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OF ILLINOIS 

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UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY 



URBANA-CHAMPAIGN 




ILLINOIS 
CENTRAL 





Consider the Great Concern 
Back of It and Back of You 



Suppose two competing cars are iden- 
tical in construction, appearance and per- 
formance on the road. Which car would 
motorists prefer, and which would you 
choose to sell ? 

You would say "there's no choice," un- 
iil you found out who produced one, and 
who manufactured the other. 

For one maker might be strong, re- 
liable and permanent, while the other was 
insecure. If there was that one difference 
between the two cars your choice would 
require hardly more than a moment. 

So kindly consider this fact before you 
choose a car of this class: 

The double-strength forty-horsepower 
Stephens Six presents the utmost value, 
for its price. It is the product of a staff 
of expert engineers gathered together 
from some of America's best known mo- 
tor car factories. It forecasts the car of 
1917 in practically all details. It is strong, 
light in weight, easy to handle and safe. 
Adjustable foot pedals enable women and 
their daughters to drive it. The drive, like 
the costliest of cars, is through spiral, 
beveled gears which adds to the strength, 
durability, smoothness and quiet. A 54- 



inch semi-elliptic rear spring makes it ride 
like the higher priced cars which have 
extra long wheelbase. 

And yet these are only a few of the 
features that make this car stand out above 
all competition. 

$19,000,000 Resources and 
Facilities 

But everything else being equal, this car 
would stand out, for it is backed by a great 
manufacturing concern with $19,000,000 
paid-up capital. And that means the 
Stephens Six is permanent a car you can 
sell, and buyers can buy, without fear of its 
being discontinued. 

But a concern with sucli resources and 
facilities can give more value in the car 
itself. 

So the Stephens Six is not only better 
backed than most others, but is also better 
built. 

It is around such a car that automobile 
agents can build a better, sounder business. 
If you are interested, write for all the facts. 

The price of the Stephens Six is $1125, 
free on board factory, Freeport, 111. 



STEPHENS MOTOR BRANCH 

OF MOLINE PLOW COMPANY 

Paid an Capital, $19,OOO, OOO 

Address Sales Office, Moline, 111. 




Please mention this magazine when writing to advertises. 



s.v. 5 




G. H. Bower Frontispiece. 

The Story of the Illinois Central Unes During the Civil Con- 
flict 1861-5 11 

Letter from President C. H. Markham 16 

War Time Prices 18 

Letter from the General Manager 19 

Public Opinion 20 

Freeport, 111 >. 25 

Freight Traffic Department 35 

Appointments and Promotions 36 

Transportation Department 

Soliciting Traffic 37 

Transportation Efficiency 38 

Passenger Traffic Department 45 

Loss and Damage Bureau ^ 55 

Law Department 60 

Hospital Department 67 

Safety First 71 

Obituary Mr. Charles A. Beck 73 

Claims Department 76 

Obituary L. P. Morehouse 84 

Roll of Honor 85 

The West Fe.liciana Railroad -The First Railroad in Missis- 
sippi 88 

Personal Recollections of Mr. L. P. Morehouse 92 

Contributions from Employes 

Handling Rail on Ship-board 97 

There is No Car Shortage 99 

To the Employes of the Illinois Central Railroad 100 

Duty of Employe to Employer 101 

Meritorious Service 103 

Division News 104 



*Pu6lished monthly 6y the ffi/io/s Cenfral f j^. *$. G>., 
in the interest offhe Company and Us 4^000 l^nployes 

raies on application^? 

. ^hone 

Chicago J3oeal55 

1$ <fpr. copy $1.50 pr. year 



38353? 




G. H. BOWER 

t> ORN in Newark, Ohio, August 29, 1864. Entered Railroad service in 1883, with 
-* Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railroad, Cleveland, Ohio. Assistant Chief 
Rate Clerk, Passenger Department, Missouri Pacific Railway, at St. Louis, January 
15, 1887, until December 20, 1887. Chief Clerk Passenger Department, Louisville, 
New Orleans and Texas Railway, at Memphis, January 1, 1888. 

Entered service of the Illinois Central Railroad, at Chicago, in March, 1893, ap- 
pointed Chief Rate Clerk, April, 1900, Chief Clerk, June, 1903, Assistant General Pas- 
senger Agent, March 1, 1911, and General Passenger Agent, Southern Lines and 
Yazoo & Mississippi Valley Railroad, with headquarters at Memphis, Tenn., April 
15, 1911. 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL 

Magazine 



Vol. 5 



JULY, 1916 



]fi Story of tfio 
Illinois Contral Linos 

during, the 

Civil Conflict i86i-5 



No. 1 



Lucius Quintus Cmcinnatus Lamar 



among Southerners, L. Q. C. 
Lamar was a blend of French, 
Anglo-Saxon and Scotch and Irish blood, 
making an American charged with the 
mission of mixing the oil of slavery with 
the wine of freedom so that the result 
would conform to the Bible and the Con- 
stitution, the two sources of his inspira- 
tion. 

In discharging the duties, complex if 
not conflicting, of this difficult mission, 
perhaps no Southerner achieved more 
marked success. 

In any event, whether on the planta- 
tion, on the rostrum, on the battlefield; 
at the bar, or the Secretary of the In- 
terior's desk ; in the Senatorial toga, the 
Ambassador's costume of the Supreme 
Court Justice's gown, he fitly repre- 
sented the character and personality of 
the South, particularly of his adopted 
Mississippi and his native Georgia, as 
could have been done perhaps by no 
other son. 

In Georgia, * at Milledgeville, on 
Wednesday, the 24th day of February, 



1802, was born a gifted mother, Sarah 
Williamson Bird, known lovingly as 
"Sally Bird" to a large circle of kinfolk 
and friends. 

She was one of the most queenly 
daughters of the aristocratic Bird family 
of Georgia. In that first-born son she 
gave to the South for the hour of need 
a distinguished orator, statesman, law- 
yer, soldier, diplomat and judge; a citi- 
zen without reproach, a patriot without 
guile, and a man with nothing to con- 
ceal. "She had much in the world," 
writes the historian, "beauty, intellect, 
education, social position, a competency, 
admiration of friends, dutiful and bright 
children," eight in all, five of whom at- 
tained maturity. 

When but seventeen years old, on 
Wednesday, March 10, 1819, she had 
married under the most favorable cir- 
cumstances Lucius Q. C. Lamar, Sr., 
the lover of her choice gifted, hand- 
some, and although only 22 years old, 
already a rising young member of the 
Georgia bar, at Milledgeville. He was 



11 



12 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



soon to have a wide and enviable repu- 
tation as the youngest and most gifted 
of the judges of the Georgia Supreme 
Court. But he died suddenly on Friday, 
July 4; 1834, at the age of 37. 

Justice Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus 
was named after his father. The ques- 
tion naturally arises, how did such a 
name happen to be given to a Nineteenth 
Century American? 

The way of it was this : 

John Lamar, the grandfather, had a 
beloved bachelor brother, Zachariah, 
living with him on the old Lamar plan- 
tation in Putnam County, about 10 miles 
south of Eatonton, Georgia, which was 
established in 1810 and was known as 
the "Old Lamar Homestead." Perhaps 
as a tribute to his great learning, or in 
natural acknowledgment by pious Meth- 
odists of the general leadership of him 
who led them in family worship, Zacha- 
riah was allowed the privilege and the 
pleasure of naming each male Lamar 
child. The results were: 

"Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar," 

"Thomas Randolph Lamar," 

"Mirabeau Bonaparte Lamar," and 

"Jefferson Jackson Lamar." 

There were also five daughters with 
whose names Zachariah did not take 
such liberties ; and by the side of one of 
them, Evalina, was buried the honored 
and honorable old father whose children 
have been such a credit to him. 

As was said by Edward Mayes, some- 
time chancellor of the University of Mis- 
sissippi : "It is as the inspired pacifi- 
cator that Lamar will stand out unique, 
almost incomprehensible, to other times." 

From the records of the Lamar fam- 
ily it appears that their first American 
ancestors were Huguenots who settled in 
Maryland prior to the year 1663, and 
therefore prior to the revocation of the 
Edict of Nantes. The proximate cause 
of their coming was most probably the 
general disfavor and oppression of 
Protestants existing before that event. 

Various documents in the Maryland 
records, over twenty years after Lord 
Baltimore issued "naturalization papers" 
to Thomas and Peter Lamare, give ap- 
parently the same family name, such 



as "Lamer, Lamare, Le Mer, Lamaire, 
De Le 'Maire, Lemarre, Lemar, Le Mar 
and Lamar." 

It appears that Thomas, of Calvert 
County, Md. (late of Virginia), in 1663, 
was the first generation; Thomas, of 
Prince George's County, Md., the sec- 
ond generation ; John, of Savannah River 
Settlement, Georgia, in 1755, the third; 
John, his son, the fourth; and John, his 
son, the fifth generation, who was born 
in Georgia, 1769, "and married his 
cousin, German Rebecca Lamar, estab- 
lished the "Old Lamar Homestead," 
about 1810, near Eatonton, Georgia. 
Their eldest child was Lucius (the sixth 
generation), who was born at the old 
homestead in Putnam County, Georgia, 
Saturday, the 7th day of September, 
1825, on "Grandmother's Plantation." 

Most of the boyhood of Lucius 2nd 
was spent at the home of his father, 
Judge Lamar, either at Milledgeville or 
at Scottsboro five miles away, where he 
attended the Midway School of Beman 
and Meade till his father died, July 4, 
1834, and his widowed mother took the 
family to Covington, because of its bet- 
ter educational advantages among oth- 
ers, the old Georgia-Conference Manual 
Labor School. There is an active revival 
of such schools now, many educators 
treating the idea as something new. 
Young Lucius Lamar needed the phys- 
ical training that was given in such a 
school, supplemented by the splendid 
mental drill given by the principal, Dr. 
Alexander Means, and his able assist- 
ants. The 250 working students relieved 
each other at intervals and were paid a 
few cents an houu for their work. He 
spent three years, 1835 to 1838, at such 
alternating mental and physical work. 
That plan proved such a marked success, 
perhaps nothing short of civil war would 
have stopped it. 

But the revival of that old system, 
modified somewhat at present by the 
"Student Apprentice System," has come 
to stay, for it contains the basic elements 
of success. Such a system was the sal- 
vation of perhaps the too thoughtful bey, 
much absorbed in the countless books of 
his father's fine library. He told the 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



13 



story of it in his own words to Chancel- 
lor Mayes, later his law partner, and the 
fortunate husband of his daughter 
Fanny. 

"I was a delicate boy, never so athletic 
as my two brothers, and being put to 
work strengthened and toned my whole 
system. We all had to work three hours 
every day at the ordinary work of a 
plantation plowing, hoeing, cutting 
wood, picking cotton and sowing it, pull- 
ing fodder and every item of a planter's 
occupation. When we left that school we 
could do not only this ordinary drudgery 
in the best way, but the most expert 
could shoe a horse, make an ax helve, 
stock a plow or do any plain bit of black- 
smithing and carpentry. It was a great 
training for us all, for we became per- 
fectly versed in the details of the work 
of a farmer." 

Justice Lamar said also : "Poetry took 
a strong hold on me. When I was at 
college I read through the plays of 
Shakespeare and the dramatic poetry of 
that remarkable woman, Joanna Baillie, 
recommended to me by my mother." 

This little hint shows that he and his 
mother had similar tastes. Sometimes a 
strong characteristic, inherited from a 
man's mother, will dominate his life cur- 
rent like the crest-line of a flooded river. 
But Lamar's father also contributed his 
full share of literary genius and enthusi- 
asm to his gifted son. 

In school he was no bookworm from 
choice, though what he lacked in love of 
studying school books he made up in 
promptness and dutiful attention. In 
many ways he was peculiar, by no means 
a "good mixer," inclined to seriousness, 
and at times melancholy. He was 'with 
his mother whenever possible, preferring 
her companionship to that of boys and 
girls. 

To an unusual degree for one of his 
age, he delighted in listening to sermons, 
lectures and debates on grave questions 
of the day. He soon developed special 
ability as a logical speaker on almost any 
subject he understood, and in the school 
or town debating club he seldom met an 
opponent he could not confound with his 



simple, commonsense logic, backed by a 
convincing array of facts. 

In 1838 Emory College had developed 
from the labor school and was located 
at Oxford, Georgia. In August, 1841, 
he entered the freshman class and was 
graduated July, 1845, having had about 
ten years of school and college work, 
under the religious and educational 
auspices of the Methodist Church, with 
the additional advantage in college of be- 
ing under President A. B. Longstreet, 
"eminent as a lawyer, judge, polemic, 
educator and divine." 

A quarter of a century later he deliv- 
ered at Emory College a Commencement 
address in which he said: "No spot on 
earth has so helped to form and make 
me what I am as the town of Oxford. 
It was here, in the Phi Gamma Society, 
that I received my training as a debater." 
Not only the training, but the point of 
view as to the relations of slavery to 
the constitution, which made him such 
an aggressive leader of Southern politics 
in Congress. In 1847 he was admitted 
to the bar at Vienna, in Dooly County, 
and taken into partnership by the lawyer 
in whose office he had studied, the Hon. 
Absalom H. Chappel, who had married 
his father's youngest sister, Loretto. For 
a short time only the firm was Chappel 
& Lamar, Chappel moving to Columbus, 
and Lamar to Covington. 

On Thursday, July 15, 1847, he mar- 
ried Miss Virginia Lafayette Longstreet, 
daughter of the president of Emory Col- 
lege, her father being also the author of 
the famous book, "Georgia Scenes." 
She was the mother of his four children, 
(1) Lucius Q. C. Lamar; (2) Sarah 
Augusta, commonly called Gussie, who 
married Mr. Heiskell; (3) Frances Eliza, 
who married Chancellor Mayes, the 
writer of Mr. Lamar's biography; (4) 
Virginia L.. commonly called Jennie, 
who married a relative, also named La- 
mar, in July, 1887. 

In November, 1849, he and his wife, 
his infant daughter and servants, made 
the overland trip from Covington, Geor- 
gia, to Oxford, Mississippi, in a rock- 
away and two wagons. He was admitted 
to the bar of Mississippi, June 1, 1850. 



14 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



and was elected in July adjunct profes- 
sor of mathematics (the study he did not 
like) in the State University at Oxford. 
By the fall of 1851 he was deeply inter- 
ested in politics and had won his spurs 
as a political fighter, having also acquired 
a reputation as a debater and stump 
speech maker, very unusual in so young 
a man. Of course, the question of "Sla- 
very or Antislavery" was always to the 
fore, and from the Bible and the Con- 
stitution of the state and that of the 
United States, Lamar framed convincing 
arguments that the Missouri Compro- 
mise of 1820 should stand as an unbreak- 
able contract. He implied that the vio- 
lation of the solemn contract entered in- 
to by that compromise would give the 
South the right to withdraw from the 
Union of States, and that in any event 
each state should have the individual and 
exclusive right of settling the slavery 
question to suit itself. Later there was 
another compromise under which Cali- 
fornia was admitted to the Union as a 
free state. 

It was in the canvass for governor by 
Jefferson Davis against Foote that Mr. 
Lamar first met and defeated United 
States Senator Foote in public debate, 
thereby winning great laurels. He said 
that Senator Foote, instead of fighting 
the enemy, had bodily somersaulted into 
their camp, joined their ranks and he was 
then trying to make his constituents be- 
lieve that he had taken the enemy's whole 
force as prisoners of war, practically 
shouting back to the people of Missis- 
sippi, "We have met the enemy and they 
are ours." It was the crisis in Foote's 
career out of which Lamar's star was 
rising. 

All this time under the influence of 
general religious surroundings, particu- 
larly his mother's teachings and those of 
his college president, Professor Lamar 
appeared to have what he described as 
a religious attitude. But while he claimed 
to be "a firm and unwavering believer in 
the Bible," the fact that he did not then 
join any church showed that he had his 
own ideas of what the truths of the 
Bible demanded of him. At one time 
he was seriously considering the idea of 



becoming a Methodist minister, as the 
best way to use his undoubted oratorical 
powers, but his final choice was politics, 
a choice forced perhaps by the intense 
political excitement then prevailing. 

Later he joined the Methodist Episco- 
pal Church, South, but became so ab- 
sorbed in politics and other things that 
for a time he neglected his church duties 
But in 1891 he again finally united with 
the church, and remained a consistent 
member till his death. 

On December 31, 1884, the day after 
his wife died, Senator Edmunds wrote 
him a letter of condolence. Mr. Lamar's 
answer must have expressed some doubts 
about a future existence, or else the fol- 
lowing letter would not have been writ- 
ten: 

"Washington, D. C, Jan. 15, 1885. 
"Dear Mr. Lamar : 

"Your kind and sad note of the 4th 
came duly. Do not grope. There is a 
hereafter; there must be. Every rule 
of logic even leads to this result. Do 
not give yourself up to sorrow and se- 
clusion. Strive I know you do already 
to help your fellow men, high and low, 
and in so doing I know you will find 
peace and rest for your soul. 

"George F. Edmunds." 

It is not generally known that Senator 
Edmunds was a sincere Spiritualist, and 
so believed that a future life was dem- 
onstrated. 

After two years' work in the college 
he resigned his professorship and re- 
turned to Covington, Ga., to form a law 
partnership with his best friend, Robert 
Harper. Here he became so popular 
that in 1853 the Newton County Whigs 
helped elect him on a Democratic ticket 
to the State Legislature, where he at 
once became prominent and influential. 
In 1854 his partnership was dissolved on 
account of Mr. Harper's ill health, and 
Mr. Lamar moved to Macon, where he 
gained a small law business, but in a 
short time took his negroes out to Mis- 
sissippi to work on a farm in partner- 
ship with his father-in-law, Judge Long- 
street, while he himself maintained his 
law business at Macon till October, 1855 ; 
having failed to get the Democratic nom- 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



15 



ination for Congress, because the Know- 
nothing Party had control at Macon, he 
returned to Mississippi and located there 
permanently. He purchased a large 
plantation, about eleven hundred acres, 
named it "Solitude," and lived in a four- 
room house. It was about a mile east 
of what is now Abbeville Station on the 
Illinois Central Railroad, in a bend of 
the Tallahatchee River. Then he formed 
the law partnership with Christopher H. 
Mott and James L. Autrey, under the 
firm name of Lamar, Mott & Autrey, 
with offices at Holly Springs, Miss. 
This partnership continued until the Civil 
War. 

This firm of lawyers were employed 
in various capacities by the railroads of 
Mississippi and Tennessee that later be- 
came parts of the -Illinois Central Rail- 
road System. 

In July, 1857, he was nominated for 
Congress by the Democratic convention 
at Holly Springs and was elected, in 
spite of the combination against him of 
the Whigs and Know-nothings. In De- 
cember he took his seat as a member of , 
the Thirty-Fifth Congress, and was at 
once very busy with the Kansas-Ne- 
braska and Nicaragua questions, though 
the latter one was not considered by him 
of much importance. With reference to 
the former question, he wrote from 
Washington, March 8, 1858, to one of 
his constituents in Mississippi : 

"I have preferred always a peaceable 
settlement of political questions. But I 
hold the old motto, 'In time of peace pre- 
pare for war.' I can see too plainly the 
clouds that are hanging over us. I can 
hear and interpret too well the mutter- 
ings of an approaching storm. I have 
measured the extent of that danger 
which we must, sooner or later, look re- 
sistently in the face. I believe with you, 
and with what I trust will soon be the 
unanimous South, that the refusal of 



Congress to admit any Territory into this 
Union merely because that Territory 
should present a Pro-Slavery constitu- 
tion would be at once and forever an ab- 
rogation of political equality. Should 
that time come, I may deprecate, but I 
would not prevent the fearful conse- 
quences. Dissolution cannot take place 
quietly; the vast and complicated ma- 
chinery of this government cannot be 
divided without general tumult and, it 
may be, ruin. When the sun of the Un- 
ion sets it will go down in blood. Should 
we not, then have our camp prepared, 
our leaders chosen, our ranks marshalled 
and our sentinels at their post." 

This shows that three years before the 
Civil War broke out the South was keen- 
ly alive to the situation that it, too, be- 
lieved there could be no final compro- 
mise in "the irrepressible conflict," and 
that the ultimate appeal must be to the 
bullets after it was made clear to the 
people at large that ballots would not 
avail. 

In that same letter Mr. Lamar gives 
the gist of the cause of all the trouble, 
from the South's point of view. He 
says : "To the ambition of New Eng- 
land we may trace the rise of the whole 
abolition movement. She was the great 
manufacturing agent of the country; she 
saw in the South the great producing 
agent ; she sought to reverse the law of 
nature and make produce the slave of 
manufacture. Such was the dream of 
Puritanism : 'New England the Nation, 
the other States her colonies.' What has 
she left undone in pursuance of their 
scheme? She has scattered gold like 
water. Her abolitionists have gone into 
the churches, creating feuds and schisms 
in the hearts of pious men, and upon the 
.altar of the most High God they have 
poured forth their blasphemies against 
the South." 

(To be Continued in August Issue) 



Illinois Central Railroad Company 

Office of the President 

Chicago, May 4, 1916. 
TO ALL OFFICERS AND EMPLOYES: 

I would like to call the attention of all concerned to the fact that the cost 
of aH materials and supplies has in the past few months tremendously in- 
creased and to impress upon every one the necessity for exercising unusual 
care in placing requisitions, asking only for material when it is definitely 
known it will be used, so as to enable us to operate under the lowest possible 
limit of reserve supply. Befo're making requisitions for new material it 
should be ascertained whether or not there is any material on hand that could 
be used, as it may be found that second hand material will often answer fhe 
purpose. It is not expected that essential work should be withheld, or that we 
should attempt to carry on our every-day operations without proper tools, 
but the exercise of care in the use of materials and in requisitions for reserve 
supplies will go a long way toward reducing our heavy burden in this respect. 

The average increase in the cost of all materials and supplies, excluding 
fuel, rail, ties, lumber, ballast and new equipment, over a year ago is esti- 
mated at approximately 50 per cent with a rising tendency, which means that 
, aside from the heavy charges to Operations, we will, on materials purchased 
during this abnormal period and taken into Capital Account, have to hereafter 
bear an additional annual interest charge by reason of the fact that at current 
market prices we are compelled to pay $1.50 for materials which, under normal 
conditions, would cost us about $1.00. Our annual purchases, excluding only 
new equipment, average close to $20,000,000, on one-half of which, as .explained 
above, we are now called upon to stand a 50 per cent increase, and on the 
other half present prices show an increase of approximately 10 per cent. The 
Statement of increases in particular items appearing on the following page 
of this circular brings the situation out quite fully. 

The -importance, therefore, of all concerned bending every effort in the 
direction indicated is readily apparent. We do not want to hamper the effi- 
cient operation of the road by the exercise of too rigid economies, but at the 
same time we cannot afford to purchase or use anything which is not abso- 
lutely essential to our immediate needs. 

I will be glad if all concerned will take a personal interest in this matter to 
the end that good results may ensue. 

C. H. MARKHAM, President. 

Increases Ranging from 80 Per Cent and Over 
4. Per Cent Per Cent 

Acids P 312 Nuts, square and hexagon , 145 

Bolts, machine and carriage 168 Screws, all kinds 84 

Brass, bar, sheet and spring 147 Steel, miscel. bars and shapes 89 

Bridges, steel 86 Spikes, track 82 

Copper, bar and sheet 132 Steel fire box and flange 94 

Drills, all kinds 154 Steel, tool 287 

Ferrules, flue 118 Tubing, copper 80 

Gasoline 95 Vitriol -- * 164 

Iron, common bar 86 Wire, copper and brass 135 

Lead, sheet and pig 84 Zincs 289 

16 



17 



Increases Ranging from 5 Per Cent to 80 Per Cent 



Per Cent 

Axles, car and engine 57 

Babbitt and antimony 55 

Batteries and renewals 59 

Brake beams 18 

Bolts, tracks 15 

Bolsters, car and engine - 29 

Boxes, journal 21 

Burlap 47 

Burners, lamp 20 

Covering, pipe '. r. 29 

Castings, steel 16 

Cement, portland 24 

Chain 54 

Couplers .-. 10 

Doors, grain 17 

Draft gear 71 

Duck, cotton 44 

Dynamite 42 

Enamels 26 

Fencing 63 

Files 7 

Fusees 23 

Frogs 4 11 

Glass 19 

Glasses, lubricator and water 24 

Hardware . 39 

Hose, air brake 15 

Hose, other kinds 9 

Iron, galvanized 73 

Iron, black 48 

Joints, rail . 10 



Per Cent 

Knuckles 9 

Lagging, boiler 12 

Leather 17 

Lumber 20 

Nails : 34 

Netting 17 

Oils 46 

Paints ., 57 

Paper 33 

Pins, crank 23 

Pipe, cast iron .-.-. 45 

Pipe galvanized 24 

Pipe, sewer 12 

Rings, piston and valve 30 

Roofs 52 

Rope, manila -21 

Spikes, boat 43 

Springs, coil 17 

Steel, tank and plate , 73 

Tie plates 34 

Tires, locomotive 26 

Valves 24 

Washers, malleable 25 

Waste, cotton and wool . 21 

Wire, galvanized 57 

Wire rope .-. 50 

Castings, malleable 18 

Castings, brass .-. 30 

Rivets, all kinds 38 

Rods, piston 31 

Stationery, as per attached statement.... 



Statement Showing Approximate Per Cent of Increase in Cost of Various 
Stationery Items and Stock Used in Printing Matter 



Binders 50 

Clip Boards 25 

Carbon paper for hectograph 345 

Envelopes 30 

Erasers 42 

Fasteners, brass 60 

Glycerine Ill 

Inks, stamp pad 75 

Inks, copying J.73 

Inks, red 122 

Inks, hectograph 100 

Inks, green 115 

Inks, purple 115 

Inks, tablets, black 5 

Letter files 14 

Manila file boxes 16^4 

Mucilage 46 

Oil, T. W 12*/ 2 



Per Cent 

Oil cans 16% 

Paper, blue print 50 

Presses, fastener 11 

Presses, waybill 26 

Pins 55 

Pencils, indelible 72 

Pencils, colored 67 

Pencils, red, indelible 36 

Ribbons, duplicator =. 64 

Ribbons, Platen 15 

Rivets., copper 22^ 

Rubber bands 2 

Stamp pads 55 

Sealing wax 22 

Tissue paper and books 20 

Twine 50 

Wrapping paper 40 



Printed Matter and Blank Books, 50 Per Gent to 100 Per Cent Increase in 
Cost of Stock Used for Same, Depending on the Grade of Stock 



War Time Prices 

By W. A. Summerhays, General Storekeeper 



f)N May 4th President Markham is- 
sued a letter to all Officers and 
Employes, directing our attention to 
the increased cost of material and sup- 
plies at this time. In this letter the 
necessity of carefully watching requisi- 
tions and avoiding the unnecessary or- 
dering of material, is emphasized, and 
much good work has already been ac- 
complished along the line of this sug- 
gestion. Some of us, however, have 
not given the necessary thought to this 
important matter to reason out just 
what is required from each of us. indi- 
vidually, to meet this emergency. 

