of 
such grave severity to future enterprise 
would be dealt that the commonwealth 
would not recover from its effects for 
many years, even if remedial measures 
were instituted by the next legislature. 
This especially is no time to impose ob- 
stacles in the way of enterprise and 
capital. Elsewhere there have been re- 
actions from the extreme anti-corpora- 
tion policies which have delayed devel- 
opment in many parts of the country, 
and it is discouraging to find in one of 
the greatest of southern states the ex- 



16 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



istence of a militant spirit which would 
hamper enterprise and discourage in- 
vestment, and which, moreover, is 
wholly out of harmony with the dec- 
larations of its constitution respecting 
freedom of competition and opposition 
to monopoly. 

Involved in this question are the 
great possibilities of evil of state own- 
ership of railroads. If Georgia should, 
by reason of the fact that it owns the 
Western & Atlantic, refuse to permit 
independent interests to build a com- 
peting line, it would give the fullest 
possible proof of the destructive influ- 
ence of state ownership or of nationaj 
government ownership of railroads. 
Georgia could better afford to give the 
Western & Atlantic away than it could 
afford to use its ownership of that line 
to stifle initiative and development 
work on the part of its people or of 
capitalists from other sections who may 
desire to build other roads. If once 
state ownership is used in this way, it 
will bring about destructive influences 
which will hold in check material de- 
velopment far beyond what can now be 
easily seen. 

These statements are made entirely 
without any relation to the proposed 
road which has aroused such interest 
in the state or as to the ownership of 
the lease of the Western & Atlantic. 
Anything which by virtue of state or 
national ownership of railroads would 
halt the initiative in building other 
roads to open up undeveloped sections, 
deserves condemnation. In this country 
we are more and more needing to get 
away from the restricting, business- 
killing, governmental interference with 
upbuilding enterprises and encourage 
men of energy and capital to undertake 
broad construction work. The Balti- 
more Manufacturers' Record. 



SOUTH'S INDUSTRIAL GROWTH 
Wonderful Business Activity Re- 
ported From All Sections 

HpHERE are increasing evidences that 
the south, instead of being back- 
ward even in agriculture, is making an 



advance in farm and factory interests 
comparatively greater than that in other 
parts of the country. Announcement 
has been made of the organization of a 
large shipbuilding and dry dock com- 
pany to do business in Mobile. This is 
possibly of less importance than the in- 
creased activity of concerns now operat- 
ing. The Newport News Shipbuilding 
and Dry Dock Company, which main- 
tains the largest shipyard in America, 
has under contract between $20,000,000 
and $25,000,000 of work. Employes 
number 5,500, an increase of 20 per 
cent over last year's roll. The Mary- 
land Steel Company is building nine big 
steamships at Sparrows Point, Md., the 
contracts amounting to $5,000,000. This 
company now employs 2,400 men and 
expects shortly to add 300 more. 

The South is actively participating 
in European business. The prosperity 
of the two organizations just referred 
to has given an impetus to the Mobile 
venture, in which $4,000,000 is in- 
volved, and has also induced Galveston 
capitalists to organize a ship company. 
All things considered, the South has 
marketed its cotton crop with success. 
It is now the general opinion that the 
cotton situation could have been 
handled without the elaborate mea- 
sures provided. The present sound 
conditions, however, could not be fore- 
seen. In other ways the South is 
awake to opportunities. From a large 
oil field in central Oklahoma comes the 
report that "it is one of the busiest 
spots in the United States," producing 
300,000 barrels a day. Fourteen 
power plants, costing $3,000,000, have 
been completed there. Many pumping 
stations are being constructed, each at 
a cost of $70,000. The crude oil bus- 
iness of southern fields is increasing 
rapidly, as both foreign and domestic 
demands are heavier. 

The Manufacturers' Record of Bal- 
timore points out the wide diversity 
in the industrial activities of the 
South. A traction company in West 
Virginia is preparing to erect a $500,- 
000 electric power station. A $1,000,- 
000 coal pier is to be constructed at 



18 



ILLINOIS. CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



Baltimore by the Pennsylvania rail- 
road. In Mississippi a lumber com- 
pany is erecting a $500,000 sawmill, 
driven by electricity. A tanning en- 
terprise involving another $500,000 is 
reported in Tennessee. North Caro- 
lina is to increase its thread mill ac- 
tivities by the erection of a $500,000 
plant. A Wheeling iron company 
plans to issue $5,000,000 in bonds for 
permanent improvements. The South- 
ern Power Company of North Caro- 
lina, which already has more than 
$10,000,000 invested in hydro-electric 
operations, has begun construction 
work on a plant which will generate 
from 30,000 to 50,000 horse power. 
Not the least important of the South's 
ambitions is the reopening of the Mis- 
sissippi River to freight and passen- 
ger traffic. A line has already been 
placed in operation. The Daily News. 



RAILROAD RATES AND PROS- 
PERITY 

'"pHE Herald's well-informed Wash- 
* ington correspondent learns that 
the Interstate Commerce Commission 
has virtually decided that the request 
of the western railroads for higher 
freight rates should be granted. What 
the increase will add to railway income 
remains to be seen. Guesses of "$100,- 
000,000 a year" emanating from op- 
ponents of the increase are subject to 
heavy discount. 

The news is not pleasant to ship- 
pers who will pay the higher rates, but 
is not unexpected. Many associations 
of manufacturers and merchants have 
urged that the increase be granted, on 
the ground higher rates are better than 
decreased service. Persons having no 
financial interest in either side of the 
controversy have long regarded some 
increase as inevitable, for this simple 
reason : 

For several years past the railroads 
have had to pay generally increasing 
prices for nearly everything they have 
to buy or hire, from equipment and 
supplies to labor and capital. When a 
great industry gets into that situation 



one of two things is bound to happen : 
Either it will have to charge more for 
what it has to sell or it will have to 
give less for the charge, which in this 
case means less or poorer service. 

The situation may be eased by econ- 
omies in operation and by increasing 
the volume of business, but both meth- 
ods have their limits. When those 
have been reached then income must 
be increased by higher charges in order 
to cover the outgo, or outgo must be 
decreased by cutting down the service 
or failing to keep the plant at highest 
efficiency. Nor are these general con- 
clusions invalidated by pointing to cer- 
tain fortunately situated roads which 
have still been able to pay good divi- 
dends. That ignores the many other 
roads not so fortunately situated. 

It is deemed unlikely in Washington 
that the increase will have any visible 
effect on the average family's living 
cost, and is likely to promote pros- 
perity by encouraging investment in 
railway securities. There is a great 
deal of money looking for investment, 
but of late years cautious investors 
have been somewhat shy of railroad 
securities because of the increasing 
narrowness of margin between rail- 
road income and outgo. And whatever 
increases confidence and encourages 
savers to put ..their money at work in 
constructive enterprises increases pros- 
perity. And that is what we all want. 
Chicago Herald, Tuesday morning, 
July 6, 1915. 



W 



RAILWAY MAIL PAY. 

HEN the United States govern- 
ment engages the second indus- 
try of the land in a pitiless war "over 
the proper pay for a railroad hauling 
a pound of mail, some sort of a sur- 
prise is not out of order. It is reserved 
for Americans alone to see howitzers 
taken up to settle a question of ac- 
counting. 

The railroads claim that the govern- 
ment is not paying them sufficiently 
for carrying the mails, and the gov- 
ernment is just as loud in its denials 
and counter assertions that the rail- 



ILLINOIS. CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



19 



roads are overpaid. Incidentally, no 
railway mail pay legislation was en- 
acted at the last session of congress as 
a result, and now both sides are pre- 
paring for a display at the December 
session of congress. Chairman Moon 
of the congressional committee seems 
to be imbued with the spirit of driving 
a good bargain and "saving millions for 
the government." But the public, who 
must support the railroads through the 
passenger, freight, express, and mail 
tolls, certainly expects the government 
to bear its fair share. A million clip- 
ped off the mail pay will mean a mil- 
lion added somewhere else. One con- 
gressional committee has already sub- 
mitted a report favoring more liberal 
compensation, and congress should 
either accept its finding or be in a 
position to prove its falsity. The rail- 
roads have suggested that the matter 
be left to the Interstate Commerce 
Commission. 

But more important than all other 
considerations is the question of eth- 
ics. The government has the power to 
compel the railroads to carry the mails 
at a loss, possibly, but its power should 
not be so misused. A government that 
demands frank and honest dealing be- 
tween the business men of the nation 
should take every opportunity to set 
an example. The Chicago Tribune. 



SOMETHING OUT OF THE 
USUAL 

It is something of a rarity these days 
of general "knocking" to hear a man, 
especially one of considerable experience 
and in position to know whereof he 
speaks, say nice things of a railroad, so 
unusual and out of the ordinary that it 
is worthy of mention when it does occur. 

A group of men were standing in 
front of a local hotel the other morning 
waiting for No. 23 ; three or four drum- 
mers, a couple of railroad men and the 
writer. The conversation was general 
for a time, until one of the railroad em- 
ployes commented on the efficiency and 
general method of the I. C.,. remarking 
that it seemed to him that the company 
had a mighty poor way of making 



itself popular with the people along its 
lines. 

One of the traveling men, Ben. T. 
Allen, a well-known salesman for a 
Louisville house, making his home at 
Jackson, Miss., took up the remark 
quickly, with about this answer; "Well, 
I want to tell you that I've found the 
I. C. the best and most accommodating 
line that turns a wheel. I travel it reg- 
ularly as well as on other lines in this 
trade territory, and I ship my stuff from 
Louisville hundreds of miles out of the 
direct line in order to route over the 
I. C. It's the best and quickest and the 
most accommodating line that I know," 
and continued after a slight pause, "and 
the I. C. don't know that I'm alive, 
either." 

The little chance conversation inter- 
ested the writer, not because of the nice 
words for the I. C., but because a man 
who spends his money with the railroad 
should so quickly defend the line against 
the charges of one who for many years 
has drawn his living from that very rail- 
road. The Water Valley (Miss.) Prog- 
ress, July 10, 1915. 



THE SOUTHERN GRAIN BELT 

Do you know that the grain crop 
now growing in the fields of the South 
exceeds in value, largely, the total of 
the most valuable cotton crop ever 
gathered in this section? It is a fact. 

Do you know that the farmer who 
diversifies his crops finds it much easier 
to get financial backing than the one 
who clings to the one-crop fallacy? It 
is a fact. 

Do you know that bankers, mer- 
chants, transportation agents and pro- 
fessional men are working hand in 
hand with the farmer to find econom- 
ical methods of marketing these "'new" 
crops? It is a fact. 

According to the government fore- 
cast, based on conditions existing July 
1, the Southern states this year will 
produce 1,540,000,000 bushels of wheat, 
corn and oats. This is a gain of 286,- 
000,000 bushels over last year. These 
figures do not include an increase of 
fi.000,000 bushels in the rice crops of 



20 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



Louisiana and Texas and Arkansas. 

Tennessee this year will produce 14,- 
886,000 bushels of grain more than in 
1914; Arkansas' increase is 23,591,000 
bushels, exclusive of rice; Mississippi 
has an increased grain production of 
19,914,000 bushels, and Alabama shows 
a gain of 16,905,000 bushels. 

While the South has increased grain 
production approximately 23 per cent 
this year, the balance of the country 
shows an increase of only 5^ per cent 
over last year. 

The Manufacturers' Record esti- 
mates that grain crops of the South in 
1915 will represent at least $250,000,- 
000 more than last year. Commercial 
Appeal, Friday, July 23rd, 1915. 



EGAN HEADS TERMINAL CO. 

Many Railroad Men Come Here to Attend 
Annual Meeting 

Representatives of nearly all railroads en- 
tering Memphis came here yesterday to attend 



the annual meeting of the Memphis Terminal 
Railroad Company, which was held in Grand 
Central Station. 

A. H. Egan, general superintendent of the 
Yazoo & Mississippi Valley Railroad, was 
elected president; W. S. Martin, president of 
the Union Railway Company, vice-president, 
and G. T. Roach, Mr. Egan's chief clerk, sec- 
retary. 

The Memphis Terminal Railroad Company 
owns a large tract of land south of the union 
depot, between Virginia and Iowa avenues, 
which all the roads bought a few years ago 
when they considered building one union sta- 
tion. 

Attending the meeting, beside the officers 
elected, were C. N. Burch, Memphis, general 
solicitor Y. & M. V. R. R.; W. L. Mapother, 
Louisville, vice president of the Louisville & 
Nashville ; John Howe Peyton, Nashville, 
president of the Nashville, Chattanooga & 
St. Louis ; H. B. Spencer, Washington, vice- 
president of the Southern Railway; C. W. 
Nelson, St. Louis, vice-president of the Cot- 
ton Belt; C. P. Cooper, Memphis, executive 
general agent of the Southern Railway; F. 
N. Fisher, Memphis, superintendent of the 
Louisville & Nashville, and J. N. Cornatzar, 
Memphis, general passenger agent of the 
Frisco. The Commercial Appeal Memphis, 
Tenn., Wednesday Morning, June 30th, 1915. 




mt*^irriv|j 



D iaducah, Kentuc 

"Trie Pride o/Jacson's Purchase 




>"V ii.'W 

^juia n * 



Oiott C.Miicfiell 

Associate Editor"Paducah Evemnc^Sun" 



HpHE city of Paducah nestles at the 
-* forking of the Tennessee into the 
turbid waters of the Ohio, Nature's 
child in a rich environment; Queen of 
West Kentucky, and the undisputed 
Metropolis of the territory to north, 
south, east and west, for a distance of 
200 miles. With 30,000 souls properly 
listed among her inhabitants, teeming 
with industry and striving for greater 
industry, rich in history, but richer in 
history to be made, proud of the past 
but building a future of a greater 
pride ; Paducah is typical of the "new 
south," that Phoenix which has arisen 
triumphant, from the dead ashes of an 
undeveloped past. 

Paducah revels in glories come and 
gone, but the writer does not believe 
that the past is of as much interest to 
the possible readers of this article, as 
the present and future. Historical so- 
cieties might take issue. If they do, 
they will find here all their hearts de- 
sire of heroes dead and gone and the 
heroic things they did. 

Battered like a shuttlecock in the 
war between the states, Paducah 
served alike the blue and the gray, 
was alternately despoiled by both, and 
buried the dead with tears alike for 
north and south. Here fought and died 
Lloyd Tilghman ; here Morgan raided ; 
here Lew Wallace camped ; here 
Grant's eagle eye swept the vista to 
the south; here Nicholas, grandfather 
of Theodore Roosevelt, anchored the 
first adventurous packet to come south 
of St. Louis; here lived and died the 



man, Jack Sleeth, who laid the first 
submarine cable in existence, and here 
were born and reared a score or more, 
whose illustrious names have done 
honor to history's pages, since the 
twenty-sixth day of a fair and spark- 
ling month of May. in the year 1827, 
when Paducah first came into being, 
and graduated from Indian camp of 
Chief Paduke, her red godfather, to the 
township of Paducah, gratefully so- 
called, in his memory. So much for 
the old Paducah and the red wine of 
courage that moulded in her ancient 
bottles. 

Of the Paducah of today more may 
be said by an hundred times, and yet 
not half be told. Let the reader be 
warned our contribution to "Who's 
Who in America" has not ended with 
the work of the past, as has that of 
many an eminent producer. Barney 
Dreyfuss still hands Hanns Wagner 
pay checks which his early training in 
Paducah have developed. Marc Klaw's 
genius for the mastery of stage and 
box office is an inheritance from Pa- 
ducah birth, and last, but not least, Irvin 
Shrewsbury Cobb has gone forth to 
bully Kaiser's and Kitchener's and to 
make his Majesty, the American Man, 
laugh with the laugh that knows no 
equal, firm in the knowledge that one 
whose cradle has rocked in the breezes 
of Paducah and whose infant destinies 
have survived the ministrations of 
dusky nurses from the Purchase, has 
small need to blink the eye or bow the 
knee before musty potentates on tin- 



21 



22 



ILLINOIS. CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



sel thrones. That for history and the 
Dame is welcome to it. Now for the 
things that Bradstreets likes to handle. 

To begin with, Paducah is essentially 
the center of the dark tobacco growing- 
district, the "black patch" of America. 
The physical valuation of her receiving 
warehouse borders on $1,500,000. The 
value of the annual receipts of these 
houses will run from $5,000,000 to $7,- 
000,000. In the tobacco season deliv- 
eries come into the city from a radius 
of seventy-five miles to the south and 
west. It is no uncommon sight to see, 
in the course of a single day, 600 loads 
of the weed, parked in long lines, to 
await their place at the barns. When 
the season is on, retail business is at 
the best. Thousands of dollars, dis- 
tributed to the surrounding territory, 
find their way to Paducah mercantile 
establishments. 

During the season of 1914, when cha- 
otic conditions in Europe made the 
export tobacco trade duller than it has 
ever been, Paducah continued to buy 
heavily, and to the co-operative assist- 
ance of local buyers, many tobacco 
growers owe their continued existence 
as farmers. The present season, in 
prospect, is one of the best on record. 
A big acreage and splendid growing 
conditions point to an enormous crop 
of fine quality. 

In addition to the receiving ware- 
houses, two tobacco factories are es- 
tablished here, live, vigorous concerns, 
with good payrolls. 

In other lines of agriculture, Mc- 
Cracken County, surrounding Paducah, 
is fast coming into its own. It pos- 
sesses some of the finest truck gardens 
and orchards south of the Mason-Dix- 
on line, the result of the strenuous 
work of the business men in the city, 
who have induced the farmers to ex- 
periment with diversified farming. To 
assist them in their new endeavor, a 
county farm agent, or demonstrator, is 
kept the year round at the joint ex- 
pense of city, county and federal gov- 
ernment. A growers' association, or- 
ganized by the men of the city for the 
benefit of the county, now ships Mc- 



Cracken county vegetables to all 
America. Michigan is a ready taker of 
its celery and lettuce, New York of 
beans, Minnesota of potatoes, Missouri 
of anything it has to sell. The total 
wealth of the county, under this care- 
ful supervision, has increased tremen- 
dously in the last two years, and is 
still in> its infancy. 

Sales of produce on the local mar- 
ket are made through the medium of a 
municipal market house, owned and 
controlled by the city. This market, a 
block in length, is rented in sections, 
at a nominal figure, to sellers of meat, 
fruit and vegetables. It is sanitary and 
convenient, and it is the medium of 
enormous savings to the housewife and 
greater gain to the farmer by elimina- 
tion of the middleman. 

The city of Paducah is under the 
Commission form of government, now 
in its experimental year. Four com- 
missioners and a mayor, elected on 
non-partisan tickets, control its mu- 
nicipal affairs. The usual minor offi- 
cials and a park and health board com- 
plete the official make-up. The city's 
tax rate is $1.80, based on 60 per cent 
of the valuation. It possesses a boule- 
vard and park system, with municipal 
play grounds, in charge of a competent 
salaried instructor. Its streets in the 
residential district are oiled, in the 
business district built of asphalt. A 
ten-story office building, two handsome 
bank buildings, a big public library, 
and several decidedly imposing 
churches constitute its architectural 
prominence. 

The city possesses five well equipped 
fire stations, a motorized department, 
and is rated as first-class by the state 
authorities. The police force is com- 
petent. It approximates forty men. 
Street railway facilities are abundant, 
eight lines and modern rolling stock, 
under good management. 

A live Board of Trade, with a splen- 
did freight rate bureau, a hustling Re- 
tail Merchants' Association, associa- 
tions of the manufacturers, the coal 
men, the grocers and similar minor or- 
ganizations, are ever ready to handle 



ILLINOIS. CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



25 



municipal problems in an intelligent 
way. A Rotary Club,, a Good Roads 
Club, and an automobile club, estab- 
lished for mutual benefit and social in- 
tercourse, are potent factors in weld- 
ing- the efforts of citizens for better 
things. 

The manufacturers of Paducah are 
varied. The Paducah Cooperage Com- 
pany, supplying both domestic and 
South American trade; the Cohankus 
Manufacturing Company, Lack Single- 
tree Company, and Lack Malleable 
Iron Companies ; Lax-Fos Co. ; the 
Southern Textile Machinery Co. ; the 
Lancaster Parquet Flooring Co. ; Pa- 
ducah Hosiery Mills; Mayfield Woolen 
Mills; Langstaff-Orm Mfg. Co.; Sher- 
rill-Russell Lumber Co. ; Fooks Lum- 
ber Co. ; Smith & Scott Tobacco Co. ; 
The Paducah Box & Basket Co. ; Little 
Spoke & Wagon Works, and the Pa- 
ducah Brewery, are among the more 
prominent. The trade of all is excel- 
lent, and the payrolls big. Trie whole- 
sale liquor business is also a big factor 
in city revenue, two of the largest 
houses in the south operating from 
here. 

As a river point, Paducah retains 
whatever of the fast fading glory of 
the old river days remains. Situated 
exactly at the junction of the Ohio and 
the Tennessee, but a few miles below 
the entrance of the Cumberland, and 
with the Mississippi miles below, the 
city could hardly be outmaneuvered in 
river facilities. Daily packets ply to 
Illinois points, and semi-weekly boats 
to the extreme of the Cumberland and 
Tennessee and to St. Louis. Other 
craft are docking continuously on their 
way to and from river terminals. An 
immense coal output from the upper 
Kentucky mines goes through by river 
continually. Two big mining com- 
panies, the Eureka and the West Ken- 
tucky, maintain headquarters here, and 
one operates an extensive barge build- 
ing plant. 

Rich mineral deposits are adjacent, 
coal and floor spar predominating, 
with a good deal of excellent building 
clay. 



The railroad prominence of Paducah 
has been a story long told. The site 
of the huge shops of the Illinois Cen- 
tral, the city for years has possessed a 
never failing source of revenue from 
shops' payrolls, even at times when 
other industries were not so well on 
foot. Continuous freight and passen- 
ger service is given by the Illinois Cen- 
tral and by the N., C. & St. L. ; the di- 
vision headquarters of the latter road 
are here. 