On the caboose, the red lantern may 
be left standing where it will be kicked 
over and the globe broken. Red globes 
cost 50 cents each, and we buy 360 
each month to replace broken ones. 

A little carelessness in handling the 
signal oil will waste a few drops or 
perhaps half a pint. Signal oil costs 
28 cents a gallon, and we use 7,100 
gallons each month. 

A red fuse is invaluable for pre- 
venting accidents. They cost 11 cents 
each, however, and should be kept 
where they will not be damaged or 
oil-soaked^ and not used when a prop- 
er use of the red lantern will answer 
the same purpose. We used 184,320 
red fuses last year. 

Surplus supplies should be turned 
back to the storeroom for credit. If 
each one of our cabooses had one 50- 
ton journal brass, 12 fuses, 1 emer- 
gency knuckle, 1 switch chain and 6 
air hose more than the standard list of 
equipment, it would mean $15,264 tied 
up needlessly on the system. 

On the engine, a broom costs 25 
cents, a long-spout oiler costs 50 cents, 
a coal pick costs 35 cents. Tools 
should not be left lying on the tank or 
in the gangway where they will shake 
off and become lost. 

A blizzard lamp costs $4.00,- and the 
white lenses 22 cents each. Careful 



handling will avoid breakages. Our 
engine supplies cost a total of $6,603.93 
for the month of April. 

On the section, we should not use a 
new track spike if the old one would 
be just as good if straightened. While 
a track spike costs only 1^ cents, that 
means $5.20 a keg, and we had to buy 
21,456 kegs last year to meet our needs. 

A 90-lb. track bolt costs 5 cents, and 
a 60-lb. bolt costs 3V 2 cents. Nuts 
should be taken off with a wrench and 
not knocked off with a maul. Our 
annual expense for track bolts is 
$101,500. 

If an air hose is found along the 
track it should be saved and sent to 
the storehouse. If thrown in scrap 
car, and a rail or frog loaded on top 
of it, the hose or couplings will be 
damaged, and a new hose complete 
costs $1.10. 

Tool steel has increased tremen- 
dously in value since the European 
war began. Section men should not 
be permitted to misuse chisels, mauls, 
adzes and claw bars so as to damage 
them and make it necessary to order 
new ones. 

Bridge and building men should 
bear in mind the great increase in cost 
of paints, oils, varnish, nails, screws, 
hardware and lumber during the last 
year. A great saving is possible in 
making proper use of second-hand 
items 1 , advising the purchase of new, 
and keeping paints where they are 
safe from theft or loss by evaporation. 

Agents and office employes should 
watch closely the use of stationery. 
Paper of all kinds has advanced in 
value from 50 to 100 per cent. Care 
should be taken not to spoil large, ex- 
pensive blanks, and only scratch paper 
or waste paper should be used for fig- 
uring. We can use both sides of a 
sheet for scratch paper purposes ; we 
can get more use out of lead pencils by 
putting the stubs in a holder we can 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 19 

save on the expensive indelible pencils The average person is quick to pick up 
by using them only when necessary to a lost coin, if noticed lying on the side- 
make record for copying purposes, walk or perhaps station platform, but 
Waste paper should be saved and we pass by valuable bolts, ruts, track 
turned in to supply car, so it can be spikes and other scrap iron scattered 
pressed into bales and sold. over, our entire railroad. All oi this 

Agents are furnished with a high material has value, and should be care- 
quality of kerosene, made especially fully saved and assembled where the 
for switch and signal lamp use. Care scrap cars can gather it in for return 
should be taken to see that this oil is to the scrap yard. There are experts 
stored where it will be protected from at the scrap yard who have had years 
dust and dirt, and employes who do of training in sorting out and saving 
the sweeping should not be permitted every usable piece of material which 
to dip their brooms in kerosene oil. can be worked over and put back in 
A little water or dust may spoil an service, to avoid buying new material, 
entire tank of kerosene. and they depend on employes all over 

In line with advance in prices of the railroad to save the scattered scrap, 

new material there has come a great gather it up, and ship it to the scrap 

advance in value of scrap of all kinds, dock. 



The Following Letter from the General Manager is Self-Explanatory : 

Illinois Central Railroad Company 

Office of the General Manager 

Messrs. Hull, Dowdall, Keliher, Fairfield, Francis, McPike, East, Porterfield, 
Bell, Blaess, Clift, Downs, Egan, Wilbur, Weeks : 

In further reference to my letter June 27th, and especially to the last 
paragraph thereof, I beg to now advise it has been decided that : 

Employes 'who w r ere members of the National Guard on June 17, 1916, 
and who responded to the call of the President and enrolled in the military 
service of the United States as members of the organization to which they 
belonged, will be granted indefinite leave of absence without impairment of 
pension rights or prejudice to other record, and may return to the service 
of the Company in equally remunerative positions as those held on making 
application for reinstatement within thirty days after their release from 
military service. 

While engaged in such military service, payment will be made to such 
employes, until otherwise ordered, as follows : 

1. To married men, full pay. 

2. To unmarried men, half pay ; and in case of dependent relatives, such 
additional pay, not exceeding in the aggregate full pay, as may on your 
recommendation be decided by the undersigned. 

Those addressed who have not as yet given information asked for in the 
last paragraph of my letter of June 27th should submit same promptly with 
recommendations, in order that the matter of additional pay to unmarried 
men with dependent relatives (other than the half pay allowance just men- 
tioned) may be determined upon. 

I shall be glad if you will arrange accordingly. 

(Signed) T. J. FOLEY, 

General Manager. 




LIC UPIN19N 



What the 




World thinks 



Where Our Larger Interests Lie 



A MONG the constructive matters that 

might have agitated the minds of 

our statesmen this year is an advertising 

appropriation and campaign for the state 

of Louisiana. 

Within a short while the Illinois Cen- 
tral Railroad will put on a train that will 
leave New Orleans in the morning and 
arrive at Chicago in 23 hours. The run 
will be made in less than a day. 

Chicago is the second city in America 
in many lines the leading city in the 
world. It has a thousand interests in 
common with New Orleans, with Louisi- 
ana and Mississippi, for every hundred 
interests that we have in common with 
Philadelphia, Boston, or even New York. 
Yet a vast proportion of the trade of this 
part of the world goes not to Chicago, 
but to New York. One reason is that 
we have water transportation between 
New Orleans and New York. But the 
main reason is that New Orleans and 
Chicago have not worked together. The 
upper and lower parts of the Mississsippi 
valley have traded with the East and not 
with one another. They have not known 
one another. 

Chicago is a great manufacturing city. 
It is not only a center of capital, but, 
what is more important, a center of ac- 
tive capital. The average man in New 
York wants to put this money into some- 
thing where he does not have to work. 
The average Chicago man, or the man of 
the Middle West, is yet young enough, 
and active enough, to be willing to in- 
vest his money and work with it. He 



does not look upon this country as a fin- 
ished country. He has a national point 
of view, whereas the viewpoint of the 
New Yorker is either provincial or inter- 
national. 

Chicago is the hub of the great Mid- 
dle West. Surrounding it for hundreds 
of miles are not only the finest farms in 
the world, but the finest class of farming 
people folks who farm with improved 
machinery, using their brains as well as 
their bodies. Louisiana and Mississippi 
have soil as rich as the soil of the upper 
Mississippi valley, if not richer. Much 
of our land has been brought down from 
the upper Mississippi valley. 

We have arrived by slow stages at a 
point where there should be a great ad- 
vance, agriculturally, industrially and 
commercially. We are one working day 
away from Chicago. Our people do not 
know Chicago. For generations they 
have been going to the East or to Europe. 
They cannot go to Europe any more, 
and they would do well, in our judg- 
ment, to visit the region around Chicago 
to spend their summers by the Great 
Lakes. 

Neither do the people of Chicago and 
that region know us. Los Angeles is 
three or four days away from Chicago 
by train. Los Angeles has a climate al- 
most identical with that of New Or- 
leans, but somewhat colder in winter. 
The average man in Chicago and the 
Middle West does not realize that he is 
only 24 hours away from the palms and 
banana trees of New Orleans, .and the 



20 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



21 



Orange groves of Louisiana. He thinks 
of California and of Florida. In south- 
ern California we find large colonies of 
these Middle Western people. 

The farm boy in the Middle West does 
not think of Louisiana and Mississippi 
when he talks of going afield. He thinks 
of the wheat fields of Canada, the irri- 
gated lands of the far West, or of Flor- 
ida. 

The present session of the Louisiana 
legislature is drawing to a close. We 
wonder if there is a single man in that 
legislature who has thought that it would 
be advisable for the state of Louisiana to 
appropriate anywhere from a quarter to 
half a million dollars to advertise this 
state in the newspapers of Chicago and 
the Middle West. We doubt if this idea 
has ever struck the legislature of Mis- 
sissippi. Yet it is pathetically true that 
if such an idea were acted upon by these 
two states, every cent expended for the 
purpose of bringing the people of the 
two sections together would return al- 
most immediately in the shape of a dol- 
lar, and eventually it would grow a thou- 
sandfold. 

Bear in mind that the big men in our 
part of the world go to Chicago and the 
Middle West, and the big men of that 
region know us, but the five millions of 
people who live in Louisiana and Mis- 
sissippi, and territory adjacent to New 
Orleans, de not know the twenty millions 
of people who live in Chicago and the 
section tributary to it. It is of infinite 
importance to all concerned that they 
should get acquainted with each other. 
We have every reason to be neighbors. 

We would suggest that if you desire to 
subscribe to an outside newspaper, it 
would be well to subscribe to a Chicago 
paper. The papers of Chicago, take them 
all in all, are the best papers in America. 
You can supplement the reading of your 
local paper with a Chicaeo newspaper 
better than with a New York or other 
eastern paper. New Orleans Item, June 
26,1916. 

EFFICIENCY COURTESY. 
F\ ID vou say 'please' and thank 

you?" is a placard that hangs 
in all the principal offices of one of the 



greatest public utility concerns in the 
United States. While aimed princi- 
pally as a daily reminder to the em- 
poyes of the company, it lends its sug- 
gestive power to the public in general, 
for the original intention of the effi- 
ciency expert is made stronger by the 
co-operation of the general public thus 
enlisted in an effort to serve their 
patrons to a more satisfactory degree. 

Efficiency has become a science with 
America's greatest commercial and ed- 
ucational enterprises. Courtesy is just- 
ly called a twin of efficiency. Through 
courtesy efficiency become a fact. The 
most successful business enterprises in 
the world today devote as much study 
in. the efficiency of every employe as 
to the financing- of their business An 
employe is not 100 per cent efficient in 
his work unless he is courteous. 

America's great railway systems of 
today have been placed on practically 
the same footing from a competitive 
standpoint through the operations of 
the prerogatives of the Interstate Com- 
merce Commission. The successful 
railroad president must look to other 
fields of competition than rate-making 
for increasing the annual earnings. 
This has gradually directed the 
thought of the nation's great financiers 
to the work of developing efficiency in 
every department. One of the most 
recent efforts in this direction has been 
made public through a letter from the 
pen of C. L. Bent, former captain in 
the United States army, but now an 
inspector in the passenger service of 
the Illinois Central Railroad Company. 
The article referred to appeared in the 
Illinois Central Bulletin, a publication 
circulated among the employes of that 
railway system. 

Mr. Bent headed his article "Court- 
esy," and the sole aim of its circula- 
tion has been to increase the efficiency 
of the service rendered by one of the 
great railway systems of the country. 

By incorporating in its slogan 
"Safety first, courtesy and efficient 
service alwavs," the management of 
the Illinois Central Railroad aims at 
one and the same time to give better 



22 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



service to enlist the aid of the general 
public in their efforts to increase the 
efficiency of the service. 

According to Mr. S. C. Baird. Flor- 
ida passenger agent for the Illinois 
Central Railroad, the article prepared 
by Mr. Bent impresses upon their 
thousands of employes the fact that 
the success of the company depends 
upon the loyalty of every employe over 
the entire system, arid sets out the fact 
that the ability of the company to in- 
crease the earnings of not only the 
company, but these employes as well, 
is based almost wholly on the individ- 
ual interest of these employes Court- 
esy more often secure the business of 
a patron than the size of the company 
bidding for the patronage. 

The management of the Illinois Cen- 
tral Railroad Company has advised 
that courtesy is absolutely essential to 
a salesman. This is not confined to 
railroading by any means, and every 
large or small business concern can 
testify that courtesy is 90 per cent of 
the qualifications of an efficient sales- 
man. The Illinois Central Railroad, 
through the article in the bulletin, 
takes the position that every employe 
is in a sense a saleman. His personal 
treatment of other people adds or de- 
tracts from the possibility of obtaining 
patronage for the company. 

According to Mr. Bent's article 
"Supply and demand are governed by 
the conditions of the times, but the 
methods of conducting the business 
are controlled by all those connected 
with the business, and it is with these 
methods that employes are directly 
concerned and their co-operation with 
the management will produce the 
greatest supply." 

Every man knows that when he has 
dealings with another that he person- 
ally prefers to be treated with courtesy 
and what he himself wants, the patron 
demands, and if he cannot get it from 
one concern, he is apt to go to another. 
No employe of any concern intention- 
ally desires to see any of its patrons 
leave, but he may be the cause thereof 
from a thoughtless action on his own 



part. To prevent this requires that he 
be continually awake and alive to the 
interests of his company. Are you 
awake? 

Become more efficient say, "please" 
and "thank you." Your empicyer's suc- 
cess means your advancement. Flor- 
ida Metropolis, Sunday, June 4, 1916. 



HOW LOSSES CAN BE AVOIDED 

IN SHIPMENTS OF YOUR 

GOODS 



Useful Handbook Issued by Commit- 
tee of Chicago Association of 
Commerce 



1LLIONS of dollars are lost an- 
nually through carelessness in for- 
warding goods. 

If the directions contained in a use- 
ful handbook issued by the Railway 
and Steamboat Warehouse committee 
of the Chicago Association of Com- 
merce, entitled "Suggestions to Ship- 
pers," were carefully followed time and 
money would be saved. 

It is not contended that the shipper 
alone is responsible for delays charge- 
able to careless treatment of goods, but 
this message is addressed to him, and 
his share in the transaction is squarely 
brought home. For improper packing, 
incorrect marking and illegible ship- 
ping orders important causes of loss, 
damage and delay the shipper, not 
the railroad, is at fault. 

Starting at the bottom, the book dis- 
cusses proper method of packing, urges 
the use of strong and safe containers 
or shipping packages, tells how pack- 
ages should be marked, covers the sub- 
ject of certificates and labels, deals 
at some length with bills of lading, 
and concludes with a timely word 
about tracing freight. There are pic- 
tures showing the disastrous results 
of poor packing, and a graphic illus- 
tration of a typical shipping order 
without date, the name of the initial 
road barely decipherable, name of the 
consignee illegible, the destination 
nearly so, the shipper's name indistinct 
and his signature a mere scrawl, route 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



. 



not indicated, and the description of 
the article shipped unreadable. No 
more striking example could be given 
of "how not to do it." 

Obviously the first thing for a ship- 
per to do is to see that his freight is 
carefully and properly packed to pre- 
vent breakage and placed in suitable 
containers to withstand transporta- 
tion. Liquids, whether in glass or 
earthenware receptacles, and all fragile 
articles must be surrounded with suffi- 
cient packing of the right kind and in 
accordance with the freight classifica- 
tion rules, which are known or should 
be known to every shipper. 

Proper markings of the package is 
of the utmost importance. When a 
second-hand wood or metallic contain- 
er is used the shipper is urged to be 
careful to erase all old addresses and 
shipping marks ; there will be plenty 
of new marks, and it is inexcusable to 
confuse the minds of railroad employes 
with a puzzling conglomeration of old 
and new. The shipper's name and ad- 
dress, preceded by the word "From" 
should be plainly shown on each pack- 
age. The consignee's name and ad- 
dress, street and number, and the name 
of his city or town likewise should be 
plainly marked in full, preferably by 
stencil, as authorized in the freight 
classifications. Peru is a well known 
city in Indiana, but Smithville is not 
so famous ; in fact, there are several 
Smithvilles, including one near Peru, 
and a package addressed merly Smith- 
ville, Ind., when the Peru suburb is 
intended, might go the rounds before 
it reached the right Smithville. 

Are you shipping household goods? 
Every package or piece in less than 
carload lots should be marked with a 
serial number and all the numbers 
shown on the bill of lading. The word 
"Final" should be added to tbe number 
on the last package to indicate that it 
is the last piece in the lot. When this 
and the other seriallv numbered nieces 
are unloaded and checked, obviously 
everything is accounted for. 

Especially pertinent is a bit of advice 
to the impatient shipper not to trace 



his shipment before it has had time to 
reach the customer. Tracing, it is ex- 
plained, does not hurry the movement 
of freight, but only serves in such a 
case to burden the tracing departments 
with unnecessary work. The conclu- 
sion of the whole matter is wisely and 
succintly put in the following parting 
bit of advice : 

"Give the railroad a good package, 
properly marked and accompanied by 
bill of lading and shipping order prop- 
erly and legibly prepared, and the trac- 
ing of freight will become unneces- 
sary." Chicago Herald, June 24, 1916. 



FRUITS OF DIVERSITY 

"Never within the memory of the old- 
est inhabitant has there been so much 
and such fine garden truck raised in 
Sharkey county. The diversification and 
'live at home' seed so persistently sown is 
bearing fruit." Deer Creek Pilot. 

Same thing all over the state. 

Diversity has pointed the way to pros- 
perity, and wherever diversity has been 
practiced, prosperity has been the result. 

When asked how conditions were in 
his community, a farmer from Copiah 
county who was in the city yesterday 
replied, "We have made good crops, re- 
ceived good prices, and are now enjoying 
good times." 

This is not only the case with the 
truck farmer, but with the grain pro- 
ducer and the stock raiser. 

A stock raiser of Marshall county on 
last Wednesday sold a bunch .of steers 
in St. Louis for which he received $10 
per hundred, this being the highest price 
ever paid for any southern cattle. In this 
bunch were 16 steers, which averaged 
1,106 pounds, which at $10 per hundred- 
weight, amounted to an average of 
$110.60 per steer, or $1,769.60 for the 
lot of 16, about what it would have taken 
35 bales of cotton to bring at the present 
price and yet it probably cost less to raise 
one steer than it would to produce a bale 
of cotton. 

From other portions of the state come 
reports of money being made on pota- 
toes, peas and other field crops, and of a 
general feeling of optimism among the 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



farmers of the states, notwithstanding 
occasional whine of the pessimist that 
the country is going to the demnition bow 
wows and that we are all in danger of 
starving to death. Jackson, Miss., Daily 
Clarion-Ledger, June 27th, 1916. 



result from the demonstration last 
week. Sandoval, 111., Independent, June 
9, 1916. 



DAIRY INDUSTRY GIVEN BIG 
BOOST IN CENTRALIA. 



Guernsey Bulls and Thirty Heifers 



Officials of Illinois Central Railroad 
Company Will Aid New Enterprise 



"P\AIRY day was observed in Centralia 
on Thursday of last week. Cen- 
tralia papers state that the affair was a 
success in every respect, with but one ex- 
ception the attendance. Farmers, busi- 
ness and professional men, bankers, Illi- 
nois Central railroad officials and mem- 
bers of the Illinois pure food commis- 
sion were present. As a result of 
"breaking the ice" boys and girls resid- 
ing on farms in the vicinity of Centralia 
are in possession of thirty heifers, while 
the community has received from the 
Illinois Central Railroad company three 
registered Guernsey bulls, and the local 
promoters have been given assurance of 
the presentation of three registered Hoi- 
stein bulls for community possession in 
the near future. 

After the presentation of the heifers 
to the boys and girls the procession 
formed and marched from the park to 
the busiriess district, parading the prin- 
cipal thoroughfares, headed by the Cen- 
tralia band, and the procession, consist- 
ing of the three Guernsey bulls (pre- 
sented by the Illinois Central Railroad 
company), thirty heifers and large num- 
ber of boosters. Other attractions were 
three full-blooded Jersey cows and a fine 
Jersey bull, owned by H. C. Higgins, 
president of the Centralia Gas and Elec- 
tric company, and registered Holstein 
bull, purchased recently by Frank H. 
Noleman, a lawyer. 

Much toward developing the dairy in- 
dustry in this community is expected to 



EYE SEE MAGAZINE IS TAN- 
GIPAHOA BOOSTER. 

HP HE Illinois Central Magazine for 
April is a splendid booster for 
Tangipahoa Parish and it is a pity that 
its circulation does not cover the whole 
of the United States. 

Articles from Ponchatoula, Ham- 
mond, Amite and other avenues appear 
in the edition, telling about the evolution 
of the berry industry. Splendid illus- 
trations also appear, giving an idea of 
the way the berries are produced and 
how they are handled for shipment. 

The Eye See is doing a vast amount 
of good work in behalf of Tangipahoa 
Parish, not only through its medium of 
advertising, but in other ways. 

The Times is glad to see a greater co- 
operation on the part of the people and 
the railroad company. Moss-back ideas 
have been eliminated during the past few- 
years and at least it can be observed that 
the people are beginning to realize the 
magnitude of a corporation such as the 
Illinois Central and what it means to a 
town and parish. The Amite (La.) 
Times, May 5, 1916. 



IMPROVING DEPOT AT CHERO- 
KEE, IOWA 

"L^URTHER improvements are being 
made in the Illinois Central passen- 
ger station and grounds. The company 
gardener is here and has built a mound 
in the south park with the word "Cher- 
okee" in large letters made of white 
stones. The flower beds are also being 
prepared. Two white lights, one at the 
south and one at the north side of the 
depot, are also being put in and when all 
is done there will be no complaint about 
the Illinois Central doing its share in 
the way of beautifying the city. The 
semi-weekly Democrat, May 11, 1916, 
Cherokee, la. 








The Gem of the Black Hawk Country 

By R. B. Simpson, Sec'y Chamber of Commerce 



"Oh, lasting stars, you know how first they 

came. 

Those children of the East with faces like 
The paleness of the dawn. You know how 

their 

Intrepid feet swept ever westward 'cross 
The plains, while in their path their cities 

rose. 
And waving golden grains sprang from the 

soil." 

(From the Freeport Pageant of the Black 
Hawk Country.) 

"V/f tDWAY between the level plains which 
*** skirt the lower end of Lake Michigan 
and the rugged bluffs which over-look the 
Mississippi River from the east, lies a 
stretch of the most fertile and picturesque 
country to be found within the borders of 
the fair state of Illinois. 

Through this gorgeous rolling prairie 
country, dotted with groves of trees and 
the lesser hills which rise as the rugged 
country that borders the Mississippi River 
is approached, there roamed, in the days 
before this country was peopled with the 
earliest white settlers, the heroic figure, 
Black Hawk, most famous of the Indian 
Chiefs that inhabited northern Illinois in 
the early days. 

In the year 1804, Wm. Henry Harrison, 
representing the United States Government, 
made a treaty with representatives of the 
Sac and Fox Indian Tribes, whereby the 
Indians were to give up fifty million acres 
of land for the munificent compensation of 
$2,000 in supplies and $1,000 in annuities 
and better hunting grounds across the 
Mississippi River. Chief Black Hawk, al- 
ways resenting the intrusion of the white 
men and contending with no little justice 
that, to his people belonged the land so 
long as they lived upon and cultivated it, 



refused to sign or abide by this treaty. 
Defying the Americans he and the dis- 
contented faction which he headed made 
war against the American forces, terror- 
izing the country around. 

The culmination of the Black Hawk War 
occured at the battle of Kellog's Grove. 
In 1827, O. W. Kellogg built a trail lead- 
ing from Dixon's Ferry to Galena, over 
which the workers in the lead mines about 
Galena traveled. At Kellogg's Grove about 
half way between these two points in what 
is now Stephenson County, and not so far 
from the site of the present city of Free- 
port, was built a log house and some out 
buildings. These buildings were the first 
to be erected in Stephenson County. 

In June 1832, Major Dement, with a 
force of American troops was sent to occupy 
Kellogg's Grove and guard a large con- 
signment of stores. On June 25th the bat- 
tle of Kellogg's Grove was fought between 
the American Forces and Chief Black 
Hawk and his band. The Indians were 
defeated and Black Hawk, with what was 
left of his people, retreated before the ag- 
gressive civilization of the white man, across 
the Mississippi River to the Iowa reservation 
which the government provided for them. 
As Black Hawk and his people met their 
tragic fate and departed westward on their 
last long trail, the advance guard of the 
present civilization appeared from the east. 

In 1833, Wm. Waddams, the first settler 
in what is now Stephenson County, drove 
his pioneer wagon over the old Chicago- 
Galena trail and established himself on the 
present site of Freeport. During the next 
two years some twenty-five settlers with 
their families joined Wm. Waddams, and 
built rude log cabins making the beginning 
of the present city. The new settlement 
was originally called Winneshiek, its pres- 



25 



26 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 




THE PAGEANT OF BLACKHAWK, FREEPORT, ILL. 



ent name being acquired through accident 
rather than design, the never failing hun- 
ger which the pioneers who passed this 
way exhibited, being the indirect cause of 
it; a hunger, which was always generously 
appeased by the wife of Tutty Baker, one 
of the earliest pioneers, who kept open 
house for all travelers. One day when 
Mrs. Baker had been more than usually 
burdened with calls upon her hospitality 
she rather emphatically suggested that 
"The place be called Free Port and be 
done with it." So Freeport it has been 
ever since and the hospitality which was 
exhibited to visitors in pioneer days, is 
still in evidence as visitors, who chanced 
to tarry here in later days can bear witness. 
The city of Freeport first arose ,into 
national prominence on August 27th, 1858, 
"when one of the greatest debates in Amer- 
ican History was held here. This was the 
second and most famous of the Lincoln- 



Douglas Debates, the one in which Lincoln 
announced his famous "Freeport Heresay.'' 
The debate took place in a grove of trees, 
the spot now being marked by a suitable 
tablet, dedicated by Theodore Roosevelt 
some years ago. 

Early in its history, the city of Freeport 
gave promise of becoming the manufac- 
turing and industrial center which it has 
since grown to be. In 1847, the news 
reached Freeport that the Chicago and 
Galena Union Ry. (now the Chicago and 
North Western Ry.) had announced its 
determination to continue its rails from 
Chicago to Freeport, and the newly organ- 
ized Illinois Central R. R. agreed to build 
its line into Freeport from the south to 
meet the other road. On hearing that 
Freeport was to become a railroad center, 
Pells Many, a resident of Stephenson Coun- 
ty, and the inventor of the original reaper 
which was the forerunner of the modern 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



27 



reaper and binder, announced his intention 
of establishing a factory in the city. An 
early acknowledgement of the advantages 
of Freep.ort as a manufacturing center, 
owing to its transportation facilities. 