Railroad growth, however, is only 
beginning. During the month just 
ended, the work of building the Pa- 
ducah and Illinois railroad has been 
completed. The Paducah and Illinois 
is 14 miles of double track running 
from Paducah to a point on the Ohio 
river, where a four million dollar 
bridge "is now in process of construc- 
tion. The other approach will be at 
Metropolis, Illinois. The bridge is be- 
ing constructed under the supervision 
of the Burlington, and when completed 
it will carrv trains of that road, of the 
N., C. & St. L., of the Illinois Central 
and of the Big Four, throwing through 
Paducah an enormously increased 
north to south traffic. 

The psychological effect of the great 
work has been very perceptible and 
very good. It has proven a tonic to 
business conditions at a time when na- 
tional depression had set in, and the 
humblest Paducahan has visions of the 
brightest of futures. The bridge is now 
well under way and its completion in 
two years and a half is expected. 

There are a great many other points 
the careful biographer of Paducah 
could pick up with which to impress 
the unwary reader. In full possession 
of those attributes which stamp a com- 
munity as. metropolitan, Paducah daz- 
zles the eye on first inspection. The 
general expression of the visitor is that 
the population, judged from appear- 
ances, would reach 50,000. Good 
streets, pretty homes, city and country 
clubs, broad walks, excellent hotels, 
theaters, and all the externals of a 
"good town" are readily observed. 
There is little lacking to make condi- 



Junction of the Ohio & Tennessee Rivers 
Paducah Ay. 



Palmer House and I.C.R.R. 

Ticket Office 



Looking across Ohio River from 
foot of Broadway 




ILLINOIS. CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



27 



tions ideal for the resident, and thor- 
ough satisfaction is a standby of dwell- 
ers within Paducah's portals. 

But dearer than all these; more sig- 
nificant in its promise for the future, is 
the undercurrent of pulsating life in 
business and society, the inner evidence 
of a spirit to be re-born, and to forge 
ahead where others fail, which so thor- 



oughly permeates Paducah. It is a city 
with an eye on its destiny, affixed to a 
bright star. It is a city which believes 
the good things of life couldn't miss it 
if they would, and because it is all that, 
it is a city of the times, of the present, 
and of the future; a city that holds its 
young men to its side, and invites their 
brothers from afar. 



A Letter Complimentary to the 57th Street 
Training School 

Mr. J. J. Pelley, Superintendent, Fulton, Ky. 

As to my views of the Illinois Central training station in Chicago, I think 
any young man that has given railroad life the thought as his future position, 
can get a good start in the service by attending the station school, as it gives 
him a very good idea as to the agency work, which should be mastered in 
some degree by all beginners. And any one can get a most thorough knowl- 
edge as to tariffs and what order they should be in, and the regulations on 
inflammables and other dangerous articles by freight and baggage, and the 
kind of label they require for shipment. And the ticket office department, 
which all the students can get very familiar with, as to selling tickets, check- 
ing baggage, local and excess, and the checking of dogs and other things than 
regular baggage. And the freight received books, tickets and cash book, and 
how they should be handled, and also the daily, weekly, monthly reports, and 
on what days they should be sent off. 

Besides the agency work there is the telegraph department, in which the 
students can get the real "dope" over the wires, and no young man ever goes 
and regrets the four weeks spent in school under the instructions of Mr. 
E. A. Barton. J. L. Peacock. 





$> Employes max; become stock- 
holders in the Illinois Central R.R. 
on the installment plan. 

Ibr the information of employes 
desiring to acquire stock in the Illinois 
Central R.R.,we quote belotp from the 
Circular issued by the President May 95* 
1896, addressed to officers and employes: 

ie price to 6e quoted for which applications will be ac- 
cepted TOT purchase ofcJ.C.oFtocfi is based upon tne mar- 
ket price on tne day tne application is received in Comptrol- 

1 * /Y* J/ / * /Y* ) / ' '7 /* ' f * / 

/ers office... Csf/i employe is offered the privilege of subscriD- 

/" / ^ ' +J " U ' t. ' ' j 11' S ' 
major one share at a time, payable by installments in sums 

of^5~ or any multiple of$5~, on tne. completion of 
which the Company will deliver to him a certificate of 
the share registered in his name on the books, of me Com- 
pany. oMe can then, if he wishes, beg in the purchase of 
another share on tne installment plan. c &ie certificate 
of stock is transferable, on tne Company's books, and 
entitles the owner to such dividends as may be de - 
dared by the &oard of 'Directors, and. to a vote in, 
their election. 

Csfny officer or employe making payments on this 
plan will be entitled to receive interest on his deposits, 
at tne rate of four per cent per annum, durina the time he 
is payma for his share of stock, provided he does not al- 
low twelve consecutive months to elapse without maKinq 

/ , /~ f ' /" ')* 

any payment, at the expiration of which period interest 

will cease to accrue, and the sum at ms credit will be 
returned to him on his application therefor. 

4 /7" If' /' v/ f 

dsiny officer or employe maRina payments on thefore- 
ooma plan, and for any reason desinna to discontinue 
them, can have nis money returned to him with accrued 



interest, y makmq application to me head of me de- 
partmQnt in which fie is employed. 

CX^>2 employe, 'who has made application -for a snare 
of stock, on. trie installment plan , is expected to make 
me first payment from me first waaes which may he due 

/ / CTF^ / / *J XT' J'-' // / ,/ 

him. J-orms are provided for the purpose, on which the 

/ / r I/' ' jf v IC?^ 

subscribing employe authorizes the cjocai~(oreasurerm 

Chicago, or the ofjocal^oreasurer in ( ^/ew Orleans, or 



the'tfaymaster or the (Assistant Paymaster to retain 
from his waaes the amount of installment to be credited 
monthly to me employe for the purchase or a snare of stock.. 

<yn case an employe leaves the service of tne Company 
from any cause, he must then either pay in full for the 
sfiare for which, he has subscribed ana. receive a certifi- 
cate therefor, or take his money with the interest which, 
has accrued. 

< v}he foregoma does not preclude me purchase of 
shares of stock for casfi. CLX//Z employe who has not al- 
ready an outstanding application for a share of stock on 
the installment plan, which is not fully paid for, can in any 
Given month make application for a snare ofstoc/tjor cash 
at the price quoted to employes for that month, , ana he can, 

/ I 7 / ./-/ / a '/ / / x- 

m the same month, if he so desires, make application ^or an- 
other share on me installment plan. 

(Smployes who Want to purchase more than one share 
at a time for cash, should address the Comptroller tn Chi- 
caao.who will obtain /or them, the price at which the stock, 
can fae purchased. 

Cxmy employe desinncj to purchase stock, (except in 
special purchase of more than one snare for cash.) should 

/'/'' )*x ' //* s jO/ 

QPP'y to his immediate superior ofncer, or to one or the 
<dJocal c toreasurers jby filling in the following coupon : 
Mr. O. T. Nau, Date 

Local Treasurer, 

Chicago 111. 

\)?ill you please send me an application 
for tAe purcnase on.C. StocE. on tA.c installment plan. 

Signed 

Employed as _ 

At Station 




fa fa fa fa fa 





The Railway Mail Service 

A Sketch of Its History and Principal Features 
By H. L. Fairfield, Manager Bagage and Mail Traffic 



Early Postal Service on Railroads 
HP HE United States mails were first 
* carried on railroads in 1834, at the 
end of which year the total length of 
mail routes in operation was 78 miles. 
By 1864, 30 years later (the beginning 
of the distribution of mails en route ; 
in other words, of the railway mail ser- 
vice proper), there were 22,616 miles 
of mail routes in service. At the pres- 
ent time mails are carried on 231,398 
miles of railroad. 

Prior to 1864 the mails carried on 
railroads were in closed bags, not 
opened en route, although for a short 
time, immediately preceding 1864, there 
were some lines on which a postal em- 
ploye traveled on the train and assor- 
ted packages of letters, not individual 
letters, received from local postoffices 
so as to avoid the delay in carrying all 
of the mail through to the terminus of 
the train for distribution in the ter- 
minal postoffice ; however, no distribu- 
tion whatever was made of any mail 
going beyond the terminus of the run, 
all of which was sent to the terminal 
postoffice for separation, of course de- 
laying the mail from 12 to 24 hours. 

Apparently the idea of separating 
mail en route so as to avoid this delay 
originated in the mind of Geo. B. Arm- 
strong, who had been for many years 
Assistant Postmaster of the Chicago 
postofrice. Mr. Armstrong had an ex- 
tended reputation as an exceedingly 
able postal official, and he made the 
Chicago postoffice a model, postmast- 



ers coming many hundreds of miles to 
study his methods, as at that time 
there was practically no uniformity in 
the postal service. Mr. Blair, Post- 
master General under President Lin- 
coln, had a great deal of faith in Mr. 
Armstrong's ability, and was readily 
induced by the latter to give a thor- 
ough trial of his system of distributing 
mails en route. Postmaster General 
Blair gave authority to go ahead with 
the trial July 1, 1864. Mr. Armstrong- 
arranged with the Chicago & North- 
western Railway for a mail apartment 
car fitted up with what we would now 
consider very crude letter cases and 
bag racks. The car was placed in ser- 
vice on August 28, 1864, running be- 
tween Chicago and Clinton, la. 

The advantages of this system were 
so immediately apparent that similar 
service was soon established between 
Chicago and Quincy on the Chicago, 
Burlington & Quincy Railroad, and be- 
tween Chicago and Rock Island, on the 
Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Rail- 
road, and a little later between New 
York and Washington on the Pennsyl- 
vania Lines, and was rapidly extended 
to cover all important lines of railroads 
then in operation in the northern and 
central states. 

The first service requiring an entire 
car, which we now call "Full Postal 
Car Service." was between Boone and 
Council Bluffs, la., on the Chicago & 
Northwestern Railway, and began in 
1867, three years later. This service 



30 



ILLINOIS. CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



31 



was established particularly to distrib- 
ute the mails for the far west, which 
had previously been turned into the 
Council Bluffs postoffice for distribu- 
tion, thereby delaying the mails 24 
hours, as there was only one train a 
day running west of Council Bluffs at 
that time, and, in fact, for many years 
thereafter. 

Among the first to be appointed rail- 
way postal clerks was James E. White, 
of Chicago, afterwards, for a great 
many years, General Superintendent of 
the Railway Mail Service, now living 
in retirement; also James E. Stewart, 
still an active postal official, who for 
many years has been Postoffice In- 
spector-in-Charge at Chicago. 

The Railway Mail Service developed 
so rapidly that it soon became neces- 
sary to organize it as a separate de- 
partment of the postal service. The 
country was divided into six divisions, 
each with a superintendent in charge 
under the direction of a general super- 
intendent located at Washington. Nat- 
urally Mr. Armstrong was made the 
first general superintendent of the Rail- 
way Mail Service, which was in 1869. 
However, Mr. Armstrong's strenuous 
efforts in building up this new service 
undermined his health and he died two 
years later. While, of course, the Rail- 
way Mail Service has since immensely 
expanded, and many details have been 
added, it remains in principle today 
the same as established by Geo. B. 
Armstrong in 1864. 
Growth of the Railway Mail Service 

The six original divisions of the Rail- 
way Mail Service have been expanded 
to fifteen, having 140 supervisory offi- 
cers and 19,569 postal clerks. There 
are 1,434 full postal cars in service and 
4,257 mail apartment cars. The de- 
partment estimates that during the 
fiscal year ending June 30, 1914, the 
Railway Mail Service handled 13,407,- 
594,861 pieces of ordinary mail matter, 
and in addition thereto, over 66,000,000 
pieces of registered mail. 
Establishment of Fast Mail Service 

While Geo. B. Armstrong founded 
the Railway Mail Service, it remained 



for Geo. S. Bangs to inaugurate what 
is known as "The Fast Ms.il Service." 
Mr. Bangs was appointed postmaster 
at Aurora, 111., by President Lincoln. 
He was a great friend and admirer of 
Mr. Armstrong, and handled his post- 
office in the same efficient manner. He 
was very enthusiastic over the estab- 
lishment of the Railway Mail Service, 
and when, as already mentioned, Mr. 
Armstrong was made General Superin- 
tendent, he made Mr. Bangs Assistant 
Superintendent of that service at Chi- 
cago. When Mr. Armstrong died, Mr. 
Bangs was appointed his successor. He 
inaugurated the system of checking the 
accuracy of the work of postal clerks 
by requiring each package of letters to 
be accompanied with a slip showing 
the name of the clerk, his run, and the 
date. Other clerks or postmasters find- 
ing errors in the package, note same 
on this slip, which is sent to the super- 
intendent of the division of the Rail- 
way Mail Service in which the clerk 
works. The errors are charged against 
the clerk's record and the slip is sent 
to him in order that he may correct his 
distribution. The labels of sacks of 
papers likewise show the clerk's name 
who made up the sack, and the errors 
found therein are similarly noted. This 
system is still in use and has been 
largely responsible for developing the 
accuracy for which the Railway Mail 
Service has been noted. 

Up to the time Mr. Bangs became 
General Superintendent, the officials of 
the Postoffice Department had not 
aimed to secure for the mail any great- 
er expedition than passengers could ob- 
tain for themselves. Mr. Bangs was 
not content with this, and he conceived 
the idea of exclusive mail trains, whose 
departure from important postal cen- 
ters, especially New York and Chicago, 
should be timed to best suit the needs 
of the postal service, and to run at 
much higher speed than any passenger 
train in those days. Mr. Bangs was 
authorized by the Postmaster General 
in 1874 to open negotiations with the 
New York Central and the Lake Shore 
& Michigan Southern Railroads, for 



ILLINOIS. CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



33 



fast mail service between New York 
and Chicago. In view of the continual 
controversies which have marred the 
relations of the Postoffice Department 
and the railroads in recent years in the 
matter of suitable remuneration, etc., 
the history of the establishment of the 
first fast mails is very interesting, and 
I am going to quote a brief statement 
made by the Honorable Thomas L. 
James, who was at one time Postmaster 
General, as follows : 

"It was the old story of making 
bricks without straw. The Postoffice 
Department had no appropriation to 
pay for such facilities, hence it had to 
depend at first on the public spirit of 
the railroad authorities. Commodore 
Vanderbilt, the president of the com- 
panies whose lines were to be used, had 
had dealings with the Department, and 
was perhaps not altogether sanguine as 
to the practical issue of the experiment, 
or in respect to the countenance it 
would receive from Congress ; but Mr. 
William H. Vanderbilt, the vice-presi- 
dent, lent a willing ear to Mr. Bangs' 
proposition, and did his utmost to aid 
him in putting it into effect. There 
being no special appropriation avail- 
able for the purpose in hand . . . 
Colonel Bangs stipulated that if Mr. 
Vanderbilt would have twenty cars 
built and the service performed, all 
matter originating at, or coming into, 
the New York postoffice, which could 
reach its destination at the same time 
by this line, should be sent by this 
train, and that the railway companies 
could have the right to demand a 
weighing of the mail matter at will, all 
railroads being paid according to 
weight. When the details of the plan 
were communicated to Commodore 
Vanderbilt, he is reported to have said 
to his son, 'If you want to do this, go 
ahead, but I know the Postoffice De- 
partment, and you will, too, within a 
year.' Mr. Vanderbilt did go ahead. 
He constructed and equipped the finest 
mail train ever seen, . . . ran it for 
ten months, never missed a connection 
at Chicago, and was always on time at 
New York. He did not have to wait 



a year, however, for a realization of the 
sagacious old Commodore's prophecy. 
Within three weeks, despite the indig- 
nant protest of Colonel Bangs, the 
mails of three states were ordered to 
be taken from this and given to another 
route. A grosser and more wanton 
breach of plighted faith it would be 
hard to find, and its results were far- 
reaching and disastrous." 

The Pennsylvania Railroad estab- 
lished a similar fast mail service. The 
train on both roads made the run in 26 
hours, certainly very fast service for 
those days, in fact, only two hours and 
ten minutes slower than the New York- 
Chicago fast mail train today. 

The outlook was bright for even 
wider extensions of expedited mail 
service when Congress, in spite of pro- 
tests from the Postoffice Department, 
passed an act reducing by 10 per cent 
the already inadequate compensation 
for the transportation of mails. This 
was too much even for W. H. Vander- 
bilt, and he notified the Department 
that the fast mail service would be dis- 
continued July 22, 1876, and the Penn- 
sylvania Railroad took the same action. 
General Superintendent Bangs was so 
greatly disappointed at this abrupt un- 
doing of all his labors that he tendered 
his resignation and insisted upon its ac- 
ceptance. 

Although these fast mail trains had 
been in existence less than ten months, 
that was long enough to demonstrate 
to the business world their great value, 
and, in the following year, 1877, Con- 
gress made a special appropriation of 
$150,000, to be paid for expedited ser- 
vice, and thus was inaugurated what 
for many years was known as "Special 
Facility Pay." In fact, the giving of 
extra compensation to have exclusive 
mail trains operated on a fast schedule 
to be designated by the Department, 
continued until within the last eight or 
nine years, since which time the fast 
mail trains have received no extra com- 
pensation. 

With this appropriation the Depart- 
ment was enabled to restore the fast 
mail trains between New York and 



34 



ILLINOIS. CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



Chicago, and there is now scarcely any 
road of importance which does not op- 
erate at least one train known as "The 
Fast Mail," although now, with a few 
exceptions, they carry express and a 
limited number of passengers as well 
as mail. 

The Clerical Force 

For many years after the establish- 
ment of the Railway Mail Service, the 
appointment of clerks was purely po- 
litical. The Railway Mail Service was 
the first great department of the gov- 
ernment to be brought under the Civil 
Service, as experience soon demon- 
strated that a clerk had hardly acquired 
the extensive knowledge necessary to 
efficient service, when the administra- 
tion would change and a new lot of 
men would be appointed. Since the- 
establishment of the Civil Service, rail- 
way postal clerks have been appointed 
as result of passing a competitive ex- 
amination. Successful applicants are 
first appointed as substitutes, who must 
necessarily spend considerable time in 
study before they are competent to per- 
form service in the postal cars. After 
becoming competent, they take the 
place of postal clerks granted leave of 
absence account of sickness, injury, 
etc., and for such service receive pay at 
the rate of $800 per annum. As vacan- 
cies occur in the service, substitutes are 
appointed regular clerks at $900 per 
annum. If the services of the clerk are 
satisfactory, and he passes the required 
examinations on the distribution to 
which he is assigned, his salary is in- 
creased $100 each year until he receives 
$1,200 per annum, which is virtually 
the minimum salary in the service. 
Postal clerks on heavy runs receive 
much higher salaries, the maximum for 
a clerk on road duty being $1,800 per 
annum, which salary is paid eventually 
to postal clerks-in-charge of crews on 
heavy runs. 

In addition to their salaries, postal 
clerks are now given an allowance to 
cover their expenses while on their 
runs, the maximum allowance per an- 
num being about $130. Postal clerks 
on heavy runs usually work six days 



and then have six days off for rest and 
study. Clerks are required to contin- 
ually pass examinations showing their 
knowledge of the dispatch^ of mail for 
postoffices which they are required to 
distribute. In some cases, clerks are 
required to know the proper distribu- 
tion for as many as 18,000 postoffices, 
in addition to which many clerks are 
required to distribute mail for large 
cities to the letter carriers who deliver 
the mail, of course, saving a great deal 
of time, enabling mail to be delivered 
to addressees early in the morning, 
perhaps on the first delivery, which 
would otherwise not be delivered until 
the afternoon. This distribution of 
city mail to carriers has reached a point 
where mail for practically every city 
of importance is worked up by postal 
clerks, in the case of trains reaching 
such cities before noon, and reaches the 
postoffice ready for immediate delivery. 
The'Merit System 

I have already explained how errors 
in distribution made by clerks are 
checked against them and how their 
knowledge of their distribution is con- 
tinually further tested by examinations. 
Clerks are given demerits, or minus 
points, for errors in distribution, for 
poor examinations, and for all other 
errors and delinquencies. If the num- 
ber of demerits received in a specified 
time equals or exceeds a certain 
amount, the clerk is reduced, or even 
removed from the service, as the case 
may be. On the other hand, clerks are 
given plus points for exceptionally 
good car records, as well as examina- 
tion records, which plus points operate 
to cancel minus points, if any. This so- 
called "Plus and Minus System" has 
been very elaborately developed, much 
too elaborately the clerks claim, and it 
is, in fact, a question whether or not 
the system has not been carried too 
far for the best interests of the service. 
Casualties 

The Railway Mail Service was for- 
merly considered a very hazardous oc- 
cupation. Mail clerks rode next to the 
engine and received the brunt of col- 
lisions and derailments. In recent 



Home of Capt. Jack Lawson, who ?. 
brought over from England m 1827. ",* 
the first locomotive which ran on St 
the B. O: U.K. from Washington* 
. , D.C. to- Baltimore."' ' * 




36 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



years, however, steel cars, double 
tracks, block signals, and, by no means 
least, the very general "Safety First" 
movement, has eliminated the hazard- 
ous nature of the postal clerks' occupa- 
tion, and serious accidents and fatal- 
ities are fortunately now very rare. The 
number of train accidents resulting in 
fatal injuries to postal clerks has been 
steadily decreasing since 1903, notwith- 
standing continual increase in the num- 
ber of clerks employed, number of 
trains run, and, to some extent, in 
speed. In case of injury on duty the 
postal clerk is paid his full salary for 
one year, if his injury incapacitates him 
that long, and one-half his salary for 
an additional year, if necessary. In 
case of accidental death on duty, his 
heirs receive $2,000. 

Cheapening the Mail Service 

The ideals of the founders of the Rail- 
way Mail Service and of all its officers, 
until recent years, have been efficiency 
and expedition. Within the last eight 
years, however, there has been a very 
marked tendency on the part of the 
Department to cheapen the postal ser- 
vice at the expense of expedition. The 
first step in this direction was to take 
magazines out of the mails and ship 
them by freight between the larger cen- 
ters. This was perhaps not very seri- 
ous in the case of the magazines, as the 
publishers could print them as much 
earlier than before as was necessary to 
offset the delay consequent upon trans- 
portation by freight, instead of in fast 
mail trains ; but it showed a tendency 
to break away from old ideals that 
every class of mail matter was entitled 
to, and should receive, the fastest pos- 
sible service. This tendency has more 



recently been very strongly exemplified 
by the distribution of mail matter in 
specially organized postoffices oper- 
ated under the jurisdiction of the Rail- 
way Mail Service, commonly known as 
"Terminal Postoffices." These Ter- 
minal Postoffices are in operation in all 
of the larger cities in the United States. 
They were originally organized to dis- 
tribute bulky and fragile parcel post 
packages which could not, from their 
size or character, be properly distribu- 
ted in mail cars, and the distribution of 
such mail in these Terminal Postoffices 
cannot be criticised. However, these 
Terminals had not long been organized 
when the distribution of large quanti- 
ties of circulars, catalogues and other 
advertising matter, magazines, etc., and 
even letter mail, was taken up by them, 
the idea being to save some expense in 
salaries of clerks and in postal car pay. 
The theory is that a clerk can dis- 
tribute more mail in a given time in a 
stationary postoffice than in a travel- 
ing one, and cheaper men can be used. 
A considerable proportion of the mail 
sent to these Terminal Postoffices for 
distribution is necessarily materially 
delayed thereby. I do not believe that 
the public is as yet fully aware of the 
amount of mail being held for distribu- 
tion in Terminals, and the extent of 
delay resulting. I believe the public 
wants the very best mail service which 
can be had, not a cheap service, and in 
any case the saving effected by the 
Terminals is much too small to justify 
the delay. However, the Railway Mail 
Service still remains a great service, 
probably the most efficient of any of 
the government departments, a service 
in which the people can and do take 
just pride. 





T i i ij- 



JOniHC" 

nuu ,,_,_, NOII 





How to 





It is not tne Science of curing Disease so much as tne prevention or it 
tdat produces tne Greatest ^pod to Humanity. One of tne most important 
duties of a Healtn Department should be tne educational service 

\f r*. f 

A A A A A teaching people howio live A A A * * 
Hot Weather Suggestions 



C^ ET the body ready by seeing to 
^^ it that your general condition is 
good before the heated term arrives. 
Anticipate it. It is sure to come ab- 
ruptly. Hot weather depresses the 
vital powers in most persons and you 
will need all the store of health and 
resistance that you can lay in to tide 
you over the hot summer months. 
Sleep. 

Get plenty of sleep. There is a 
tendency in the warm evenings to sit 
up too late. Nothing aids the diges- 
tion so much as the perfect composure 
of the nervous system which comes on 
after ample sleep. Sleep prepares the 
body for all around brain work, and 
increases the endurance of the indi- 
vidual, both to perform better work 
and also to offer stronger resistance 
against disease. 

Exercise. 

If you are a city dweller, do not wait 
until vacation time to get in training 
for the exercise you will want to take 
during these two weeks of vacation in 
the very hot weather. Get in training 
for the enjoyment of vacation, and 
keep in trim for the hot weather by 
walking part of the way to your office 
each day and by taking brisk exercise 
daily in your bedroom. But do not 
over exercise and do not exercise in the 
hot sun unless you are accustomed 
to it. 

The Skin. 

Frequent bathing keeps the skin in 
good condition. Cold baths to most 



people are agreeable and are a tonic, 
but they should not be taken when the 
body is perspiring freely. The clean 
skin should be covered with clean 
under garment. For laborers and per- 
sons who perspire freely, a single shirt 
made out of cotton and wool is advis- 
able for protection against the chilling 
effect of sudden change. For those not 
doing vigorous physical work, thin 
open cotton underwear is preferable. 

Diet. 

The most important suggestion here 
as to eating and drinking is to keep 
the digestive organs in the best pos- 
sible condition. Diet in hot weather 
depends on the location and the kind 
of work done by the individual, and 
should be regulated accordingly. Meat 
once or twice a day is good for out-door 
laborers who do hard physical work. 
Fish or meat once a day for those less 
strenuously employed, with plenty of 
fruit and vegetables. Simple and light 
meals are best in the summer time. All 
the meals being light are well adapted 
to the sustenance of office workers. 
Light and frequent meals with plenty 
water between are in the right line 
for all hot weather. Drinking water 
should be taken freely between meals. 
The temperature of the water should 
be cool, but not ice cold. Remember 
that thirst is thirst of the whole body, 
not of the mouth only. A hot dry 
mouth is indicative of a lack of fluids 
in the body and is quite often due to 
some disturbance of the digestion or 



37 



38 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



stomach. Excessive thirst is often best 
quenched by drinking something hot, 
such as hot tea or hot lemonade. La- 
borers in the field and shop often have 
a practice of putting ginger and mo- 
lasses in the field water jug. Anything 
is better than ice water for field or 
track laborers, or the furnace room. 
Oatmeal or barley water are good and 
are commonly used in the heated terms 
of summer. Alcoholic beverages should 
not be indulged in during hot weather. 
The temporary sense of refreshment 
which they induce is quickly followed 
by a re-action causing the consumer to 
feel more uncomfortable than before, 
and it has been incontestably proven 
that persons who use alcoholic drinks 
regularly do not withstand extremes of 
temperature. 

The Bowels. 

Constipation should be avoided. 
When the fluids of the body are drained 
off in the excess of prespiration, the 
contents of the lower bowel becomes 
less fluid and a marked tendency 
towards constipation results. To over- 
come this tendency it is desirable not 
only to drink freely of water, but also 
to eat coarse foods and fruit. Oily 
substances of nature will not be ab- 
sorbed, as such oily foods will continue 
in the same state and will lubricate 
the intestinal canal, thus tending to 
prevent constipation. 

Over-Heating. 

The dangerous condition known as 
sunstroke is produced by exposure to 



the excessive rays of the sun or to ex- 
cessive heat in a room. When work- 
men are exposed to the prolonged rays 
of the sun, a dizziness comes on which 
is the early indication of impending 
danger unless this warning is heeded 
it is liable to be followed by profound 
prostration-delirium, and in severe 
cases by collapse. It is wise, then, to 
be careful during the mid-day hours 
when the sun is hotest. In very hot 
weather the laborer can to advantage 
commence his work very early in the 
morning, and work until the sun gets 
quite hot. Then lay off during the ex- 
cessive heat of the day and begin again 
at about the middle of the afternoon. 
The work might with profit be extend- 
ed until late in the evening. It is wise 
to have a head covering that will pro- 
tect the scalp. Wet leaves placed in 
the crown of the hat are extremely 
beneficial. For those who are com- 
pelled to be out in the hot sun and 
who are susceptible to its heat the 
helmet, such as is worn in the tropics, 
is of great value, as it shades the head 
and permits the circulation of air be- 
tween the hat and the head. To step 
for a few moments into the shade is 
an excellent precaution and cold water 
allowed to run over the wrists pro- 
duce a decidedly cooling effect on the 
entire body. Persons who have be- 
come overheated at any time are much 
more susceptible to the heat and must 
be extremely careful after exposure 
for several years. 



Letters of Appreciation of Treatment Received at 
the Hands of the Hospital Department 

Vicksburg, July 17, 1915. 
Dr. G. G. Dowdall, Chief Surgeon, I. C. and Y. & M. V. Hospital Dept., 

Chicago, Illinois. 
Dear Doctor: 

I am so well pleased with the treatment I recently received from the 
Hospital Department and the results so satisfactory that I feel it incumbent 
upon me to say a word of praise for you and your staff. 

I first went to our Hospital Department Surgeon at this point and after 
receiving treatment for some time, my case proved to be very stubborn and 
I was sent to New Orleans. The attention and care given was as courteous 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 39 

as could be, and after having a Specialist examine me I was advised that I 
should report to you. When I reported to you I was very much exercised 
over my condition, but when I learned that you had arranged to turn me 
over to one of the best specialists in Chicago and knew that treatment was 
to be administered by one who stood high in his professional rank, I grew 
hopeful. My condition required the X-Ray treatment and this treatment had 
the desired effect. 

In addition to this excellent treatment, your Department took care of my 
living expenses and by these arrangements I made the trip to Chicago with 
practically no expense. From the courteous manner in which you and each 
of your staff received and consulted me, I could not but feel that it was your 
pleasure to give me the best medical treatment obtainable. 

I feel that every contributor to the Hospital Department should know the 
good effect in being a member of that Department. 

Yours faithfully, 
(Signed) S. J. HARPER, 

General Foreman. 



Burnside Shops, 111., June 24, 1915. 
G. G. Dowdall, M. D., 

Chief Surgeon, I. C. R. R. Co., 

Chicago, 111. 
Dear Doctor: 

I have just returned to work after a serious illness at the Mercy Hos- 
pital at Chicago, and wish to express my heartfelt gratitude and appreciation 
of the Hospital Department. 

Through you I also desire to thank the Doctors and Nurses for their 
kindness and courtesy to my wife during her visits to me while in the 
hospital. Yours truly, 

(Signed) JOSEPH F. STANTON, 

Accountant, Burnside Shops, 111. 



Jackson, Tenn., July 2, 1915. 
Dr. G. G. Dowdall, 
Chief Surgeon, 

Chicago, 111. 
My Dear Doctor: 

Please accept my thanks to you and your noble staff of Doctors and 
Nurses for the successful operation and treatment I received while in Mercy 
Hospital, Chicago, for appendicitis. I feel that I owe my life to the Surgeons 
and Nurses of Mercy Hospital and to the Hospital Department of the I. C. 
R. R. May God bless each and every one of you. 

My kindest regards to all and a successful future to Mercy Hospital, 
is the wish of your friend, 

(Signed) LEE'E. PORTER, 

Conductor, Jackson, Tenn. 



Chicago, July 6, 1915. 
Dr. G. G. Dowdall, 
Chief Surgeon, 

Chicago, 111. 
Dear Sir: 

I was a patient at Mercy Hospital from June 12th to July 3rd and was 
operated on June 14th for hernia, and wish to thank the Hospital Depart- 



40 ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 

ment, through you, for their kind and courteous treatment of me. I re- 
ceived extraordinary good care and was treated royally, for which I am 
deeply grateful. I am improving rapidly and will soon be entirely well. 
Again thanking you and your staff on the Hospital Department, I am 

Yours sincerely, 
(Signed) S. H. O'NEILL, 

Engineer, Chicago, 111. 





LOSS & DAMAGE 
BUREAU 



AT THE last Loss and Damage meeting, held in the office of General 
Superintendent Clift, at Chicago, 111., on June 29th, Mr. N. R. Huff, 
Foreman of the Freight House at East St. Louis, was in attendance. The 
discussion which took place was of great interest to him, and in order to 
carry out the conclusions of the meeting, upon his return to his headquarters, 
he wrote the following letter to his subordinates. 

His action is very pleasing, not only to the agents, but to the Superin- 
tendent and General Superintendent as well, as it indicated a clear determina- 
tion upon his part to follow up with his subordinates the advice given. 

East St. Louis, July 1st, 1915. 
Gentlemen : 

There was a Loss and Damage meeting held at Chicago, June 29th, in 
the office of General Superintendent Northern Lines, Mr. A. E. Clift. At 
this coming together, there was assembled the Division Superintendent of 
the Northern Lines, the heads of the Freight Claim Loss and Damage and 
Special Agent Departments ; likewise the agents from the principal stations. 
To say to you I feel elated that it fell to my good fortune to be present at the 
meeting is putting my appreciation mildly. 

There were many subjects that came up for discussion ; all of which led 
up to one paramount issue, what can be done to stop this great leakage in 
the earnings of the Company, that is passing out through the Claim Depart- 
ment in the payment of claims, just and unjust? After weighing all condi- 
tions, it was resolved that with renewed efforts and zeal there could be 
made a reduction of $100,000 this year. 

Men ! Listen to me. Your Agent and Superintendent have a world of 
confidence in you. They appreciate your past record, they know your value, 
they feel that you have done your full share in placing the standard of 
efficiency on the St. Louis Division in the high esteem that it so truthfully 
enjoys. It is the hope and trust of Mr. Williams and Mr. Wells that you 
allow no station or division to lower our standard. 

Now a word with you relative to the reduction of claims. I do not 
know how we can play a very important part in the reduction of this 
$100,000 ; however, we will give our mite toward it. 

On this subject I will talk to you collectively, that you may understand 



42 ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 

as a whole what the requirements are, of not only yourself but that of the 
other fellow. I will take up with each class in order to point out what he 
or they may do to help. 

Mr. Check Clerk: You charge this station with all the freight that 
you check from cars of the line. From you we expect to learn the exact 
condition of this freight, if damaged, to what extent? What was the cause? 
Was it due to bad storing in the car? Was it due to rough handing of the 
car, or was the physical condition of the commodity such as not to permit 
safe carrying even by ordinary handling? These points are all important 
and we must rely greatly upon your knowledge in supplying them, for reasons 
which I will make clear to you later on. 

Mr. Delivery Clerk: You have noted what has been said to our check 
clerks. Do you not grasp the importance of making notations at the time of 
delivery to reach in such a manner that the cause of damage may be prop- 
erly placed? 

It was said at the meeting that we must tighten up to make this $100,000. 
My experience teaches me the trouble lies many times in being too tight. 
We are holding on to valuable information, which, if in the hands of the 
claim and loss and damage departments, could be used against paying many 
claims, as well as avoiding more. My instruction to you is loosen up and 
give us the benefit of what you know about all freight handled by you that 
is in any way in other than perfect condition. 

Mr. Head Team Track Clerk : You have noted what has been said to 
those handling L. C. L. business. The same applies to you and the men 
working under your supervision handling C. L. Your receiving clerk 
should feel the responsibility in receiving and receipting for freight ; he 
should not accept freight and load it into cars unless he is satisfied that it 
will carry to destination with safety. 

Your delivery clerk should make a personal examination of every car 
lot received, and if there is a damage to the load, let's get right to the bot- 
tom of the cause, with a view to eliminating a repetition, give shipping point, 
if the cause is due to the loading or bracing. If it is a damage due to rough 
handling of the cars, we will make a special report of it, for if there is to be 
a material saving made in the amount of payment of claims, there surely 
must be a reduction in the terminal damages due to rough switching. 

As to your supervisor of transfer, this is a very, very important matter. 
One that plays a greater part in claims than is generally understood. I want 
you to be more careful in your handling as well as the recording of condition. 

The inspection of cars. Though I consider it a simon pure mechanical 
proposition and one that that department should be held strictly accountable 
for, we, nevertheless, are not going to load freight in any car, even if O. K'd. 
by that department for that commodity, when we are satisfied that damage 
or loss is likely. Another matter, a continuance of some of the practices 
seen by you in transferring. Each case will be recorded and held to check 
against claims filed account transferred loads. Only under protest will we 
transfer freight liable to damage ; except when advised that it is not safe 
to run the car. There must be no letting up in the stripping of doors and 
bracing of loads in cars; let us be just, but careful. 

Mr. O. S. & D. Clerk: You understand from what I have said to these 
men what we want in the way of reports. We want a report that is intelli- 
gent. All the bad orders issued covering damages are classified according 
to the cause of the damage ; in tabulating them they are charged to that par- 
ticular cause. Do you not see how important it is that the check and delivery 
clerks make a full and clear explanation that you may record the same, so as 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



43 



to enable the claim department to charge correctly? Certainly you do, and 
I hope you will keep this importance in mind, issuing no report until you are 
furnished the necessary facts. 

Now men ! You, one and all, understand the important necessities and 
the burden of responsibilities that rest upon us. And I know your ability 
to carry out every requirements which naturally calls for results. 

Thanking you, 

N. R. HUFF, 

Foreman. 



T T IS expected that there will be a 
heavy grain movement for the next 
few months, and as the price will be 
high, we should make every effort to 
prevent loss in transit. 

All cars before being permitted to be 
loaded with grain should be properly 
inspected, and only tight cars furnished 
for such loading. Grain doors should 
be properly applied, and high enough 
to prevent contents leaking over them. 

Losses occur through loading high- 
er in end of car than in the center 



grain doors applied to the height of 
grain in the doorway, with the result 
when the car is in transit the grain 
shifts to an even height, causing leak 
over the grain doors, and a little care 
taken at loading point will avoid the 
likelihood of a claim. 

Chief Train Dispatchers and Train 
Masters should see that all grain is 
moved without delay. To delay grain 
creates a liability and subjects the com- 
pany to a claim for damage. 





CLEANINGS 

from me 

CIMMS DEPARTMENT 

fragments of a Sfo/y 
Seldom &ver Told 



MR. CONLEY'S INNOVATION. 
O UPERVISOR LAWRENCE CON- 
^ LEY, of Freeport fs a very enthusi- 
astic worker in the cause of "Safety 
First" among the employes under his 
jurisdiction. He has made a prac- 
tice of cautioning his men against 
taking chances and has acquired an 
enviable record in the cause of 
safety. However, Mr. Conley found 
that the different arguments in fa- 
vor of safety measures had been 
gone over so often that they had 
become threadbare, and he felt that the 
time had arrived when he must origi- 
nate something new and novel ; some- 
thing that would immediately arrest the 
attention of his men and quicken their 
thoughts in regard to the important 
matter of safety practices. He evolved 
the idea of starting out on a tour for the 
purpose of delivering safety lectures to 
his men and of getting hurt himself, so 
that he might be enabled to illustrate by 
bruises on his own person, his talks to 
his men. Mr. Conley, than whom there 



is no more popular or efficient officer in 
the road department, did not take any- 
one into his secret. No one knew that 
he intended, when he left Freeport on 
a small motor car, on the morning of the 
6th ult, to deliberately run into the first 
automobile he saw (or failed to see) on 
a grade crossing. The opportunity to 
get hurt came when Mr. Conley neared 
the grade crossing two miles south of 
Forreston. An automobile was ap- 
proaching. So was Mr. Conley on his 
little motor car. It is said the drivers 
of both vehicles were going slowly, but 
that neither was using his sense of sight. 
They met on the crossing, very much 
to the surprise of the driver of the au- 
tomobile, but, of course, not so with Mr. 
Conley. No one would suspect that an 
officer going out for the avowed purpose 
of delivering safety lectures, with his 
mind full of the subject, and with safety 
papers bulging out of all his pockets, 
could be caught in a trap like that. 

But Mr. Conley will not admit that he 
knew the automobile was going to meet 



44 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



45 




46 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



him on the crossing. When questioned 
by Superintendent Dignan, he said, "I 
simply can't figure out what I was think- 
ing about." All the same, this little inci- 
dent, as pulled off by Mr. Conley, has 
proved to be one of the best safety 
"stunts" that has been "put over" by 
any railroad. 

After the accident, with his swollen 
head and bleeding hands carefully band- 
aged, and his safety papers gathered up 
and tucked away in his pockets, Mr. 
Conley continued his trip, delivering 
his safety talks to his men and illustrat- 
ing his remarks by means of his own in- 
juries. He showed in the most effective 
way imaginable how easy it was to be 
looking the other way at the wrong 
time. 

Every employe under the jurisdiction 
of Mr. Conley has heard the story of 
his innovation and has witnessed the 
bandaged wounds of the distinguished 
exponent of the doctrines of "Safety 
First." Whether supervisors on other 
districts will decide to emulate the ex- 
ample set by Mr. Conley in doing safety 
work remains to be seen. For further 
information, the reader is referred to 
the cartoon appearing in this issue. 



CAPERS OF A HORSE ON THE 
TRACK. 

An incident worthy of remark and 
illustrative of what is going on all over 
the system in the way of preventing the 
killing of stock on the waylands oc- 
curred as No. 12 was leaving Omaha on 
regular schedule time on the 14th ult. 
In the outskirts of the city, where the 
track is built upon an embankment for 
a considerable distance, a horse ap- 
peared upon the track in front of the 
engine. The engineer slowed up his 
train and sounded the whistle in short 
blasts, but the horse, in perfect tran- 
quillity, trotted along slowly in front of 
the spouting locomotive. "The passen- 
gers were craning their heads out of 
the car windows, looking ahead and en- 
joying the Joke. The fireman jumped 
off with his broom and ran ahead of 
the horse and broke the broom handle 
over the horse's head, but still the horse 



trotted on, and the fireman returned dis- 
gusted to the engine. A man was seen 
walking on the track from the opposite 
direction, and everybody felt relieved 
because he would, of course, head the 
horse off and allow the train to pass, 
but he, too, decided to enter into the 
levity of the occasion and threw his arms 
about the horse's neck and the animal 
trotted on, but the man got tired of rid- 
ing and let go his hold and disappeared 
without heading off the horse. All this 
time the train was proceeding slowly 
behind the horse and the modern loco- 
motive was making all of the different 
noises which it was capable of creating. 
Superintendent Sullivan was on the 
train. With him it was not so much of 
a joke to have one of his most promi- 
nent trains held up by a broncho and he 
could not appreciate the funny side of 
it. He became out of patience and him- 
self grabbed the coal pick from the lo- 
comotive and succeeded in heading off 
the horse and gaining the right of way 
for No. 12, which lost a few minutes' 
time, but easily made it up before ar- 
rival at Fort Dodge. The company did 
not have to pay out any damages on 
account of killing the horse and the 
lives of the passengers and employes 
were not endangered. 

From all over the system stories are 
coming in about the efforts that are be- 
ing made to reduce the killing of live 
stock, and these efforts are being reflect- 
ed in decreases in amounts paid out on 
account of killing stock. It is being dem- 
onstrated that careful locomotive engi- 
neers (those who take a lively interest 
in company affairs), constitute a most 
important factor in this reform. 



PASSING THE BUCK 

It is a matter of common knowledge 
that some portions of the Illinois Cen- 
tral pass through the most magnificent 
farming lands that have ever felt the 
touch of a plow; it is likewise well 
known that other portions of the road 
traverse country with soil so hateful 
and mean that one would have to fer- 
tilize it to make brick. 

We are about to relate a little cir- 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



47 



cumstance originating on the bad 
lands. John Doe came to a portion of 
this barren country in 1879 and bought 
a small tract containing 80 acres. For 
this stuff called land John paid the 
magnificent sum of $10.00 per acre. 
This made $800.00. These were bot- 
tom lands; that is to say, they were at 
the bottom of some water most of the 
time. He included a few hills in the 
bargain, but these were mostly rock 
with just a little dust on top. 

Down in the bottom lands John 
would plant the corn and a sprinkling 
of wheat. He would work and drill 
and sweat and swear. During early 
June everything looked magnificent 
each year, but along about that time 
would come the rains. Rain for forty 
days and forty nights was simply a 
mist to what John had on these bot- 
toms. 