The city of Freeport was incorporated 
in 1855, and is today one of the leading 
industrial cities of Illinois, with a popula- 
tion in excess of 20,000. According to the 
last government census, nine per cent of. 
the population is foreign born German, 
sixteen per cent native born, of German 
parentage, the other nationalities having 
less than one per cent each of the popula- 
tion. The State of Illinois ranks third 
among all of the states in the value of its 
manufactured products. Of all the cities 
in Illinois, the last census showed Free- 
port as having made the greatest increase 
in the value of its manufactured products; 
the increase shown being 151.2 per cent 
over the p'revious census. The value of the 
manufactured products turned out annually 
by Freeport industries consists of a greatly 
diversified list of manufactured articles. 
While space will not .permit a complete 
list of the industries and their various 
products some of the most important are 
given: 

The Stover Mfg. & Engine Co., one of 
the oldest and largest of the Freeport in- 
dustries has a large domestic and export 
business in gasoline engines, hardware, 
mops, agriculture implements, brass special- 
ties and windmills. The combined wind- 
mill output of the Stover and Woodmanse 
Mnfg. companies makes Freeport the larg- 
est producer of windmills in the country. 



The Arcade Mnfg. Co., one of the city's 
most substantial and growing industries 
has a large output of hardware specialties, 
mops, stove furniture, molding machines, 
coffee mills and toys. In addition to a 
large domestic business this concern ships 
many of its products all over the world. 

The Stephens Motor Branch of the Mo- 
line Plow Co., manufacture the popular 
Stephens Automobile and the Henny Buggy 
Branch of the same concern turns out the 
well known Henny Buggies. The W. T. 
Rawleigh Co., one of the largest concerns 
of its kind in the country manufactures 
and distributes medicines, toilet prepara- 
tions, extracts and stock food. They also 
manufacture a line of gasoline engines, 
which are sold direct to the consumer. 
The Furst-McNess Co. manufactures and 
distributes a similar line of products. 

S. N. Swan & Sons maunfacture a well 
known line of pianos and organs; Stover 
Steel Tank Co., steel barrels and tanks; 
the Peerless Machine Works, faucets, brass 
fittings and specialties. The Shoemaker 
Incubator Co., incubators and brooders; 
Schofield & Co., agricultural implements; 
the Structo Mnfg. Co. manufacture a line 
of ingenious mechanical toys; the Hoefer 
Mnfg. Co. manufacture drill presses and 
machine tools; C. E. Meyer & Co. produce 
and distribute high grade vinegars; Keene 
Canning Co. pack a large quantity of corn 
peas and pumpkins each season, the vege- 
tables being grown by them on their ex- 
tensive farms in Stephenson County. 

Freeport is so located that the raw mate- 
rials used in manufacturing the articles 




TQX medicine man and warn 



" '"I*"***"* 81 "' t'^M^MflflM 

I'amors 



THE PAGEANT OF BLACKHAWK, FREEPORT, ILL. 



28 



ILLINOIS fwi'RAL MAGAZINE 



mentioned and other of similar nature can 
be assembled at low cost and as the city 
is within 200 miles of the center of popu- 
lation of the United States it is in a strate- 
gic position to distribute its manufactured 
products at a minimum expense. 

There are approximately 3,500 employes 
in the manufacturing industries of Free- 
port at the present time. There has al- 
ways been a plentiful supply of high class 
labor in the city and the fact that so many 
of the men employed here own their own 
homes makes the supply of labor more 
stable and satisfactory than it is in the 
larger industrial centers. The better and 
healthier living conditions and the lower 
cost of living in Freeport as compared to 
the larger cities are of course, added at- 
tractions for the better class of mechanics 
and their families. 

One of the principal factors which has 
contributed to the growth of Freeport as 
an industrial center and made it a satis- 
factory location for jobbing houses, is its 
excellent railroad facilities. Four trunk 
lines, The Illinois Central R. R., Chicago 
Milwaukee & St. Paul iRy., Chicago & 
Northwestern R. R., and the Chicago & 
Great Western R. R., at South Freeport 
furnish adequate freight and passenger 
service to all parts of the country. 

Chief among the railroads serving Free- 
port is the Illinois Central R. R., as it 
radiates from the city, which is one of its 
division points, in five directions. The 
main line running from Chicago to Omaha 
connects at Freeport with the old main 
line which runs south to Cairo and points 
south of the Ohio River. Branch lines 
run north to Dodgeville and Madison, fur- 
nishing convenient service to and from a 
rich territory. Freeport being a division 
point for the Illinois Central, has exten- 
sive shops in the city employing several 
hundred men. The extensive modern im- 
provements which are being added will 
make these shops some of the most up-to- 
date on the system. 

The Galena division of the Chicago & 
Northwestern R. R. has its terminus at 
Freeport and furnishes freight and passen- 
ger service between that point and Chi- 
cago. The Chicago Milwaukee & St. Paul 
Ry. has lines from Freeport to Milwaukee 
and Wisconsin points and also to the Mis- 
sissippi River at Savannah. In addition 
to the steam railroads serving Freeport, the 
electric line of the Rockford and Inter- 
urban Ry. furnishes service between Free- 
port and points east thereof in Illinois and 
Wisconsin. 

With this net work of railroads serv- 
ing the city every industry is insured 
adequate side track and switching facil- 
ities. Excellent package car service from 
Freeport on all lines is furnished either 
direct to principal cities in different parts 
of the country or connections are made 



over night with package car service out of 
Chicago for all points. The superior trans- 
portation facilities afforded the city by the 
Freeport lines give it a great advantage 
in the distribution of carload and less than 
carload shipments to all points and does 
away with all terminal delays on both in 
and out bound shipments. 

The center of an exceeding rich farming 
country, Freeport, with its superior transpor- 
tation facilities to and from all points, is a 
most excellent location for the retailer and the 
jobber. Several wholesale grocery firms do 
a thriving business in the surrounding towns 
and cities and the numerous well equipped im- 
plement houses find a profitable field among 
the well to do farmers of this section, for the 
distribution of their implements and vehicles. 

As a retail trading center Freeport has an 
enviable reputation, the character of its many 
high class retail establishments, the. extent and 
quality of their stocks and the ease with 
which buyers can reach the city have all 
contributed to make the city an attractive 
trading center for thousands of buyers in the 
various counties in northern Illinois and 
southern Wisconsin. 

The amount of business done in Freeport 
by the various manufacturing and commercial 
interests, naturally calls for adequate banking 
facilities. These are furnished by five banks 
with deposits in excess of $5,000,000. They 
are the First National Bank which is housed 
in a handsome modern building. The State 
Bank of Freeport which is now erecting a 
modern seven story office building where it 
will conduct its banking business. The Second 
National Bank which has recently purchased 
a prominent corner with the expectations of 
improving it ; The German Bank, Freeport 
Trust & Savings Bank and the private Bank 
of Chas. D. Knowlton. The reliability and 
strength of these financial institutions is well 
known in the surrounding territory and they 
have the confidence of the public. Three 
building and loan associations ; the Freeport 
Building & Loan Ass'n. the Union Loan & 
Savings Ass'n and the German Building and 
Loan Ass'n offer opportunities for saving to 
the public and have been of wonderful assist- 
ance to the man of limited means in enabling 
him to build his own home. 

Insurance men frequently call Freeport the 
"Hartford of the West" owing to the large 
number of insurance companies which have 
their western departments in Freeport. The 
following fire insurance companies have their 
western departments in the city : Williams- 
burg City Fire Insurance Co., North River 
Fire Insurance Co., United States Fire Insur- 
ance Co., Nassau-Dutchess Insurance Co., 
Richmond Insurance Co., National Lumber 
Insurance Co., Potomac Insurance Co. and 
the Seneca Fire Insurance Co. In addition 
to this formidable array of fire companies 
there is a local life insurance company, the 
Bankers Mutual Life Co. 

In addition to the many economic advantages 



Street Scenes, Business Section 





FREEPORT, ILL. 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



31 



which Freeport has to offer manufacturing 
and commercial establishments, it has equally 
as much to offer in the way of civic attractive- 
ness and those qualities which go to make 
a city of homes. In round numbers the city 
has some 4,500 dwellings. Its well kept and 
prosperous homes line well paved streets bord- 
ered by miles of trees and shaded lawns which 
add greatly to the attractiveness of the city, 
especially in the summer months. Altogether 
there are 45 miles of these well paved streets 
in the city proper which has an area of ap- 
proximately five square miles. It is safe to 
say that no area of equal size in the country 
contains a more substantial, prosperous and 
comfortably domiciled population than does 
this. 

The municipal government of Freeport is 
the familiar ward system, the city being gov- 
erned by a Mayor and ten aldermen, two 
from each of the five wards of the city. The 
various city departments are modern in their 
equipment and efficiently managed. The mo- 
torized fire department is equipped with mod- 
ern fire apparatus, a city bond issue having 
provided the funds for new and modern equip- 
ment a few years ago. Both the Fire and 
Police Departments are under civil service, a 
board of three commissioners having control. 

The public utilities of Freeport are all 
privately owned and furnish adequate and 
satisfactory service to the public. The Free- 
port Water Co. controls the water system 
and furnishes an abundant supply of water 
for all purposes. The inexhaustable supply 
from its artesian wells is ample for all do- 
mestic, manufacturing and fire fighting pur- 
poses. Their plant has a maximum capacity 
of 8,750,000 gallons in 24 hours. Analyses 
made from time to time by the State Univer- 
sity show the water supply of Freeport to be 
of excellent purity. The freedom of the city 
from epidemics of any kind is to a consider- 
able extent due to the excellent condition of 
the water supply and the clean and sanitary 
condition of the city, this later condition being 
looked after by the city Health Department. 

The Freeport Gas Co. furnish an excellent 
quality of gas to manufacturers and for do- 
mestic use at reasonable rates. This efficiently 
managed concern is constantly adding to its 
service and making extentions for the, benefit 
of its consumers. The Freeport Ry. & Light 
Co. a subsidiary of the Illinois Northern Util- 
ities Company controls the street Railway sys- 
tem and the electric light and power plant. 
Comfortable and frequent service to all parts 
of the city is furnished by the five divisions 
of the street railway system. Electric light and 
power is furnished to manufacturing plants 
and domestic consumers, the Pecatinica River 
furnishing sufficient water power most of the 
year to operate a part of the power plant of 
this company. Two telephone companies, the 
Stephenson County Telephone Co. and the 
Freeport Telephone Exchange both efficiently 
managed, furnish local and long distance serv- 
'ice to all points. 



Freeport is noted for the exceptional educa- 
tional advantages which it has to offer the 
children of residents. There are eight grade 
schools in the city with a total enrollment 
this year of 2,433 pupils, 69 teachers being 
required to furnish instructions to the pupils 
in the grade schools. The High School is 
one of the best known in the state. It has 
at present an enrollment of 652 pupils whose 
interests are looked after by a principal and 
24 teachers. The Freeport High School has 
been gradually adding modern departments 
until it has one of the best equipped plants in 
the state ; domestic science, manual training, 
agriculture, art and practical business, all have 
separate departments under efficient instruc- 
tors. The coming year Military Training 
will be added as the Freeport High School 
is one of the units selected by the United 
States Government for Military instruction 
under the supervision of a United States 
Army Officer. The present High School 
building while large is not adequate to take 
care of the large number of pupils in the 
various departments and a large township high 
school is in contemplation. The various 
athletic and debating teams from Freeport 
which have met opponents through out the 
state, have given them cause to remember 
them. 

Freeport boasts of several modern hospitals ; 
the largest of these is the St. Francis Hos- 
pital a Catholic institution well equipped and 
well managed. Next in size is the Freeport 
General Hospital, -a private institution which 
under the present management has added 
modern equipment until it is second to 
none in this part of the country. Globe 
Hospital and The Little Hospital also fur- 
nish adequate facilities for those in need 
p^d a new Emergency Hospital and a growing 
diabetic Sanitarium add to the reputation of 
Freeport as a medical center. It may be men- 
tioned here that Freeport is unusually well 
known as a medical and surgical center. The 
prominence of the surgeons located in Free- 
port attracts thousands of patients from cities 
within a wide radius. The importance of 
Freeport as a medical city is indicated by the 
fact that in August a general meeting of the 
physicians and surgeons of seventeen counties 
will be held in this city with many men of 
national prominence in attendance. 

Probably no feature among the many at- 
tractions which Freeport has to offer to resi- 
dents is more appreciated than the public 
parks. A few years ago Taylor Park was 
purchased by the Park Board for the benefit 
of the city. This park comprises about 90 
acres and in the old days contained one of the 
best mile tracks in the country. Many fam- 
ous horses broke records at this well known 
park. Today it has been transformed into a 
pleasure park and laid out into tennis courts, 
baseball grounds, lakes and recreation features 
of every kind for children and adults. At 
the west end of the city there has recently 
been purchased, Krape Park, which is one 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 




OFFICERS CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, FREEPORT, ILL,. 



of the beauty spots of this district. This 
park contains about 90 acres of hilly wooded 
country through which an attractive stream 
used for canoeing and water sports flows. 
Last year at this park a notable example of 
civic co-operation was made. Here the Free- 
port Pageant of the Black Hawk Country 
illustrating the history of Freeport and Step- 
henson County from the early days was given, 
under the management of the Chamber of 
Commerce, in dramatic and spectacular man- 
ner. Over 1,200 people drawn from the vari- 
ous organizations in the city took part in 
this Pageant which attracted thousands from 
the surrounding country. Two smaller parks 
in the center of the city afford attractive 
breathing places for the public. 

A most attractive Country Club affords 
amusement to a large number of members. 
This club has an attractive club house and 
a most picturesque and sporty golf course. 
The Freeport Country Club is acknowledged 
to have one of the most attractive links in 
the state. 

The spiritual welfare of the populace of 
Freeport is administered to by some twenty- 
four churches of various denominations somd 
of which have erected buildings which 
are architecturally a credit to the city. Prob- 
ably the most sightly of all the public build- 
ings in the city are the Carnegie Library, 
a beautiful building containing 35,000 volumes 



for the satisfaction of the intellectual crav- 
ings of young and old and the new $100,000 
Y. M. C. A. building. Other prominent public 
buildings are the Federal Building, housing the 
United States Post Office and the Federal 
Court for the Northern Illinois district, the 
County Building, City Hall, Odd Fellows' 
Temple, the Masonic Temple and St. Vincent's 
Orphanage. 

Stephenson County. 

Stephenson County, of which Freeport is 
the County Seat and principal city, is the 
center of as beautiful and productive a bit 
of farm and dairy country as there is on the 
continent. The County is not large as coun- 
ties go, having a total area of only 559 square 
miles, but over ninety-six per cent of the total 
land area of the county, or 349,000 acres, is in 
farm land. A trip over the rolling prairie 
country that makes up the greater portion of 
the area of the county discloses panorama 
after panorama of waving fields of grain, 
corn and clover, interspersed with fields of 
meadow land on which are grazing the many 
herds of cattle which make up a large part 
of the wealth of the County. 

The average size of the farms in Stephen- 
son County is one hundred and eighteen acres. 
The county, being in the corn belt, produces 
annually in excess of 3,000,000 bushels of 
corn, this being its largest single crop. The 
wheat crop comes next, 2,500,000 bushels of 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



33 



wheat being grown each year. Other small 
grains such as oats, rye and barley are also 
raised in large quantities and over 90,000 tons 
of hay and forage, including timothy, clover 
and. alfalfa are grown yearly. 

In addition to the large crops which the 
soil of the county produces, it ranks high in 
its production of dairy products. It is now 
third in the State in the value of these prod- 
ucts and each year witnesses a greater produc- 
tion of butter, cheese and milk, particularly 
in the northern part of the county. 

The two largest dairies manufacturing but- 
ter and cheese are located in Freeport, the 



Freeport Dairy and Produce Co. and the 
Springbrook Dairy. The largest and best 
known cheese factory of the many in the 
county is of course the famous "Blue Label 
Cheese" factory at Winslow. The owner of 
this factory has several model dairy farms in 
the county and breeds some of the finest 
prize winning Holstein-Freisen Cattle in the 
country. The photographs of some of the 
nrize record cattle shown in this issue should 
be of particular interest to the readers of the 
Illinois Central Magazine in view of the ex- 
tensive efforts which that road is making to 
develop the dairy industry in the South; 



A Novel Parade 

Stephens Motor Car Adding lo Freeport's Reputation as a Manufacturing Center 



A unique parade, such as would have 
been unheard of anywhere not so many 
years ago, took place on the main streets 
of Freeport one Saturday afternoon re- 
cently. Automobile parades are becoming 
common enough in most cities, but this 
particular parade was unusual and a prac- 
tical demonstration of what a new indus- 
try is doing for the city. 

Heralded by the honk of automobile 
horns and the applause of the people who 
lined the sidewalks, a long line of "Stephen 
Sixes" in various stages of construction 
made a tour of the principal streets of the 
city. First came a dozen or more cars fin- 
ished in various colors, many of them 
driven by young ladies in employ of the 
company. Following these came cars in 
various stages of completion. From the 
bare chassis and engine up to the highly 
finished product, the cars were shown in the 
different stages of construction, giving the 
interested public a unique and interesting 
demonstration of the various processes 
necessary in the building of the cars and 
the care with which the parts usually hid- 
den from view, are finished. 

The "Stephen Six" has just been placed 
on the market this season. Already the 
demand for the car exceeds anything that 
was expected for the car. Unquestionably 
this demand must be based upon the mer- 
its of the car. A new automobile entering 
the field today has stiff competition to 
meet among the well-known models of cars 
and a car that meets with the popular 
favor that the "Stephens Six" is meeting: 
with must necessarily be an unusually well 
constructed and attractive car. 

The car is being built by the Stephens 
Motor Branch of the Moline Plow Co., 
a $30,000,000 corporation, whose other 
products have been popular for years. 



Much of the success of the new "Stephens 
Six" is due to the many years' experience 
which the men who are building the car 
have had in the manufacturing business 
and also to the fact that ample capital 
enabled this company to carry on many 
months of extensive experimental work 
before they were satisfied to put a car on 
the market. The automobile business has 
passed the experimental stage and experi- 
enced manufacturers using parts which 
have been thoroughly demonstrated by ac- 
tual use can place a new car on the mar- 
ket which is at least as good as the older 
cars in the field. The Stephens Motor 
Branch of the Moline Plow Co. has in its 
employ the best automobile engineering 
talent obtainable and the severe tests which 
their cars have been put to have demon- 
strated that they are manufactured to stand 
up under the adverse conditions. - 

Last winter a "Stephens Six" was driven 
from Detroit down through Ohio, Ken- 
tucky, and several southern states and back 
to Freeport under very adverse conditions 
of snow, mud and rain, coming through in 
most satisfactory condition. Recently cars 
were driven through to Denver, Colo., by 
owners who had purchased them in Free- 
port, the cars making the trip in perfect 
condition under bad weather conditions. 

The advent of the automobile industry in 
Freeport will add much to the prestage 
of the city as an industrial center. In 
addition to the many men employed in 
making vehicles in the Henny Buggy 
Branch of the Moline Plow Co., several 
hundred men are already employed in the 
Stephens Motor Branch of the company, 
and the steady expansion which is ex- 
pected will increase the industrial wealth 
and importance of a city which already 
has much to boast of industrially. 




Agriculture From a Railroad 
Standpoint 

By Mark Fenton, Traveling Industrial and Immigration Agent 




A GRICULTURE is universally rec- 
ognized as the first industry of the 
United States and is the foundation of 
the commercialism of the country. To 
maintain a profitable system of agricul- 
ture is the most vital problem before our 
one hundred millions of population. 

In connection with this problem, 
much assistance is being given by the 
Federal and State Governments, by the 
Agricultural Colleges, by the railroads 
and by other agencies. Without detract- 
ing from the valuable assistance being 
given through the medium of other 
agencies mentioned, but speaking for the 
railroads, I will make brief general men- 
tion of some of the things they are do- 
ing for the agricultural interests of the 
country. I believe that it is generally 
known that some of the trunk lines are 
aiding the farmers in locating good 
farm land and in getting better results 
in the farming business through diver- 
sified and intensive farming. However, 
few realize the extent to which the rail- 
roads are carrying this work. It is con- 
servatively estimated that the railroads 
of the country are expending over a mil- 
lion dollars annually in the interests of 
better farming conditions. There are 
over 150 experienced men on their pay- 
rolls devoting their entire time to im- 
proving rural conditions. In this de- 
partment of the Illinois Central there 
are ten men in addition to the office 
forces. This work covers a wide scope, 
including assistance in the selection of 



the farm, better seed, more abundant 
and finer products, meaning greater rev- 
enues, better systems of marketing, im- 
proved live stock, good wagon roads, as- 
sistance in starting dairies, creameries, 
etc. Needless to say, the company's 
means for this work are not unlimited 
and the 'assistance must, of course, be 
given where most needed. I do not 
mention these facts with the intention of 
creating the impression that this assist- 
ance on the part of the railroads is 
rendered merely as a philanthropic prop- 
osition, for this question of improved 
agriculture is the concern of every cor- 
poration, company and individual in our 
country. I am merely making the point 
that the interests of the farmer and the 
railroads are identical and the latter are 
gladly doing their share towards the ag- 
ricultural prosperity of the country. 

It was my privilege recently to ac- 
company Dr. C. G. Hopkins of the Col- 
lege of Agriculture, University of Illi- 
nois, and a party on a portion of their 
yearly inspection trip over the state 
farms and my remarks following are 
largely taken from the teachings of this 
well known authority. 

The United States is credited (if the 
word "credited" can be used in this con- 
nection) as being first among all of the 
nations of the world in rapidity of soil 
depletion. Already in vast areas of the 
country agricultural ruin exists. Bring- 
ing the question nearer home, it is a 
matter of common knowledge that even 



35 



36 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



in our foremost state of Illinois, land 
that has been under cultivation fifty or 
sixty years is less productive than for- 
merly. 

If we are ever to adopt a system look- 
ing to the building up of the soil to its 
maximum possibilities, it must be done 
while the country is still prosperous. 
An impoverished people have no money 
to invest in soil improvement, no matter 
what the increased returns might mean 
to them. 

It is a fact that many Illinois farm- 
ers are adopting soil building methods 
but it is also a fact that the majority are 
practicing methods, which if persisted 
in, will inevitably result in ruined farms. 
It has been clearly demonstrated that 
mere rotation of crops, including an oc- 
casional clover crop, will not maintain 
fertility. While such rotation will re- 
sult in heavier yields for a time, the soil 
is found poorer after each rotation. If 
the rich Illinois land is to be maintained 
in a high state of productiveness, a large 
supply of the various elements of plant 
food must also be maintained. 

In Illinois we are offered the valuable 
experience of authorities on this prob- 
lem. The oldest experiment fields in 
the United States are here, carrying 
authentic records and history covering a 
third of a century, and a system has been 
developed that means both productive- 
ness and permanency. Permanency be- 
cause it is based on indisputable facts 
of mathematics and chemistry. The ele- 
ments entering into the soil food prod- 
ucts and the sources from which derived 
are as well known to these authorities 



on the subject as is the knowledge to any 
of us that two and two are four. There 
is no more doubt about one than the 
other. This being the case, I believe all 
will agree with me that every farmer 
should avail himself of the opportunity 
of securing the benefit of these long 
years of experience. Every farmer owes 

to himself and to his family to get 
this most valuable knowledge through 
the medium of personal inspection of 
these experimental farms and the infor- 
mation gladly imparted by the authori- 
ties in connection therewith also 
through the medium of the instructive 
bulletins isued on these subjects. 

I am sure that no one will question 
the value of information as to methods 
employed in increasing the corn yield to 
80 and 90 bushels per acre, oats to 60 
and 70 bushels, wheat to 30 and 40 
bushels and clover to three tons and 
more per acre. This is accomplished 
simply by knowing the chemistry of the 
air and soil and by applying that knowl- 
edge. 

After all, the problem of fertility is 
simple. It consists in making sure that 
the essential- elements of plant food are 
continuously provided to insure maxi- 
mum crops. If any of the elements are 
rot sufficiently provided by nature the 
deficiency must be supplied by man. 

Thousands of the most progressive 
farmers are applying this information, 
placing their farming operations upon a 
practical basis and securing highly grati- 
fying results. The same opportunity is 
open to all. 



Appointment and Promotions 



Effective June 10, 1916: Mr. Frank 
M. Stearns is appointed Commercial 
Agent. Office, Mercantile Library 
Building, 418 Walnut Street, Cincin- 
nati, Ohio, vice Mr. P. W. Connor, de- 
ceased. 

Effective June 15, 1916 : Mr. Patrick 
K. Hanley is appointed Trainmaster of 
the Chicago, Bloomington, Pontiac and 
Tracy Districts, and Gilman Line, with 



office at Kankakee, 111., vice Mr. 
Charles A. Phelan, resigned, to accept 
service with another company. 

Effective June 15, 1916: Mr. Wil- 
liam A. Golze is appointed Trainmaster 
of the Clinton, Havana and Decatur 
Districts, with office at Clinton, 111., 
vice Mr. Patrick K. Hanley, trans- 
ferred. 




TRANSPORTATION 
DEPARTMENT 




Soliciting Traffic 

By A. W. Ellington, Trainmaster 



success of our company is the 
success of its employes. Neces- 
sarily it follows that the faiiure of one 
is the failure of the other. The com- 
pany is in reality the employes. When 
we realize that the greater per cent of 
each dollar paid for transportation 
finds its way to the pay checks the 
company will have little concern about 
their traffic solicitation; each employe 
regardless of class or location, will see 
to it that his own interest is protected 
by an influx of freight to the receiving 
warehouses. The advertisement by 
employes that their company is the best 
and it is, will better establish favorable 
publicity than the expenditure of many 
dollars in printed advertisements. 
Direct personal contact with friends 
has an advantage over cold type; an 
earnest, well meaning look into the 
eye, in a way, hypnotizes the hearer, 
who finds justification in a proper 
appeal. 

The man who trades year after year 
with the same firms has an influence 
with those firms which justifies deal- 
ings along reciprocity lines. Record 
with them your desires ; they cannot 
refuse you entirely. To try is half suc- 
cess. Accomplish something that is 
not obligatory, and note the feeling 
of satisfaction in getting a result from 
initiatory action. One week of united 
effort by all employes would maRe the 
Illinois Central the best known sys- 
tem in the United States. Superior 



effort will win. Winners are not sat- 
isfied with one winning; they will try 
again. 

Specially appointed traffic solicitors 
need assistance. We can all render it, 
as every individual has an influence 
peculiarly his own. This is exemplified 
in the following known cases : 

A train porter informed a trainmas- 
ter that a certain colored organization 
was to have a number of delegates to 
move from a city to a distant city. A 
passenger agent was notified, and the 
traffic secured. 

A bill clerk called attention to 
freight transferred by another line en 
route to our line, and handled through 
interchange, to points on our line. 
Commercial agent at shipping point 
was notified and thereafter shipments 
were handled exclusively via our line. 

A coal dealer was offended by a 
demurrage agent (no real reason for 
offense) and he canceled contracts and 
routing via our line. An engineer, a 
yardmaster and an engine foreman 
called on the dealer and arranged for 
contracts and routing to be established 
by telegraph, and in addition secured 
routing on ten cars of coal from an- 
other territory, and which had been 
routed via another line. The relations 
established between the coal dealer and 
these employes were so satisfactory 
that we now get the business for the 
asking. 

Lend a hand. Get the habit. 



37 



Transportation Efficiency 

Paper Read by P. E. Odell, Chief Dispatcher, St. Louis Division, Before the Train 
Dispatchers' Association Convention in Toronto, Canada, June 20, 1 91 6 



Mr. President and Members of the Train 
Dispatchers, Association : 

I AM sure it gives me pleasure to be here to- 
day to present to you a paper on the very 
important subject which I have chosen 
"Transportation Efficiency" and which de- 
serves your most earnest attention. 

Many of you have come great distances 
to attend this convention, not to be enter- 
tained or amused, but because you are 
interested in your work and devoted to 
progress and improvement. Therefore, I 
feel it is a great privilege that I have the 
honor of directing your attention to certain 
viewpoints which may assist in the develop- 
ment of efficiency in the Transportation De- 
partment, and it is an opportunity not often 
afforded to reach representatives of that de- 
partment from every corner of America. 

You are no longer men who have merely 
mastered the art of telegraphy and become 
proficient in making meeting points be- 
tween trains; you are fast becoming full- 
fledged transportation men, and are so 
recognized by progressive managements to- 
day, so I am going to address my remarks 
to you as transportation men. 

The efficiency movement has, until the 
present time, been the result of practice 
rather than of theory. The search for effi- 
ciency and the search for the one best meth- 
od of accomplishing each task are assumed 
to be identical, but in the attempt to secure 
a theoretical foundation for efficiency some 
people confuse efficiency with system, and 
there is always the danger that system will 
degenerate into red tape, and that it will 
have a deadening effect on personal in- 
itiative and enthusiasm. We may speak of 
standardization of system and the comfort- 
able conditions of the worker, but, gentle- 
men, the great motive in securing efficient 
human industry today is INTEREST IN 
THE WORK. Real efficiency can be se- 
cured only when based on~service and when 
we can come to feel more complete respon- 
sibility for our particular tasks: then we 
create a driving motive of great force. 

It is going to be necessary for me to go 
somewhat into detail in explaining the very 
important part you gentlemen play in the 
transportation problems, so that you may 
return to your homes and take UD your 
tasks with the feeling of responsibility and 
interest in the work which, beydnd question. 
will result in increased efficiency. One of 
r^e troubles with our railroads today is that 
they are run bv departments. There is im- 
perfect unity of action between the differ- 
ent organizations, but if there is one class 



of employes who really do things and do 
them now, it is the dispatchers, and why 
they are called dispatchers I do not know. 
"Directors of Transportation" would be 
more in accordance with the fact. 

Let us take a few of the important items 
that go to make up transportation expenses 
and see what part you play in them. 

First Superintendence. 

This includes superintendents and train- 
masters. After many years of close asso- 
ciation with superintendents in different 
parts of North America ajid service with 
them under all conditions, I am led to be- 
lieve that the successful superintendent is 
the one who surrounds himself with a com- 
petent, experienced and loyal staff. His 
confidence, once established, relieves him of 
worry and the annoyance of detail, and fits 
him mentally and physically to handle the 
weighty problems of a division. Content- 
ment and peace of mind are essential to all 
railroad employes, but more especially to 
the superintendent, for he is the one man on 
a division to whom all look for precept and 
example. A grouchy superintendent breeds 
discontent and chaos by his very presence, 
and dignity can be maintained without bull- 
dozing. 

More annoying conditions can arise on a 
railroad in a short space of time than in 
any other business, but if the men directly 
in charge of each department are experi- 
enced and exercise their best judgment in 
correcting irregularities, the superintendent 
is relieved of anxiety. 

Trainmasters, roadmasters and road fore- 
men of engines are his outside men to 
whom he looks for the proper handling of 
affairs under their jurisdiction. The effi- 
cient trainmaster today has his office in his 
grip, and is not burdened with correspond- 
ence. No man can successfully handle train 
and enginemen from an office. Personal 
contact is absolutely necessary in order to 
determine whether or not the best service 
is being performed. Dissension and ill feel- 
ingr among employes has caused many an 
accident resulting in destruction of prop- 
ertv and in personal injury. Trainmasters 
and traveling engineers who mingle with 
their men generally discover bad conditions 
and correct them before annoying griev- 
ances are brought to the attention of the 
="r>erintendent. but if it becomes necessary 
for him to sit in judgment, the facts are in 
possession of members of his staff, who ob- 
tained them by personal observation, and 
no*- by hearsay. 

The chief dispatcher is probably the 



38 



40 



closest to the superintendent of any mem- 
ber of his staff, for it is he, with the trick 
dispatchers, who handle the power and 
equipment and direct traffic generally. The 
superintendent who has the full support of 
his dispatching force generally has a pretty 
good railroad. 

Second Station Agents and Clerks: 

Millions of people are carried by the rail- 
roads of this country every year, and the 
station agents and their clerks are the men 
who come in personal contact with the ma- 
jority of this great number of patrons. It 
is quite impossible for general and division 
officers to meet all these people, and as 
much depends upon the manner in which 
the railroad business is handled with the 
public, it becomes the duty of station forces 
to be courteous in their relations, but strict 
in the conduct of business. While there are 
numerous duties to be performed by station 
forces, the burden can be materially les- 
sened by being thorough and exact. At 
some of the heaviest stations we find the 
best conditions, because the man in charge 
is thoroughly familiar with his duties, and 
perfects his organization to the extent -that 
when a thing is done it is thoroughly done 
in the first place. Station agents can be of 
great assistance to dispatchers, and to them- 
selves, .as well, by notifying local freights 
before their arrival about the work to be 
done, how much local loading and for what 
points, so there is no time lost or false 
moves made when the train arrives; and by 
having express and baggage ready and in 
position for quick handling on passenger 
trains. Agents can educate the traveling 
public to purchase tickets before passenger 
trains are due, thus in a measure eliminating 
the cash-fare evil. Disoatchers can and do 
hold the agents by keeping them correctly 
advised about trains, so that their work can 
be arranged and no time lost on account of 
incorrect fierures. There are so many ways 
in which dispatchers and agents can help 
each other, that I cannot take the time to 
tell about them, but there should be com- 
plete co-operation at all times. 

Third Supplies for Stations: 

Following "Station Agents and Clerks" 
seems a fitting place for the subject of "Sta- 
tion and Office Supplies." Unnecessary 
correpondence is the cause of useless heavy 
expense^ for stationery, office supplies and 
clerk hire, long hours for clerks, burning 
lights, and the call for more help. Did it 
ever occur to you that the majority of let- 
ters written call for an answer, that there 
are altogether too many reports in the first 
place, and too many duplications? There 
are what I may call "professional desk- 
cleaners" in in every railroad office, men 
who dictate hundreds of letters each day 
just to keep the file moving, and without 
attempt to bring' the matter to a conclusion, 
until the correspondence has cost more than 
the subject amounted to in the first place. 



I know of a case some time ago that is an 
illustration in a small way. A station agent 
wanted a small rubber stamp, which would 
cost about eight cents, but the cost of the 
correspondence, figuring time and every- 
thing, was nearly $1.50, and the agent did 
not get the stamp after all. 

Improvements, however, are being made, 
and one of the best ways which has come to 
my attention is the apoointing of censors, 
men who have had experience in the han- 
dling of correspondence in all departments, 
starting them to work in the general of- 
fices, then in division offices. Two months 
will usually be long enough to make a de- 
cided improvement in the efficiency of an 
office force. 

We should endeavor to do our work cor- 
rectly in the first place, but if an explana- 
tion is called for or an inquiry made, let us 
answer it in a thorough and intelligent man- 
ner so that the case can be dismissed with- 
out further correspondence. 

Fourth Yardmasters, Conductors and 
Brakemen: 

More help can come to these men from 
the dispatcher's office than from any other 
source, and I am pleased to say that, as 
trick and chiet dispatcher, I have received 
great assistance from yard forces. I have 
heard dispatchers in reporting mules call 
them "yardmasters," but I want to say that 
the so-called "mule" can pull hard and long 
for you if he is treated right, and he can 
kick good and hard if he is abused. All a 
good yardmaster wants is intelligent line- 
ups on what is coming and what you want 
to run. Be sure you are right and know 
what you want, then tell him, but don't 
change instructions except in cases of emer- 
gency. Useless and costly moves are often 
made in large yards by yardmasters and 
dispatchers not working together. The 
yardmaster will always do what you tell 
him to if he has confidence in you, but he 
must have reliable information, and the dis- 
patcher is the man to give it to him. It 
gives me great pleasure to say that as chief 
dispatcher on one of the heaviest divisions 
of one of the heaviest tonnage-hauling rail- 
roads in the country, I am working with 
yard forces in four large yards, that are the 
best I ever worked with. I get what I ask 
for, but I do not issue or change instruc- 
tions every few minutes. Efficiency in yard 
service is secured by co-operation and in- 
telligent handling, and dispatchers play a 
strong part. 

Fifth Fuel for Locomotives: 

When I tell you that a chunk of coal 
smaller than your fist will produce energy 
sufficient to haul one ton one mile, you can 
readily see that the saving of a few scoop- 
fuls of coal on a trip would haul a good 
many tons one mile. 

Education in fuel economy has done much 
to reduce waste. Demonstration cars, in 
charge of men who are experienced in the 



42 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



handling of fuel, have been fitted up by 
some railroads for lecture purposes and 
with moving pictures of proper and im- 
proper methods of handling coal at coal 
chutes, etc. A great deal of the company's 
money goes up in black smoke, which is 
not only a nuisance, but makes lame backs 
for the firemen, just because they have not 
been educated to properly fire an engine. 
Considerable saving in fuel can be effected 
by not having engines standing around fired 
up waiting for trains. Chief dispatchers 
should work with the roundhouse foremen, 
give him good line-ups on what will be re- 
quired, and engines should not be ordered 
until they are needed. It costs about five 
cents a mile to handle a passenger car, most 
of which is spent for fuel, so we should be 
careful not to haul around empty equipment 
when it is not needed. The handling of 
any kind of an empty is worse than doing 
nothing. 

Sixth Trainmen and Enginemen: 
These men receive about fifty per cent of 
all wages paid in the Transportation De- 
partment, and as they are the men who 
handle trains under your direction, it should 
be your aim to get from them all the serv- 
ice you can for the money paid. You should 
know something about the work performed 
by the men, so that you can intelligently 
place instructions, and to young dispatchers 
I want to say that you should avail your- 
selves of every opportunitv during off-duty 
hours to gain some knowledge of train serv- 
ice. Some engineers are like jockeys, they 
can ride like blazes, but if anything goes 
wrong with their horse, thev have to call a 
veterinary. Now it is not necessary for you 
to know all about engines, but you can 
know a good deal if you will take the time 
to learn. 

I venture to say that the great majority 
of railroad employees know nothing at all 
about air brakes. The proper make-up of 
trains has much to do with their successful 
handling. Do not ask a conductor to handle 
empty cars on the head end of his train or 
mixed all through it. You cannot get good 
braking power on a train of this kind. Be 
careful about stopping heavy trains in bad 
places, on crossings or connections, and in- 
sist upon inspection being made at least 
every thirty miles on dead freight trains. 
You should know enough about train opera- 
tion so you will have the respect of the men 
to whom you issue instructions. They will 
soon come to know that you know what 
you are doing mean business and play no 
favorites. Successful train operation is al- 
most wholly in the hands of the dispatchers, 
and as I have said about trainmasters, you 
cannot know much about it by always stay- 
ing in the office. I most earnestly advocate 
the plan adopted by many railroads of al- 
lowing dispatchers two days each month in 
which to make trips on freight trains over 
their respective districts. 



You can help enginemen to reduce claims 
for stock killed on the waylands by handling 
promptly with sectionmen when you hear 
of stock running loose. In case of acci- 
dent or derailment, there is liable to be 
more or less confusion, but the dispatcher 
should be the cool-headed man. Personal 
injury cases should be turned over to com- 
pany physicians, but if it is necessary to call 
on an outside physician, he should give first 
aid and remain in charge only until a regu- 
lar company doctor arrives. If it be a pas- 
senger, a complete list of everyone on the 
train, including their addresses, should be 
secured. Conductors are pretty busy in 
times of trouble and may overlook this un- 
less their attention is called to it. One good 
witness is worth a dozen lawyers. 

Seventh Loss and Damage to Freight: 

Inasmuch as the claim payments for loss 
and damage to freight, by one hundred and 
eighty steam railway carriers having an an- 
nual revenue exceeding a million dollars, 
reached the enormous figure for the year 
1914, of $32,375,617.55; number of miles 
operated, 227,884; being an average annual 
claim payment of $142.07 for each mile of 
road operated, and an average of 1.625 per 
cent of the freight revenue; conditions 
which make the causes for loss and damage 
freight claim payments a subject which is 
discussed as much, if not more, by trans- 
portation and operating men of the different 
carriers at the present time as any other 
one, it is well that the members of this 
convention, representing such an imoortant 
branch of the service as the train dispatch- 
ers, discuss this matter, acauainting them- 
selves with the causes for this large loss, as 
thev can. without ouestion. be of erreat as- 
sistance in correcting many of the causes 
for such payments. 

During the year 1915, there was a reduc- 
tion of $7,623,519.00 or twenty-four per cent 
from the figures of 1914, some lines showing 
a much greater percentage of decrease than 
others. 

It is my opinion that American railways 
cannot feel that they are transporting 
freight with a high degree of efficiency un- 
til every item of expense not inherent in its 
handling has been eliminated. One of the 
most pronounced items of unnecessary ex- 
pense, and one which has grown to propor- 
tions of great concern to the carriers, is *he 
loss and damage to freight. Not only has 
this evil resulted in large monetary los=es 
yearly to the carriers, but a much more im- 
portant feature, it has become with the ship- 
ping public a source of great annoyance and 
dissatisfaction. Shippers and consignees do 
not want freight claims; they are as irritat- 
ir>r to the miblic as expensive to the carrier. 
There -s. however, a much greater interest 
than that of e'ther the shipper or carrier, 
pnd that is the interest of the American pnb- 
l''c as a whole. To loss and damage in this 
country. $32,000,000.00 worth of property in 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



43 



twelve months has a direct bearing upon the 
living expenses of every American family, 
and it is up to the shippers and carriers to 
do their part in conserving this great eco- 
nomic waste. I would like the opportunity 
of calling dispatchers' attention to the prin- 
cipal causes which contributed to the pay- 
ments of 1914. 

Accidents $2,986,673.25 or 6.476 per cent 
of the total payments. Quite a number of 
carriers have greatly reduced avoidable acci- 
dents. A great many accidents which in the 
past were considered unavoidable have 
proven to be avoidable. Close supervision 
should be given to avoid these avoidable 
ones, and when the unavoidable do occur, 
attention should be given to taking care of 
the contents of cars concerned in the acci- 
dent. Of course, it is necessary that the 
main line be cleared promptly. However, in 
doing so, consideration should be given to 
the proper protection of the contents of 
cars. In transferring commodities, if per- 
ishable and under refrigeration, to see that 
cars transferred into have been properly 
iced, or if under ventilation, that the pro- 
per ventilation is given. Railway employes 
hardly can be expected to know the proper 
manner in which to load all the different 
commodities. Shippers, however, do, and a 
good rule to follow is to endeavor to place 
the contents into the transferred car in the 
same manner in which it was originally 
loaded. 

A dispatcher on a trick on which an acci- 
dent occurs, by giving these important mat- 
ters consideration and calling the attention 
of those at point of accident to these fea- 
tures, would, no doubt, assist in reducing 
the extent of damage. 

Payment for Delays $2,187,345.17 or 
6.756 per cent of the total payments. By 
these figures, it will be noted that with the 
elimination of delays a great step will have 
been taken toward the ultimate reflection of 
claim payments on American railroads. It 
is the duty of carriers to transport freight 
with reasonable dispatch, and while no spe- 
cific time is guaranteed, if through negli- 
gence excessive delays are occasioned, car- 
riers, of course, must surfer the penalty. 

Shipments of live stock and perishable 
freight should always be watched in their 
movements over each district, and while in 
transit should not be lost sight of, or ne- 
glected in any manner. Their very nature 
suggests the promptness with which they 
must be handled, and if it is impossible at 
any time to keep shipments moving, the 
carrier should be fortified with proper rec- 
ords for future reference, to justify our 
handling of the car. 

Payments for rough handling of cars 
amounted to $4,343,481.76 or 13.415 per cent 
of the total. 

Unlocated damage which is closely asso- 
ciated with rough handling, $6,767.634.95 or 
20.903 per cent. You will note a little over 



one-third of the entire claim payments were 
for these two causes, and considering the 
close association which exists between 
train-, yardmen and dispatchers, familiarity 
with these figures should be of great assist- 
ance in the co-operation the carriers desire 
on the part of those having to dp with the 
handling of freight shipments with a view 
of eliminating this enormous loss. 

Loss of Entire Package $5,156,318.94, or 
15.926 per cent of the entire claim payments. 

The dispatcher, who afterwards becomes 
chief and later trainmaster on a great many, 
if not the majority of railroads, works with 
the telegraph operator, who afterwards be- 
comes the agent, and when this young man 
starts to work will talk to him about rules 
of the company relative to the receiving- and 
delivering of freight, which are, that before 
a bill of lading is signed, the party signing 
must know the number of articles, properly 
prepared for shipment, are in the possession 
of the carrier and in checking at destina- 
tion to actually check each shipment, taking 
receipt therefor, at actual time of delivery, 
will eliminate every lost package, except 
those lost through theft. 

By insistence on compliance with these 
rules by its employees, one of the large 
merchandise-carrying lines has reduced lost 
packages to an average of one package lost 
lor every four stations per month. 

It is my opinion that at least 999 out of 
every 1,000 railway employees want to do 
their work right, if they understand what is 
right, and if this is true it seems to me that 
the entire proposition can be solved by 
properly educating the various employees 
and securing their co-operation. 

Now that I have covered some of the im- 
portant items and mentioned what, in my 
opinion, should and should not be done, 
some may say "Oh, well, that is all right, 
but what does it amount to?" Gentlemen, it 
amounts to just this, that if you ever expect 
to make anything out of your profession 
that will elevate it to the position it de- 
serves in the railroad world, and prove your 
worth as transportation men, you have to 
study and practice efficiency in all its 
angles. 

I am proud to say that I am thoroughly 
conversant with every item of transporta- 
tion expense, and it is because as a dis- 
patcher and chief I have been given the 
opportunity to study economy in transpor- 
tation. 

Every employee on the Illinois Central 
Railroad is given an opportunity to propose 
or work out methods that will increase effi- 
ciency. There is more unity of action on 
this splendid railway system than any I 
have ever worked for, and the reason for 
this is that we have a broad-minded set of 
officials with the business sense to know 
that in unity there is force, and to prove 
that this policy is working successfully 1 
will read a few comparative figures: 



44 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



TRAINLQAD: System trainload has in- 
creased within the past three years eighteen 
per cent, eight per cent of which is cred- 
ited to increased tractive effort per freight 
engine and ten per cent to efficiency. 

LOADED CAR MILES DIRECTION 
HEAVY TRAFFIC: Increased from 84.65,. 
March, 1914, to 90.14, March, 1916, all of, 
this increase, 6.5 per cent, to the credit of 
efficiency. 

PERCENTAGE OF LOADED TOi 
TOTAL CAR MILES: Increased from' 
71.03, March, 1914, to 72.41, March, 1916. 

DECREASE IN LOSS AND DAMAGE 
TO FREIGHT: In 1913, $2.82 out of 
every $100.00 of freight revenue was paid 
out for "Loss and Damage." In 1915, this 
was reduced to $1.07, caused by co-opera- 
tion between the Loss and Damage Bureau 
and the Transportation Department and 
efficiency of employees. 

TERMINAL DELAY: Three or four 
years ago, an enormous amount of money 
was being spent for initial terminal delay, 
very few trains leaving terminals without 
getting terminal overtime, but today on the 
St. Louis Division where an average of 
one hundred freight trains per day are run 
out of terminals, it is exceptional when ter- 
minal detention occurs, practically all 



trains leaving terminals on listed time. 

ENGINE FAILURES: On the St. Louis 
Division with the great number of freight 
trains run daily as noted above, months 
will often pass without a single engine 
failure. One reason for this splendid 
showing is that engines are assigned to 
regular enginemen, and the enginemen are 
not only good jockeys, but good veteri- 
narians. 

The above-mentioned results have been 
attained by increased efficiency created by 
interest in the work and as a reward 
handsome increases in salary have volun- 
tarily been given within the past few 
months. I am not going to miss the op- 
portunity to say that our general and divi- 
sion officers are practical railroad men who 
have come up from the ranks, messengers, 
telegraph operators, dispatchers, conductors 
and enginemen. Dispatchers receive the 
consideration and treatment due them in 
their positions of responsibility. 

In conclusion, let me admonish you to 
try and improve your minds at every op- 
portunity and help your employers to pro- 
mote greater efficiency. Your own suc- 
cess, as well as that of your company, de- 
pends upon the spirit and energy you are 
willing to contribute. 




Passenger 
Traffic 
Department ^ 

Little Talks with fKe Reonbler 



Service Notes of Infeiesf. 




'Great Oaks from Little Acorns Grow' 



The Rambler was feeling good. In 
fact, whether due to a favorable change 
in the weather or for other causes known 
only to himself, he was not only feeling 
good, but in an exceedingly merry mood. 
So much so, that on his way to the sta- 
tion to take a train on a foreign line for 
a small point a night's run away, he de- 
liberately stopped en route at Tyro's of- 
fice at a time when he knew that busy 
newspaper man would be up to his ears 
in work. He bustled past the "informa- 
tion" clerk with a cheery nod and irre- 
sistible smile, saying, "I am going to see 
Tyro for a minute. He won't mind me." 
The latter evidently would not, for well 
he knew that, however inopportune a 
time the Rambler chose for a call he 
knew enough not to remain long or be 
borish while he did stay; hence he re- 
ceived him heartily. "Excuse me, Tyro." 
said the Rambler, as he eschewed a prof- 
fered seat, "for breaking in just now, but 
I have something on my mind that I 
must get rid of before taking a train in 
about half an hour, and which is a matter 
that a wide awake newspaper editor like 
vourself ought to know how to handle 
'oro bono publico.' " "For the good of 
the public," Tyro smilingly, half mused. 



picking up the Rambler's quotation. 
"Yes, yes, I suppose that's what we are 
here for. But the rub of it all is the 
wide difference of opinion as to what 
constitutes the public good. Your smil- 
ing countenance does not argue in my 
mind that your proposition is particu- 
larly weighty, to say the least. But let it 
go." "Well," said the Rambler, with a 
chuckle, as leaning back against the 
door casing of Tyro's little den, with 
hands in his pockets and face beaming 
with suppressed mirth, he began : "You 
know Snap-Shot Bill? No? Well, he is 
a good fellow that possesses a kodak and 
a Panama hat that he thinks the world 
of ; and I want to tell you that hat is 
some hat. Got it in Cuba a few years ago. 
It has the finest braid you ever saw and 
is soft and pliable "Never mind 

the hat," broke in Tyro, "condense, man, 
condense! What about Bill? Has he 
eloped, joined the rookies, or been called 
into a concentration camp?" "Yes, but 
I have got to tell you something about 
that hat," was the humorously pathetic 
appeal. "As you say, however, to con- 
dense, you must know that he had it 
blocked a little while ago, and it was his 
fancy to have it shaped on the fedora 



45 



46 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



orc l er that kind that has a hollow at the 
top, is punched in a bit on the side and 
has a turned-up brim." "Yes, yes, but 
what of it?" was the further interrup- 
tion as Tyro picked up his pencil and be- 
gan to continue his work that he was 
engaged on when the Rambler made his 
appearance, thereby giving an exhibition 
of his ability to listen to one train of 
thought and write upon another at the 
same time. "O, well, forget the hat for 
a while, if you want to," was the Ram- 
bler's response, "but just listen to this: 
Bill came out of a downtown restaurant 
a few days ago just as a sudden shower 
broke over the city. It rained in tor- 
rents, and it surely was a wet rain. I 
was out in it myself. But Bill was late 
and is apt to forget a little circumstance 
like a downpour equivalent to a young 
flood, when, as in this case, he had an 
ultimate object in view; said object be- 
ing to reach a street car. Hence he 
walked half way across the street and 
stood a little longer than usual, account 
of the shutting up of umbrellas, to take 
his turn in the crowd in boarding the car. 
His shoulders and legs were naturally 
somewhat wet, which fact finally dawned 
upon him without causing any consider- 
able worry, in which connection he has 
since told me that the only thought, and 
that sub-conscious, that occurred to him 
at the time was one of elation that, con- 
trary to what one might suppose would 
be the case, no water had percolated 
through that hat. On entering the crowd- 
ed ca'r, being pushed from behind, he 
stumbled over and knocked to the floor 
an umbrella which a lady sitting on the 
end seat had placed beside her, allowing 
it to project unduly into the aisle." The 
Rambler paused a moment to laugh, and 
then continued: "Now, Bill, if any- 
thing, is polite. He not only felt cha- 
grinned at having kicked the umbrella, 
but he noticed that the lady was not only 
fair to look upon, but was very nattily 
dressed in the fashion of the dav. The 
combination was most appealing, hence it 
was but natural that before Bill stooped 
to pick up the umbrella he should lift his 
hat to the lady and beg her pardon for 
his awkwardness. Now, here's where 



you come in, Tyro ; to settle a great eth- 
ical question. In making his obeisance to 
accompany his apology, Bill was utterly 
oblivious to the fact that even if his hat 
didn't leak its curved rim and creased 
top had accumulated water in sufficient 
quantities to pour a young flood directly 
on to the neck of the lady as he tipped it 
in expressing his regrets. The lady was 
angry, and Bill was more confused than 
ever. Now, what I want to know, Tyro, 
is this: Who was to blame? Bill, for 
not thinking of what might be in his hat 
besides his head and for his possible awk- 
wardness, or the lady for her thought- ^ 
lessness in allowing the umbrella to 
project into a crowded aisle? It occurred 
to me that perhaps you, in your profund- 
ity, might see a point in this that would 
lead to something worth while in an eth- 
ical way when you are in an abstractive 
mood." "I am afraid it is too deep for 
me," heartily laughed Tyro, "but I will 
pass it along to our 'Funny-Bone' col- 
umn man, and as it must be near your 
train time here is a cigar or you, and 
thanks for the call." 