Year after year he experienced sim- 
ilar catastrophies and John began to 
look for an outlet. Where did he find 
it? In this manner. Some one con- 
ceived the idea that it would be fitting 
to sue the Illinois Central for back- 
ing up the water. Capital, thought 
Bill Smith across the way, who had 
been drowned out, too, by the rains ; 
he would swear that the railway did. 
it. So would Hank Evans. "Dug" 
Peabody said, "Aye, gad, it would 
make that land worth $100.00 an acre." 
Suit was brought for drowning out 
10 acres of Doe's corn; he swore it 
would make 54 bushels to the acre and 
everybody else who had lowlands said 
so, too, and they all said it was worth 
44 cents a bushel. Doe got paid for 
the crop and did not do a tap after the 
flood towards harvesting. Hank Evans 
offered Doe $22.00 per acre next sea- 
son for his submerged lands. Doe 
would not take it. "Dug" Peabody 
started suit every time it began to 
sprinkle, and one time he was so busy 
attending court he forgot to plant the 
crop, and that year it rained harder 
than ever. "Dug" swore he had the 
patch planted in cow peas and got 
paid for them. Terms of court were 



like terms in jail, and soon they got 
one of Hicks' Almanacs and began 
starting suits according to the time 
when Hicks said "Heavy rains." One 
man offered to trade Hank Evans a 
coal mine for his submerged lands, but 
Hank simply laughed and said, "H 1, 
you gotta work to git that coal out." 
Everybody was chewing Navy plug 
and living high. They were out of 
debt. The land was paid for several 
times, and the principal occupation 
was simply to sit on a rail fence, squirt 
tobacco juice into the jimson-weeds 
and look for clouds. 

But, lo, one day there alighted from 
the train a mediocre looking fellow, of 
average ability, commonplace appear- 
ance and sort of a liberal disposition. 
This stranger planted himself amid 
the lowlands and began making bar- 
gains for the settlement of claims 
among owners of the lands involved 
in the overflow districts. He settled 
with Hank Evans for $250.00, and 
Hank liked to have stripped all the 
duds off himself hurrying through the 
fence to see Bill Smith and tell him 
about it; the stranger settled with Bill 
for $250.00. Then "Dug" Peabody 
said it was a shame to take money 
from the kid that way and settled for 
$200.00. When they 'signed up, it so 
happened that the release read that it 
was a perpetual release running with 
the land, to be recorded so that it 
would bind all subsequent purchasers, 
and forever be a bar to any subsequent 
claim for the wrongdoings of Nep- 
tune, Hicks' Almanac to the contrary 
notwithstanding. 

When it became apparent that never 
again throughout the long domain of 
years and to the end of time, when this 
old planet will be an idle cinder use- 
lessly spinning in its orbit, was this 
railroad to compenstae for the short- 
comings of nature, Bill Smith threw 
a fit, Hank Evans tore his hair, cursed 
and swore, backslid and was turned 
out of the Baptist church ; John Doe 
was committed to a hospital for the 
incurable insane, and "Dug" Peabody 
became an intolerant, maudlin mons- 



48 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



ter, whose wife ran away with a nig- 
ger. 

Yea, verily it is written, "For these 
be the days of vengeance." 



A PICCANINNY SURPRISINGLY 
WELL INFORMED 

The amount of information pos- 
sessed by negroes relating to what is 
necessary to constitute a good cause 
of action for personal damages is often 
both amusing and amazing. Claim 
Agent Jolly recently had a case in 
point which not only astonished, but 
practically paralyzed, him. A switch 
engine and a typical negro outfit of 
mule and wagon in which several 
darkies were riding, met on a public 
crossing. The collision was rather 
disastrous to the wagon, but little dam- 
age was done to its passengers. Mr. 
Jolly reached the scene as soon as pos- 
sible and began inquiries of the by- 
standers regarding the circumstances. 
He was approached by a little kinky 
headed Sambo, who might well have 
been anywhere from six to twelve 
years of age, so far as appearances in- 
dicated, who volunteered : 

"Mister, I can tell you jess how it 
done happen." 

"All right," replied Mr. Jolly, "go 
ahead and give me the story." 

"Well, Mister it was jess dis hyar 
way; de train was 'unnin about 30 
miles an hour thru de corporation; it 
didn't blow no wisel and it didn't 'ing 
no bell and dar was nobody 'tall gwine 
ahead o' de enjine." 

When Mr. Jolly recovered his pow- 
ers of speed the little darkey had dis- 
appeared. 



MORE PERJURY 

A carefully prepared damage suit 
for $5,000.00 in which the arrangements 
sadly miscarried was that of Miss Allie 
Leggett, age 18, who sued the Y. & M. 
V. R. R. at the June term, 1914, Cir- 
cuit Court of Amite County, Miss. The 
case was tried at Meadville, at that 
term, resulting in a verdict of $2,000.00. 
Miss Leggett testified that she was re- 



turning from Gloster to Knoxville on 
a round trip ticket on train 22, March 
27, 1914; that each time the train 
stopped between Gloster and Knoxville 
the flagman would come to her and 
ask if that was her station, and that 
his manner indicated that he was mak- 
ing fun of her ; that after the train 
whistled for Knoxville and the flagman 
announced the station, the train 
stopped and she went to the front of 
the car, and at the flagman's request 
went down the steps ahead of him and 
stepped off on the ground, when the 
train started and she discovered she 
was not at the station, but from a quar- 
ter to half a mile from it ; that the flag- 
man stood on the steps and laughed at 
her as the train pulled away; that it 
was misting rain at the time. She was 
without wraps, and as she had to walk 
to the station became very wet, and as 
she was suffering from neuralgia, was 
made much worse and suffered great- 
ly. She was corroborated by her fath- 
er, who said he was at the station to 
meet her and seeing her get off down 
the track, walked down to her. She 
was also fully corroborated as to what 
took place on the train by a man who 
testified that he was on the train and 
witnessed the flagman's conduct. 

The railroad showed that when the 
train was within about 2,000 ft. of the 
depot it ran over a torpedo and 
stopped ; that the conductor went ahead 
towards the engine and the flagman 
went back to flag, but before going he 
told the plaintiff that they were not 
at the station and to remain in her 
seat until the station was reached ; that 
when he was called in he got on the 
rear of the train and saw her get off 
the front end of last car and he con- 
cluded she lived in one of several 
houses near by and preferred to get 
off there rather than to go to the depot 
and_ walk back. The flagman testified 
positively that at no time did he laugh 
at her or say anything to her at which 
she could properly take any offense. A 
lady passenger in the same car corrob- 
orated the flagman in every partic- 
ular, and especially that he went back 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



49 



and flagged and was not present when 
the girl got off. 

Upon motion for new trial several 
affidavits were produced by the rail- 
road to show that the witness who tes- 
tified that he was on the train and wit- 
nessed the conduct of the flagman 
complained of, was not on the train at 
all, but was in the depot at Knoxville 
at the time playing cards. The verdict 
was set aside and a new trial granted. 
This trial was had at the June term, 
1915, at which time the witness for 
the plaintiff referred to did not appear. 
However, the jury returned a verdict 
for $750.00, which the court promptly 
reduced to $100.00. The action of the 
jury at the second trial was no doubt 
largely influenced by sympathy for 
the plaintiff, she having married im- 
mediately after the first trial and short- 
ly afterwards her husband killed her 
father and then himself, so that at 
the time of the second trial she was a 
widow with a two-months-old babe. 
The trial judge was very much aroused 
over the proof of perjury committed 
upon the first trial, and it is rumored 
there will be a further chapter to this 
remarkable case, which will later ap- 
pear on the criminal side of the docket. 



SECTION FOREMAN UNCOVERS 
ATTEMPTED FRAUD 

Few men in any department of the serv- 
ice are more loyal to the company's in- 




terest than the average section foreman. 
In sparsely settled communities he is 
often the only responsible representative 
of the company on the territory covered 
by his section a distance of from five 
to eight miles. This condition brings 
opportunities to the section foremen to 
serve the company in many ways. As a 
rule the foremen on the Vicksburg Divi- 
sion take advantage of these opportuni- 
ties. 

Mr. J. Hart, of the Redwood Station, 
is one of the "live" ones. Mr. Hart got 
his training in the track department un- 
der his father, who was a section fore- 
man on the Louisville Division, and was 
transferred to the Vicksburg Division 
about a year ago. 

Early in March, 1915, a yearling, be- 
longing to a negro, was struck and in- 
jured on the Redwood Section. It was 
duly reported to the claim agent, but 
when_ claim was filed it was for a dead 
animal. The negro claimed that the ani- 
mal had wandered off and died from the 
effects of the injuries, and told Mr. Hart 
where the dead animal could be found. 
Sure enough, there was a dead cow at 
the place, much resembling the one 
struck. However, Mr. Hart was not sat- 
isfied and did a little scouting of his own 
account and was rewarded by discover- 
ing the animal which had been struck in 
the swamps of the Mississippi River. It 
had practically recovered from its injur- 
ies. Of course, the claim was declined. 



J. HART. 



EXCEPTION TO THE RULE 

Miss E. E. Reynolds, owning property 
on both sides of the right of way of the 
Y. & M. V. R. R. at Caile, Miss., refuses 
to become inoculated with the prevailing 
greed to obtain money from a railroad 
company without just grounds for doing 
so. On June 15, at 5 p. m., train No. 
593 struck and killed a six-months'-old 
calf 300 feet north of Mile Post LD No. 
147, belonging to her. Section Foreman 
E. L. Snaveley, of Isola, called on Miss 
Reynolds in regard to the accident and 
she advised him that on account of the 
negligence of one of her hired hands in 
not watching her stock, which had been 
turned into a lane running to the rail- 



50 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



road, she did not think she was entitled 
to any compensation. Miss Reynolds is 
to be commended for her fairness in the 
matter, and her example should be a 
shining light to others living adjacent to 
our right of way who have stock killed 
and injured through their own neglect. 

FAKE LAW SUITS 

One J. S. Burt, through his attorneys, 
filed suit against the company in Mem- 
phis for $25,000 damages, based on al- 
leged personal injuries sustained at Pa- 
ducah, July 10, 1914, at 9 :30 p. m., while 
working in the capacity of car inspector 
on track No. 7. Investigation developed 
that theie was no such man employed by 
the company at Paducah, and that no ac- 
cident occurred at the time and place 
stated. Burt claimed that after he was 
hurt he was taken to the Paducah Hos- 
pital and there treated for his injuries by 
Dr. C. W. Mitchell. Investigation also 
developed that no such person was 
treated at the hospital and that "Dr. 
Mitchell" was a myth. When the case 
was called for trial in the month of 
June, the attorneys who filed the suit 
were unable to find their client and, of 
course, the suit was dismissed. 

One S. L. Carter, colored, filed suit 
against the company at Natchez, Miss., 
in March, 1915, alleging that he was in- 
jured at Louisville, November 17, 1914, 
while working with Conductor Robert 
Tilman and Engineer Jack Swanson and 
engine No. 1515. Investigation devel- 
oped that engine No. 1515 was never 
north of Central City and that there 
were no employes in Louisville by the 
names given. As soon as the attorney 
who filed the suit found out that he had 
been victimized, the case was promptly 
dismissed. 

There are a lot of sharks traveling 
about the country, preying upon law- 
yers in the same manner recited in the 
foregoing cases. They go to places 
where they are unknown and stay 
around for a few days until they can 
find out the name of some lawyer who 
is making a specialty of suing railroads 
on personal injury claims. When they 
locate the right lawyer, they give him 



the case. Before the lawyer has time to 
find out that he has fallen into a trap, 
the shark has usually "touched" him for 
a five or a ten and, in some instances, as 
high as fifty. We do not sympathize 
particularly with the lawyers who are 
thus victimized. Our only complaint is 
that it takes up a lot of our time inves- 
tigating these fake cases. 

ONE OF THE RAILROAD'S 
PROBLEMS 

The railroad company has been found 
such a ready market for stock that not 
only are there grounds to suspect that, 
in some instances, stock is turned on the 
right-of-way to be killed, but there are 
sometimes cases where it is suspected 
claims are made for animals which died 
from other causes. 

In the suit of J. E. Tillery vs. Y. & 
M. V. R. R. Co., in Amite County, 
Miss., for cow killed by train January 
22, 1914, investigation developed that 
the cow was found dead on the premises 
of a neighbor and at a distance of from 
a quarter to half a mile from the track. 
Three men examined the animal and 
were unable to find any evidence of it 
having been struck by a train. The case 
was called for trial at the February term 
of court and the company was ready 
with all its witnesses, but the plaintiff 
secured a continuance. When reached 
at the next term the company again 
having all its witnesses on hand plain- 
tiff took a non-suit, evidently having 
learned what the company was pre- 
pared to prove. No doubt the plaintiff 
and his attorney were in possession of 
as much information about the killing 
of this animal when the suit was 
brought as when it was dismissed, but 
probably thought the company would 
pay something rather than stand the ex- 
pense of a defense. A considerable sum 
of money is expended by the railroad 
every year in preparing to defend suits 
which plaintiffs and their attorneys 
know are without merit when they are 
brought and which are filed purely in 
the hope of forcing a compromise. 

As the company is usually charged 
with setting out all fires which occur 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



51 



within several hundred feet of the track, 
this may suggest to some that it should 
be held responsible for all animals found 
dead near the track. 



DERAILMENT CAUSED BY 
STRIKING MULE 

The danger from live stock on the 
track was again illustrated when Extra 
830 was shoving eleven cars ahead of 
engine from Marissa for the Consul 
mines, on the St. Louis District, at 12 :10 
a. m., July 30, when the advancing car 
collided with a mule on the track, re- 
sulting in the derailment of three cars. 
The killing of the mule and damage to 
track and equipment amounted to $100. 
Fortunately, there were no personal in- 
juries, but the accident furnishes anoth- 
er striking illustration of the damage 
which an animal on the track is capable 
of doing. The mule was the property of 
the Tilden Coal Company. 

There have been a great many acci- 
dents on the Illinois Central Rairoad 
caused by striking stock. Happily, the 
liability for these accidents is being 
greatly decreased on account of the un- 
usual interest which is being taken by 
division officers, employes, and espe- 
cially by section foremen and locomotive 
engineers, in preventing the striking of 
stock. 



ACCIDENTS AND WHAT 

SHOULD BE DONE WHEN 

THEY OCCUR 

In most of the accidents we have due 
to running of trains and switch engines, 
the engineer and fireman are the first em- 
ployes of the company to know of the 
accident. This is especially true when 
the train or engine strikes something. 
The other members of the train or 
switching crew are back in the caboose 
or back of the engine at some place, and 
the first they know of the accident is the 
sudden stopping of the train. 

The evidence of the engineer and fire- 
man is always vital, and on this account, 
they should be in a position to give state- 
ments that could absolutely be relied 
upon; that is, they should strive to give 



a true and correct history of the acci- 
dent. In order to illustrate just what is 
wanted, we will say that train No. 4 
strikes a buggy, the buggy is demolished, 
horse killed and occupant injured. May- 
be this same day the claim agent will 
call on the train crew for statements 
showing just how this accident occurred 
and the engineer and fireman should be 
able to give him the following informa- 
tion: Rate of speed train was running 
when accident occurred; how far was 
train from object when brakes were ap- 
plied; was it emergency or slight appli- 
cation ; in the event of slight application, 
about how many pounds ; were you on 
the lookout ; if not, what were you doing 
at time of accident? How far did train 
run before same was brought to a stop? 
If train is brought to a stop, a mark 
should be made on the rail or cross ties 
in order that the exact distance could be 
measured from point the object was 
struck to where the engine stopped. How 
many cars in the train; what kind of 
cars; were they equipped with air 
brakes ; were the brakes in good condi- 
tion ; how many loaded cars ; how many 
empties; was the bell ringing; was en- 
gine equipped with automatic bell ring- 
er ; where was the whistle sounded ; was 
it danger signal or the regular station or 
crossing whistle; was there anything to 
have obstructed the view of the engineer 
and fireman (if so, what was it) ; was 
there anything to have prevented the in- 
jured party from seeing the approaching 
train or engine; what condition was the 
weather; time of day; if at night, was 
the headlight burning, kind of light? 

The things mentioned above are the 
most essential in fixing responsibility, 
and if the train crew would observe 
these things when an accident occurs, it 
would prove most helpful and beneficial. 



PECULIAR SUIT FILED AGAINST 
I. C. R. R. CO. 

Claim agent Cary of the Illinois Cen- 
tral has been notified by the Mattoon 
agent that a suit against the company is 
in prospect over an injury to a boy, Fred 
Linthcomb, who lost two fingers and a 
thumb recently by the explosion of a dy- 



52 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



namite cap several hundred feet distant 
from the Illinois Central right-of-way. 

In a barn on premises formerly rented 
by a civil engineer in the employ of the 
Central, the boy discovered a box con- 
taining some dynamite caps. Several of 
these he exploded at his home without 
injury to himself, but the fatal explosion 
nearly tore off his hand. 

In the box, as was found later on in- 
vestigation by Linthcomb's parents, were 
some business cards giving the name and 
occupation of the engineer, who left the 
railroad company's employ and also va- 
cated his home in Mattoon several 
months previously. The presumption 
from this was that the engineer left the 
dynamite caps in the barn when he va- 
cated the premises. Acting on this 



presumption the boy, though his par- 
ents, are preparing to sue the engineer 
and railroad company jointly for the 
injury. 

The liability of the railroad company 
in such a matter is not clear, unless it is 
on the same layout that an Iowa jury 
years ago returned a verdict against the 
Northwestern Railroad Company for 
killing a bull. The company showed by 
evidence that the bull was killed by 
lightning three miles from the North- 
western tracks. But the jury gave the 
farmer a judgment against the company 
nevertheless on the principle, as one of 
them remarked : "If the railroad don't 
pay for that bull, who in h 1 will?" 
Kankakee, 111., Democrat, July 22, 1915. 
Recent Commerce Decisions. 




Name 

Dallas D. Tilton 
Frank Seiffert 
William L. Reynolds 
George Cunningham 
John McFall (col.) 
John Sullivan 
Edward J. Steinbeck 
Robt. C. Banks (col.) 



Occupation 
Machinist 
Bl'ksmith H'lp'r 
Asst. Lbr. Agt. 
Section Foreman 
Sweeper 

Section Foreman 
Asst. Eingineer 
Oil Man 



Where Serv- 


Date of 


Employed ice 


Retirement 


E. St. Louis21 yrs. 


March 31, 1915 


Waterloo 20 yrs. 


July 31, 1915 


Fulton 18 yrs. 


June 30, 1915 


Fonda 43 yrs. 


July 31, 1915 


Centralia 22 yrs. 


July 31, 1915 


Cobden 43 yrs. 


July 31, 1915 


Chicago 32 yrs. 


July 31, 1915 


Canton 24 yrs. 


March 31, 1915 




SWITCHING CREW, AMBOY YARD, AMBOY, ILL. 



SflFETY 




COURTESY 

AND 

E,FFIOIE,Nrr 
S E,RVI OE, 
LWAY S 




Comparative Statement of Fatal and Serious Non-Fatal Injuries on the Illinois 

Central and Y. & M. V. Railroads for the First Six Months 

of 1915 and First Six Months of 1914: 



January, 1915 5 

January, 1914 7 

February, 1915 4 

February, 1914 6 

March, 1915 3 

March, 1914 3 

April, 1915 2 

April, 1914 5 

May, 1915 4 

May, 1914 2 

June, 1915 5 

June, 1914 8 

Total Six Months 1915 23 

Total Six Months 1914 3JL 

Six Months 1915 over 
Six Months 1914.... 



Employes 
K. I. 
10 
20 



5 

30 
28 
15 
14 
21 
16 
23 
10 
26 
83 
135 



Trespassers 
K. I. 


16 


4 


16 


9 


7 


3 


10 


7 


11 


4 


15 


9 


12 


11 


12 


8 


16 


12 


11 


8 


8 


9 


14 


14 


70 


~43 


78 


56 



Others 

K. I. 

4 

6 

9 

1 6 
2 
2 



1 
7 
3 
5 
2 

10 
21 
36 



*8 *52 



*8 *13 



*2 *15 



*Decrease. 



What Can We Do To Prevent Accidents ? 

By H. G. Taylor, Foremen Painter, Clinton, 111. 



The writer has chosen to present this 
subject somewhat in the form of an es- 
say, treating it on general lines, rather 
than as a set of suggested means and 
ways to accomplish the desired end. It 
is felt that it might not be amiss to en- 
deavor to contribute some little help 



towards the general campaign of educa- 
tion that is being so vigorously and suc- 
cessfully carried on to develop the idea 
of personal responsibility, in the preser- 
vation of life and limb, by an appeal to 
the innate intelligence of the. average 
employe. 



54 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



55 



The result of the effort on the part of 
the writer is after all decidedly meager, 
but is, nevertheless, a conscientious ef- 
fort to do what he could. 

That self-preservation is the first law 
of nature is an accepted axiom; and yet 
it is an indisputable fact that this very 
potent law of our natural being is al- 
most universally disregarded in the ab- 
stract and is only observed when some 
sudden or impending danger confronts 
us. We are most inconsistent in that we 
are far more likely to bring disaster, 
which we all dread, than to avert it by 
disregarding warnings uttered and 
placed for the guarding and saving of 
life and limb, than to heed them. The 
solving of the problem of safeguarding 
ourselves and others lies entirely within 
our own province, and can only be 
solved by the elimination of the element 
of carelessness so universally promi- 
nent and the development of our pow- 
ers of observation. 

Safety in our chosen occupation can 
only be assured by a constant and intel- 
ligent development of the antithesis of 
carelessness : CAUTION. 

The remarkable impetus given the 
movement for "Safety First," in recent 
years is the result of thoughtful con- 
sideration and effort of men of action 
in the industrial world, and demands 
our individual co-operation, by recogniz- 
ing our personal responsibility, in each 
and every effort of the safety of life 
and limb. 

The institution of safety appliances, 
the formulation of innumerable rules 
avail but little of themselves. They are 
rendered of no value if we are going to 
allow ourselves to be careless, indiffer- 
ent and disinterested in their use and ob- 
servance. It has been said and no 
doubt with truth that from 80 to 90 
per cent of the injuries received by em- 
ployes of the railroads are due entirely 
to the reprehensible habit of careless- 
ness. Surelv we have great need to ed- 
ucate ourselves to a keener perception 
of our duty ; not only to ourselves but 
to those who, through us, may jeopard- 
ize limb or life. 