"All the same," ruminated the Rambler 
as he walked hurriedly to the station,, 
"there's something in that question I put 
to Tyro. The fact that it has a humor- 
ous side has nothing to do with the case. 
Just as great oaks grow from little acorns, 
so many a world-wide controversv, and 
many a great discovery, had its origin in 
incidents as trivial. From Newton's ob- 
servation of the fall of an apple the great 
law of gravitation was evolved ; an inno- 
cent remark in a ladies' sewing circle has 
been known to ruin a church and split in 
twain a peaceful community ; and a little 
trick of the feet is alleged to have devel- 
oped into an asset of $600,000.00 per 
year to a movie actor. In fact, just as 
everything helps, so most everything 
grows from small beginnings, I reckon, 
and oftentimes the origin is apparently 
far removed from the finality. Now, 
in this episode of Bill's. He's unmar- 
ried, and who knows but in some myste- 
rious way it shifts about in time so that 
the lady he so unceremoniously ducked 
becomes his wife?" He laughed softly 
to himself at this last conceit, for he was 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



47 



still in lightsome mood. Hence, as he 
later boarded his train, his salutation 
was exuberant as he met there a railroad 
man that he knew but had not seen for 
some time. "Well, well, Charlie! how 
are you ? Haven't seen you since that 
little friendly run-in we had over a year 
ago for that competitive coast business. 
Always did think you might have thrown 
that our way, but there was no hard feel- 
ing. That's been evened up and forgot- 
ten long ago. What are you doing here, 
so far out of your territory? Not ex- 
pecting, of course, that you will give 
away anything specific, any more than I 
would, for we are still friendly rivals, I 
suppose. But is it a vacation for you or 
business?" With a hearty hand-shake 
"Charlie" laughingly responded to the 
Rambler's greeting by telling him he was 
now working in the foreign territory, 
and had been for nearly a year. Also, 
that he was after a tentative piece of 
business the nature of which was so 
problematical that he doubted if the 
Rambler would care to hear about it. 
"'No, probably not, in such a case," was 
the smiling response. "I'm just taking 
a little choo-choo car joy-ride myself. 
But come, let's go have a smoke before 
bedtime." They spent a pleasant hour 
together before retiring, in which the 
Rambler questioned his acquaintance as 
to how he found foreign line work as 
against working locally on his own road ; 
the latter being the connection in which 
he had hitherto been known to him. 
"That's what I've been trying to answer 
myself," was the reply. "Of course, I 
like my present work, for it's not only a 
promotion in a way, but it is broadening 
my experience. But I sometimes think 
if that local job had not been a mighty 
good school I would not now learn half 
as much about practical railroading as I 
know. Again, when working the local 
territory, I used to think I sometimes 
looked out over very broad horizons in 
my helping to route passengers in all 
directions to either coast, and to the 
south or north as far as the gulf, on one 
hand, or to the lakes, on the other, to 
say nothing of intermediate points. 
Now I find I am skimming along over 



one of those old horizons driving so to 
speak, my flocks into the corrals of my 
old pasture or over its trails." "In other 
words," suggested the Rambler, "before, 
you were in looking out, now you are out 
looking in, both points of view being 
valuable and each giving interesting ex- 
periences. But I'll wager that your 
knowledge of the inside helps amazingly 
now that you are on the other end of 
the game?" "It most certainly does," 
was the rejoinder. The cigars being fin- 
ished, they were both off to bed, "Char- 
lie" to leave the train somewhere during 
the wee hours of the night, and the 
Rambler to alight from it at a small sta- 
tion soon after breakfast the next morn- 
ing. 

The station was little better than a 
small country way-station, except it was 
also a junction with a small branch of 
the line, to the terminus of which the 
Rambler was bound. His train was not 
a connecting one with the branch local, 
hence the Rambler, on walking leisurely 
up the platform, was not surprised to 
note that there was but one besides him- 
self to get off his train. That one was a 
little lady who seemed in a mild sort of 
daze. She hurried up to the station, 
looking anxiously ahead as she did so, at 
the same time slowly shaking her head 
and muttering to herself ; her whole air 
and manner indicating that she had ex- 
pected to find someone waiting for her 
who was not there. The station was a 
lonely one, not a dwelling in sight, and it 
was no wonder the little lady was ap- 
parently upset at not finding anyone to 
meet her. She was small of stature and 
apparently of such age that the thought- 
less stranger would have alluded to her 
in passing as a "little old lady." To the 
Rambler, however, who had observed 
her intently and followed her into the 
station and heard her talk to the agent, 
she appealed at once as one to whom the 
appellation "old" would not only sound 
disrespectful but would not apply to her. 
It could be seen that, bereft of her tem- 
porary distroughtness, she was appar- 
ently a sweet, sunny, wide awake little 
body who, if she lived to be a hundred, 
would never be old in spirit, and that to 



48 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



place her in mind as a "dear little lady" 
would be the most appropriate. So that 
was the title he mentally gave her, and 
as she peered into the ticket window he 
was curious to see what impression the 
agent would have of her, and how he 
would meet whatever demands she might 
make on possibly his patience and court- 
esy. 

"Mister, where's my son, William?" 
was her first salutation. The agent, who 
was working his telegraph instrument, 
glanced up, gave a slight smile and nod 
of the head to her, as if to indicate that 
he had heard, and went on with his 
sending. But, although she recognized 
his friendly attitude, she did not under- 
stand, and repeated her question, add- 
ing, "I supposed, of course he'd be here. 
The baby's sick." The agent left his 
key open long enough to say to her 
pleasantly, "I'll be through wfth this 
message in a moment, madam," but she 
was still too excited to even probably 
hear what he had said, and plunged into 
a full explanation that the baby was her 
grandchild, and William's three-year-old 
girl. That Sarah, the mother, had writ- 
ten her that Dorothy, that being the little 
one's name, had been ailing all the spring 
and that they had called the doctor and 
he didn't seem to know what was the 
matter. This, and much more, she was 
plaintively pouring into the agent's ear 
at such a rate that the latter, with a re- 
signed air, ticked off "minute," closed his 
key, and, leaving his office, approached 
the little lady with a deferential smile 
lurking in the corners of his mouth as 
he asked, gravely, "and who, please is 
your son, William ?" For an instant she 
looked at him with wide-eyed amaze- 
ment then with face suffused with 
blushes, but a little gleam of amusement 
in her eyes, she shyly replied, "Why, Wil- 
liam , didn't I tell you?" This last clause 
she added with a suggestion of challenge, 
as much as to say, "of course I did." She 
was too honest, however, to keep the fic- 
tion up, for immediately after saying it 
her whole countenance changed and she 
broke into a cute, depreciating little 
laugh as she corrected herself. "No, I 
remember now that I didn't say 'Mr. 



-,' but asked only for my son Wil- 
liam. I supppse my mind was so set 
on William that there wasn't room in it 
for anything else, so I guess I thought 
everybody would know who I meant. 
But you know him, don't you?" "If you 
mean the William - who runs a stock 
farm about six miles north of here, on 
the river, I do ; although I've not been at 
this station a very long time myself. 
However, if you expected him to meet 
you he will undobutedly be along soon. 
He probably found the roads worse than 
he anticipated after last night's storm." 
"Do you know," the little lady said soft- 
ly, as though talking more to herself 
than to the agent, "I have a feeling that 
he won't come." "Why ?" was the quick 
response, "you wrote telling him that 
you'd be here on this train, of course?" 
This time she laughed heartily as she 
replied, "Oh, I'm so silly ! No, I didn't. 
Just as soon as I got Sarah's letter about 
Dorothy I love that child so (we still 
call her the baby) that I wanted to come 
right away, for in my excitement I 
thought of course they'd expect me to 
come at once. I didn't do very much 
about getting ready. I was so anxious 
to get here that I came pretty much as I 
was. But while I was packing it did oc- 
cur to me to write William a postal card 
telling him I was coming, and I started 
one. Then I thought, 'How foolish !' I'll 
get there by or before he will get this. 
Besides, he will know I will be on that 
train, for it's the first I can get after 
receiving Sarah's letter. So he'll meet 
me at the station.' Then I just threw 
that unfinished postal in the open hand 
bag that was then all packed Goodness 
gracious ! Where is that hand bag?" 
She made a b>ee line for the station plat- 
form all excitement again followed by 
the agent and the Rambler. The bag 
was not in sight, which fact elicited the 
statement from the little lady that the 
last she had thought of it was when the 
porter of the chair car in which she had 
ridden for the night had taken it in hand 
as he helped her out. She had charged 
him then, she excitedly told them, to be 
sure not to forget to give it to her when 
she was off the train, "And now," she 



50 



indignantly wailed, "he's went and for- 
got to do it. Still," she resumed, with a 
return of her natural sunniness "guess I 
can't say much to him about forgetful- 
ness. I never thought of it myself until 
this minute. O, dear ! Must be I'm get- 
ting too old to be traveling alone. I do 
seem to get all fussed up." "Never 
mind" said the agent cheerily "I'll get 
your bag for you, perhaps before you 
can start for the farm, for the last time 
I tried them the telephone wires were in 
bad shape from last night's storm. It 
may take some time before I can get 
your son to tell him to come and get 
you. But the company's wires are all 
right, and I'll telegraph to the next stop 
below of No. 54 and have that bag put 
off and returned on the up train, which 
is due here in about an hour and a half." 
Now, it so happened that the porter 
had not forgotten to put off the bag, but 
had been a little tardy in doing it, so 
that he tossed it off, as gently as he 
could, atter the train had started and 
gotten under considerable way. In con- 
sequence the bag rolled into a dry ditch 
running beside the track, and was lost 
to view from the platform. At the time 
he threw it the porter reached out from 
the step as far as he could and waved 
and pointed to the Rambler, who had 
been the only one to notice the transac- 
tion and who signaled the porter in reply 
that he saw and understood. While, 
therefore, the agent was telling the lady 
how he would get her bag for her, the 
Rambler made signs to him, behind her 
back, by shaking his head and pointing 
to 'the ditch beyond. Hence the agent, 
who thought he understood the sign, 
supplemented his consoling words about 
the recovery by saying, "But let's look 
around a bit, and see if it really was car- 
ried by, after all." Needless to say, the 
bag was soon found and the lady's spir- 
its revived accordingly, only to flow at 
a low ebb again on thought of how she 
was now to get to her son. The agent 
reassured her on that point, however, 
and after finishing his interrupted mes- 
sage began to try to reach "William" by 
telephone. The latter's number did not 
respond, however, and he then tried in 



several directions to see if he could not 
be reached by some relay, but also with- 
out result. Finally he got a response to 
one of his calls and was told that the 
telephone wires had been made havoc of 
.by the storm of the night before and 
"that it would probably be at least two 
days before communication would be 
normal again. He told this in an under- 
tone to the Rambler, but the little lady 
overheard and with a determined air 
said, "then, if you will let me leave this 
.bag here with you, I'll walk it. I've got 
to get to Dorothy." "Walk nothing!" 
said the Rambler in an undertone to the 
agent. "Is there no livery within ten 
miles that can be reached ? Or no nearer 
farmhouse than that of her son?" "Not 
with the telephones all out of business," 
he said, "but I will tell you what you 
could do, if you are agreeable, for it 
seems a pity not to get that dear little 
woman where she can free her mind 
,about her grandchild. Her son's farm- 
is on the river below, hence the current, 
which is a strong one, is in his direction. 
It would not be much of a trick for you 
to take her bag and all down there in a 
boat. 'William' would undoubtedly put 
you back right away in his auto and see 
that I got my boat back for I have a 
boat here on the little creek, about fifty 
feet away, that you see from the win- 
dow. The creek runs into the" river, not 
far off." The Rambler acquiesced will- 
ingly, and on making their plan known 
to the little lady both he and the agent 
were surprised at the fact that she ex- 
pressed no aversion to the boating. 

So they got off, she and the Rambler, 
after the agent had helped her into the 
boat while her knight errant was stow- 
ing his coat and vest under the thwart 
and getting out the oars. And what a 
merry time those two had of it, for the 
Rambler eased her mind at the very be- 
ginning, as he slowly worked the boat 
through the tortuous creek, by saying 
in the most solicitous manner he could 
muster, "The little girl's sick abed, I 
suppose?" She looked quickly at him, 
as if his question had started a new 
train of thought in connection with her 
much-beloved Dorothy. "Why, Sarah 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



51 



didn't say that," she slowly replied in a 
thoughtful manner. "Don't you think 
she would have mentioned it if she was?" 
the Rambler insinuatingly suggested be- 
fore she had time to put the alternate 
construction on his first inquiry. "Yes, I 
do!" was the decisive answer with a 
snap of the jaws, as she settled back in 
the comfortable stern seat of the boat 
and looked fixedly at her opposite com- 
panion for a minute. "I believe I've 
been a fool getting scared about that 
baby on what may amount to nothing. 
Guess I ought to know enough about 
children to understand that they can be 
ailing and the doctor not know what's 
the matter with them without their being 
on a death bed. But there," she added, 
with the sweetest of little smiles, "I 
guess I wanted to see them all so bad 
down here, and so longed to sniff the 
good country air again that I just went 
out of my head when I got that letter. 
But I'm going- to be sensible from now 
on, although," she ended, reflectively, "I 
am worried about Dorothy. She's never 
been very rugged, and she's named after 
me." The Rambler's quiet little sugges- 
tions however had evidently brought her 
to herself, for as they turned into the 
river and began to guide swiftly down 
its course she became bouyant. It soon 
developed that she had been born and 
raised on the farm to which she was go- 
ing; also, that she had lived there the 
most of her life until circumstances 
had caused her to make her home with 
a married daughter in a much detested 
(by her) city. "Which accounts for her 
lack of timidity on the water," thought 
the Rambler. She was happy, and she 
was friendly with her companion as they 
sped along, inspired by beautiful scenery 
on both sides of the river. She laughed 
and she chatted. She teased the Ram- 
bler at the perspiration rolling over his 
face, for the sun had made even the 
morning hours of the day very hot, and 
he was not in physical trim for his row- 
ing, easy as it was to work with the cur- 
rent and as familiar as he had been in 
other days with boats and boating. In 
the next breath she was motherly with 
him, begging him not to cool off when 



he had reached the farm by going swim- 
ming in the river until he had rested 
long enough for the heat of his blood to 
subside. As they proceeded it became 
manifest that she was more than ordi- 
narily conversant with the attractions of 
nature that were all about them. She 
listened intently to the songs of the birds 
and called them by name as their notes 
became distinguishable. She called his 
attention to the many wild flowers they 
passed on the banks or that were visible 
in adjoining pastures or woods, telling 
the Rambler what they were, and in 
many cases what they were good for, 
either medicinally or otherwise. She 
made him diverge into the quiet water 
of a little lake and cease his rowing 
while she gathered pond lilies from over 
the side of the boat. Again, she had him 
stop at a place on the banks of the river 
where the purple iris was blooming in 
profusion that she might gather a bunch 
of that beautiful flower. 

The end of this remarkable trip in the 
experience of the Rambler, came all too 
soon for him, for he was enjoying it. 
His exuberant spirit of the night before 
had returned under the influence of his 
environment and the infection of the 
little lady's chatter. Hence it was no 
wonder he simply roared with laughter 
when, in making a sharp turn in the 
river, his companion shouted, "Here we 
are at William's boat landing, and glory 
be ! If there isn't Dorothy and her 
brother, John, both wading up to their 
knees in the river. What will William 
say when he knows how foolish I've 
been?" "If I were William," said the 
Rambler, heartily, "I would say I was 
mighty glad that I had such a dear little 
woman for a mother." 

When, as we lunched together one 
noon soon after, the Rambler reached 
that part of the narrative of his last trip 
where he told of his arrival at the farm, 
he paused, and a pleasant smile suffused 
his countenance, due undoubtedly, to 
thoughts of the "dear little lady." Begin- 
ning again, however, he fell into rather 
a serious mood as he picked up an un- 
used spoon and began to trace the pat- 
tern of the table cloth with it as he 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



talked. "Well, after all, everything does 
help," he said. ''Tyro worked in the 
main idea of that hat episode, but, of 
course spoiled it as a story. He used it 
as an introduction to, and illustration of, 
a very weighty matter now the subject 
of much controversy, saying, in effect, 'A 
little incident of the street car finds an 
application in' such and such. 'A lady 
allowed her umbrella to project into the 
aisle and a gentleman stumbled over it, 
knocking it out of her hand. The day 
was rainy, the gentleman's hat was wet, 
and in bending to apologize some water, 
dripping from the hat, was precipitated 
onto the lady. A facetious observer in- 
quired of his neighbor which was to 
blame, the lady for her carelessness in 
placing the umbrella or the gentleman 
for his awkwardness. So as to' such 
and such, 'in the political situation. 
Which, if either, in the - contro- 
versy owes the other an apology,' etc., 
etc. In short," summed up the Ram- 
bler, "he really wrote on the subject of 
that particular controversy an editorial 
that," and here the Rambler chuckled, 
"may possibly (but I doubt it) go 'echo- 
ing through the corridors of time.' In 
other words, the points that he made 
may turn out to be the seed fr6m which 
great things will grow." 

"Then there was Charlie, with his 
thoughtful speculation as to the real mer- 
its of his two territories. If his change 
from one to the other caused the 
thoughtfulness that was manifest in his 
discussion with me as to the characteris- 
tics of the two positions, why may not 
such thoughts be the germ from which 
greater things will grow for him in the 
future ? 

"Again, there was the agent that was so 
kind and courteous to the dear little 
lady. His experience with her, although 
possibly trivial in itself, proved to me 
that he had elements of character that 
will lead him to better things in his pro- 
fesson than that little country station. In 
fact, on my way back, I rode a few miles 
with the superintendent of his division 
and learned that he was already being 
favorably considered for promotion. By 
the way, I forgot to mention in that con- 
nection that I purposely refrained from 



telling the agent where the bag was when 
the lady discovered her loss. I did so 
that I might see what he would do about 
it. As I expected, he arose to the occa- 
sion. 

"Finally, there was 'William,' the dear 
little lady's son. He took me across 
country over to the branch terminus in 
his auto after dinner that day, for by 
my trip down the river I had lost con- 
nection with the branch train. That ride 
was delightful, and I found the man 
well worth knowing. He was broad and 
well disposed towards railroads as a gen- 
eral proposition. He had, however, one 
little grouch, which, happily, I was able 
to remove. He was good-natured about 
it but while not concurring in the crit- 
icisms that many of his neighbors made 
of railroads, he of his personal experi- 
ence could not understand a trivial mat- 
ter about the payment of excess bag- 
gage. It seems that he and his family 
were considerable travelers during the 
winter months, and on several occasions 
he had been called upon to pay excess on 
their trunks. This he did not object to, 
but could not see wherein the excess 
charge varied as it did, when he was 
sure the extra weight remained practi- 
cally the same. Apparently all along the 
line there had been a failure to properly 
advise him as to the whys and where- 
fores ; or, in other words, the full facts. 
When I, therefore, told him that the 
charge was based not on the number of 
excess pounds alone, but that it was a 
per cent, per pound of the excess, of the 
ticket fare which covered the checking 
of the trunk, he understood the matter. 
In consequence, I think he became a still 
more valuable asset to the railroads in 
general than he had been before. Hence, 
again, you see that the incident of the 
dear little lady's getting excited about an 
imaginary sick baby down on the old 
farm led to a greater and better under- 
standing and appreciation of railroads 
on the part of the public, as represented 
bv 'William,' as one of its units. In 
short," he concluded, "there was some- 
thing in my fanciful simile of that night 
when going from Tyro's office to the 
train when I brought to mind the old say- 
ing 'great oaks from little acorns grow.' " 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



53 



"True," I responded, "but you have 
forgotten one asset that should be added. 
Did not your personal courtesy to the 
little lady help very materially to make 
an asset of the entire family of Farmer 



William?" "Oh, possibly," said the 
Rambler, "but," he protested, earnestly, 
"you surely can't think that I helped 
her with any such thought in mind?" 
"No I don't," was my hearty rejoinder. 



Service Notes of Interest 



THE New York, Chicago & St. Louis, 
"Nickel Plate," announces an additional 
ten-section observation sleeping car as be- 
ing operated daily between Chicago and 
New York, eastbound, on its train No. 2, 
leaving Chicago at 10:35 a. m., arriving at 
New York 3:40 p. m., via D., L. & W.; 
westbound, leaving New York at 2:00 p. m. 
via D., L. & W., train No. 5, and arriving 
at Chicago on Nickel Plate train No. 1 at 
4:55 p. m. The twelve-section drawing 
room sleeping car formerly operated on the 
trains mentioned between Chicago and New 
York are now operated between Chicago 
and Scranton, Pa. 

This new service is also announced by the 
Lackawanna as follows : Train leaving Chi- 
cago from the La Salle Street Station by the 
Nickel Plate Railroad at 10:35 a. m. daily is 
equipped with a new all-steel construction 
through observation library lounging car, Chi- 
cago to New York, in addition to the other 
regular sleeping and dining car service. Re- 
turning the train leaves New York at 
2:00 p. m., thus affording in both directions 
a trip by daylight of pure enjoyment of the 
wonderful scenery through the Delaware 
Water Gap and the Pocono Mountains, 
with the vast banks of rhododendron in 
bloom. It ends its announcement with the 
following: 

"It's time to go with Phoebe Snow 
Where banks of rhododendron blow 
In pink and white on every height, 
Along the Road of Anthracite." 



It has been said that "to advertise, you've 
got to make a noise," but there are various 
ways of making a noise and various kinds 
of noises. For instance, if a prospective 
passenger is leisurely jogging- along to- 
ward the station thinking he has plenty of 
time to catch his train and suddenly the 
blast of a whistle comes to his ears an- 
nouncing the near approach of said train, 
he "hot-foots" it, and by a burst of speed 
in the last hundred, catches it at least, 
we'll say he did, for arguments sake. Good 
Old Whistle! 

He arrives at his destination, "puts up" 
at a hotel near the depot and, after he has 
finished his day's duties, retires to the 
seclusion of his room for a good night's 
sleeo. At some unearthly hour in the night, 
he is rudely awakened by the blast of a 
whistle, maybe the same one that enabled 



him to catch the train the day previous, 
and it takes him 40 minutes, more or less, 

to get back to sleep again. D n that 

Whistle! It's all from the point of view! 
Extract from an Editorial on "Noise" in 
the Nickel Plate "Service News." 



The Grand Trunk System announces im- 
proved service to Toronto and Montreal 
with later departure .from Chicago, as fol- 
lows: The International Limited leaves 
Chicago daily at 6:10 p. m., instead of at 
5:00 p. m., arriving at Toronto at 8:30 a. m. 
and at Montreal at 5:45 p. m. In addition, 
a new train has been inaugurated between' 
Chicago and New York via Niagara, inde- 
pendent of the International Limited. It 
is known as the "Niagara-New York Ex- 
press," train No. 4, and is operated from 
Chicago to New York via Niagara Falls 
and the Lehigh Valley Railroad. It leaves 
Chicago at 3:05 p. m. daily and arrives at 
New York at 8:00 p. m. the next day. 
The schedule provides for an early arrival 
at Niagara Falls and a daylight trip 
through Wyoming and Lehigh Valleys. 



This poem, entitled "The Dog," from the 
American Field, will undoubtedly appeal to 
railroad men for its human interest: 

I've never known a dog to wag 
His tail in glee he didn't feel, 

Nor quit his old-time friend to tag 
At some more influential heel. 

The yellowest cur I ever knew 

Was, to the boy who loved him, true. 

I've never known a dog to show 
Halfway devotion to his friend, 

To seek a kinder man to know 
Or richer, but unto the end 

The humblest dog I ever knew 

Was, to the man that loved him, true. 

I've never known a dog to fake 
Affection for a present gain, 

A false display of love to make, 
Some little favor to attain. 

I've never known a Prince or Spot 

That seemed to be what he was not. 

But I have known a dog to fight 
With all his strength to shield a friend, 

And whether wrong or whether right, 
To stick with him until the end. 

And I have known a dog to lick 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



And I have known a dog to bear 
Starvation pangs from day to day 

The hand of him that men would kick. 

With him who had been glad to share 
His bread and meat along the way. 

No dog, however mean or rude, 

Is guilty of ingratitude. 

The dog is listed with the dumb, 
No voice has he to speak his creed, 

His messages to humans .come 
By faithful conduct and by deed. 

He shows, as seldom mortals do, 

A high ideal of being true. 



"Mabel!" said her mother in a horrified 
whisper. "Mabel, don't do that. Chew 
your gum like a little lady." London 
Opinion. 



Native There are the Oldboy twins. 
They are 98 years old. 

Stranger To what do they credit their 
long lives. 

Native One 'cause he used terbacker, 
and one 'cause he never used it. Chicago 
News. 



A London man just back from the United 
States says that a little girl on the train to 
Pittsburgh was chewing gum. Not only 
that, but she insisted on pulling it out in 
long strings and letting it fall back into 
her mouth again. 



An old railroad man sat with a friend 
on a hotel piazza as a string of chappies 
went by in their flashy togs. 

"Passengers or freight?" smiled the 
friend. 

"Empties," said the old man. Judge. 




STEPHENS MOTOR PARADE, FREEPORT, ILL. 




LOSS & DAMAGE 
BUREAU 



The Rough Handling of Freight 



By Committee T. L. Dubbs, Superintendent, Chairman; F. R. Mays, Trainmaster 
H. Fletcher, Traveling Engineer; E. C. Davis, Agent, Greenville 




Causes and 
Effects. 



Damage to 
Freight Result- 
ing from Causes 
Other Than 
Rough Handling, 
But Frequently 
Charged to 
Rough Handling. 



The Handling of 
Cars in Yards 
and on the Road. 



THE rough handling of freight, its causes and effects, with sugges- 
tions which if followed will result in an immediate reduction of 
not less than 50 per cent of the present expense, and a continued cam- 
paign thereafter should .bring about an additional reduction of not less 
than 25 per cent, which would result in reducing this item to 5 per cent, 
or less, of the total amount now paid for freight claims, which at present 
amounts to approximately 20 per cent. 

Notwithstanding the care which is exercised to carefully separate and 
tabulate the items of claim expense there is, no doubt, but that a larger 
amount of money is improperly charged to rough handling than is im- 
properly charged to any other cause. 

For example many cases of improper stowing or the loading of heavy 
packages upon light packages, or the loading of lumber or other com- 
modities which are very susceptible to shifting in transit, frequently re- 
sults in damage which is charged to rough handling by reason of the 
fact that the heavy freight is unloaded and out of the way before the 
damaged freight shows up at some station beyond ; also protruding flails 
and bolts frequently cause damage which is assessed against rough 
handling. 

When freight is unloaded from cars in trains by local freight crews 
and not properly broken down and spread before proceeding to the next 
station or before moving the car or cars, damage frequently results by 
reason of the freight falling, and in numerous cases this damage is as- 
sessed against rough handling. 

Solid cars being unloaded at stations, delivered direct from the car 
or unloaded into the warehouse, are not always kept broken down and 
spread; road crews coupling to such cars frequently cause damage by 
reason of falling-, which is usually charged against rough handling. 

The cause for damage in the cases above enumerated should not be 
charged to rough handling, but should be charged to improper stowing, 
improper placing, improper breaking down and spreading during process 
of unloading and negligence in failing to take necessary precaution to 
protect the freight. Tn this connection more care should be used bv those 
who are required to give information concerning the cause for this dam- 
ape in order that an intelligent investigation can be made of each case, 
which would bring about a material reduction in the amount of damage 
and its cost. 