After all, it is simply the develop- 
ment of the common sense with which 



we are all more or less endowed. Sure- 
ly it is far better to inculcate a habit of 
restraint and control, with its accom- 
panying protection and advantages, 
than through criminal ignorance or care- 
lessness to invite pain and suffering, 
with perhaps an untimely end. 

The campaign of education along the 
line of personal safety which is now be- 
ing actively promulgated, is one of the 
many evidences of a deeper mutual in- 
terest between employer and employed. 
The preservation of life and limb is no 
longer a mere commercial proposition 
involving the question of compensation ; 
but a broad humanitarian effort towards 
the bettering of life and living. 

An accident is an event proceeding 
from an unforeseen or an unknown 
cause, .and accepting the proposition as 
stated, the best we can do for the pres- 
ervation of ourselves and our fellow. ,, 
is to hold in restraint and control our 
natural tendency to carelessness and dis- 
regard of adverse chances as to min- 
imize the possibilities of accident, and 
not become contributory factors in ac- 
cidental injuries. 

To attempt to enumerate the many 
"DON'TS" in any given occupation 
which are primary factors in accidental 
injuries, would be but to reiterate what 
we have already heard and same would 
possibly make no deeper impression than 
already made. It is only as we recog- 
nize and realize our duty towards our- 
selves and our fellows that we will be 
enabled to intelligently and effectively 
contribute towards the prevention of 
accidents in our chosen occupations. 
All rules promulgated for the preven- 
tion of accidents should receive our 
earnest and intelligent consideration. 
We should also see in them a desire 
to protect from injury and loss to the 
employes as much as the protection of 
the property and interest of the em- 
ployer. The heedlessness so easily en- 
gendered by the demands and conditions 
under which our occupations may be 
pursued should be by every effort pos- 
sible eliminated and a proper exercise 
of care and caution will insure the com- 
pletion of the work in hand without in- 
jury or mishap. 



the 




Recent Commerce Decisions 



LJ OOF Weights. The assessment 
of freight charges upon hoof sell- 
ing weights ; less fill allowances, is not 
unlawful, but the requirement that 
the variation between weights taken on 
track scales and hoof selling weights 
shall amount to 1,000 pounds per car as 
a condition to the setting aside of the 
one in favor of the other is found to be 
unreasonable in so far as the variation 
exceeds 500 pounds. Kansas City Live 
Stock Exchange vs. A. T. & S. F. R. Co., 
34 ICC 423. 

Segregating Terminal Charge From 
Through Freight Rate. Where a ter- 
minal service has heretofore been 
treated by the carriers as a part of 
the transportation service covered by 
the freight rate and regularly per- 
formed by them, they may not now 
segregate that service and assign to 
it a separate charge without taking 
into consideration, in order to justify 
such charge, the entire through service 
of which it forms a part, and the com- 
pensation heretofore received for such 
through service. Lighterage & Storage 
Regulations at New York, 35 ICC 48. 

Shipper's Load and Count. Rule 23 
of the Western Classification which re- 
quires that "freight loaded by shipper 
and not checked by carrier must be re- 
ceipted for 'shipper's load and count' " 
was assailed, the complainant contending 
that it violated Section 20 of the Com- 
merce Act known as the Carmack 
Amendment, as amended by the Cum- 
mins Amendment, and that the carrier 
should either send a representative to 
complainant's mills and check the load- 
ing of rice or to accept statements as to 
quantities without checking, and to issue 
so-called "clean" bills of lading therefor; 



but the Commission held, following the 
Ponchatoula Case, 19 ICC 521, that the 
Cummins Amendment had not changed 
the legal status of the rule and that 
"where the practice is shown to have re- 
sulted from a situation involving the mu- 
tual interest and convenience of the 
shipper and the carrier, we do not, in 
view of all the facts, circumstances and 
conditions "appearing of record, find the 
rule and practice challenged to be un- 
reasonable or otherwise in violation of 
existing law. It should be borne in mind 
that the shipper is not denied his right 
to an unqualified receipt in any case in 
which delivery is tendered to the carrier 
at any of its public stations where it pro- 
vides facilities for the receipt and deliv- 
ery of freight." Louisiana State Rice 
Milling Company vs. M. L. & T. R. R. & 
S. Co., 34 ICC 577. 

Reconsignments. In Interior Lum- 
ber Co. vs. Southern R. Co., Unre- 
ported Opinion 2104, the commission re- 
affirms its conclusions reached in previ- 
ous cases, and says concerning them that 
it was there held when a request for re- 
consignment or diversion is made at a 
reasonable time and entails no change in 
the contents of the car and no out of 
line haul, the reconsignment or diver- 
sion requested should be effected on the 
basis of the through rate from the point 
of origin to the new destination plus a 
reasonable additional charge for the ex- 
tra service performed, and that $5 con- 
stituted a reasonable charge for the ad- 
ditional service. 

Publicity Concerning Classification 
Changes. In its opinion of June 28, 
1915, by Commissioner Meyer, In Re 
Western Trunk Line Rules, 34 ICC 554, 
the commission directs attention to its 



57 



58 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



views expressed in the Western Classifi- 
cation Case, respecting publicity of pro- 
posed changes and method of classifica- 
tion procedure, where it is said that pub- 
lic business cannot be conducted in a 
private way, that the failure to recog- 
nize this fact fully and to proceed ac- 
cordingly was largely responsible for the 
commotion centering about Classification 
No. 51 ; that these methods must be 
changed to meet the present situation, 
and the Commission adds as to the pres- 
ent case that "practically all changes 
proposed in Circular 1-K have been ap- 
proved. Had these changes been adver- 
tised before adoption by the Classifica- 
tion Committee, we seriously doubt if 
this proceeding would have been neces- 
sary." 

Car spotting covers only one place- 
ment of a car upon an industrial track 
for loading or unloading, and an addi- 
tional charge should be made for each 
additional placement of a car for that 



purpose, and also for the movement of 
cars from place to place within the plant 
during the process of manufacture. Car 
Spotting Charges, 34 ICC 609. 

Sus-pended Rates Not to be Increased 
Until Proceeding Ended. Tariff Circu- 
lar 18-A, tenth paragraph of Rule 9 (k) 
was amended, effective July 15, by add- 
ing thereto the following: 

"It is ordered, That when the Commis- 
sion has suspended a schedule and de- 
ferred the use of a rate, fare, charge, 
classification, regulation or practice 
stated therein, the rate, fare, or charge 
thereby continued in effect shall not be 
increased, and the classification, regula- 
tion or practice stated therein shall not 
be changed, by any subsequent schedule, 
until the suspension proceeding has been 
disposed of or the period of suspension, 
and of any extension thereof, has ex- 
pired, unless such change is specifically 
authorized by special order of the Com- 
mission." 





TRANSPORTATION 
DEPARTMENT 




Controlling the Outgo 

By A. E. Clift, General Superintendent 



TT 7 ITH other lines of business rail- 
W roads suffer from business de- 
pression, but under greater obligations 
to the public, as a common carrier, it 
is incumbent upon them to maintain a 
standard of service to accommodate 
the travel and the transportation of 
freight, which is so closely interwoven 
with the community's welfare that it 
is, indeed, a difficult matter to reduce 
the expenses to a ratio comparable 
with a largely decreased business. In 
other lines of business the same condi- 
tions apply, but not so forcibly. 

The business of the country is now 
going through trying times and the 
railroad managements are confronted 
with the heavy arbitrary expenses and 
decreased earnings. The earnings can- 
not be materially increased, generally, 
and the only available recourse to in- 
sure dividends and funds to maintain 
the properties in suitable condition, to 
meet a maximum business, is that of 
economy in all lines of the operating 
expense. On a large system like the 
Illinois Central Railroad, where 'the 
disbursements of expenses run into 
large figures, and which thousands ol 
employes have within their control, 
the co-operation of all employes to the 
end sought is, of course, essential. Per- 
haps some employes think they are too 
"small a cog in the wheel" to be of ma- 
terial assistance in keeping down the 
expense, but the truthfulness of the 
old adage, "Save the pennies and the 
dollars will take care of themselves/" 
I venture to say, cannot be more clear- 
ly brought out than in the operation 



of a great property such as the Illinois 
Central. 

To assume it is in the power of each 
employe to save ten cents a day for 
the company in one way or another 
would amount to at least $4,000.00 a 
day, $1,460,000.00 a year. I do not 
think the figure has been placed be- 
yond the realms of possibility. The 
economical use of material, supplies, 
stationery, the prevention of accidents, 
freight claims, stock claims, personal 
injuries, and increasing our efficiency 
in directions the opportunities offer are 
a few of the items on which we can 
specialize. Above all we should not 
overlook the importance of individual 
effort in advancing the company's wel- 
fare, never thinking someone else will 
do it, on the contrary, do it ourselves 
do it now, keeping in mind the com- 
pany's prosperity is our prosperity and 
the prosperity of the community it 
serves. 

I do not know who wrote the fol- 
lowing poem, which I am quoting with 
the idea that we can use the principles 
advanced to good advantage : 

It Can Be Done 

"Somebody said that it couldn't be 

done, 

But he, with a chuckle, replied 
That maybe it couldn't,' but he would 

be one 

AYho wouldn't say so till he'd tried. 
So he buckled right in with the trace 

of a grin 
On his face. If he worried, he hid it. 



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ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



61 



He started to sing as he tackled the 

thing 
That couldn't be done, and he did it. 

Somebody scoffed: 'Oh, you'll never 

do that; 
At least, no one ever has done it.' 



That couldn't be done, but he did 
it. 

There are thousands to tell you it can- 
not be done, 

There are thousands to prophesy 
failure ; 



But he took off his coat and he took off There are thousands to point out to 



his hat, 

And the first thing we knew he'd be- 
gun it. 

With the lift of his chin, and a bit of a 
grin 



you, one by one, 
The dangers that wait to assail you ; 
But just buckle in with a bit of a grin, 
Then take off your coat and go to it ; 



Just start in to sing, as you tackle the 
Without any doubting or quiddit ; thing 

He started to sing as he tackled the That 'cannot be done,' and you'll do 



thing 



it.' 



Meeting of Central Agents Association 



By F. B. Simcox, Secretary 



The quarterly meeting of the Cen- 
tral Agents' Association of the Spring- 
field Division was held in a special 
coach on the rear of the Sunday excur- 
sion train, leaving Clinton at 7 :50 a. m., 
Sunday, July 18th, for Havana. The 
following persons were in attendance: 
G. E. Patterson, Superintendent, Clin- 
ton. 

H. L. Moffett, Trainmaster, Clinton. 
P. K. Hanley, Trainmaster, Clinton. 
J. A. Meehan, Claim Clerk, Clinton. 
G. W. Rollins, Agent, Moweaqua. 

A. C. Beckett, Agent, Walker. 

C. C. Baldwin, Freight Agent, Pana. 

L. E. Barton, Cashier, Pana. 

H. R. Peters, Clerk, Madison. 

F. Simcox. Agent, Ramsey. 

R. I. Leef, Agent, Thomasville. 

C. O. Shumway, Agent, Madison. 

F. A. Farnsworth, Agent, Midland 
City. 

W. H. Irwin, Agent, Hallville. 

O. S. Jackson, Agent, New Holland. 

J. W. Schachtele, Agent, Skelton. 

G. A. Glens, Agent, Penfield. 

B. W. Horine, Agent, Glenavon. 

A S MOST of the boys had never seen 
^ Havana and wished to spend the 
afternoon fishing, rowing and seeing 



the sights in and about the town, they 
all agreed to get right down to hard 
work and spent the entire time on the 
trip en route to Havana straightening 
out their grief and making suggestions 
for the betterment of the service and 
of the association. 

The meeting opened as soon as the 
train cleared Clinton, with a talk by 
Mr. Patterson on the matter of claims. 
He expressed appreciation of the ser- 
vice rendered by agents on the Di- 
vision and quoted figures showing that 
the claims had been materially reduced 
in the past six months and said, in his 
opinion, taking receipts from con- 
signees had had a great deal to do with 
reduction in claims. He informed the 
agents that the management will no 
longer accept excuses for failure to take 
receipt for freight at the time of deliv- 
ery, and that he must insist on the in- 
structions being complied with liter- 
ally. So remember, "boys," no more 
excuses go ! 

From this the topic naturally turned 
to grain claims, and Mr. Patterson said 
the Illinois Central considers itself 
equipped with enough perfect cars to 
handle the crop of grain now starting 



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ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



and does not want any "fairly" good 
cars loaded this year. 

Across the face of the bill of lading- 
agents should put the following: 

"This car inspected by Mr. (repre- 
sentative of elevator), and myself, at 
(insert time and date), andiound to be 
in perfect condition for grain. 

Signed, Agent." 

A copy of this notation should ap- 
pear on the way bill covering the car. 
Even with these rigid inspections, grain 
will often leak en route, flue to slight- 
ly defective ends of grain doors. Agents 
at grain loading stations were instruct- 
ed to talk to their elevator men and in- 
duce them to put several layers of 
heavy paper between the grain doors 
and the door posts. The nails would 
then draw the doors close, making it 
impossible for the grain to leak 
through. The Illinois Central has pur- 
chased a number of new cars in the 
past year and has done a great deal of 
work on the older cars, such as putting 
iron straps around them, and expects, 
at the end of the season, to be able to 
report as great a reduction in grain 
claims, proportionately, as has been 
made in claims of 1. c. 1. freight in the 
past year. As the weather has been 
abnormally wet up to date this summer, 
much of the wheat and oats will be in 
a moist condition, and Mr. Patterson 
is putting it up to all concerned to see 
that the grain is kept moving while on 
the Springfield Division and reaches 
the terminals or destination as quickly 
as possible. The station men have 
equally as much to do with the prompt 
handling of grain as the trainmen. 

About this time one of the agents 
(who must have a grudge against milk 
and cream cans), brought up that sub- 
ject for discussion, and apparently all 
present had more or less of a spite 
against these cans, as all the remarks 
were more against them than for them. 
The agents have the idea that the rail- 
road is not receiving the amount of 
revenue from this traffic that it should, 
and everyone present agreed that the 
company should assess storage for cans 
on hand over a certain length of time. 



It seems that some farmers have but a 
few milk cows and when these cows 
go dry and the farmer has no immedi- 
ate use for the can, he generally leaves 
it at the depot for several months at a 
time, allowing the railroad to assume 
the responsibility for the can during 
the idle period, and all this does not 
cost him a cent. If the cans are lost, 
stolen or damaged, the railroad is pay- 
ing for them. One agent present, who 
enters all outbound cans (under load) 
in a book and then checks opposite that 
entry the time received and delivered 
to owner, finds that he often has sev- 
eral cans on hand empty for several 
months at a time. It was his opinion 
that cans on hand empty over a week 
ought to be subject to just as much 
storage as a shipment of freight that 
size. At some stations, where the 
shipments of cream and milk are rath- 
er heavy, the matter of properly han- 
dling empties and getting receipts for 
them is a big item, and it is no more 
than just that the railroad should re- 
ceive a fair return for the extra work 
required in taking proper care of 
empties. 

While the agents were discussing 
cream cans, Mr. Patterson reminded 
them that they should inspect all 
"loads" to see that they are properly 
sealed. Practically all the creameries 
are fastening two wire and lead seals 
on the empties when they return them, 
and if these seals are drawn up tightly 
when the lid is put on the filled can 
and then sealed, the can may be tipped 
over more than once without spilling 
the contents. At present agents are 
not giving this matter the attention it 
should receive, with the result that the 
Illinois Central is paying claims for loss 
en route, due to cans being turned over 
and part of contents spilled. In con- 
nection with these shipments, agents 
are instructed to have the revenue 
stamps put on the tags of the cans, and 
not on bills of lading or receipts for 
them. 

The passenger department has re- 
ported a great reduction in the number 
of cash fares collected and is making 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



63 



a vigorous campaign to eliminate them 
wherever and whenever possible. There 
has been a remarkable improvement 
made in the matter of ticketing all pas- 
sengers before they board trains, but 
the records show room for more im- 
provement, and agents are urged to 
help the department educate the pub- 
lic in the matter of purchasing tickets. 

During these warm months there are 
a great many shipments of old butter 
moving over the road, and much of it 
is being shipped in sugar barrels. The 
classification requires these barrels to 
be thoroughly water-soaked before be- 
ing used for this purpose, but even at 
that, they leak more or less, and have 
a habit of "caving in" or the bottoms 
falling out before arriving at destina- 
tions, causing another source of claims 
for the railroad to handle. Agents 
should take the matter up with ship- 
pers of this butter and have them pro- 
cure regular butter tubs with handles 
attached, such as are furnished by most 
large consignees of butter, or, if they 
are unable to get these, to- use water 
soaked candy pails that carry only a 
weight the pails will withstand, and 
are easily handled. 

Perishable freight is another matter 
of much importance these warm days, 
and agents have been given to under- 
stand that the Claim Department will 
accept no excuses for allowing perish- 
able shipments to spoil on their hands. 
Mr. J. L. East should be wired imme- 
diately when shipments are refused, get 
all bids obtainable on the goods and 
sell to the highest bidder, even if he is 
the original consignee. Several agents 
present commended Mr. East's depart- 
ment for giving very quick and effi- 
cient service in disposing of such 
freight, and Mr. Baldwin, of Pana, told 
about a car of watermelons recently re- 
fused at his station on account of being 
spoiled. Mr. East was wired at 7:10 
a. m. and at 9 :50 a. m. he had received 
instructions to sell to the highest bid- 
der. Several other agents mentioned 
cases wherein they were promptly ad- 
vised, but it must be remembered that 
Mr. East must be wired at once and all 
facts of the case stated, eliminating the 



necessity of wiring back for more in- 
formation. 

Another matter of interest to agents 
on the Springfield Division is packages 
lost while moving between two points 
on the Division. Mr. Patterson wants 
the facts wired to his office in such 
cases, as there does not seem to be 
much excuse for these losses, if freight 
is properly checked by the forwarding 
agent and properly checked out by the 
receiving agent, to the consignee. Mr. 
Patterson wishes to handle these cases 
promptly, as the matter is then fresh 
in the minds of all concerned and quite 
often the lost package is located in the 
warehouse or storeroom of the ship- 
per. If agents can educate shippers to 
present their freight for shipment a rea- 
sonable length of time previous to the 
arrival of the freight train at the sta- 
tion, in order that the agent may have 
time to properly check the freight ex- 
amine marking and packing, most of 
the trouble will be eliminated. 

In closing the meeting, Mr. Patter- 
son reminded the agents that the Illi- 
nois Central Magazine was not pub- 
lishing near the number of local items 
from the Springfield Division as from 
other divisions, which is due entirely 
to the lack of interest taken by em- 
ployes of this Division. He made a 
personal request that agents watch for 
valuable and interesting items or sug- 
gestions and send them in so that they 
will reach his office on or before the 
27th of the month. If you get hold of 
some good picture of interest to the em- 
ployes along the line, send it in, too, 
and see what a good job our magazine 
will do in printing it. The next time 
you hear of one of the "boys" along 
the line getting married, or having an 
addition to his family, or doing some- 
thing else for the good of the service, 
just jot it down on a piece of clip and 
mail it to the Superintendent's office. 

Our train rolled into Havana "abt 
ot," as the dispatchers say, and after 
visiting Mr. Berry, agent at Havana, a 
while, the boys went uptown to the 
Taylor House and ate a fine dinner 
"on" Mr. Patterson. 




By B. J. Rowe, Coal Traffic Manager 



' I A HERE are some features of the coal 
A traffic that may be of interest at this 
time, on the eve of the heavy fall and 
winter movement. 

The Illinois Central Railroad orig- 
inates approximately 12,000,000 tons of 
bituminous coal per annum. Thirty- 
seven and one-half per cent of its total 
traffic is coal. There are but six rail- 
roads in the United States that orig- 
inate more of this commodity. It serves 
four of the most important coal produc- 
ing states of the Union, viz., Illinois, 
Indiana, Kentucky and Alabama. 

Illinois ranks third in point of pro- 
duction of bituminous coal. The annual 
output of its mines amounts to 61,000,- 
000 tons, and by reason of the fact that 
one hundred and fifteen of the mines in 
this state are served by the rails of this 
company, approximately two-thirds, or 
8,500,000 tons of our coal traffic is here 
originated. 

Illinois was one of the earliest, as well 
as the greatest, producers. The first 
mention of coal in the territory which 
afterwards became the United States is 
found in the journal of Father Louis 
Hennepin, published in 1698, which con- 
tained a map on which is marked "cole 
mine" on the banks of the Illinois river 
near the site of the present city of Ot- 
tawa, Father Hennepin having passed 
through that territory thirty years ear- 
lier, in 1668. However, nearly a cen- 
tury and a half elapsed after the discov- 
ery of coal in Illinois before mining be- 
gan. The first actual mining operations 



conducted by white men were on the 
bank of the Big Muddy river in Jackson 
county, a short distance from its conflu- 
ence with the Mississippi. These mines 
were opened in 1810 and worked to a 
limited extent for a number of years, 
gradually increasing, until for the past 
thirty-five years that locality has been 
the seat of important mining operations. 

Another region, said to have been 
opened about the same time, was near 
Belleville in St. Clair county. The out- 
cropping of coal in the bluffs along the 
river banks first attracted attention, and 
naturally the first mining operations 
were started on these exposures. The 
earliest recorded production was in 1833, 
when an output of 6,00.0 tons is said to 
have been mined. 

Kentucky, the fifth state in the Union 
in point of coal production, originates 
for us from the fifty-four mines served 
by our road, about 3,000,000- tons of 
commercial coal per annum. Like Illi- 
nois, the coal mining industry in this 
state dates back to the early part of the 
last century. So far as the records of 
early coal production in the United 
States are to be accepted, Kentucky was 
the third state to enter the lists of the 
regular coal producers. The government 
reports indicate the first coal produced 
in the state was mined in 1827 on the 
"right side of the (Cumberland) river 
below the mouth of Laurel." This was 
evidently in Laurel or Pulaski county, 
but the exact location is not definitely 
stated. 



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ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



The same authority says that from 
1834 to 1837 the shipments were from 
75 to 100 boat loads, or about 3,500 
bushels annually, while the production 
for the last coal year was in round fig- 
ures, 20,000,000 tons. 