The camnaisn which we have been conducting to reduce the rough 
handling of cars in vards has been productive of good results, how- 
ever, there yet remains a wide margin for improvement. 

Cars containing merchandise or other freight subject to breakage or 
damage should not be permitted to come in contact with other cars or 
other cars should not be permitted to come in contact with such cars 
while either are moving at such P rate of speed as to permit of damage 
by shifting or the displacement of the contents. 

Transfer cuts containing merchandise or other freieht subject to dam- 
age or breakage should invariablv have all air brakes connected and op- 
erating through the entire cut, otherwise shocks caused from cars bunch- 
ing or slack running out is sufficient to result in serious damage to con- 
tents of car. 

Signals should be given and transmitted with care. Enginemen should 

55 



56 



Repairing and 

Maintaining 

Equipment. 



Inspection of 
Freight at Time 
of Receipt. 



Stoves 
Carload. 



Stoves Part 
Carload. 



Furniture 
Carload. 



Furniture 
Carload. 



Tiling 
Carloads. 



-Part 



keep a close lookout and respond to signals promptly, avoiding sudden 
stops or shocks by severe application of brakes. 

Whenever possible in yards when switching cars containing freight 
of any character subject to damage, the cars or cuts of cars so switched 
should be stopped before coming into contact with other cars or cuts 
of cars until the switching operation has been concluded, after which the 
engine can close up and couple these cars with sufficient ease and care 
to prevent any damage. The same plan can be followed by local freight 
and other road crews switching on the line. 

Road enginemen can contribute materially towards decreasing the ex- 
pense incident to freight damaged by rough handling, by applying and 
releasing air brakes and starting trains so that shocks will be entirely 
eliminated or minimized to such an extent that no damage will occur. 

Trains handling freight subject to damage should be properly made 
up that is, all short loads or loads to be set out on line placed in sta- 
tion order and next to the engine. Heavy loads should be placed ahead 
of the light loads and merchandise cars; running switches should not be 
made. 

The above precautions will result in easy handling, slight shifting, few 
displacements, and a remarkable reduction in damage to freight. 

The mechanical people can contribute their share toward the cam- 
paign by carefully inspecting engines, having brakes put in proper condi- 
tion. Cases have come under our observation where engines with de- 
fective brake valves have been permitted in service for several trips with- 
out necessary repairs having been made, and, no doubt, resulted in con- 
siderable expense due to rough handling by reason of frequent emer- 
gency applications. The air brakes under cars should be carefully in- 
spected and cared for with the same object in view. 

Agents and receiving clerks should make as close inspection as pos- 
sible of all freight offered in order to determine if this freight is prop- 
erly protected by the container, or if any damage has occurred visible or 
partly visible or possibly concealed prior to its delivery to our company 
for shipment : as numerous cases have come to our knowledge in which 
the investigation indicated that the damage occurred prior to the time 
we came into possession of the freight. Tn these cases sufficient care had 
not been taken in making inspection of the freieht at the time it was 
offered, therefore, no record to defend our position, also the expense 
was charered and the cause assigned to rough handling of freight. 

If solid carloads of stoves are stowed and braced sufficient to prevent 
contact with each other or with sides or ends of cars and to prevent 
shifting no damage should occur. Inspection should be made by a 
qualified employe at plant before freight is accepted. 

Stoves in cars with other freight must be so loaded as to prevent con- 
tact with it and the entire contents of the car so loaded as to prevent 
the possibility of any shifting whatever. Platform or warehouse foremen 
should be required to inspect such cars before they are closed. 

Furniture should be properly packed, burlapped, crated, braced and 
otherwise protected in accordance with its character and other condi- 
tions affecting, and should be inspected by an employe properly qualified 
before being accepted at point of loading. 

Furniture in part carloads should be properly packed, burlapped, crated, 
braced, and otherwise protected as circumstances may require, and such 
precautions as are necessary should be taken to insure against any shift- 
ing of the furniture or other contents of the car. Such cars should be 
inspected by either warehouse or platform foremen before being closed. 

This commodity affords prolific causes for damage and for claims. 
Tn order to prevent damage to this fragile product each tier must be 
braced in such a manner as to prevent shifting while loading, in transit, 
and while unloading. A greater portion of the damage in each case is 
caused either while the car is bein" loaded and before any bracing has 
been applied or while the car is being unloaded after the slight and in- 
sufficient bracing used has been removed. 

It is neither right or just that the carrier should bear the responsibil- 
ity for damage to this class of freight unless the shipper has taken the 
necessary precaution to reasonablv protect the commodity. This can onlv 
be done by bracing each individual tier in a substantial manner. Such 
shipments should be inspected by an employe qualified to do so before 
being received from the plant. 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



57 



Tiling Less 
Than Carload. 



Committees to 
Visit Plants. 



Live 
Stock. 



Containers, 
Etc. 



Increase in 
Cost Rough 
Handling. 

Co-Operation. 



The quantity of this material shipped less than carload, as far as we 
are able to determine, is very small ; however, extreme care should be 
used in bracing and protecting such shipments. Such cars should be 
carefully inspected by warehouse or platform foremen before being closed. 

It is suggested that a committee be appointed to visit stove plants, 
furniture factories, tile plants, packing houses, sugar refineries and other 
points where freight in carloads liable to damage is loaded, and an effort 
made to induce the shippers to co-operate toward the end that a greater 
effort be made to protect against damage due to features which could be 
overcome at the initial point, and also make a full report upon their 
findings with recommendations for an improvement. 

Damage to live stock frequently occurs on account of the stock not 
being in proper condition to withstand the ordinary fatigue incident to 
standing in cars during shipment, therefore, a careful inspection of stock 
should be made before beng received and a proper record kept. When 
large or full grown animals are loaded in the same car with smaller 
and weaker ones, proper and substantial partitions must be installed. 
Floors must be properly bedded, and whenever bedding deteriorates to 
such an extent that the floor becomes slippery or the usefulness of the 
bedding impaired, the stock should be unloaded, the car cleaned, and 
fresh bedding applied. 

When cars of stock are being handled in a long train, such cars should 
be placed as close to the engine as possible to avoid their being handled 
in picking up and setting out cars, also account shocks on the front end 
of a long train are usually less severe than upon the rear. 

Many containers permitted by our classification are not of sufficient 
strength or of the proper type to protect their contents. For example, 
many articles are shipped in strawboard or other light containers which 
as a matter of fact require strong wooden boxes or crates. 

Many wooden containers are of an entirely too light a type of con- 
struction ; small smooth nails are used with the result that the damage 
which frequently occurs is assigned to rough handling when the con- 
tainers are entirely responsible. Packing houses are responsible for a 
large per cent of damage to their products on account of failing to pro- 
tect with adequate containers. 

Flour and meal in burlap and without burlap are being handled in large 
quantities and frequently damaged. Much of the expense incident to the 
damage caused thereby is improperly charged to rough handling when 
as a matter of fact the bag or burlap is responsible. 

It is the opinion of the committee that the container should be very 
thoroughly investigated and proper steps taken to revise the classification 
to such an extent that containers of the proper construction and strength 
be required for all shipments. 

In as, much as this item of expense has increased first nine months 
this fiscal year as compared with first nine months last fiscal year approxi- 
mately 7 per cent, immediate steps must be taken to materially reduce 
the causes. 

If all concerned will become as interested in the matter of eliminating 
the causes and effects of damage to freight due to rough handling, and 
co-operate towards its elimination to the same extent that they would 
if this freight was their own personal property and the money dis- 
bursed its settlement of such claims came out of their own Dockets, are 
sure we could bring about a most remarkable reduction in this expense, 
and we should only be satisfied by reducing it 50 oer cent within 90 days, 
and with a further reduction of 25 per cent within the next succeeding 
90 days, which would, as stated in the beginning, reduce this exnense to 
about 5 per cent of the total sum disbursed for claims instead of 20 oer 
cent, as at present. 

A Plea for the Freight Checker 

By E. R. Pierce, Warehouse Foreman, Paducah, Ky. 



TTHE railroad freight checker used to 

be considered as a very unimportant 

though necessary employe of the larger 

stations. He checked freight by the 



number of packages in a shipment, and 
if he was short one or more he said so 
in so many words, and if it was a little 
difficult to tell just what was short he 



58 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



did not attempt it, but wrote across 
the face of the W. B. : "One package or 
two packages short," etc. 

The receiving clerk had not much 
more to do. He checked from dray, 
and if he was short could tell pretty 
well what was short, and, without 
further ceremony he scratched out the 
items, signed the bills of lading, load- 
ed the freight, and that was the end of 
it so far as he was concerned. If the 
weights furnished by the shipper were 
wrong the receiving clerk could not 
help it, and he was too busy to make 
sure, and anyway, the receiving agent 
was responsible. 

Both of these clerks could do a much 
greater amount of work than is now 
done by them, and a greater amount of 
freight was handled by fewer check 
clerks. They were compelled to work 
more hours for less pay than any class 
of men on the railroad, one of the 
reasons being that under conditions 
then prevailing, a high degree of in- 
telligence was not required of a freight 
checker. The result was that a man of 
much ability would not continue in 
such a position longer than he had to, 
but sought employment that gave him 
a chance to exercise his natural or ac- 
quired ability. 

The foreman or agent responsible for 
the work of these men had a pretty 
tough time of it even then, when not 
much was required, in the way of 
special knowledge. Under present con- 
ditions they would not be able to get 
along at all with the class of men that 
formerly handled the freight. 

These men are the sentinels at the 
doors of the freight depots that come 
into direct contact with the freight 
both in and outbound, and with the 
shippers and receivers of freight. 
Upon them depends the whole struc- 
ture of station work. Under present 
conditions this work is highly technical 
and there are so many things to look 
after and watch in the interests of both 
railroad and patrons, that it requires 
the closest attention and thorough 
knowledge of the rules, not only of the 
railroad but of the different State Com- 



missions, the Interstate Commerce 
Commission, the Bureau of Animal In- 
dustry, the Bureau of Inflammables 
and Explosives, the Classification rules, 
the laws of demurrage, etc., as well as 
the peculiar requirements of the Re- 
frigerator Service, the proper distribu- 
tion of equipment, the manner of han- 
dling all sorts of commodities, their 
staying and bracing, the laws regard- 
ing liquor shipments, the rules regard- 
ing valuation clauses, the quality of 
package reqired by the railroad asso- 
ciations and the manner in which all 
railroads require goods to be crated, 
packed, boxed, wrapped, marked, etc. 

Acting for the agent they sign bills 
of lading, route freight, and give a 
bond for the proper performance of 
their duties. They are not only liable 
for errors in connection with railroad 
rules, but they are constantly on the 
watch to avoid being brought into Fed- 
eral Court to answer to charges of vio- 
lations of the Interstate rulings. Un- 
der various acts of Congress and the 
State legislatures such as the Cum- 
min's Amendment, etc., they have a 
personal burden of responsibility. 

Added to the above, they are more 
or less in charge of the labor, and are 
expected to utilize it economically and 
efficiently. Aside from the shorter 
hours, now 10 instead of 12 or 14 
which change was brought about by 
application of efficiency in the handling 
of labor they are in little better condi- 
tion as a class than 20 years ago, and a 
good deal of their work is done under 
high pressure owing to the many items 
above mentioned which they have con- 
stantly to keep in mind. 

Having had charge of this branch of 
station work for a good many years, 
and having had experience in all lines 
of station work. I wish to say that the 
work of a check clerk is a severe test 
of a man's ability, and if he makes good 
at it he goes higher and a new man has 
to be broken in to do the work. At my 
station, owing to the progressive and 
up-to-date methods pursued by the 
agent the conditions of this service 
have been greatly improved, but in my 
opinion the importance of the part 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



59 



taken in station work by the freight 
checker is greatly underestimated, and 
the job is regarded yet as simply a 
stepping stone for something better. 

The agents of the different bureaus, 
particularly of the Loss and Damage 
Bureau will bear me out I think in the 
statement that in the cases of tracers 
for delayed freight, and in the claims 
for loss and damage to freight, lost 



packages, erroneous routing, etc., nine 
out of every ten cases are referred to 
the check clerk for his handling before 
the file is complete. 

I therefore believe that a study 
should be made of the conditions of 
work in this department of railroading 
and that it be put on such a basis as to 
retain longer in this service men of ex- 
perience and ability. 



Reduce the Claims 

By Mr. G. M. Gibney, General Yard Master, Louisville, Kentucky 



Rough Handling Cars, 

Often creates a claim. 

Use every effort to reduce same, 

Give this strict attention 

Have you made this a RESOLUTION? 

How great are the expenses of claims? 
Always figure the Company's interest 
at large, 

No "NORO'UGH HANDLING 

WHILE IN MY CHARGE." 
Don't cause a claim, increase the gain 
Let every yardman do his best, 
In doing so you have solved the test. 
No rough handling while in my charge, 
Grand Co-operation credit to the yard. 
Careless switching is the charge, 
Always credited to the yard. 



Right the wrong, reduce the claim, 
Stopping caboose first reduces the gain. 

Rough handling and unlocated dam- 
age at the present time is responsible 
for approximately 31 per cent of the 
total loss and damage freight claim 
payments, and it is the intention to 
make this one of the live subjects in 
the handling of loss and damage mat- 
ters with a view of securing better 
stowing, loading and handling of cars, 
both in yards and trains, and with the 
proper interest taken by those having 
to do with correcting these causes 
there is no doubt but what a substan- 
tial reduction will be made the next 
fiscal year. 





& 



Biographical Sketch No. 24 





HON. E. RICE 



Hon. E. Rice Local Attorney, Dyersburg, Tenn. 



HON. E. RICE was born August 31, 1872, 
in Lauderdale County, Tennessee. He 
was graduated by the Law Department of 
Cumberland University, at Lebanon, Tenn., 
in June, 1893. In January, 1894, he, formed 
a partnership with W. S. Draper, Sr., who 
was then local attorney at Dyersburg for 
the Chesapeake, Ohio & Southwestern Rail- 
road. Two years later that road was ac- 
quired by the Illinois Central Railroad 



Company, and Mr. Rice has been one of 
its local attorneys for Dyer County ever 
since. He was a member of the Tennessee 
State Senate, during the session of 1903-05, 
and during the latter year he was the 
Speaker of the Senate. He was a member 
of the syndicate which projected and built 
the Chicago, Memphis & Gulf Railroad, and 
while that road was operated independently 
he was its Vice-President and General 
Counsel. 



Commerce Notes 



Concerning intrastate commerce under 
federal control. "Interstate and intrastate 
transportation have become so interwoven 
that the attempt to apply two and often 
several sets of laws to its regulation has 
produced conflicts of authority, embarrass- 
ment in operation and inconvenience and 
expense to the public. The entire trans- 
portation system of the country has become 
essentially national. We^, therefore, favor 
such action, by legislation, or, if necessary, 
through an amendment to the Constitution 
of the United States, as will result in 
placing it under exclusive federal control." 

This is a plank from the Republican plat- 
form recently adopted by the National Con- 
vention. In his acceptance of the nomina- 
tion the candidate for President on this 
platform says: 

"We must take up the serious problem of 
transportation of interstate and foreign! 
commerce in a sensible and candid manner, 
and provide an enduring basis for prosper- 
ity by the intelligent use of the constitu- 
tional powers of Congress, so as adequately 
to protect the public on the one hand, and, 
on the other, to conserve the essential in- 
strumentalities of progress." 

A resolution adopted at the last annual 
convention of the National Association of 
Manufacturers provides in part that this 
Association "urges Congress to exert its 
constitutional power of regulation over 
these instrumentalities of interstate com- 
merce and thus unify regulation of railways 
to the exclusion of unfair intrastate juris- 
diction where federal and state regulation 
conflict," and in another section of the reso- 
lution, it is stated "we urge Congress to 
enact as a provision of the interstate com- 
merce law the rule that such rate's shall be 
permitted as will yield the average road 
earnings sufficient to attract investment for 
the development of transportation facilities 
and for the opening up of regions not now 
served by railways." 



Heated car service for cheese. In Cheese 
Dealers' Association vs. A. T. & S. R. R. 
Co., et al., 40 I. C. C. 1, the new rule im- 
posing extra charges for the extra service 
of furnishing heated cars for the transporta- 
tion of cheese, viz., $12 per car for intra- 
state shipments, and for interstate ship- 
ments 5 cents per 100 pounds, minimum $15 
per car between points in adjoining states, 
with an additional charge of 1 cent per 100 
pounds or minimum of $3 per car for each 
additional state traversed, was not found 
unreasonable or unjustly discriminatory. 
The Commission says: "Shippers of cheese 
know better than carriers can be expected 
to know what precautions ought to be taken 
against the elements in ordej; to insure the 
safe transportation of their commodity, and 
under the rules in controversy are at liberty 
to exercise their own judgment relative to 
protection required for particular ship- 
ments." 

In his concurring opinion, Mr. Commis- 
sioner Harlan writes: "In support of the 
charge, established after the announcement 
of the first report in The Five Per Cent 
Case, 31 I. C. C. 351, for a heated car serv- 
ice on winter shipments of cheese in car- 
loads from Wisconsin points, the carriers 
defendant here point to the view expressed 
by the Commission in that case, to the 
effect that every service performed by a 
carrier should be made to contribute rea- 
sonably to its revenues. The soundness of 
that principle and the propriety of its appli- 
cation in all such cases are clearly demon- 
strated upon this record, which is illus- 
trative of the many services of special value 
that the carriers, without charge in addition 
to the rate, have performed in the past, and 
still continue to perform for the com- 
paratively few shippers who are in a position 
to make use of such services, although the 
cost thereof is spread, through the carriers' 
rates, upon the general shipping public." 

Federal safety appliance and employer's 
liability laws apply to 'interstate carriers 



fil 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



63 



operated by electricity in the same degree 
that they apply to the ordinary steam car- 
rier. This was the conclusion reached by 
the Supreme Court of the United States in 
Spokane & Inland Empire Railroad Com- 
pany vs. Campbell on June 12, 1916. 

Carmack amendment applies to liability 
for error in bill of lading covering interstate 
shipments. The Supreme Court of the 
'United States, held on June 5, 1916, in 
A., T. & S. F. Ry. Co. vs. Harold, that the 
Carmack amendment was an assertion of 
the power of Congress over the subject of 
interstate commerce, the duty to issue bills 
of lading and the responsibility thereunder, 
which in the nature of things excluded state 
action, and the opinion proceeds: 

"Indeed, in the argument, it is frankly 
conceded that as the subject of a carrier's 
liability for loss or damage to goods mov- 
ing in interstate commerce under a bill of 
lading is embraced by the Carmack amend- 
ment, state legislation on that subject being 
excluded. It is insisted, however, that this 
does not exclude liability for error in the 
bill of lading purporting to cover an inter- 
state shipment, because 'Congress has leg- 
islated relative to the one, but not relative 
to the other.' But this ignores the view 
expressly pointed out in the previous de- 
cisions dealing with the Carmack amend- 
ment, that its prime object was to bring 
about a uniform rule of responsibility as to 
interstate commerce and interstate com- 
merce bills of lading, a purpose which 
would be wholly frustrated if the prop- 
osition relied upon were upheld. The 
principal subject of responsibility embraced 
by the act of Congress carried with it 
necessarily the incidents thereto. See the 
subject aptly and clearly illustrated by St. 
Louis & San Francisco Railroad Co. vs. 
Woodruff Mills, 105 Miss. 214, where a 
statute of the state of Mississippi accom- 
plishing the very result applied bv the court 
below was decided to be no longer ap- 
plicable to interstate commerce, because of 
the taking of possession by Congress of the 
field by virtue of the amendment re- 
ferred to." 

When is a rate confiscatory? In Stonega 
Coke & Coal Co. vs. L. & N. R. R. Co., 
.39, I. C. C. 523, speaking through Mr. Com- 
missioner McChord, the Commission said: 

"The rights of property are specifically 
protected under two separate provisions of 
the constitution, namely, the fifth and the 
fourteenth amendments. The inhibition 
with respect to the federal government, as 
set forth in the fifth amendment, is 'nor/ 
shall private oroperty be taken for oublic 
use. without iust compensation,' while the 
limitation with respect to the acts of the 
several individual states, as contained in the 
fourteenth amendment, is 'nor shall any 
state deprive any person of life, liberty, or 
property, without due process of law.' For 
state-made rates to be within the require- 



ments of the fourteenth amendment they 
must not be confiscatory. This raises the 
query as to what constitutes confiscation, 
ihis depends on whether or not rates to 
be non-connbcatory must yield only the 
cost ot the service, or whether they must 
not also yieid, in addition, a profit on the 
investment. Such an issue necessarily de- 
pends upon the judicial determination of 
the question of whether or not prospective 
profit is property within the meaning of 
the fourteenth amendment. 

"The rates here involved, however, are 
interstate rates, imposed under the author- 
.ity of the federal government, and, there- 
fore, subject to the requirements- of the 
fifth amendment, the plain language of 
which leaves no uncertainty as to its scope. 
The present rates must yield 'just compen- 
sation.' For compensation to be just, it 
must provide a reasonable return upon the 
value of property devoted to public use. 
San Diego Land & Town Co. vs. Jasper, 
189 U. S. 439, 446; Willcox vs. Consolidated 
Gas Co., 212 U. S. 19, 41. We, therefore, 
understand the term confiscatory rates as 
used by the respondent herein as synony- 
mous with the term non-confiscatory 
rates." 

Shreveport doctrine applied to express 
rates. In South Dakota Express Rate Case. 
39 I. C. C. 703, opinion by Chairman Meyer, 
it was held: (a) That the interstate ex- 
press rates between Sioux City and points 
in South Dakota are not shown to be un- 
reasonable, (b) That the defendants main- 
tain higher interstate rates between Sioux 
City and points in South Dakota than be- 
tween Sioux Falls, Mitchell, Aberdeen, Wa- 
tertown and Yanktown, S. D., and points 
in the same state, applicable to shipments 
by express which are transported under sub- 
stantially similar circumstances and condi- 
tions, (c) That thereby an undue prefer- 
ence is given to Sioux Citv, Mitchell. Aber- 
deen, Watertown and Yanktown. and undue 
and unreasonable prejudice and disadvan- 
tage is effected against Sioux City, (d) 
That the defendants should cease and de- 
sist from continuing said undue preference 
and unjust discrimination. 

Joint rates with water lines. In Indiana 
Transportation Co. vs. G. R. H. & C. R. Co., 
39 I. C. C. 757. the petitioner sought the 
establishment of through routes and joint 
rates and a physical connection between its 
water line and the respondent's 'rail line, 
and for prooortional rates from the port 
to which traffic is brought by the petitioner; 
held, that the evidence fails to show such 
public necessity for the route and rates 
asked for as to warrant the exercise of the 
authority granted by the act. 



Eighty per cent rule concerning joint 
rates in Iowa. In Iowa-Dakota Grain Co. 
vs. I. C. R. R. Co., 40 I. C. C. 73. it was 
sought to require on interstate shipments 



64 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



moving over two lines in Iowa to Council 
Bluffs, and thence via another carrier to 
interstate destinations, the joint rate to 
Council Bluffs prescribed by the Iowa Com- 
mission, viz., 80 per cent of the combined 
local rates. The difference between the full 
combination local rates to Council Bluffs 
and the 80 per cent rule rates ranged, as 
to the shipments here in question, from 1.9 
cents to 2.4 cents per 100 pounds. It was 
alleged that this difference constituted un- 
just discrimination against a dealer at Sioux 
City shipping through the Council Bluffs 
gateway and in favor of a dealer located at 
Council Bluffs, who could avail himself of 
the 80 per cent rule by taking possession of 
the grain at that point. The Commission 
said: 

"There apparently is discrimination, but 
whether or not it is unjust depends upon 
the lawfulness of the application of the 
intrastate rates to Council Bluffs under all 
of the circumstances disclosed. The power 
of the state authorities to prescribe and 
regulate rates for the carriage of freight 
locally within the state is indisputable, and 
it is only where the proper application of 
those rates operates to the disadvantage or 
prejudice of an interstate shipper that our 
authority to remove discrimination should 
be exercised. If the interstate rates for the 
initial movement are intrinsically reason- 
able and strict observance by the carriers 
of their tariff rules and regulations would 
prevent the discrimination alleged, no prop- 
er case arises for an order requiring the 
removal of the discrimination by the main- 
tenance of identical rates on state and inter- 
state traffic. 

"The rates on grain from Council Bluffs 
to lower Missouri River and southern points 
are, as previously stated, proportional 
rates, applicable on traffic originating be- 
yond. Local rates, higher than the propor- 
tional rates, are published from Council 
Bluffs to Kansas City, St. Joseph, Atchison 
and Little Rock, but are seldom, if ever, ap- 
plied. No local commodity rate is pub- 
lished from Council Bluffs to Fort Worth. 
Inbound expense bills are surrendered by 
the consignor at Council Bluffs as proof 
that the grain originated at an interior 
point and is entitled to the proportional 
rates out. During the period under con- 
sideration the tariffs of the carriers leading 
from Council Bluffs to the destinations in 
question provided for the absorption of 
elevation charges at Council Bluffs and of 
connecting lines' inbound and outbound 
switching charges to and from the elevators. 
These absorptions invariably were made on 
all grain shipped from Council Bluffs, ap- 
parently recognizing that storage in an 
elevator there was but the temporary sus- 
pension of a through interstate movement. 
The inbound intrastate rate, which was 
used as one component of the through rate 
charged from the interior point to final des- 
tination, was not lawfully applicable to the 
through movement. As was said in Mer- 



chants Exchange of St. Louis vs. B. & O. 
R. R. Co., 34 I. C. C. 341, where a like sit- 
uation was presented: 

"All the carriers leading from St. Louis pro- 
vide for the absorption of elevation charges of 
one-fourth cent per bushel on outbound snip- 
ments of grain that has been stored in elevators 
at St. Lxouis. This absorption is made on the 
tneory that the inbound and outbound move- 
ments comprise a through movement and that 
the grain has been elevated in transit. When- 
ever the absorption is made the grain cannot, 
lawfully move forward except at the balance of 
the tnrough rate." 

"Since this proceeding was instituted de- 
defendants have discontinued the practice 
of absorbing elevation charges on ship- 
ments of grain stored at Council Bluffs and 
reshipped to the destinations in controversy. 

"It is clear that unjust discrimination 
would never have been alleged if the car- 
riers had always observed their legal rates 
for the interstate movement. The same 
charges would have applied on all ship- 
ments, whether stored temporarily in ele- 
vators at Council Bluffs or reconsigned in 
the original cars. 

"Complainants also contend that the com- 
bination rates charged for the transporta- 
tion of corn from the points previously 
named to Council Bluffs were unreasonable 
to the extent that they exceeded rates based 
on 80 per cent of the combination rates. 
Specific rates no higher than those asked 
have been in force from Carnes and Hos- 
pers since November 9, 1914, but the Illi- 
nois Central has declined to publish joint 
rates on the 80 per cent basis from stations 
on its line to Council Bluffs. The combina- 
tion rate to Council Bluffs, charged on the 
shipment of July 7, 1912, from Remsen, was 
assailed in Flanley Grain Co. vs. C., B. & 
Q. R. R. Co., Docket No. 5802, unreported. 
It was not found to have been unreason- 
able, and the complaint was dismissed. 
Subsequently a rehearing was denied and 
conditions have not changed since. 