Alabama and Indiana, ranking sixth 
and seventh in the production of coal in 
this country, with annual outputs of 17,- 
500,000 tons each, supply the remain- 
der of the traffic in this commodity, re- 
ferred to herein as originated by this 
company. There are five active mines 
in Indiana on our rails, and two in Ala- 
bama, although in the latter state we 
have close traffic arrangements with 
roads that serve the more important 
Alabama fields. 

Thus it will be seen that of the seven 
states first in importance from the stand- 
point of bituminous coal production, the 
Illinois Central Railroad serves four and 
has direct connection with one hundred 
and seventy-six active coal mines. 

It is small wonder then that coal is 
the largest single item of traffic on our 
railroad. 

The movement of this commodity in 
the territory served by this company is 
seasonal, the apex being reached usually 
in November with a tonnage in round 
figures of 1,300,000 tons and, the mini- 
mum in May with 600,000 tons, a var- 
iation of over 100 p;r cent ; but we must 
be prepared to and do take care of 



the peak load at all times, although it 
takes 26,683 gondola cars to do it. 

Nature has deposited an inexhaustible 
supply of this great necessity at our 
doors, and the management has provided 
ample facilities for its transportation to 
market ; but like a great many other 
lines of endeavor, the supply exceeds 
the demand. Were that not so, our car- 
rying of coal would be double what it 
is, as our present facilities are fully 
equal to the demand, and there is room 
for expansion if necessity requires. 

And now, reader (a) what can you 
do, and (b) what are you doing to help 
find a market for this "home produced" 
coal in your home town? The answer 
to query "(a)" is that each and every 
employe regardless of department should 
be a booster for the road and its traffic, 
which is the only commodity it has for 
sale, and you can help the coal traffic by 
getting your dealer to handle shipments 
from mines on our line. Naturally, the 
large number of mining operations on 
our road, mining the varied seams of 
coal they do, produce all grades of pre- 
pared coal adapted to any boiler, fur- 
nace, stove or grate, so it will not be 
necessary for any dealer or consumer 
to go beyond our rails for what he seeks. 
If you know of any that have failed to 
find what they want, advise this depart- 
ment, and we will do the rest. As to 
query "(b)", you will have to answer 
yourself. 





Passenger 
Traffic 

-/. ; -v'j'lT^L-fi - '- 

Department 

Little Talks with the Rambler 
Service Notes of Interest 



Pro Bono Publico 



" 'Pro bono publico/ which being 
translated means, for the good of the 
public," said the Rambler in a dreamy 
sort of way as he apparently watched 
the passing boats on the river from the 
banks of one of the several wooded isl- 
ands. It was a beautiful Sunday cli- 
matically, and we had gone to the park 
for the sake of a quiet afternoon in the 
open. We had found a delightful spot 
at which to rest and be comfortable, 
among the trees on the shady side of the 
island; where, with knees drawn up and 
clasped in his outstretched arms, the 
Rambler lazily sat with his back to a 
tree while I had found a seat on a root 
of that same tree that projected from 
the bank to the water's edge. "Which 
brave Latin quotation," I said, "y u got 
out of the back of the dictionary, and I 
know it. So, please don't try to give me 
the impression that you are deeply 
learned in the classics, but come out in 
good plain English with what particular 
thing, or things, you think is good for 
the public. Is it the attractions of the 
park and the freedom therein enjoyed by 
said public?" "Nothing so self evident 
as that," was the quick response. "I 
have in mind the frequent cases in 
which the railroads are called upon to 
enter into outlays from which, as a strict 
business proposition, they would refrain 
but for the element of public service. 
Enterprises in which direct, immediate 



or sometimes even ultimate indirect 
profit is problematical." "But which," I 
added, "are often gold mines in the es- 
timation of the public that is served by 
them," for I had some knowledge myself 
of that phase of the railroad business. 
And it's often hard to make them see 
to the contrary. "In fact," I continued, 
"the ability of some people to see a prof- 
it in, or a reason for, other peoples' ven- 
tures reminds me of a little six-year-old 
niece of mine. She was recently taken 
by her mother on a shopping expedition, 
during which she espied a gaudy ready- 
made frock the possession of which be- 
came an immediate passion with her, and 
she begged insistently for it. But the 
mother said 'no!' and as a finality said: 
'But dear ! I am going to buy you a much 
better frock. That one would not look 
pretty on you. Besides, it's a cheap, 
flimsy material and would not last you 
a week. It would be throwing money 
away to buy it.' 'No, it wouldn't be 
throwing money away,' was the quick re- 
sponse. 'After the week you could give 
it to the minister for the missionary bar- 
rel. I heard you tell him last Sunday 
you hadn't a thing to give him for it.' " 
The Rambler smiled and observed that 
the illustration was good in certain di- 
rections, but that what he had more par- 
ticularly in mind was more like the Kel- 
ley invention. "Kelley," he said, "had 
raised a large family, no one of which 
bid fair to be of any great comfort or 



67 



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ILLINOIS. CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



financial aid to him in his nearly at- 
tained declining years. Of one son, how- 
ever, he and his good wife had hopes. 
This, because the son, for twenty years 
at his trade, had been devoting all his 
spare time, money and brains since his 
apprentice days to the perfection of a 
wonderful invention of his; and con- 
cerning which Kelley used to frequently 
confide to his friends that 'if the lad ever 
finishes it and if the dom thing's any 
good it'll be worth a wad of money and 
we'll all be on aisy street if some shark 
don't steal it ofF'n him.' Which sug- 
gests," continued the Rambler, "that in 
consequence of what it considers its ob- 
ligations to serve the public, a railroad 
often renders service, or engages in en- 
terprises the profitable outcome of which 
is as problematical as that of Kelley's 
invention. And, just as that persistent 
son put time, money and brains into his 
venture, such cases with a railroad often 
require an extra application of all those 
elements. In fact, more likely than not 
they require an acuteness above the or- 
dinary, that every possible turn may be 
taken advantage of to make good on the 
enterprise. Our relation to the Chicago 
Speedway Park enterprise and the cam- 
paign we went through in connection 
therewith is a recent illustration of this. 
In fact, the story of that campaign is 
interesting and I have a mind to tell you 
of it." On my expresing an interest, he 
went into a complete history of the mat- 
ter, giving detail facts and statistics 
galore, for he has a wonderful memory 
for figures. These and the story in full, 
I will not attempt to repeat. In rough 
outline, however, that portion of his 
narrative bearing particularly on the 
problem of uncertainty is as follows : 

There was formed in the city of Chi- 
cago an organization known as the 
Speedway Park Association, whose main 
purpose was the construction of a two- 
mile automobile speedway, with other 
auxiliaries, such as a country club and 
facilities for athletic events of various 
kinds, as an ultimate acquirement. 
About three hundred acres of land were 
secured by the association on the West 
Side, and in due course construction on 



the speedway began, and a five hundred 
mile international auto race, or a, "First 
Five Hundred Mile International Auto 
Derby," was announced for June of the 
present year. Our interest in the matter 
began in January, for "Speedway Park," 
as the track was named, was located di- 
rectly on our western line thirteen miles 
from our Van Buren Street Station. The 
actual construction of the speedway, 
which with its grand stand and property 
is said to have cost the promoters 
approximately one million dollars, 
our Freight Department were nat- 
urally interested in on account of 
the matter of hauling material. But 
it is not necessary to dwell on that ex- 
cept to say that it was one of the inter- 
ests which kept the Traffic Department 
on the alert from about January 1 to the 
running of the first Derby in June. From 
a Pasenger Traffic point of view our in- 
terest in the Speedway Park lay in the 
question of not only a possible obligation 
"pro bono publico," as the Rambler 
would say, but in ways and means, and 
of possible profit or loss. It was all an 
unknown problem. Would the race it- 
self be a success, would it have an at- 
tendance of one hundred thousand, two 
hundred thousand, or more or less than 
these figures? Upon this question hung 
what we would have to do to get the 
people back and forth to the park, for 
pur road was the only means of trans- 
portation on which dependance could be 
placed for service from the city direct 
to the park gates. We must, of course, 
be prepared for the maximum service 
required; but what were the probabili- 
ties of that maximum? Nothing of the 
kind in Chicago had ever been tried to 
give us a basis on which to work, and 
right there is where our real campaign 
began. A neighboring city maintained 
one of the few auto speedways of the 
country, so a passenger department rep- 
resentative went to that city to investi- 
gate and get some tangible basis on 
which we could plan. The attendance 
at that Speedway, the traffic facilities to 
it, the number of trains run and how 
they were loaded, unloaded and handled 
in fact thirty-five specific units per- 



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ILLINOIS. CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



taining to the matter were canvassed in 
that neighboring city. With data thus 
gleaned, data based on experience, to 
work on, there followed at home numer- 
ous conferences and much planning cul- 
minating in the company's expending 
many thousands of dollars, runing well 
up into two figures, in order that it 
might handle effectively its share of the 
Speedway Park travel from and to the 
city. I say its share, because notwith- 
standing its being the only line direct to 
the park, it could not but expect oppo- 
sition from other transportation com- 
panies whose facilities, while in a way 
but comparatively incidental, still would 
prove more or less available. As the 
first, and most important item, on which 
to base an adequate service, the com- 
pany extended its main line double track 
from Parkway Station to Broadview 
Station, a distance of about two and one- 
half miles. Thus was attained double 
tracks for the entire thirteen miles be- 
tween the city and Speedway Park a 
double track line fully protected by au- 
tomatic block signals. At "Speedway," 
the name of its station at the park, it 
constructed fifty-one hundred feet of 
third track and two platforms each thir- 
ty-two hundred feet long. These two 
platforms and the three tracks gave fa- 
cilities for loading six trains at a time, 
twelve cars to each train or seventy-two 
cars in all. Leading from the platforms 
were provided six exit gates at which 
the Speedway Association could collect 
gate receipts from passengers upon leav- 
ing the trains. For controlling the pas- 
senger traffic after the meet, two "bull 
pens" were constructed, one to accom- 
modate exit from the Speedway and each 
to be served by a sufficient number of 
ticket takers ; also booths for ticket sell- 
ers, the former being set at a considera- 
ble distance from the "bull pen." These 
"bull pens" were each to accommodate 
from one thousand to fifteen hundred 
people^ and in them passengers were to 
be retained after their tickets were taken 
until the trains were ready, at which time 
the passengers were to be allowed to pass 
through the gates and embark ; the trains 
to pull out one after the other as loaded, 



their place to be continuously taken by 
others until the crowd had been com- 
pletely served. With these facilities pro- 
vided for handling traffic at the park, it 
was further planned, and on the great 
race day carried out, that beginning at 
a certain hour in the morning for conces- 
sioners, employes and others, an early 
train should be run, and that beginning 
at 6 a. m., trains were to be operated as 
frequently as the travel demanded up to 
2 p. m. In other words, during the rush 
hours both for the going and returning 
trips, the service was to be continuous. 
To accomplish this last on the great day, 
June 26, there were fifteen trains of 
twelve cars each in commission and four 
relay locomotives. 

But this was a single phase only of the 
campaign. Having worked out the prob- 
lem of facilities for handling all the 
traffic that could be reasonably expected, 
it remained to obtain that traffic. Hence 
began a system of correspondence (re- 
sulting in a file three inches high), so- 
licitation and conferences. Liberal ad- 
vertising of our facilities to the park 
was engaged in, both locally and over a 
wide range of country in which it was 
anticipated there would be sufficient in- 
terest to bring outsiders into Chicago for 
the great event. Outside local agents 
sent in estimates of the number of peo- 
ple that would probably attend the race 
from their stations, resulting in a careful 
+imation of extra equipment and spe- 
cial trains necessary to take care of this 
outside business. "In fact," the Ram- 
bler concluded on this subject, "all the 
multitudinous details involved in a new 
venture of this kind were painstakingly 
cared for. The result was reasonably 
satisfactory for an initial trial, but like 
Kelley's invention all "ifs" in the mat- 
ter have not been settled. "If" the first 
try-out can be repeated often enough 
the venture will be satisfactory, but in 
the mean time, pending that and various 
other "ifs," the railroad, while taking 
a business chance in its own interest has 
at the same time entered upon a venture 
'pro bono publico.' " 

As the Rambler finished I was so im- 
pressed concerning the angle of the rail- 



ILLINOIS. CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



71 



road business that he had illustrated that 
as we sauntered homeward my mind 
went back over the broad question of the 
many ways in which the public was 
served by the railroads beyond the mere 
transporting it from point to point. I 
expressed myself somewhat crudely on 
those lines to the Rambler. "Just think," 
T said, "what the traveling public really 
do get from the railroads of today com- 
pared with the early days of rail traffic. 
Sleeping accommodations, meals that can 
be taken comfortably en route, no wor- 
ry or bother about baggage, and a hun- 
dred and one other items that contribute 
to its ease, safety and its expedition in 
travel. What wonderful strides have 
been made in such matters since the old 
stage coach and canal boat accommoda- 
tions of other days have become forced 
into the background." 

"Well, I should say so," exclaimed 
the Rambler with a laugh. "Every- 
thing's helps nowadays, from an elec- 
tric fan in a day coach to a coat hanger 
in a sleeping car berth. But this re- 
minds me of a newspaper clipping I 
have in my pocketbook that I came 
across a short time ago. If it does not 
make one feel that the public is well 
served by the railroads in the present 
day, then such a one will have to be 
put down as an incorrigible, pessimis- 
tic crank." He then handed me the 
clipping, which was from the London 
Times of nearly thirty years ago and 
referred to certain railroad matters of 
Auld Lang Syne. It read as follows : 

"The London Times gives the fol- 
lowing rules as appropriate for travel- 
ing forty or fifty years ago : Passen- 



gers expecting to join the trains at any 
of the stopping places are desired to 
be in good time, as the train will leave 
each station as soon as ready, without 
reference to the time stated on the 
tables, the main object being to per- 
form the whole journey as expedi- 
tiously as possible. Passengers will 
be booked only conditionally upon 
there being room on the arrival of the 
trains, and they will have the prefer- 
ence of seats in the order in which 
they are booked. No persons are 
booked after the arrival of the train. 
All persons are required to get into 
and alight from the coaches invari- 
ably on the left side as the only cer- 
tain means of preventing accidents 
from trains passing in an opposite di- 
rection. Each passenger's luggage will, 
as far as possible, be placed on the roof 
of the coach in which he has taken his 
place ; carpet bags and small luggage 
may be placed underneath the seat op- 
posite to that which the owner occu- 
pies." 

"Imagine," said the Rambler with a 
grin, "no person being 'booked' in these 
days after the arrival of the train ! But 
what gets me is that 'the train will 
leave each station as soon as ready 
without reference to the time stated 
on the tables.' The ambition to have 
the train 'perform the whole journey 
as expeditiously as possible' was laud- 
able, however." He put the clipping 
back in his pocketbook, and in the 
meantime, we having reached his street 
car line, he bid me good-bye and 
boarded the car by which he reached 
his apartments. 



Service Notes of Interest 



g ELIEVING that an official, author- 
itative statement of the policy of 
the Canadian Government in relation 
to American tourists in the Dominion 
would be valued and answer the ques- 
tion that undoubtedly arises in the 
minds of many would-be tourists, Mr. 
J. W. Scott, Superintendent of Immi- 



gration, Department of the Interior, 
Canada, writes the Passenger Traffic 
Manager from Ottawa as follows : 

"I observe from newspaper reports 
that there seems to be an impression 
in the minds of many that American 
tourists will not be welcomed in Can- 
ada this year, and I am writing you 



ILLINOIS. CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



73 



this letter to correct that impression. 
Canada continues to welcome bonafide 
American tourists traffic the same as 
in other years. Passports are not re- 
quired by any person. Persons nat- 
uralized in the United States will be 
treated exactly the -same as United 
States citizens by birth. German, 
Austro-Hungarian or Turkish citizens 
who are employes of American tour- 
ists will be permitted to enter Canada 
without any difficulty beyond the as- 
surance of the employer of the good 
behavior of the employe while in Can- 
ada. The only supposed tourists who 
have difficulty on the International 
Boundary are undesirable aliens seek- 
ing to effect entry as immigrants but 
under the guise of tourists." 

This also coincides with the joint 
circular issued some time ago, to the 
same effect, of the Canadian Steam- 
ship Lines, Limited, the Canadian Pa- 
cific Railroad Company and the Grand 
Trunk Railway System. Agents should 
bear the above in mind when ques- 
tioned on the subject. 



its to farther noted points of interest 
either reached by side trips or enroute 
through California." 



The monthly bulletin of the Chi- 
cago and North Western, in an article 
on Pacific Coast Travel, makes the 
two following points that it might help 
Illinois Central agents to remember in 
connection with the sale of California 
Exposition tickets: "Tourists who 
have not previously visited California 
will undoubtedly appreciate the sug- 
gestion from agents to take such cloth- 
ing with them on their trip as they 
ordinarily wear late in the spring or 
in the early fall, as mentioned in June 
Bulletin. Along the Pacific Coast the 
temperature during the day is not ex- 
cessive and the evenings are cool. 

"Many express the regret that they 
did not arrange for time enough in San 
Francisco and other points in Califor- 
nia as they failed to realize in advance 
the number of attractive trips that could 
be taken in San Francisco and vicinity 
including trips about the Bay and down 
the Peninsula. They state that two 
weeks can be well spent in San Fran- 
cisco and vicinity, in addition to vis- 



The Michigan Central has estab- 
lished modern standard sleeping car 
service daily between Chicago and 
Portland, Old Orchard, Kennebunk 
and Kennebunkport, Me., on "The Ca- 
nadian," leaving Chicago daily at 6:10 
p. m. On Fridays out of Chicago the 
through car runs to Kennebunk only. 
The route is via Michigan Central 
through Detroit to Windsor, Canadian 
Pacific via Montreal to Newport, Boston 
& Maine to St. Johnsbury, Maine Cen- 
tral through the heart of the White 
Mountains to Portland, Boston & Maine 
to Kennebunkport, Me. On the Wolver- 
ine, leaving Chicago 9 :05 a. m. daily, 
sleeping cars are operated between Chi- 
cago and Montreal, connecting there 
daily except Sunday, at 9 :55 a. m., with 
parlor car for Portland and Kennebunk- 
port, and affording a daylight ride 
through the heart of the White Moun- 
tains. 



The Michigan Central has advised 
the discontinuance of its passenger 
train service on their "London Branch" 
extending from St. Thomas, Ont., to 
London, Ont. ; but that such will not 
affect the handling of traffic to Lon- 
don, Ont., from points west of De- 
troit routed via Michigan Central to 
Windsor, Ont., thence Canadian Pa- 
cific to London. 



The Grand Trunk Pacific calls atten- 
tion in circulars it has issued to im- 
proved Trans-Continental through 
electric lighted sleeping car service it 
has inaugurated between Winnipeg 
and Prince Rupert, leaving Winnipeg 
Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays at 
6 :00 p. m., arriving at Prince Rupert 
at 6 :15 p. m. the following Fridays, 
Mondays and Wednesdays. Also to the 
fact that in addition to the attractions 
of the route, including the Canadian 
Rockies and the Fraser and Skeena 
rivers of British Columbia, those of 
the seven hundred mile sea voyage 



74 



ILLINOIS. CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



through the sheltered channels of the 
"Norway of America" from Prince 
Rupert to Seattle via the Grand Trunk 
Pacific steamships, are covered by an 
extra charge of $10 in one-way fares 
and $20.00 in round-trip fares per tariff 
and include meals and berth on the 
steamers. 



The attention of agents selling tick- 
ets to St. Louis from Chicago and in- 
termediate stations is called to the fact 
that train No. 19, the Daylight Special, 
runs into that city over the Merchants' 
Bridge, hence does not make East St. 
Louis. While this arrangement has 
been in effect for some years, it is 
occasionally overlooked and tickets 
for that train sold to East St. Louis. 



This should not be done, as passengers 
holding such tickets are required to 
either leave the train at Madison or 
pay additional fare from Madison to St. 
Louis, which is apt to cause contro- 
versy between the passenger and con- 
ductor. 



Effective August 10th, the through 
steel, twelve-section drawing-room 
sleeping-car that has been running be- 
tween Chicago and San Francisco over 
the Illinois Central and Union and 
Southern Pacific via Omaha, was with- 
drawn as a through Pacific coast car. 
It will continue to run over the Illinois 
Central between Chicago and Omaha 
only, west bound, on No. 13, and east 
bound on No. 14. 




DEP/qPTMENT 



Lake Cormorant Interlocking Y. & M. V. R. R. 



HPHE mechanical interlocking at Lake 
* Cormorant, Miss., was placed in 
service October 22, 1914. It protects 
the j unction ( of the Lake Cormorant 
District line with the Clarksdale Dis- 
trict line. The Clarksdale District line 
is double track north of the plant and 
single track south of the plant, the junc- 
tion switch being interlocked. The 
Lake Cormorant District line is double 
track through the plant. 

The arrangement of tracks and sig- 
nals is shown on the opposite page. 

High speed moves are routed as fol- 
lows: 

North bound from Clarksdale Dis- 
trict, signal 2, straight through plant. 

North bound from Lake Cormorant 
District, signal 6, over crossover 30-31. 

South bound on Clarksdale District, 
signal 47, over crossover 27-28, and 
switch 26 normal. 



South bound on Lake Cormorant Dis- 
trict, signal 46, over crossover 27-28, 
and switch 26 reversed. 

Crossovers 24-24 and 19-20 are used 
for slow speed moves only. Low speed 
signals govern all possible routes, ex- 
cept those governed by high speed sig- 
nals. 

The interlocking tower is the stand- 
ard wooden tower for a Saxby & Farm- 
er machine. The foundation is con- 
crete, in which inverted steel rails are 
set at intervals of 1 foot 8 inches for the 
support of the leadout and the machine 
frame. The machine frame consists of 
4 inch by 12-inch timbers on 3 feet 4- 
inch centers. These timbers are sup- 
ported by the concrete foundation and 
are set directly over the inverted steel 
rails to which they are bolted with steel 
brackets. At the top the timbers are 
held by steel braces inclined at 45 de- 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



75 



grees, and bolted to the 
timbers and to the joists 
supporting the fl o o r 
above. The leadout con- 
sists of 2-inch square 
steel rocker shafts sup- 
ported on steel plates 
bolted to the inverted 
steel rails. 

The Foster adjustable 
pipe carrier top was used 
in this installation. This 
is a newly designed de- 
vice made up of angles 
bolted together, back to 
back, giving a very stiff 
construction. The top 
has continuous slots 
throughout the length 
which give a maximum 
of laterial adjustment. 
The top rests on four 
bolt heads, thus permit- 
ting a maximum amount 
of vertical adjustment, 
and in case one side of 
the foundation settles 
more than the other, it 
allows adjustment so 
that the top can still be 
kept horizontal. The 
holes in the top which 
take the bolts for fasten- 
ing the stands are sloted 
to take care of the slight 
variations in the spacing 
of the bolt holes cored in 
the pipe carrier stands. 

High speed derails are 
I. C. standard type made 
by the Morden Frog and 
Crossings Works. Low 
speed derails are Hayes 
Model A-5. Detector 
bars 7/16 inch thick and 
53 feet long with mo- 
tion plate clips are pro- 
vided at each switch and 
derail point. 

The home signals are 
mechanical, pipe con- 
nected and non-slotted. 
The high speed arms op- 
erate from to 90 de- 




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76 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



grees in the upper quadrant, and the low 
speed arms operate from to 45 degrees 
in the upper quadrant. Dwarf signals 
are U. S. & S. Co. type, pipe connected 
with spring attachment and operate 
from to 45 degrees in the upper 
quadrant. The high speed arms display 
a green light when in the vertical po- 
sition, and a red light when in the hori- 
zontal position. Low speed arms and 
dwarf signals display a yellow light 
when in the 45 degree position, and a 
red light when in the horizontal posi- 
tion. 

The three power distant signals have 
Hall style "K" bottom post mechanisms 
and operate from 45 to 90 degrees in 
the upper quadrant. They display a 
yellow light when in the 45 degree po- 
sition, and a green light when in the 90- 
degree position. The operating battery 
for each signal consists of sixteen cells 
of B. S. Co., 400 A. H. capacity housed 
in a knock-down iron battery box. 

The line relays are 500 ohm Hall wall 
type housed in the signal mechanism 
cases. Lightning arresters are Hall 



style EG improved type. Electric back 
locks for the distant signals are U. S. 
& S. Co. model 2, half reversed, with a 
resistance of 500 ohms. Two Union 
mechanical time locks are provided, and 
three annunciators of the U. S. & S. 
Co. train drop type, two being 500 ohms 
resistance and one having 25 ohms re- 
sistance. The 500 ohm annunciators 
start from Hoeschen selective magneto- 
generators and respond to north bound 
trains only. The 25-ohm annunciator 
starts from a Brach style "G" mercury 
track instrument on the south bound 
track north of the plant. 

Wire used at signal locations is No. 
14 Kerite 4/64 inch wall and single 
braid. The jumpers on relays are No. 
12 lamp cord. Line wire is No. 12 cop- 
per clad, the annunciator wires being 
bare, and the signal wires being double 
braid weather proof. 

This interlocking was the first on the 
system to be installed with signals op- 
erating in the upper quadrant, and spe- 
cial instructions were issued covering 
the various indications. 





Industrial, 

Immigration 




Development 
Department 

Progressive Farming in Mississippi 

By Charles N. Brumfield, Agriculturist 



D HENOMENAL yields in agriculture 
* are obtained under conditions that 
are unusually favorable, and there must 
be but few limiting factors to such 
yields. The South holds the .record for 
the largest yields of corn, oats and al- 
falfa. In the South man is the only 
limiting factor to crop production, be- 
cause we have unusually favorable con- 
ditions for phenomenal results. While 
repeated maximum yields make us love 
to boast of our wonderful resources, 
nevertheless it is true that the South is 
growing and developing, as a result of 
the simple and carefully given informa- 
tion, which can be used by the average 
man day in and day out on the farm. It 
is the standard of the average man that 
the most thorough agricultural workers 
are seeking to raise, instead of working 
altogether, for results out of reach of 
the average man. That education, that 
standard, that uplift which directs many 
men to greater effort along the general 
lines of farming; which endeavors to 
direct the raising of a few pigs well, 
caring and feeding properly a few dairy 
cows, and which makes for the improve- 
ment of the home, the consolidation of 
schools, community organization and 
painted churches is worth far more to 
civilization than all the extraordinary 
results which it is possible to obtain 
only under the most favorable conditions. 
After several years of experience in 
teaching the simple things for general 
farm uplift, we are convinced that the 
main good which comes from speech 



and illustration is the original thought 
which results from the personal con- 
tact with the worker, the interest 
aroused to seek for himself the truth 
about his own farm and business. 

It is interesting to take an inventory 
of the farm conditions of a state, coun- 
ty, community or individual. It is high- 
ly educational to take such an inventory 
and we are of the opinion that a part 
of the agriculture which ought to be 
taught in the public schools of the South 
are the inventories or conditions of the 
farms in the community around the 
school, and the methods of benefiting 
such farms. At last the whole prob- 
lem of agriculture is the problem of 
education. The farmer of the future 
must be a good sound business man, ed- 
ucated to love the business of farming 
and able to understand and apply the 
science of farming and to use them on 
his farm. The more of the proper kind 
of education we receive the quicker and 
surer are we going to develop into a 
permanently prosperous agriculture. 

The demonstration farms of the Illi- 
nois Central Railroad are not intended 
to overshadow every farm in the com- 
munity in which they are located. In 
fact, it is always gratifying to the man- 
agement to know of results superior to 
the results obtained on these farms. 
However, it is intended that the truth 
of scientific farming shall be put into 
practice on these farms in so far as it 
can be made a part of the scheme for 
a permanent farm. Then they must 



77 



78 



ILLINOIS. CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



serve as an object lesson to other farm- 
ers if they are of the most good, but to 
serve as object lessons it is realized that 
the work of these farms must be of a 
superior nature, or rather, the work 
must be thoroughly sound. 

Freeman Hales owns and operates the 
farm at McComb City, Miss. This farm 
was put into operation in 1913 by Mr. 
J. C. Clair, who with a few enterpris- 
ing business men of McComb called 
upon Mr. Hales for the purpose of lo- 
cating and outlining the work to the 
agriculturists. Hales was just an av- 
erage man, with lots of energy, and an 
unconquerable desire to become a pros- 
perous farmer. He loved his business 
and did nothing else and talked nothing 
else. The farm is now in its third year. 
No special interest was taken in this 
farm the first year, except that shown 
by the director of the farm and its pro- 
prietor. In fact, it was not much of a 
departure from the ordinary way of 
running farms in that county. There 
was an ample supply of stumps all over 
the place. Hales had some dairy cows, 
but handled them in the old box-stall 
fashion, and did not have a silo nor a 
modern dairy farm. On July 20, 1915, 
Mr. Hales _had eliminated the stumps 
from his pface, he had erected a splen- 
did concrete silo, and had just com- 
pleted a modern dairy barn, built ac- 
cording to the directions of the United 
States Department of Agriculture. On 
this day the new barn was dedicated by 
holding a farmers' all day meeting in 
it. The meeting was attended by about 
200 farmers and their wives and lasted 
from 10 :30 in the morning until 4 
o'clock in the afternoon. . Speeches were 
made by Messrs. Harper, Brumfield, 
Moore, Higgins, Minge, and Prof. 
Moore. The work from the railroad 
standpoint was outlined by Mr. Har- 
per. Mr. Moore gave an interesting 
discussion upon community organization 
and co-operation, Mr. Higgins outlined 
the advantages of the silo and modern 
dairy barn. Mr. Minge discussed ter- 
racing land and soil improvement, and 
Prof. Moore discussed the dairy cow 
and her value, when properly looked 



after. It is easy to see that Pike Coun- 
ty is developing. Five years ago it 
would have been impossible to have had 
such an audience meet in any part of 
the county for the purpose of an all- 
day discussion of farm matters. A few 
miles' drive in the country over the 
magnificently graveled roads is indica- 
tive of better times in South Mississip- 
pi and in Pike County. Crop conditions 
are magnificent, and conditions are gen- 
erally improved, because farmers are 
beginning to settle themselves to the 
task of working out a permanent agri- 
culture. 

At Flora, Miss., John Anderson op- 
erates the demonstration farm, and on 
July 21 a similar meeting was held on 
his place to that just outlined about the 
McComb City Farm. Except on this oc- 
casion a much larger farm is being used 
and, instead of being a dairy man, Mr. 
Anderson is breeding beef cattle. While 
this is not uncommon in Madison coun- 
ty yet the visitors who were interested 
in farming took delight in comparing 
Mr. Anderson's grade calves and year- 
lings with their own and took a great 
deal of interest in observing the meth- 
ods of cultivating the Demonstration 
Farm. Mr. Anderson's corn would indi- 
cate a yield of 90 bushels to the acre, 
and this is on land that would not make 
20 bushels five years ago. An all-day 
meeting was held in the beautiful grove 
in front of his residence, where all the 
discussions were interspersed by ques- 
tions asked by the farmers, and we 
judge there were 500 in attendance. 
All left well pleased with the day's 
work, the farmers feeling they had 
truthfully benefited and the speakers in- 
spired to greater efforts for the accom- 
plishment of good. 

At O'Reilly, Miss., Mr. Louis Wald- 
auer operates the Demonstration Farm, 
and on July 23 one of the grandest 
farmers' meetings ever held in Missis- 
sippi, and especially the delta, was held 
on his farm. About 1,000 people at- 
tended and devoted the entire time, 
from the arrival of the speakers to ad- 
journment, to the subject of farm prob- 
lems. A splendid barbecue was given 



ILLINOIS. CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



79 



by Mr. Waldauer, and he served more 
than a thousand plates. It is especially 
gratifying to be able to recall that it is 
possible to ho'd a meeting of this kind 
in the Yazoo Mississippi Delta. 

The thing that marks the farm meet- 
ings held, and which gives a true indi- 
cation of the trend of affairs in Mis- 
sissippi is the fact that at all of these 



places, by unanimous consent of the 
farmers present, it was agreed to make 
these meetings an annual affair. We 
are of the opinion that Mississippi is 
developing, and that her development 
is coming fastest along agricultural 
lines, because her farmers are assimi- 
lating the truth of agriculture in the 
simplest and most practical form. 



The Intelligent Box Car 



r-pHE general superintendent and the 
1 principal assistant engineer stood 
side by side at the top of the hump in 
the shadow of the switching tower 
and smiled. And that was all there 
was to the formal opening of the Chi- 
cago clearing freight transfer yards 
it took more than two years' time 
and $8,000,000 to build. They are said 
to be the biggest in the world. 

Below the two men the tracks 
spread out fan shape. Fifty-two pairs 
of them, rapidly becoming shiny with 
use, flowed out to the east. 

The completion of the clearing yard 
is an important step toward electrify- 
ing the railroads entering Chicago. As 
long as freight transfers are made in 
the city the problem of electrification 
is complex. That was the way F. E. 
Morrow, the principal assistant engi- 
neer, explained it. 

"The freight transfer yards here sort 
out the freight that comes into Chi- 
cago," he' explained. "A train conies 
in from the east, for instance, with 
sixty or seventy cars consigned to 
points on different railroads west of 
Chicago. Some of the cars may be 
consigned to Chicago firms. Now, 
what we do in this yard is to take all 
the cars that are to go out over the 
Santa Fe, for instance, run them down 
one track, and let the Santa Fe haul 
them out again." 

General Superintendent J. H. Brin- 
kerhoff added a word. 

"If Chicago," said he," didn't hap- 



pen to be about the only city in the 
country which is the terminal for 
every road that enters it the situation 
wouldn't be nearly so complex. That's 
the reason the switching problem is so 
mean." 

The way they classify the cars is a 
fine art. A train was hauled to one of 
the receiving tracks situated at either 
end of the yard. There the Belt Line 
railroad, which operates the yard, took 
it in hand. An engine was hooked on 
behind and the long train was pushed 
up the long slope until the first car 
was just at the top of the hump. 

The man in the switching tower had 
before him a card which the conductor 
of the freight train had made out as 
his caboose jogged along over the 
prairies. That card gave the destina- 
tion of every car in the train. 

When the car came to a full stop 
the tower man gave the card a hasty 
glance and a moment . later pressed 
one of a half dozen small buttons on 
the table before him. A blast echoed 
down the yard ; it was heard half a 
mile away, for a moment later the 
whole train quivered. The push was 
strong enough to send the first car on 
its way down toward the fan of tracks 
below. Just as the car started the 
tower man pressed another button. 

On top of the car which bowled 
along down the slope stood a -man in 
faded blue overalls. Presently he 
leaned over and bore with all his 
strength on the hand brake. The car 



80 



ILLINOIS. CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



slid along until it reached the fourth 
rib of the fan when it changed its 
course and slid down that rib. 

The tower man turned and grinned. 

"Did you see that button I pressed 
just as she started to roll?" he asked. 
"Well, that threw switch No. 4 down 
there and she just had to roll in. Noth- 
ing to it. Watch. Here goes for track 
No. 7 Illinois Central stuff for New 
Orleans." 

After a half dozen cars with their 



riders have slid over the bump a gas- 
oline car chugs up the hill with the 
riders who are ready for their turn 
next. It took twenty-three minutes 
to classify sixty-three cars. 

"Why didn't we have a celebration 
when we opened up?" repeated the 
general superintendent. "Well, they 
had one in Kansas City when they 
opened up a yard there and they got 
so balled up they didn't get straight- 
ened out for ten hours." Exchange. 



Operator P. Cummings 



Mr. Cummings, who is employed in 
the local freight office at New Orleans, 
La., is one of the oldest employes in 
the service. 

Entered the service of the N. O. & 
Jackson Railroad at Frenier, La., as 
operator, August, 1868; remained with 
that company until March, 1877, as op- 
erator and Superintendent's clerk, was 
taken out of the service along with a 
number of other employes when a new 
superintendent took charge. 

From 1877 to 1885 .was agent and 
operator for the M. L. & T. R. R. at 
Opelousas, La. 

Entered the service of the L. N. O. 
& T. R. R. January 3, 1885, and was 
employed at Clarksdale, Miss., Burnside, 
Wilson and Baton Rouge, La., from that 
date up to February 15, 1889, when he 
was transferred to New Orleans. When 
the Illinois Central took over the L. N. 
O. & T. R. R., he continued in the serv- 
ice at New Orleans. 




PETER S. CUMMINGS, NEW ORLEANS, LA. 



For the GoodFof the Service 

By L. A. North, Shop Superintendent 



R 



ECENTLY we had several of the 
representatives of the Railway 
Magazines visit Burnside Plant. In 
conversation with these gentlemen, 
their attention was called to the dif- 
ferent committees we have on the 
Plant, i, e., that of the Shop Craft Com- 
mittee and of the Safety Committee. 
These gentlemen expressed themselves 
very highly in favor of the way the 
committees were handling the work 
which had been assigned to them and 
in the successful manner in which they 
were handling the reports, and also the 
numerous suggestions which had been 
given by them at the various meetings 
held in the office of the Shop Super- 
intendent each month. 

It is the desire to bring the employes 
as closely in touch with all of the oper- 
ating Departments as possible, in order 
that they may realize the necessity of 
co-operation, economy and careful 
handling of all that pertains to success- 
ful operation of a Railroad, the size of 
the Illinois Central. The spirit which 
has been exhibited by the various em- 
ployes surely must be very gratifying 
to all concerned so much so, that 
during the recent Street Car trouble, 
Mr. Markham, the President of the 
Railroad, commented on the co-opera- 
tion of all of the employes in handling 
the enormous amount of traffic which 
was handled at that time, and which 
could not have been handled in the 
manner in which it was, had everybody 
not pulled together. 

The same spirit is exhibited at the 



Burnside Plant. The various men of 
the different Departments realize that 
the co-operation of all employes is 
necessary and essential for the welfare 
of the Plant. During the meetings of 
the Shop Craft Committee held in the 
Shop Superintendent's office after the 
various committeemen have been re- 
quested to make such reports as neces- 
sary, it is the rule to talk to them rela- 
tive to the cost of operation of the 
Plant for the preceding month, show- 
ing the saving effected by the use of 
scrap and second-hand material, illus- 
trating by different methods what can 
be done along this line, what has been 
done, what other Railroads are doing 
and how, by each employe putting his 
"shoulder to the wheel", in this respect, 
he is able to keep some other employe 
at work, by the saving effected in mate- 
rial, allowing more money to be spent 
for labor. 

The Shop Craft Committee is also 
requested to talk to the various em- 
ployes on this subject, so that they 
may understand what is being done to 
handle the plant in as successful and 
economical a manner as possible, also 
what is being done to place the power, 
both locomotives and cars, in the best 
condition possible. 

The subject is also discussed in re- 
gard to cleanliness of the plant and 
premises. We believe that the em- 
ployes appreciate what is being done 
for their comfort and are endeavoring, 
to the best of their ability, to meet 
with the requests which have been 



81 



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ILLINOIS. CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



made in regard to cleanliness of the 
plant and premises. 

The question of safety is also thor- 
oughly discussed and illustrations 
given whereby employes, by becoming 
careless or not being thoughtful 
enough of their fellow shop-mates may 
bring about an injury which may de- 
prive them of the means or methods 
of a livelihood and" suggestions are of- 
fered whereby these accidents can be 
reduced to a minimum. The Safety 
Committee, which canvasses the plant 
thoroughly once each month, has also 
made a very good showing. It is not 
always possible to do all that is re- 
quested by this committee each month, 
but they are requested that in case 
their report has not been taken care 
of, or report has not been fully cov- 
ered, to again report at the following 
meeting. They are asked to be per- 
sistent in such reports until every- 
thing has been done that can possibly 
be done to guard against accidents for 
the present and the future. 

The system of co-operation we be- 
lieve to be one of the best that can be 
installed in any plant, and from the 
manner and method in which the va- 
rious employes here have adopted this 
as their watchword surely indicates 
that all are interested in the success 
of the operation of the plant. 

A number of papers have been writ- 
ten on "Efficiency" from time to time 
possibly this has been one of the 
worst abused words in the dictionary. 
In a recent article in the Ladies' Home 
Journal a very clever illustration was 
given as to the abuse to which this 
word is subject, and the writer of the 
article had the subject well in hand. 
While it is not the intention to be- 
little anything which may have a tend- 
ency toward economy or shorter meth- 
ods, we believe that co-operation for 
any organization will do more toward 
placing a plant on a paying basis than 
any other system which may be in- 
stalled. 

We also desire to mention the co- 
operation exhibited by the Store De- 
partment with the Mechanical Depart- 



ment. The custom of one department 
nagging the other continually is not 
the system used here both depart- 
ments working hand in hand and ac- 
complishing that which would be con- 
sidered impossible under the system 
now in use on some of the railroads 
today. By both departments working 
together in handling and the using of 
material, it is possible to reduce the 
stock to a reasonable amount, turn- 
ing the money over very rapidly, which 
necessarily must be invested in the 
amount of stock carried and allowing 
but very little dead stock to remain on 
the plant. This in turn is beneficial 
in more ways than one, as it enables 
the management to make a much bet- 
ter showing and allows more money 
for the repairs to locomotives and cars, 
as well as the upkeep of the premises. 
Occasionally it is necessary to place 
an emergency order and it is very grat- 
.ifying to witness the manner in which 
this is handled, which, if under other 
conditions than which we are now 
working, it would be very much of a 
handicap to endeavor to turn out the 
amount of work that is necessary for 
a plant of this size to produce. 

The clerical end also has co-oper- 
ated in a number of instances and 
short-cuts have been adopted whereby 
the increase of correspondence has 
been handled very satisfactorily each 
and all doing whatever is possible 
within their power to handle matters 
pertaining to them as quickly and sat- 
isfactorily as can be done. 

We also believe that it is a good 
policy to place yourself in the other 
fellow's place occasionally to get his 
viewpoint of how matters pertaining 
to the different affairs of a plant or 
railroad are handled, and if a spirit of 
democracy prevails throughout the en- 
tire system, it has very much of a ten- 
dency to bring all concerned closer in 
touch than with the use of some of 
the efficiency methods which are ad- 
vocated by theoretical men in regard 
to matters of which they have no prac- 
tical knowledge. 



Reducing Mechanical Department Expenses 

By L. R. Cleaves, Chief Clerk to Master Mechanic, Paducah 



) subject is of more importance 
in railroad operation than that of 
expenses and as the present is a very 
opportune time, attention is called to 
some of, the saving effected at Paducah 
shops by the use of scrap and second 
hand material, both in application and 
manufacture. 

Heretofore considerable has been 
lost, or it might be said, thrown away, 
by material, which can be utilized in 
various ways, being sent in for scrap. 

In addition there has also been loss 
in labor expense in the use of second 
hand material on account of not hav- 
ing proper system for handling it. 

To increase the use of serviceable 
second hand material and eliminate all 
unnecessary labor expense in the han- 
dling of it, a scrap dock was construct- 
ed at Paducah. One end of th scrap 
dock has been arranged with sufficient 
number of bins so each class of ma- 
terial can be separated and placed in 
separate bin, and the other end of the 
scrap dock has been equipped with 
machinery to rework and rehandle it. 

The reclaiming plant at Paducah is 
equipped with the following ma- 
chinery: 

Bolt shears (air driven). 

Bolt straightening machine, air 
driven). 

One double head bolt threading ma- 
chine (motor driven). 

One machine for backing off nuts 
from old bolts (air driven). 

One six spindle nut tapping machine. 

One emery wheel (motor driven). 

It requires in its operation : 

One foreman. 

Five machine operators. 

One assorter. 

Two scrap handlers. 

These, with the exception of the 
foreman, are paid by the hour, making 



the average cost for labor operating the 
plant, based on eight hours per day, 
six days per week, approximately 
$320.00 per month. 

The monthly output of the reclaim- 
ing plant in bolts and nuts alone 
amounts to : 

Bolts 35,626 Ibs. 

Nuts 13,786 Ibs. 

This results in an added saving of 
$779.03 per month, arrived at in the 
following manner : 

Output (new value) $1,304.23 

Scrap value $148.20 

Labor 320.00 

Power 25.00 

Overhead expenses.. 32.00 

525.20 



Av. mo. saving $ 779.03 

The above saving, however, does not 
take into consideration the saving 
made in reduction in the cost of han- 
dling and reclaiming other items. 