"Complainants urge that the joint rates 
prescribed by the state commission are rea- 
sonable, that they were established' after 
a full investigation in which all parties in- 
terested were given an opportunity to be 
heard, and that they have not been con- 
tested by defendants. Defendants insist 
however, that the joint rates on corn in 
Iowa are compulsory, and are on an unrea-. 
sonably low basis. Comparisons with mile- 
age rates on corn in Illinois and South 
Dakota, which are submitted, tend to show 
that the rates in Iowa applicable to inter- 
state traffic are not unreasonable. 

"We find that the rates ass.ailed are not 
shown to be unreasonable or unjustly dis- 
criminatory, and the complaint will be dis- 
missed. 

"It is apparent, however, that defendants' 
failure to apply the interstate rates to Coun- 
cil Bluffs on shipments stored in elevators 
there and subsequently forwarded under 
proportional or reshipping rates to inter- 
state destinations and to collect charges _on 
that basis resulted in such shipments being 
undercharged." 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



tto 



WAS THE DOG A SUICIDE? 

HpHE mere finding of a dog's body 
near a railroad track raises no pre- 
sumption as to the cause of its death, 
according to the holdings in Alabama 
Great Southern R. R. Co. vs. Price, 88 
Southeastern Reporter, 692. No one 
saw the dog killed, nor did the evi- 
dence show that there were any marks 
or bruises on the body. 

Judge Wade, delivering the opinion 
for the Georgia Court of Appeals, says : 
"All things that live must die, and, so, 
too, all living things will die a natural 
death, unless some extraneous cause or 
agency intervenes, and a dog is not 
exempt from the operation of the uni- 
versal rule. We may surmise that the 
particular dog we are interested in had 
some deadly poison administered to it, 
either by accident or intention, and the 
poison may have destroyed its life, just 
as it neared the railroad track, in prox- 
imity to which its body was found ; or 
the dog may have died from 'heart 
failure' (that comprehensive term so 
often used by the medical profession 
to account for mysterious and sudden 
departures from this little world), or 
from any one of many different natural 



causes, for the poetic expression, 
'Death hath a thousand doors to let out 
life,' applies equally as well to the ca- 
nine as to the human race. In fact, 
whatever may be the legal rule, in the 
absence of any circumstances leading 
to a contrary inference, every death is 
assumed to be from natural causes." 

To infer that the dog was struck by 
the train, "we would be compelled," 
says the court, "to hold judicially that 
the very atmosphere surrounding a 
railroad is as deadly as that said to 
emanate from the Upas Tree, and that 
a railroad company can be held liable 
for death supposed to have resulted 
solely from the pestilential breath of its 
locomotive." Northeastern Reporter. 



A NOVEL LAW PARTNERSHIP 

Law Office of 
HAYS & HAYS 

Sullivan, Ind. 

John T. Hays, Jr., and William H. Hays, Jr., 
announce that on and after April 14, 1916, 
Charles Edward Hays (born to Mr. and Mrs. 
Hinkle C. Hays on April 14, 1916) will be 
associated with them in the practice of law 
under the firm name and style of 

HAYS & HAYS. Junior 

Attorneys-at-Law 

Sullivan, Indiana 

Boys' Business Especially Solicited 



Points From a Stenographer's Note Book 



By Helen Lee Brooks 



Selfishness is the shortest cut to suc- 
cess, but no man has ever achieved a per- 
manent place in history who put "I" first 
in his vocabulary. 

Money will buy much, but nothing of su- 
preme value. 

Nepotism is a dangerous foe to effi- 
ciency. 

"Alas for the rarity of Christian char- 
ity under the un," wailed Thomas Hood 
a century ago, and the world caught up 
the refrain and has been' repeating it ever 
since,_ not realizing how infinitely more 
rare is perfect justice. 

The singular thing about injustice is 
that it invariably reacts upon the per- 
petrator rather than upon the victim. 

Money is valuable only in so far as it is 
widely used. 

We hear a lot today about courtesy, as 
if it were something to be assumed and 
put off at will. The only courtesy that 
amounts to anything is that which springs 
from the heart and is a matter of instinct 
rather than education. In other words, a 



gentleman must be born not made. 

The world's greatest benefactors in- 
variably have been men of moderate 
wealth, if not actual poverty. 

Efficiency depends upon the individual, 
not upon the system; one might as well try 
to legislate morality into people as to 
teach efficiency by rule. 

Douglas the debater, the statesman tow- 
ered far above Lincoln. It was the rail- 
splitter's humaneness, his sympathy with 
the average man, his understanding of the 
masses that made him the supreme Amer- 
ican. 

There can never be equality of the sexes 
in the business world until woman ceases 
to reckon physical charm as her principal 
asset. 

Lincoln never hit the nail more square- 
ly on the head than when he said, "the 
Lord must love the common people -He 
made so many of them." And, in the last 
analysis, it always has and always will be 
the wi!l of the common people that pre- 
vails. 




Hew to 





It is not tne Science of curing Disease so much as tne prevention of it 
tnat produces tne greatest gpod to Humanity. One of tne most important 
duties of a Healtn Department should be tne educational service 

*f *"\ / 

A A A A A teaching people how to live A * * A A 
Malaria Its Prevention 



HpHE absolute test of the prevention of 
malaria is by the examination of the 
blood. Physicians are coming to recog- 
nize more and more the importance of 
blood examinations to determine the 
presence of malarial parasites. This ex r 
animation is important, because it fur- 
nishes definite information as to the 
presence of the disease and furnishes 
the necessary basis for proper treat- 
ment. There are many diseases 
which present the clinical symptoms 
of malaria, but which should be 
treated differently. The examination of 
the blood is not a complicated matter, 
and should be used in all cases where 
malaria is suspected. Owing to the fact 
that there are relapses in malaria from 
a chronic infection it is imperative that 
a symptomatic treatment of malaria 
shall parallel the preventive measures. 
In this way the disease can be stamped 
out in a much shorter time. 

The Rockefeller Institute for Scientific 
Research are carrying on such a work 
at the present time in Bolivar County, 
Miss. The blood of each individual re- 
siding in the county has been examined, 
and where the malaria parasite has been 
found a vigorous line of treatment is be- 
gun. This is for the purpose of destroy- 
ing the organism which produces the 
disease, and prevents the infection of 
some mosquito which might bite the in- 
fected individual and later transmit the 
disease to a well person. 

In conjunction with this work by the 
Rockefeller Institute the State of Missis- 
sippi is offering free quinine to every 



citizen of Bolivar County who might feel 
any indication of a chill or malarial 
symptoms. This experiment is being 
watched with much interest, and it is 
hoped that a great deal of good may come 
from it. 

In this disease the spring relapses 
can be prevented in a large measure by 
the systematic and intelligent use of inter- 
nal medication during the winter months. 
This does not mean that the individual 
must take quinine incessantly. However, 
the Illinois Central and the Yazoo & 
Mississippi Valley Hospital Depart- 
ment have been giving quinine regularly 
to all men who work in a low, marshy 
district, and malaria has decreased mark- 
edly in territories which have previously 
been badly infested with this disease. 
So successful has been the treatment for 
the prevention of malaria, put into effect 
by the hospital departments, that reports 
from the hospitals show that the only 
cases of malaria coming into the hos- 
pitals for treatment come from crews 
where the foremen have failed to carry 
out instructions. It can be appreciated 
then as to the importance of carrying out 
the orders from the hospital department 
with reference to the faithful administra- 
tion of treatment outlined. 

In order to prevent any disease, its 
cause and the method of its production 
must be determined. We have stated 
that malaria is found in the blood, and if 
the blood from an infected person be 
injected into another person at the prop- 
er time and under proper conditions the 
disease can be thus prevented. The com- 



67 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



69 



mon cause of the conveyance of this 
blood from an infected individual to a 
well person is through the mosquito 
known as the Anopheles, and it is only 
by the female mosquito that this infection 
is transmitted. The female mosquito 
seeks water on which to lay her eggs, 
and in warm summer weather the eggs 
take from one to two days to hatch. At 
the end of this period the eggs are 
hatched into larvae, which are commonly 
known as "Wigglers," which one can see 
in all puddles of water in the summer- 
time. These wigglers remain in this 
larvae form for ten or twelve days, the 
period varying considerably with the 
temperature, development becoming- 
more rapid in warm weather. These 
larvae of the Anopheles are able to pro- 
tect themselves and move quickly. A 
slight noise or shadow thrown upon the 
water causes the wiggler to dive and dis- 
appear. If one approaches a breeding 
place, such as a hole made by a horse's 
hoof in a soggy piece of ground the 
Anopheles larvae will at once hide, and 
the casual observer will see nothing in 
the water when it is examined. It takes 
considerable experience to find them, 
even when they are plentiful in the 
water. 

The Anopheles seems to be more deli- 
cately refined than the other mosquito 
larvae. They prefer fresh water, such 
as is found in a running country stream. 
In such a stream they seek the protection 
that the grass and algae, which grows 
along the bank, gives them from the 
fish, as small fish and minnows are very 
fond of the mosquito larvae; in fact, the 
minnow is their principal enemy when 
the wiggler inhabits a stream. The hab- 
its of the malarial larvae differ from the 
habits of other mosquitoes, so that the 
practical mosquito man can easily recog- 
nize the Anopheles variety. When these 
come to the surface of the water, where 
they generally lie, they lie with the body 
parallel to the surface, while most other 
mosquito larvae stand vertical to the sur- 
face of the water, with their heads down. 
The shape of the Anopheles larvae also 
differs considerably from that of the oth- 
er mosquitoes. The Anopheles is a long, 



slender, very narrow body, while the 
Culex, another variety, is a short, bulky 
body. 

All mosquito larvae are compelled to 
come frequently to the surface of the wa- 
ter for the purpose of breathing, as they 
are all air breathing mosquitoes. It is 
on this account that the oil is so de- 
structive to the mosquito, for when the 
larvae comes from beneath the surface 
for the purpose of getting air the breath- 
ing apparatus of the insect becomes 
clogged with oil, which forms a thin 
scum on the surface of the water, and 
death results. The same result frequent- 
ly happens in the case of the adult mos- 
quito, which will dive in the water and 
feed from the algae on the bottom of 
shallow pools. When returning to the 
surface the adult insect also becomes af- 
fected from the oil in a similar manner. 

With reference to the flight of the mos- 
quito, the yellow fever mosquito is a 
very poor flier, and has the weakest and 
shortest flight of any mosquito. This 
mosquito is a very delicate creature, and 
is killed when it gets out into the wind. 
It has a great many enemies, as many 
insects, birds and bats prey upon it, so 
that it seldom leaves the house in which 
it is bred. We, therefore, speak of this 
mosquito as not having any range of 
flight. On the other hand the malaria 
mosquito is a better flier, and it will breed 
in almost any spot where water can be 
found. It can fly about 200 yards, and 
this can be considered as its maximum 
flight. Therefore, if the brush and grass 
is cleared for 200 yards around a house 
and proper drainage and sanitary condi- 
dition is looked after in that area no mos- 
quito breeding beyond the clear area 
would be strong enough to fly to that 
house, and the inhabitants of that partic- 
ular house would be safe from the mos- 
quitoes. If we compare the lengths of 
flight of the Culex with the Anopheles 
mosquito we find that the Culex in gen- 
.eral has a much longer range of flight 
than the Anopheles. 

This Culex breeds frequently on the 
Atlantic coast, and is a very strong flier, 
flying often 30 miles, if the wind is 
strong. However, as far as known, this 



70 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



mosquito, the Culex, is not a disease 
bearing mosquito, and we know of no 
disease which it can carry. We know 
definitely that it cannot carry the ma- 
larial parasite, but it is such a ravenous 
biter, that in the state of New Jersey they 
have done a great deal of drainage work 
simply to get rid of this mosquito, with 
a view of making that territory more 
habitable. 

The presence of the Anopheles mos- 
quito breeding in close proximity to a 
house does not necessarily mean that one 
living there would have malaria. Dr. 
Gorgas states it in this manner : 

"If we should take a place like Pan- 
ama and clear up all the population and 
keep that population away for a year, 
from what we know of the life history 
of the Anopheles it is evident that all the 
Anopheles in the course of a year would 
die off, infected as well as uninfected. 
This refers to the mosquitoes which were 
living at the time the people were sup- 
posedly taken away from Panama. 
However, there would be nobody there 
to do any work against the mosquitoes, 
and during the following year everything 
would be favorable for the development 
of the Anopheles. We would, thereore, 
have a very large crop of Anopheles dur- 
ing the year in which the people were 
absent. Supposing then at the end of 
this year we should bring the population 
down from New York and establish 
them at Panama? We would have no- 
body in this population having malaria, 
and Panama would still remain free from 



malarial fever, although we would have 
plenty of Anopheles mosquitoes and 
plenty of people, but this condition of af- 
fairs would remain indefinitely, and 
Panama would continue to be healthy. 
But now suppose some individual were 
brought into Panama, which was mos- 
quito free, and that individual were suf- 
fering from malaria, and some of these 
female Anopheles would at once bite 
him, in the course of a week they them- 
selves would become infectious and 
would soon infect an immense num- 
ber of persons and malaria would 
begin to spread. In but a few 
months the disease would be as bad again 
as it was when we first went to Panama. 
In other words, the mosquito is the only 
carrier of malaria. No difference how 
many mosquitoes you have, you will not 
or never will have malaria until you have 
some human subject who can infect the 
mosquito." 

How very important is it then that all 
sufferers from malaria should be screened 
and that no mosquito should come near 
an infected person. All possible care 
should be taken to protect those who are 
sick with malaria from being bitten by 
the mosquito, as it is only in this way 
that the disease can be carried. The im- 
portant things then to remember are : 

First Prevent the development of 
mosquitoes. 

Second Screen all persons suffering 
from malaria from the bites of any and 
all mosquitoes. 



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

Water Valley, Miss., April 4, 1916. 
Dr. G. G. Dowdall, Chief Surgeon, I. C. R. R., Chicago, 111. 

Dear Doctor: I wish to show my appreciation of the Hospital service ren- 
dered by the Hospital Department. In my spell of sickness I was taken sick 
on the 16th of March and no man has had better attention than I have 
received from our Company Surgeons. Every one is treated alike that is 
connected with the Company and the Hospital Department is a great bless- 
ing to the Company employes. Respectfully, 

W. J. King, 
Foreman Blacksmith Shop. 



71 



Chicago, April 11, 1916. 
Dr. G. G. Dowdall, Chief Surgeon, I. C. R. R., Chicago, III. 

Dear Doctor : I wish to express my appreciation of the services given me 
by the Hospital Department during my late illness at Mercy Hospital. I 
especially wish to express my appreciation and heartfelt thanks to the Sur- 
geons for their courteous and loyal services to me. 
Wishing you success in your good work, I remain, 

Yours very truly, 

(Signed) H. M. Kimball, 
Accounting Department. 




SAFEIY FIRS 




COMPARATIVE STATEMENT OF FATAL AND SERIOUS NON- 
FATAL INJURIES OCCURRING DURING THE YEARS 
1915 AND 1914. I. C. R. R. AND Y. & M. V. R. R. 



January 


1915 


January 


1914 


February 


1915 


February 


1914 


March 


1915 


March 


1914 


April 


1915 


April 


1914 


May 


1915 


May 


1914 


June 


1915 


Tune 


1914 


July 


1915 


July 


1914 


August 


1915 


August 


1914 


September 


1915 


September 


1914 


October 


1915 


October 


1914 


November 


1915 


November 


1914 


December 


1915 


December 


1914 


Total 


1915 


Total 


1914 


1915 over 


1914 



Employes 


K 


I 


5 


10 


7 


20 


4 


5 


6 


30 


3 


28 


3 


15 


2 


, 14 


5 


' 21 


4 


16 


2 


23 


5 


10 


8 


26 


3 


19 


7 


20 


4 


27 


8 


23 


4 


23 


3 


10 


6 


16 


6 


7 


2 


18 


7 


12 


3 


19 


5 


11 


45 


205 


67 


218 



Trespassers 

K I 

16 14 

16 9 

7 3 

10 7 

11 4 
15 9 

12 11 



12 



Others 



*22 



*13 



8 


9 


14 


14 


17 


9 


15 


14 


19 


12 


15 


11 


16 


17 


15 


10 


18 


8 


18 


6 


6 


7 


6 


13 


9 


3 


18 


2 


155 


99 


165 


111 


*10 


*12 



K 


I 


.... 


4 


.... 


6 




9 


1 


6 




2 


i 


2 


3 


1 


1 


7 




3 


8 


1 


1 


2 


2 


10 


1 


4 


1 


4 




1 


.... 


6 


2 


.... 


11 


16 


3 


1 


2 


2 


2 


4 


2 


4 


2 


5 


.... 


1 


14 


36 


29 


65 


*15 


*29 



*Decrease. 



Unusual Cause of Fires 



The following, is a general letter is- 
sued to all Division Storekeepers from 
the office of the General Storekeeper 
recently, cautioning all Supply Depart- 
ment employes of necessity of being 
constantly on the watch to prevent 
fires: 
Gentlemen : 

Your attention is again called to the 
necessity of being constantly on the 
alert to avoid fires. Division Store- 
keepers are directly in charge of con- 
centrated fire risks in the form of 
storehouses and other places where 
costly materials are stored in consider- 
able quantities. A storehouse fire is a 
very serious matter, as even though 
extinguished without complete loss of 
the building, the fire, smoke and wa- 
ter combined, do great damage to the 
valuable materials carried in stock, and 
a vast amount of labor is afterward 
necessary to clear up the salvage from 
the fire and put it in shape for further 
use. 

There are many causes of fire, which 
while somewhat unusual, are always 
possible, and may occur at any time 
from the very fact that they are unex- 
pected. 

A laborer in a storehouse used an 
S wrench to open a barrel containing 
dry batteries packed in straw. About 
this time the whistle blew, and drop- 
ning his wrench in the barrel among 
the batteries, he went home. It so 
happened that the wrench touched the 
binding posts of several of the bat- 
teries, and sufficient sparks ensued to 
ignite the straw, causing a loss of 
$75,000 before the fire could be extin- 
guished. 

A laborer employed as a janitor 
around a storehouse and office was re- 
moving the day's accumulation of 
waste paper and sweepings. It was 



near quitting time, and rather than 
carry his load to the powerhouse for 
burning, he dropped it in an empty 
car standing at the storehouse plat- 
form. There was something among 
the refuse which caused spontaneous 
combustion, and before the fire was 
discovered and extinguished three 
cars were destroyed and serious dam- 
age done to the storehouse building. 

A mechanic came to the storehouse 
to select certain special items wanted 
in the machine shop, and carried in his 
hand the customary bunch of cotton 
waste. He carelessly tossed this into 
one of the storehouse bins containing 
cotton wicking, and the afternoon sun 
shining through the window reflected 
sufficient heat to ignite the oily waste. 
The fire was discovered immediately 
and extinguished with small damage. 

Caustic soda batteries are in com- 
mon use in connection with automatic 
signal work, and the exhausted copper 
oxide plates from these batteries have 
a considerable scrap value. A store- 
keeper had packed a box of these scrap 
oxide plates and left it standing on the 
storehouse platform, where it remained 
during a rainstorm. The following 
day the box was loaded in a car for 
shipment, and the moistened plates be- 
came heated sufficiently to set fire to 
the box and cause damage to contents 
of the car. These plates should be 
thoroughly washed and dried before 
they are packed for shipment. 

In addition to regular fire drills, 
Division Storekeepers must appreciate 
the necessity of keeping constantly be- 
fore their employes the danger from 
fires, and the necessity of being always 
on the alert to prevent them. Please 
acknowledge receipt of this letter. 

Yours truly, 
W. A. Summerhays, 
General Storekeeper. 




Mr. Charles A. Beck 

Service Cashier in Freight Office to Assistant Second Vice-President 



V/f R. CHARLES A. BECK was born 
' l at Philadelphia, September 7th, 
1836, and died in Chicago, June 24th, 
1916. 

To Mr. Beck's many friends this no- 
tice will bring to mind without aid of the 
above likeness, the kindly features of one 
whose life for over half a century was 
linked with the history of the Illinois 
Central Railroad Company and its em- 
ployes, a majority of whom were per- 
sonally known to him, and in whose in- 
terest and uplift, with that of the rail- 
road, he gave of the best. 



To the young men entering the service 
prior to Mr. Beck's retirement, the ex- 
ample of his unswerving loyalty and the 
respect in which he was held by his as- 
sociate employes, from the humblest to 
the highest was an incentive to highest 
aims and noblest endeavors. 

Mr. Beck was educated in Philadel- 
phia, and at an early age became a profi- 
cient telegrapher. His first employment 
was with the Baltimore & Ohio at Har- 
per's Ferry ; then for a short time with 
the Western Union Telegraph Co., at 
Easton, Pa. Coming west, he entered 



74 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



the joint service of the Great Western 
Telegraph Co. (now Western Union) 
and the Illinois Central Railroad Co., at 
Decatur, Illinois, from which position he 
entered the service of the Illinois Cen- 
tral as cashier in the freight office at 
Dunleith (now East Dubuque), Illinois, 
September 19th, 1856, from which posi- 
tion he was appointed agent at the same 
point in May, 1860. He was: 

Superintendent, Chicago Division, 
from March, 1871, to July, 1881 ; 

Superintendent, Illinois & Iowa Lines, 
and assistant general superintendent, to 
December, 1885; 

General superintendent, to September, 
1889; 

General manager, to September; 1891. 

Assistant second vice president, to 
December, 1897; 

General purchasing agent, to May, 
1901 ; 

Chairman, Board of Pensions, to Oc- 
tober 31st, 1906, 

when he retired under the rules of the 
Pension Department in the creation and 
development of which he had devoted 
much thought and judgment, mellowed 
by years c f experience and personal con- 
tact with the varied phases of railroad 
life. 

The statement that Mr. Beck at one 
time was agent at Dunleith, 111., does not 
indicate the importance of the position, 
During the Civil War, Dunleith was a 
recruiting point for soldiers conveyed 
from contiguous territory by steamers 
and held there pending the furnishing of 
cars to carry them to Cairo. In fact, it 
was .what in modern times would have 
been called a primary mobilization camp. ' 
The intelligent and painstaking assist- 
ance rendered United States soldiers dur- 
ing that time was greatly appreciated by 
General U. S. Grant, who up to the time 
of his death was a personal friend of Mr. 
Beck. 

After his promotion to superintendent 
at Centralia, it was said that Mr. Beck 
knew personally every one of his subor- 
dinates from Chicago to Cairo, and prac- 
tically each individual member of their 
families. 



He was not only their superior so far as 
che office which he held was concerned, 
but was their friend and adviser in mat- 
ters not connected with the railroad. 

When Mr. Beck retired because of age 
limitation the following resolutions were 
adopted by the Board of Pensions of the 
Illinois Central and the Yazoo & Mis- 
sissippi Valley Railroad companies : 

RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED BY 
THE BOARD OF PENSIONS, 
ILLINOIS CENTRAL RAIL- 
ROAD COMPANY 



The Yazoo & Mississippi Valley Rail- 
road Company, October 16th, 1906 



Whereas, Time in its immutable course 
has recorded "three score and ten" years 
against the life of Mr. C. A. Beck ; and 

Whereas, The regulations of these com- 
panies demand that all officers and em- 
ployes without exception shall retire 
from active service upon attaining the 
age of seventy years; and 

Whereas, Therefore, the Pension 
Board has this day placed his name upon 
the roll of retired officers and employes, 

Resolved, That we hereby express our 
high regard for his sterling qualities, our 
recognition of the intelligence and zeal 
displayed by him in organizing and ad- 
ministering the affairs of this Board, and 
our thanks for his uniformly courteous 
conduct toward us ; 

Resolved, That we also express to him 
our hearty wish that his life and good 
health may endure many years longer, in 
order that he may enjoy to the fullest 
measure the fruits of his Ion? and faith- 
ful labors ; 

Resolved, That these preambles and 
resolutions be entered on the Minute 
Book of this Board; and 

Resolved, That as a further testimo- 
nial of our sentiments, a copy of the 
same, bearing the autograph signatures of 
the members of this Board, and attested 
by the Chairman of this meeting, be de- 
livered to Mr. Beck by the Secretary. 



GLEANINGS 

from me 

CIAIMS DEPARTMENT 

Jnterosting - Jvows - of- "Doings - of 
(Claimants - J7n - and - Out - of- Court 



Five Killed in Automobile Accident West of 

Warren, 111. 

This Class of Accidents Steadily Increasing 



At 5 :20 o'clock P. M., June 28th. lo- 
comotive drawing train No. 16 struck an 
automobile at the first public crossing 
west of Warren, 111. The lives of five 
persons were snuffed out and one person 
was seriously injured. Those killed were 
Mr. and Mrs. P. H. Deerey and their 
two children, of Darlington, Wis., an en- 
tire family, and Mr. Peter Howe, the 
driver of the car, also of Darlington 
The gentleman injured was Mr. A. D. 
Chattelle, a business man of Warren, 
111. A new seven-passenger Saxon car 
was completely demolished 

If the driver of the automobile had 
approached the track under control, he 
could have had a view of the train when 
seventy-five feet from the track, for a 
distance of 1,500 feet. The engineer of 
the train had no view of the automobile 



until it dashed in front of the ponderous 
locomotive, and there was no chance 
whatever to avoid the catastrophe. 

It must be a terrific strain on the nerves 
of a locomotive engineer to feel and 
know that reckless drivers of automobiles 
are apt to take the chance of dashing in 
front of his engine at any grade cross- 
ing. Accidents of this nature are in- 
creasing at an alarming rate on account 
of the increase in the use of the automo- 
bile. 

It has been suggested that each of the 
states should tax the owners and drivers 
of automobiles for the purpose of ac- 
quiring an annual income sufficiently 
large to protect these people from them- 
selves at railway grade crossings. The 
railroads are not responsible for the ad- 
vent of the automobile, or for its general 



76 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



77 



use, or the recklessness with which it is 
frequently driven. 

The frequency of automobile accidents 
resulting in loss of life at railway grade 
crossings ought to be sufficient to put the 
public on notice that something should 
be done to protect users of automobiles, 
for it has been thoroughly demonstrated 
that they cannot, or will not, protect 
themselves. 

Perhaps if the various states would pass 
laws requiring all automobiles to stop 
within a certain distance of a railway 
grade crossing, and penalize them for 
failure to stop, that such action would 
solve the problem. It is very certain that 
drivers of automobiles could better afford 
to stop their cars than steam railroads 
could afford to stop trains at crossings. 
The public would not stand for the in- 
convenience and congestion of traffic 
which would necessarily follow the 
stopping of trains at grade crossings, for 
it would unnecessarily clog the business 
of the country and would affect every 
traveler upon steam railroads, as well 
as every shipper, which takes in practi- 
cally everybody. It would not be a hard- 
ship to require the drivers of automo- 
biles to stop, whether a train is coming 
or not. It is very evident that either 
the trains or the automobiles must be 
made to stop in order to put an end to 
the frightful loss of life which is taking 
place daily at railway grade crossings 
throughout the country. 