Exhibit No. 1 shows a general view 
of the reclaiming plant and Exhibit 
No. 2 shows a view of the bolt corner 
room of this plant. 

The Car Department blacksmith 
shop, used exclusively for car repair 
work, is located near the scrap dock 
in the blacksmith shop. A coal fur- 
nace has been provided which is used 
exclusively for straightening all car 
iron, repairing brake beams and reset- 
ting car springs, which work is done 
by a force of two men : 

One blacksmith handyman. 

One helper. 

These men repair an average of four 
brake beams per hour, or ten springs 
per hour. Brake beams are not only 
repaired, but No. 2 beams are made 
from No. 1 beams by the application 
of a 1%-inch truss rod reclaimed from 
destroyed cars. After the beams are 



83 



84 



ILLINOIS. CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



repaired, same are painted by dipping 
in paint baths. The total cost of re- 
pairing brake beams, including both 
labor and material, amounts to 80 
cents each. The saving on brake 
beams per month amounts to an aver- 
age of $552.50, arrived at as follows : 



One new brake beam. 
One repaired brake beam 



2.50 
.80 



Saving $ 1.70 

Av. number repaired monthly. 325 
Monthly saving $552.50 

In addition to the work of repairing 
brake beams and straightening all car 
iron, this handyman and helper also 
repair all coil draft springs, giving 
them the proper set, tempering them 
in oil, and annealing them. These two 



one laborer, rated at 16 cents per hour. 
This man working a day of eight hours 
prepares fifty car brasses. 

Another large saving is made in re- 
claiming angle cocks, cutout cocks, re- 
lease valves, etc. All reclaimed angle 
cocks and valves are taken to the air 
room where they are worked over and 
made ready for use. 

In addition to the reclaiming of ma- 
terial, Paducah shops also make a 
good showing in the manufacture of 
small hand tools, sill steps, carrier 
irons, tie straps, etc. 

The statement giyen below shows 
the saving effected by manufacture of 
such articles. (See Exhibit No. 3.) 

All employes at Paducah shops are 
very much interested in reclaiming and 
using scrap and second hand material 



>w of the reclaiming plan 




Article Made From 

Coal Pick Scrap Steel Tires $0.15 

"S" Car Wrench Scrap Steel Tires 

Hand Chisel Scrap Car Springs 

Hand Cold Chisel Scrap Steel Tires 15 

"S" Car Wrench Scrap Steel Tires 

Gouge Chisel Scrap Car Springs 

Hand Punch Scrap Steel Tires 15 

Brake Shoe Key %-inch Scrap Iron 01 

Cape Chisel Scrap Car Springs 

Sledge Hammer Scrap Steel Tires 

Dump Lever Scrap 1%-inch Truss Rods.... 

Machinist Hammer Scrap Steel Tires 

40 T Carrier Iron Scrap Arch Bars 

U. S. Standard 25-in. Sill Step 1%-inch Truss Rods 14 

Tie Strap for Economy Draft Rigging. . Old Tie Bars 15 



ast New Value 


Saving 


>.15 


$0.40 


$0.25 


.14 


.15 


.01 


.04 


.16 


.12 


.15 


.32 


.17 


.18 


.32 


.14 


.04 


.12 


.08 


.15 


.24 


.09 


.01 


.03 


.02 


.04 


.10 


.06 


.32 


1.04 


.72 


.18 


.20 


.02 


.20 


.64 


.44 


.12 


.40 


.28 


.14 


.29 


.15 


.15 


.32 


.17 



men average ten new springs, cost 64 
cents each, and about 300 are used per 
month at Paducah shops. This item 
alone reflects a monthly saving of 
$132.00. 

The blacksmith shop is also 
equipped for relining and rebabbitting 
car brasses, this work being done by 



as they appreciate in so doing the com- 
pany is saving the value of the article 
repaired or manufactured. Sugges- 
tions frequently offered by employes 
extending the use of scrap and second 
hand material are given consideration 
and when found practicable, are 
adopted. 



ilQrttonoiis o Qrvice 



L^AVORABLE entry has been made 
" on the records of the following 
conductors for their special efforts in 
lifting and preventing the use of ir- 
regular transportation in connection 
with which reports (Form 972) were 
rendered to the auditor of passenger 
receipts, who, in cases of this kind, 
advise the other departments con- 
cerned, so that proper action may be 
taken, all pass irregularities being 
brought to the attention of the vice- 
president : 

Illinois Division. 

Conductor F. A. Hitz, on train No. 
526, June 12th, lifted trip pass read- 
ing for passage in the opposite direc- 
tion. Passenger refused to pay fare 
and was required to leave the train. 

On train No. 525, June 23rd, he 
lifted drover's ticket account having 
expired and collected cash fare. 

On train No. 502, June 28th, he de- 
clined to honor card ticket account 
having expired and collected cash fare. 
Passenger was referred to the Passen- 
ger Department for refund on ticket. 

Conductor D. S. Weigel, on train 
No. 24, June 14th, and train No. 2, 
June 26th, declined to honor expired 
card tickets and collected cash fares. 
Passengers were referred to the Pas- 
senger Department for refund on tick- 
ets. 

Conductor J. P. Mallon, on train No. 
24, June 18th, lifted employe's term 
pass account passenger not being pro- 
vided with identification slip, Form 
1572. Passenger refused to pay fare 
and was required to leave the train. 
St. Louis Division. 

Conductor A. E. Reader, on train 
No. 10, June 12th, lifted trip pass ac- 
count being in improper hands and col- 
lected cash fare. 

On train No. 24, June 14th and 28th, 
he refused to honor expired card tick- 
ets and collected cash fares. Passen- 
gers were referred to the Passenger 
Department for refund on tickets. 



Wisconsin Division. 

Conductor B. Lichtenberger, on 
train No. 124, June 19th, declined to 
honor local ticket account having ex- 
pired and collected cash fare. Passen- 
ger was referred to the Passenger De- 
partment for refund on ticket. 
Minnesota Division 

Conductor F. E. Lucas, on train No. 
27, June 2nd, declined to honor card 
ticket account having expired and col- 
lected cash fare. Passenger was re- 
ferred to the Passenger Department for 
refund on ticket. 

Kentucky Division 

Conductor W. Y. Hansbrough, on 
train No. 104, June 7th, declined to 
honor annual pass restricted to intra- 
state travel account being presented 
with local ticket for an interstate trip. 
Passenger purchased additional trans- 
portation to cover through trip. 

Conductor E. T. Arnn, on train No. 
104, June 17th, declined to honor mil- 
eage ticket account having expired and 
collected cash fare. 

Conductor F. P. Coburn, on train 
No. 122, June 19th, lifted mileage 
ticket, which was presented contain- 
ing mileage strip from another book, 
and collected cash fare. 

On train No. 121, June 21st, he lifted 
trip pass account having expired and 
collected cash fare. 

On train No. 132, June 25th, he de- 
clined to honor local ticket account 
having expired and collected cash fare. 

Conductor D. E. Carroll, on train 
No. 101, June 21st, lifted mileage 
ticket account being in improper hands 
and collected cash fare. 

Conductor J. E. Nelson, on train No. 
104, June 26th, declined to honor mil- 
eage ticket account having expired and 
collected cash fare. 

Tennessee Division 

Conductor J. W. Robertson during 
June lifted several mileage tickets ac- 
count having expired and being in im- 
proper hands and collected cash fares. 



85 



86 



ILLINOIS. CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



On train No. 2, June 25th, he lifted 
scrip exchange passage ticket account 
having expired and collected cash fare. 

On train No. 133, June 28th, he de- 
clined to honor Sunday excursion 
ticket account having expired and col- 
lected cash fare. Passenger was re- 
ferred to the Passenger Department 
for refund on ticket. 

Conductor G. P. Kinkle, on train No. 
105, June 17th, lifted employe's trip 
pass account being in improper hands. 
Passenger refused to pay fare and was 
required to leave the train. 

Conductor J. S. Wesson, on train No. 

1, June 22nd, lifted mileage ticket ac- 
count being in improper hands and 
collected cash fare. 

Conductor J. W. Arnn on train No. 
38 June 23rd declined to honor local 
ticket account having expired and col- 
lected cash fare. Passenger was re- 
ferred to the Passenger Department 
for refund on ticket. 

Conductor C. N. Melton, on train 
No. 134, June 26th, lifted employe's 
trip pass account being in improper 
hands. Passenger refused to pay fare 
and was required to leave train. 

Mississippi Division 
Conductor F. J. Hines, on train No. 
3, June 13th, lifted employe's trip pass 
account returning portion being miss- 
ing and collected cash fare. 

Conductor C. M. Anderson, on train 
No. 1, June 19th, lifted employe's trip 
pass account returning portion being 
missing. Passenger refused to pay 
fare and was required to leave the 
train. 

Conductor B. B. Ford, on train No. 

2, June 23rd, lifted mileage ticket ac- 
count being in improper hands and col- 
lected cash fare. 

Louisiana Division 

Conductor G. O. Lord, on train No, 
34, June 1st, and train No. 6, June 5th, 
lifted employe's term passes account 
identification slips, Form 1572, having 
been altered. Passengers refused to 
pay fare and were required to leave 
the train. 

On train No. 1, June 2nd, he lifted 
returning portion of summer tourist 



ticket account change in signature and 
punch description of passenger and 
collected cash fare. 

Conductor M. Kennedy, during June, 
lifted several mileage tickets account 
having expired and being in improper 
hands and collected cash fares. 

Conductor H. T. Erickson, on train 
No. 504, June 5th, lifted two 54-ride 
individual tickets account having ex- 
pired and collected cash fares. 

On train No. 31, June 19th, he lifted 
30-trip family ticket account having 
expired and collected cash fare. 

Conductor E. S. Sharp, on train No. 
23, June 6th, lifted trip pass account 
being in improper hands and collected 
cash fare. 

On train No. 33, June 14th, he lifted 
30-trip family ticket account having 
expired and collected cash fare. 

Conductor A. E. Broas, on train No 
34, June 13th, lifted Sunday excursion 
tickets account being in improper 
hands. Passengers refused to pay fares 
and were required to leave the train. 

Conductor W. Moales, on train No. 
1, June 17th, declined to honor mileage 
ticket account having expired and col- 
lected mileage from another ticket to 
cover trip. 

Conductor R. Mclnturff, on train 
No. 331, June 28th, declined to honor 
Sunday excursion ticket account hav- 
ing expired and collected cash fare. 

On train No. 304, June 29th, he lifted 
identification slip account passenger 
not being provided with pass and col- 
lected cash fare. 

Conductor Wm. Trafton, on train 
No. 33, June 29th, lifted mileage ticket 
account being in improper hands and 
collected cash fare. 

Memphis Division 

Conductor J. S. Lee, on train No. 
331, June 3rd, declined to honor card 
ticket account date of sale having been 
altered and collected cash fare. 

Conductor J. M. Carter, on train No. 
14, June 23rd, declined to honor mil- 
eage ticket account having expired and 
collected cash fare. 

New Orleans Division 

Conductor C. Davis, on train No. 
21, June 6th, declined to honor Sunday 



ILLINOIS. CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



87 



excursion ticket account having ex- 
pired and collected cash fare. 

Conductor S. K. White, on train No. 
12, June 19th, lifted trip pass restricted 
to intrastate travel account being pre- 
sented in connection with an interstate 
trip and collected cash fare. 

Conductor C. R. Day, on train No. 
33, June 28th, lifted 54-ride individual 
ticket account having expired and col- 
lected cash fare. 

Illinois Division 

Favorable entry has been placed on 
the service record of Conductor A. E. 
Johnson, train 73, July 11, for discover- 
ing and reporting I. C. 37766 with no 
light weight stencilled on same. Arrange- 
ments were made to have car stencilled. 

Favorable entry has been placed on 
the service record of Conductor C. H. 
Martin, train 391, July 17, for discover- 
ing and reporting I. C. 131102 without 
light weight stencilled on same. Ar- 
rangements were made to have car sten- 
cilled. 

Favorable entry has been placed on 
the service record of Conductor A. J. 
Haettinger, extra 1511, July 6, for dis- 
covering and reporting car improperly 
stencilled. Arrangements were made to 
have correction made. 

Favorable entry has been placed on 
the service record of Conductor H. L. 
Beem for discovering and reporting I. C. 
104904, with no light weight stencilled 
on same. Arrangements were made to 
have car stencilled. 

Favorable entry has been placed on 
the service record of Conductor C. H. 
Redus. train 92, July 9, for discovering 
and reporting I. C. 41996, with no light 
weight stencilled on same. Arrange- 
ments were made to have car stencilled. 

Favorable entry has been placed on the 
service record of Conductor M. C. Shug- 
rue, extra 1672, July 22, for discover- 
ing and reporting I. C. 106009, with no 
light weight stencilled on same. Ar- 
rangements were made to have car sten- 
cilled. 

Favorable entry has been placed on 
the service record of Conductor Bash, 
extra 1657, July 20, for discovering and 
reporting I. C. 45082, with no light 



weight stencilled on same. Arrange- 
ments were made to have car stencilled. 

Favorable entry has been placed on 
the service record of Operator R. C. 
Balfe, of Oilman, for discovering brake 
rigging down on Extra 1595, south, 
while passing Gilman. 

Favorable entry has been placed on 
the service record of Brakeman J. P. 
Mirgon, train 92, July 15, for discover- 
ing a piece of flange broken out of wheel 
in his train south of Neoga, and taking 
proper action to have car sent to the 
shops for repairs. 

Favorable entry has been placed on 
the service record of Brakeman G. En- 
nis, train 73, July 7, for discovering I. C. 
107043, with truck broken and taking 
necessary action in order to avoid an 
accident. 

Favorable entry has been placed on 
the service record of Agent C. W. Mc- 
Knight, Melvin, 111., for discovering 
broken rail on main track at south end 
of Melvin, July 18. 

Favorable entry has been made on the 
service record of Brakeman H. A. Pe- 
terson for discovering a brake beam 
down on truck of I. C. 56716, extra 
1645, south, while extra 1729 north was 
going past Monee station, July 11. 

Favorable entry has been placed on 
the service record of Brakeman C. Mat- 
thews for discovering brake beam down 
on C. F. D. X. 56855, July 22. 

Favorable entry has been placed on 
the service record of Agent A. S. Hatch, 
Kempton, for discovering I. C. 19015 at 
his station with broken arch bar. 

Favorable entry has been placed on 
the service record of Porter L. West- 
brook, for discovering and reporting 
brake connecting rod down on truck of 
car 2064, while being handled in train 21, 
June 22. 

Favorable entry has been placed on 
the service record of Engineer Connerty, 
extra 1578, south, July 15, while train 
was moving through Riverdale, for dis- 
covering brake rigging wedged in puzzle 
switch on track four, and notifying the 
towerman to have it removed, thereby 
preventing possible accident. 

Favorable entry has been made on the 
service record of Chief Yard Clerk H. 



88 



ILLINOIS. CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



W. Holcomb for discovering C. M. & St. 
P. car 36970, loaded at Libertyville for 
Findlay, Ohio, way-bill M-304 dated 
July 20, indicating the car was loaded 
with two horses and one man in charge. 
Car also contained two sulkies, weight 
750 pounds each, way-bill was corrected 
accordingly, thereby increasing the reve- 
nue on shipment. 

Favorable entry has been placed on 
the service record of Signal Maintainer 
N. Heft for discovering and reporting 
broken rail near signal 592 on July 21. 

Favorable entry has been placed on 
the service record of Fence Foreman 
William Willis, Clifton, 111., for discov- 
ering and reporting broken rail south of 
that station July 6. 

Favorable entry has been placed on 
the service record of Section Foreman 
Gurnsey for discovering brake beam 
down on I. C. 29893, extra 1678, July 3, 
at Tolono, and taking such action which 
made train safe to move. This action un- 
doubtedly prevented possible accident. 

Favorable entry" has been placed on 
the service record of Signal Maintainer 
W. D. Roberts for discovering brake 
beam dragging while extra 1578, north, 
was passing Ashkum, July 11. He 
stopped train and brake beam was re- 
moved, thereby preventing possible ac- 
cident. 

Springfield Division 

Favorable mention has been placed 
upon the efficiency record of Section 
Foreman David Cheek, for discovering 
and promptly reporting a brake beam 
dragging under a car in a passing train. 
Defect was thereby remedied before 
damage occurred. 

Favorable mention has been placed 
upon the efficiency record of Brakeman 
J. Arneet, for discovering and promptly 
reporting broken arch bar in passing 
train. 

Favorable mention has been placed 
upon the efficiency record of Conductor 
A. Chatam, for discovering and prompt- 
ly reporting an empty refrigerator car 
with no light weight stenciled on east 



side of car. Arrangements were made 
to have car stencilled. 

Favorable mention has been placed 
upon the efficiency record of Conductor 
J. A. Abrell, for discovering and 
promptly reporting a car whose sides 
bore different light weights. Arrange- 
ments were made to have correction 
made. 

Minnesota Division 

Favorable entry has been placed on 
the service record of Section Foreman 
Geo. W. Parker, Earlville, Iowa, for dis- 
covering brake beam dragging in extra 
1524, July 1. Train was signalled to 
stop and repairs were made, thereby 
preventing possible accident. 

Favorable entry has been placed on 
the service record of Agent O. W. Reid, 
Peosta, Iowa, for discovering brake 
beam down in train extra 1707, east, 
while passing his station, July 6. Train 
was signalled to stop and brake beam 
was replaced, thereby removing possible 
cause of an accident. 

Tennessee Division 

On June 6, Conductor D. A. Kenney 
observed a car in a passing train on the 
opposite track with defective axle and 
notified the Chief Dispatcher at Fulton, 
who located the car, probably prevent- 
ing an accident. Suitable entry was 
made on Mr. Kenney's record. 

On May 15, Engineer Sam Rice dis- 
covered an engine driving brass on the 
right of way while passing on a freight 
train. He stopped, picked up the brass 
and turned it into the Mechanical De- 
partment at his terminal. Suitable entry 
was made on Mr. Rice's record on ac- 
count of the interest he displayed in the 
Company's affairs. 

On June 17th three brakemen, Joe 
Thomas, Louis House and White Tan- 
kersly, while laying over at Haleyville 
rendered very valuable service when ex- 
tinguishing fire which threatened to de- 
stroy retaining wall at Station. Suitable 
entry was made on the efficiency record 
of these men for their efforts in the 
Company's behalf when off duty. 




Performance of Tubes in SuperheatecTJLocomotives 

By J. F. Raps 



'VT UMEROUS articles have been pre- 
^ pared relative to the construction, 
maintenance and efficiency of the super- 
heated locomotive, but very few, if any, 
have taken into consideration the credit 
due the shop organization in maintain- 
ing it at the highest standard of ef- 
ficiency, at the least possible cost. 

When the first superheated locomo- 
tives were received on this system, 
everyone was skeptical as to the service 
to be obtained from the 5^-inch tubes. 
We were reasonably sure of the mileage 
to be derived from the 2-inch tubes, but 
not having had any experience with the 
larger tubes in locomotives, a great deal 
of trouble was anticipated and prepared 
for by instructing all concerned relative 
to the proper method of cleaning and 
working the tubes and inspecting the 
units during running repairs, realizing 
that an insufficient amount of care would 
result in an engine failure and that an 
excessive amount of work on the tubes 
would cause their early removal, thereby 
increasing the cost of maintenance. 



The results obtained from careful 
supervision and work have been most 
gratifying as the locomotives were main- 
tained in continuous service for an ex- 
tended period of time before it became 
necessary to remove the large tubes on 
account of becoming defective. 

The statement below will give one an 
idea of the remarkable service which 
was obtained from the 2-inch and 5^- 
inch tubes in the Pacific and Mikado 
locomotives. 

Pacific Average mileage 2-inch, 102,- 
460, 5^-inch, 198,000 ; average length 
of time in service, 39 months. 

Mikado Average mileage 2-inch, 74,- 
000, 5^-inch, 115,000; average length 
of time in service, 46 months. 

The above results were obtained with- 
out welding any of the tubes in or onto 
the back tube sheet and I feel that a great 
deal of credit is due the shop organiza- 
tion for the skillful and efficient man- 
ner in which they have performed their 
several duties. 



Claims 

By W. H. Baugh, Chief Clerk General Yardmaster, Vicksburg, Miss. 



A VAILABLE figures show that the 
^ efforts made to reduce claims have 
not been without results; yet there are 
opportunities to make even a larger re- 
duction than ever before. The men in 
whose hands this has been entrusted 
have worked out and put into effect 



plans which could hardly be improved 
upon; however, there is one branch of 
this subject which until recently seems 
to have had very little, if any, atten- 
tion: That of providing cars for load- 
ing suitable for the particular commod- 
ity which they are to contain. This 



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90 



ILLINOIS. CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



alone covers a large field and the ideas 
expressed are from observation and 
from information had from men of ex- 
perience in both the mechanical and 
transportation departments. 

In a statement showing amounts 
charged to operating expenses in the 
month of July, 1914, to April, 1915, in- 
clusive, there were six items amounting 
to $17,410.77, which if not directly 
could indirectly be charged to defective 
equipment. The items being designated 
as follows : 

Improper refrigeration and ventila- 
tion. 

Loss account defective car. 

Unlocated loss of bulk freight. 

Loss account defective grain doors. 

Damage account of leaky roof and 
sides of car. 

Damage account nails, bolts, etc., in 
car. 

There is no doubt but that proper in- 
spection to insure the car being in fit 
condition before loading with perishable 
or other shipments requiring refrigera- 
tion or ventilation, would decrease the 
number of claims under this caption. 
Very recently, and on the beginning of 
this season's vegetable movement, the 
general yardmaster of a large terminal 
called a meeting of all engine foremen, 
helpers and others, in his department, at 
which time an endeavor was made to de- 
termine the best method of handling this 
class of business, in so far as he and his 
organization were concerned. It was 
decided that first class empty equipment 
must be furnished for loading and in 
conjunction with the Mechanical De- 
partment it was decided to place re- 
frigerator cars on repair tracks where 
rigid inspection could be had. 

In a great many cases it developed 
that ice bunkers were boarded on inside 
of car in such a way that when under 
refrigeration free air circulation could 
not be had. These boards were re- 
moved, which, otherwise would, no 
doubt, have bee