When these accidents occur, is it fair 
to blame the railroad ? Is there a reason- 
able-minded person in existence who 
would be willing to paralyze the traffic 
of the country and give the automobilist, 
on pleasure bent, the right of way at 
grade crossings? The question answers 
itself, for there are no such persons, and 
vet the people have not become sufficient- 
ly aroused over the distressing situation 
to take any action towards the regula- 
tion of the drivers of automobiles. As a 
result, the thousands upon thousands of 
locomotive engineers must have their 
nerves strained to the wrecking point 
and the lives of thousands of people, 
which should be safeguarded, are being 
snuffed out, as happened in the accident 
west of Warren. 



Perhaps this important matter has 
been neglected by politicians for fear of 
doing somethings that would benefit the 
railroads, a thing which the average poli- 
tician studiously avoids, but the ques- 
tion presented is one with which the rail- 
roads are no more concerned than the 
public. It is merely a question of pro- 
tecting the nerves of locomotive en- 
gineers and rendering them less liable to 
temporary mental aberration which 
might prove serious to passengers, also 
that of protecting the lives of human be- 
ings who will not protect themselves. 

The new-made graves in the cemetery 
at Darlington, Wis., ought to emphasize 
the importance of action, and every poli- 
tician entrusted with power of law mak- 
ing in the state of Illinois should be made 
to accept his share of the responsibility. 

If there is a living person who feels 
that the railroad is responsible for strik- 
ing automobiles at grade crossings, will 
he please rise up and explain in what re- 
spect, for there never was a time in his- 
tory when railroad managements were as 
active and sincerely anxious to avoid 
personal injury accidents as is true to- 
day. On the very day the catastrophe at 
Warren occurred, the General Manager 
of the Illinois Central held a meeting 
with all of his subordinate officials, in- 
cluding the division officers from all parts 
of the system, for the purpose of con- 
sidering the single question of the pre- 
vention of accidents, but the Warren ac- 
cident and other accidents of striking 
automobiles at grade crossings is beyond 
the control of the management of any 
railway. The railway can control its em- 
ployes and cause them to use care and 
caution. It cannot control reckless driv- 
ers of automobiles. That is a responsi- 
bility devolving upon the state. As it is 
in Illinois, so it is everywhere. Note the 
following from the report of the Rail- 
road Commissioners of the state of Cali- 
fornia : 

"The investigation of the accidents in 
which automobiles or motor driven vehi- 
cles have been involved at highway grade 
crossings since such investigations have 
been instituted by the commission and 
covering a period of over two and one- 



78 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



half years, has not revealed a single in- 
stance where a fatality has occurred due 
to negligence on the part of the rail- 
roads." 



DON'T GO TO LAW 

In the Bavarian courts a novel attempt 
is now being made to suppress the na- 
tional passion for going to law by dis- 
play of the following "Ten Command- 
ments" in the court house, 

1. Avoid law suits, especially in this 
grave time of war. 

2. Thou knowest perhaps the begin- 
ning, but thou canst not divine the end. 

3. Thou savest much money, time and 
anxiety. 

4. Before starting litigation, try to 
compromise amicably. 

5. Let thy prospective opponent tell 
his side, then perhaps thou wilt thyself 
see new light. 

6. Listen to the judge when he pro- 
poses a settlement ; he means it well. 

7. Always draw up thy agreements 
in writing. Read them carefully before 
thou signest them, then thou wilt avoid 
obscurity and possess thyself of proofs. 

8. Remember that only that which 
thou canst prove counts in court. 

9. Drive not thy opponent to ex- 
tremes. Thou mayst some day need him. 

10. Run not to the courts with thy 
petty squabbles. 



BIG LAW SUIT 

Ends in a Signal Victory for the Rail- 
road Company Jury Out Only 
a Few Minutes 



On June 11, 1911, the Gulf Compress 
of Clarksdale, Miss., caught fire about 5 
P. M. and was entirely consumed, to- 
gether with about seventeen hundred 
bales of cotton valued at something like 
$150,000.00. The cotton belonged to 
eight or ten different concerns. It was 
insured, and the owners collected from 
the insurance companies, and the latter 
promptly commenced to collect evidence 
that the fire was caused by sparks from 
a passing locomotive. They were able to 
discover that a special passenger train of 
an engine and two coaches passed the 



plant about one-half hour before the fire 
was discovered. After several months 
nine different suits were filed in the 
names of the firms owning the cotton 
against the Y. & M. V. Railroad Com- 
pany in the Superior Court of Cook 
County, Illinois, and after more than five 
years from the date of the fire, or, to be 
exact, on June 20, 1916, one of these 
suits, brought in the name of W. C. Craig 
& Co., who at the time of the fire were 
doing business at Vicksburg, was called 
for trial. The amount of loss claimed 
and proven in this case was $99,000.00. 

This case presented the peculiar situ- 
ation of a firm having an office at Vicks- 
burg, and doing business almost exclu- 
sively in that city, filing a suit in the city 
of Chicago, represented by a lawyer 
from Philadelphia, Pa. The suit was 
brought against the Yazoo & Mississippi 
Valley Railroad Company, a Mississippi 
corporation with almost its entire mileage 
in the state of Mississippi, its northern 
terminus being Memphis, for a loss by a 
fire which occurred in Mississippi. 

Guided by past experience, the railway 
made a very thorough investigation im- 
mediately following the fire, so that when 
the plaintiff sought to introduce witnesses 
who, five years after the occurrence, un- 
dertook to explain how the engine set the 
fire, they were confronted with signed 
statements made by them following the 
accident, greatly to their contusion and 
to the amazement of the plaintiff's coun- 
sel. The proof introduced by the de- 
fendant to the effect that it had nothing 
to do with the origin of the fire was so 
overwhelming as to amount to a deluge. 

A number of years ago the old-fash- 
ioned police courts and justice courts 
were abolished in the city of Chicago and 
have since been abolished in many other 
places, and municipal courts, presided 
over by high salaried, capable judges, 
have been substituted because of the 
abuse which had crept into the justice 
courts, in that suits were often filed 
against individuals on fictitious claims in 
remote sections of the county, subjecting 
defendants to such annoyance and ex- 
pense that they frequently compromised 
the suits to rid themselves of the burden 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



79 



of their defense. The spectacle present- 
ed by these fire suits and much other liti- 
gation of the kind seems to place the 
railway in about the same predicament 
that the individual defendants found 
themselves to be in the old justice courts. 
Of course, Chicago is large, and the tax- 
payers are many, the burden of one such 
law suit not being felt by the individual, 
but if they frequently occurred all the 
time of the courts would be taken up in 
the trial of law suits in which no one in 
any way interested is a citizen of the 
state where the suits are brought. It 
frequently occurs that much of the time 
of courts is expended for the benefit of 
non-resident litigants. 

Thus the railway was subjected to the 
expense of taking its witnesses for a 
distance of six hundred miles and over 
to the place of trial, to say nothing of 
the inconvenience to its business due to 
the absence of many employes from their 
duties, and being deprived of the evi- 
dence of certain non-employe witnesses 
who could not be induced to make the 
trip to Chicago. As it was, the railway 
company introduced 42 witnesses. The 
trial actually consumed eight days and 
the jury took less than thirty minutes to 
return a verdict for the railroad. 

While the result is gratifying in that 
the company won the suit, it demon- 
strates how easy it is to subject a rail- 
way and the taxpayers in the county 
where such suits are tried to heavy ex- 
pense in the litigation of cases possessing 
no merit whatever, which fact must have 
been perfectly obvious to any one mak- 
ing a careful investigation at the time. 

Such suits are a mere speculation, the 
parties :.t interest the insurance compa- 
nies having very little to lose and much 
to gain. Unfortunately, in this case the 
railway was not permitted to show upon 
the trial that the parties in whose names 
the suit was filed, did not have a dollar 
financial interest in the litigation, but the 
sole beneficiaries, if recovery were had, 
were the insurance companies who car- 
ried the policies on the cotton and who 
paid the loss. 

While they can be taxed with the statu- 
tory witness fees and mileage, this will 
not begin to cover the expense to which 



the railway was subjected. It will, how- 
ever, in this particular instance, be such 
a sum as perhaps will cause the parties 
interested in this litigation to hesitate be- 
fore filing another suit on a case which 
promised from the start so poorly. 

The Philadelphia lawyer made his 
boast that he brought the suit in Chicago 
because he knew he would get justice be- 
fore a Cook County jury. He got it. The 
railroad was represented by two of its 
ablest trial attorneys, Mr. C. L. Sivley, 
of Memphis, who was specially employed 
by reason of his knowledge of the Mis- 
sissippi law, and Mr. Vernon W. Foster, 
of Chicago. 



A NEW ORGANIZATION 

On June 6th, representatives of the 
Claim Departments of the steam rail- 
roads entering Chicago met and organ- 
ized an association to be known as the 
"Chicago Steam Railways Claim Con- 
ference." Mr. H. B. Hull, of the Illinois 
Central, was elected President, and Mr. 
H. A. Fathauer, of the New York Cen- 
tral, was elected Secretary. The associa- 
tion meets once every two months for the 
purpose of conferring on the matter of 
handling claims in the Chicago territory. 
There are quite a number of similar or- 
ganizations throughout the country and 
they are doing good work. One of the 
purposes of the organization is to dis- 
cuss fraudulent claims, and particularly 
repeaters. There are thousands of per- 
sons throughout the country who are spe- 
cializing on how to beat railroads. They 
are professionals and prey upon the. 
roads, in many instances, under assumed 
names. The representatives of the steam 
railroads are rapidly closing in on these 
people. 



STOCK 



MORE ABOUT THE 
PROBLEM 

Mention has heretofore been made in 
these columns of stock suits won in Mis- 
sissippi and of the rulings of the Su- 
preme Court in certain cases. There has 
been such a widespread and uniform 
effort on the part of all concerned to 
reduce the number of stock killed on the 
railroad that it is felt that the success 



80 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



attending such efforts and the action of 
the courts in such suits must be of much 
interest, not only to the officials of the 
company but to the engine men, section 
foremen and others who have worked so 
well to accomplish the desired result. 
This campaign has brought about a re- 
duction of 27 per cent on the entire 
system during the past year. As the 
campaign was inaugurated during the 
year, it is felt that we have only com- 
menced to realize the benefits and that if 
the same efforts are continued by all that 
the result will be quite as pronounced 
during the new year. Therefore, all 
are urged to assist in the further reduc- 
tion during that period. 

To obtain the very best results we 
must have the co-operation of stock own- 
ers along the line. Most owners do not 
want their stock killed, but there may be 
some who are indifferent. If such were 
to learn that there is some doubt about 
the liability of the railroad in all cases it 
might influence them to a little more ac- 
tual co-operation. 

It is not the policy of the company to 
refuse payment unless the cases are pe- 
culiary lacking in merit, but where ex- 
orbitant claims are made, or it appears 
the owner is exceptionally at fault, claims 
are declined or the payment of but a 
portion of the loss is allowed, and where 
owners do not agree to this and file suits 
they are vigorously contested. 

A very convincing case as to the risk 
the owner runs in litigating is disclosed 
in that of Ezra Dickerson vs. Y. & M. V. 
R. R. Co., Washington County, Miss. He 
had one horse and five mules killed at 
Marathon, Miss., in October, 1913, which 
he valued at $1475.00. As the circum- 
stances indicated a strong case of non-lia- 
bility, the company offered in compromise 
but $350.00, which was declined, and the 
suit was brought. The case was tried, re- 
sulting in a peremptory instruction in fa- 
vor of the defendant. The plaintiff ap- 
pealed and judgment was reversed by 
the Supreme Court, which held that the 
case should have been submitted to a 
jury. It came on trial again at the June 
term of court just past and was then sub- 
mitted to a jury, which brought in a 



verdict for the railroad. This, presum- 
ably, ends the litigation, which, of course, 
has been exceedingly expensive to the 
plaintiff, as he must pay the costs and 
presumably considerable attorney fee, 
and also lose the compromise offer of 
$350.00 made him before the litigation 
was started. Knowledge of this and nu- 
merous other cases where courts have 
held that the railroad was not under obli- 
gation to pay ought to enlist the active 
assistance of every owner of stock along 
the line to the end that animals be kept 
off the railroad right of way as far as 
possible. 



THE WORM TURNS 

An automobile trying to get across the 
track ahead of a Long Island train was 
struck and smashed, and the occupants, a 
man and women, were severely bruised. 

And did the railroad send a lawyer 
around and offer them a liberal sum for 
damages? It did not. It had them 
hauled into court, as soon as they were 
able to be up and around, on a charge 
of trespassing. And the unfeeling mag- 
istrate took the side of the railroad and 
imposed a heavy fine for their heedless- 
ness. 

That case is the climax of a defensive 
campaign the Long Island railroad has 
been waging against automobilists who 
persist in disregarding rules and warn- 
ings at grade crossings. It has grown 
weary of autos smashing through closed 
gates and running down watchmen. It 
protests against autos catapulting into its 
trains, to the injury of its rolling stock 
and the annoyance of its officials and 
passengers. The worm has turned. 

It might be a good thing for everybody 
concerned if every railroad which hon- 
estly does its part to make grade cross- 
ings safe would adopt the same policy. 
Why should crossing safety be a one-sid- 
ed matter? The Waterloo Times-Trib- 
une, Friday morning, June 16, 1916. 



RAILROAD WINS 

The too prevalent idea that any case 
of serious injury sustained on the rail- 
way can be made to yield a handsome 
sum in damages, irrespective of the facts 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



81 



under which the injury was sustained, is 
occasionally given a severe jolt by the 
courts. A case in point is that of Tiny 
Bell Smith vs. the Y. & M. V. Railroad, 
in the Circuit Court of Whitman County, 
Miss., for $14,000. 

True to- her name, this plaintiff was a 
"tiny" piece of humanity, being at the 
time of her very unfortunate injury but 
20 months old, living in a house close to 
the railroad track, near Sarah, Miss. 
About 7.45 A. M., August 1, 1913, this 
little white girl crawled down the railroad 
embankment, the track being in a cut at 
that point, and was crawling over one of 
the rails of the track when a work extra 
with 15 loaded cars of sand approached, 
moving about ten miles an hour. The 
conductor was in the cupola of the ca- 
boose looking back, and the flagman was 
on top of the caboose looking in the same 
direction. The flagman discovered the 
child and gave the alarm, when the con- 
ductor quickly applied the brakes from 
the air valve in the caboose and then 
rushed to the back platform. Realizing 
that the train could not be stopped in 
time to avoid striking the child, he ran 
down to the lower step and would have 
jumped to the ground and run ahead of 
the train to save the child but for the 
fact that a small trestle intervened. He 
did grab the hand rail, swung his body 
out and succeeded in getting his hand on 
the child and pulling it off the rail, but 
she clung to the rail with her right hand, 
one truck passing over the hand, ampii' 
tating the fingers. 

The extreme presence of mind and 
heroic conduct of the conductor saved 
the child's life and it will probably 
appear to many that the gratitude of the 
parents should have taken some other 
form than the institution of suit. On the 
trial, the facts as here recited were testi- 
fied to, not only by the train crew, but 
by outsiders who witnessed the occur- 
rence, and the action of the jury in re- 
turning a verdict of $14,000 was hard to 
understand. The Supreme Court, how- 
ever, recently reversed the judgment and 
dismissed the suit, and in concluding its 
opinion, in which it quotes very freely 
from the evidence on the trial, said, "It 



would be straining the facts unduly to 
say that any sort of negligence is shown 
bv the evidence." 



ANOTHER VICTORY 

Another jolt, such as referred to in 
the foregoing, was administered by the 
Supreme Court in the case of Eddie Huff 
et al vs Y. & M. V. R. R. Co, Talla- 
hatchie County, for $15,000 for the death 
of a negro boy between four and five 
years of age, who, while lying on the 
track about ten miles from Charleston, 
Miss., was run over and killed. The un- 
disputed evidence showed that the en- 
gineer did not see him so as to determine 
what the object on the track was until 
within about eighty feet, when it was 
absolutely impossible to stop. The train 
had just passed over a new switch and 
the engineer was looking back along his 
train, otherwise he might have seen the 
boy a little sooner. Signals had been 
sounded for a crossing a few hundred 
feet distant. 

The plaintiff's contention was that the 
engineer should have been on the look- 
out for someone on the track, should 
have seen the boy sooner and stopped the 
train before reaching him. The jury 
returned a verdict for $5000. The Su- 
preme Court reversed the judgment and 
dismissed the suit, and in doing so said, 
"At the point where the child was lying 
there was a considerable curve. There 
is testimony showing that the distance 
the engineer, being on the lookout, might 
have seen the sleeping child was approx- 
imately 500 feet. It might be conceded 
as a true rule founded upon justice and 
a proper value of human life, that if an 
engineer in the operation of a fast-mov- 
ing train discerns a helpless infant on the 
track he, as well as his company, is un- 
der the duty' of exercising the highest 
degree of care, and doing everything pos- 
sible to prevent injury to the innocent 
child. The rule, however, presupposes 
knowledge by the engineer of the child's 
presence and danger. In our judgment 
the engineer, in the instant case, has met 
all the requirements of this rule. To 
hold otherwise would convict him of 
manslaughter. It is hard to believe that 



82 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



a responsible engineer would gamble 
with the life of a child of tender years 
and that he did not in this case is mani- 
fest from the undisputed testimony. * 
* * The peremptory instruction re- 
quested by the appellant (the railroad) 
should, in our judgment, have been grant- 
ed." 

It will be noted that the logic of this 
opinion is that the railroad could only be 
liable, if at all, because of negligence on 
the part of the engineer, and that the en- 
gineer could not have been negligent so 
as to have permitted a recovery without, 
in fact, himself being guilty of man- 
slaughter. 

It has often occurred to those charged 
with the duty of investigating and de- 
fending such cases that this is true of 
the majority of cases where people are 
struck by trains. Yet how frequently the 
railroad company is held liable and how 
infrequently is any effort made to pun- 
ish the engineer for his negligence. The 
explanation, of course, is that no one 
really believes that the engineers in such 
cases are guilty, for engineers as a class 
are kind-hearted and humane and do all 
in their power to avoid such occurrences 
and are deeply grieved when they hap- 
pen. Yet there remains the inconsistency 
of holding the company responsible in 
damages when its negligence, if any, can 
only be the negligence of the engineer. 
If juries and courts would absolutely 
feel and be guided by the pronouncement 
in the case above referred to, recoveries 
for persons struck by trains would be 
very infrequent. 



THE SAD PLIGHT OF WELDON 
FULLILOVE 

The subject of this sketch, a boy 17 
years of age, whose widowed mother and 
invalid sister live on a small farm near 
West, Mississippi, and who appear to be 
absolutely without money or means of 
support, is forced to spend the balance 
of his life, a cripple, all because of an 
unfortunate attempt to "hop" a moving 
freight train at Vaiden on January 19th, 
1916, resulting in an accident which cost 
him both legs. 

It appears that this young man, with 



a companion, had attended a street fair 
at Vaiden, and, for the excitement of the 
thing, and to save the expense of a rail- 
road ticket or a walk covering 10 miles, 
decided to "beat" their way home on the 
local freight. With this idea in view, 
they hid behind seed houses and box 
cars until the train had started, then they 
rushed out to get on. The companion, 
an expert at the business, got on safely, 
but alas! poor Fullilove lost his footing 
and went under the wheels. 

The young man was tenderly picked 
up and carried to the depot, where com- 
pany surgeons did everything in their 
power; then the fast train was flagged 
so he might be conveyed to the Winona 
Infirmary with as little delay as possible. 
At the infirmary he was put in a private 
ward at the expense of the railroad, fur- 
nished with the best surgeons in the 
country, and trained nurses, but the cruel 
car wheels had so crushed his feet and 
legs that they had to come off. 

But it was while in the infirmary that 
another serious misfortune overtook this 
young man. Because of his youth and 
serious and permanent injury, the sur- 
geons and claim agent started a move to 
get the railroad, through the generous- 
ness of its officials, to donate artificial 
limbs and contribute a few hundred dol- 
lars to help him over the hard place, 
which he had made for himself. While 
this contribution was being asked for, 
and while the patient was getting the 
same careful attention that the son of a 
millionaire would have received under 
like circumstances, his mother appeared 
at the scene of the accident with a law- 
yer, busily taking measurements and 
making ready for a law suit. When this 
was discovered, as a matter of course, all 
efforts to secure the help from the higher 
officials of the railroad ceased. 

In due course of time suit was filed at 
Vaiden, demanding $50,000.00 damages, 
charging negligence against the engineer 
and conductor, who had nothing more 
to do with the accident than President 
Wilson. The case was removed from 
the state court at Vaiden to the Federal 
court at Oxford, where the railroad was 
prepared to go to trial on June 5th, but 



83 



the attorneys for the plaintiff, realizing 
the injustice of their charges and hope- 
lessness of their case, very readily ac- 
cepted a small sum in full compromise 



of the entire matter, and the unfortunate 
boy was left with much less than he 
could have secured at the outset as a 
gratuity. 



Does It Pay to Kodak? 




The picture shown above is the last 
likeness of two brothers, who met an 
untimely death while attempting to de- 
rail passenger train No. 42, with En- 
gineer Skillman at the throttle, in the 
yards at Clarksdale, Miss., June 3, 1916. 

The team was the property of Henry 
Radford, colored, of Clarksdale, and the 
picture was taken in Clarksdale about 
two weeks before the team passed to the 
great beyond by the railroad route. Just 
how Claim Agent Jolly happened to sus- 
pect that the team was going to meet 
death upon the track, and a claim for 
damages thereafter presented, is one of 
the mysteries which will never be solved, 
but claim agents are sometimes pos- 
sessed of very unusual powers. 

The two unfortunate animals, which 
resembled a horse and a mule more than 
anything else, possessed many good 
traits of character, as they served a 
couple of generations without food or 
attention from any one. They had gone 
without food so long that they actually 
declined to eat when led right up to the 
alfalfa. It is presumed that they had 



never seen alfafa before and, therefore, 
were totally unacquainted with its use- 
fulness. 

After the animals came to such an 
untimely end the usual thing happened. 
Radford employed a lawyer and the lat- 
ter sent his claim in to Claim Agent 
Jolly, stating that a prominent planter 
held a lien on the animals and was 
anxious to get his money and for a quick 
settlement would accept the sum of 
$200.00. After the lawyer saw the ko- 
dak picture, which Mr. Jolly had secured 
as a matter of precaution, when the ani- 
mals were in good health, the amount of 
the claim was reduced to such a small 
sum that Mr. Jolly was induced to set- 
tle it. 



ROUSING MEETING HELD AT CAR- 
BONDALE TO CONSIDER THE 
REDUCTION OF PERSONAL 
INJURY ACCIDENTS 300 
OFFICERS AND EM- 
PLOYES PRESENT 

Superintendent Williams, of the St. Louis 
Division, convened a meeting of employes 
in the Opera House at Carbondale, Sun- 
day, July 2nd, for the purpose of consider- 



84 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



ing the prevention of accidents. There 
were about three hundred officers and em- 
ployes of all classes present, and the inter- 
est manifested in the proceedings by them 
was marked, evincing an earnest desire to 
respond to the expressed wishes of the 
management of reducing personal injury 
accidents. Mr. Williams, in a forceful man- 
ner, analyzed the accidents which occurred 
on the St. Louis Division during the pre- 
ceding fiscal year resulting in personal in- 
juries. He dwelt upon the fact that 81 per 
cent of personal injury accidents was due 
to carelessness on the part of those injured, 
and he asked the careful employes to make 
war on the careless employes, with the view 
of reducing the liability of accidents and 
the suffering which follows in their wake. 
All of the division officers made interest- 



ing talks, as well as many of the heads of 
departments, foremen, supervisors and oth- 
ers. It was a rousing meeting and one cal- 
culated to do a great deal of good. After 
all, the question of preventing accidents is 
of fundamental importance in railroad life. 
What is more important in the operation 
of a railroad' than safety? The fact is that 
there is nothing so important, and all 
other matters pale into insignificance when 
compared to the prevention of accidents 
and rendering conditions just as safe as they 
can be made. No wonder the management 
has made safety the paramount question. 
The General Manager has impressed this 
upon the division organizations and it is 
now up to them. The results obtained dur- 
ing this year will be watched as never be- 
fore. 



SO/IE B5TflCLS 

IN THE WAY 




>' 



Name. 
\\'m. T. Touro (Col.)- 

Tames McD. Rees 

Phillip Roberts (Col.) 

Robert Graham 

George H. Schwing 

Ryas Nelson (Col.)... 

Owen Reilly 

John G. Swartwout 

George I. McLaughlin. 




Where Date of 
Occupation. Employed Service Retirem't 

.Laborer New Orleans....l5 years 2/29/16 

.Engineman Water Valley.... 25 years 4/30/16 

.Laborer Paducah .., 30 years 4/30/16 

Machinist Champaign 48 years 6/30/16 

.Train Baggageman Havana 31 years 6/30/16 

.Section Laborer Oxford 30 years 6/30/16 

Paving Foreman New Orleans....25 years 6/30/16 

Engineman Freeport 40 years 6/30/16 

.Conductor, Y&MV Memphis 26 years 1/31/16 



edly will remain there until the end 
comes. 

Mr. Mulholland is favorably remem- 
bered by a host of friends, who will un- 
doubtedly be pleased to see his photo- 
graph which accompanies this article. 



JOSEPH MULHOLLAND 

. JOSEPH MULHOLLAND was 
for thirty-five years an employe of 
the Illinois Central Railroad. He began 
his service as water-boy in extra gang 
and later was in the track department. 

In 1890 he was in the yard switching 
service. He is now located in the Rail- 
road Men's Home for Aged and Dis- 
abled Railroad Employes, and undoubt- 




CON SHEEHAN 

TV/TR. CON SHEEHAN, who was re- 
L tired July 1, 1901, is the fourth 
in rank of age of pensioners now living, 
having been born Nov. 15, 1829. Mr. 
Sheehan was in the service of the com- 
pany 35 years, serving as Crossing Flag- 
man at Cairo, for a great many years. 



85 



86 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



The accompanying photograph of Mr. 
Sheehan was taken last October on the 
porch of his daughter's home, 1127 
Illinois Ave., East St. Louis, 111. 




JACOB FRANK 

TV/TR. JACOB FRANK, one of the 
A oldest pensioners, whose photo- 
graph appears herewith, was born July 
20, 1831, and entered the service of the 
Company October, 1862, and was em- 
ployed as Caller for Trainmen and En- 
ginemen for six years ; then Fireman 
on switch engine for 24 years, after 
which time he entered the shops at 
Champaign as engine cleaner, where he 
remained until his retirement in 1901. 



JOE STROLIN 

A/TR. JOE STROLIN was born in 
Gothenberg, Sweden, 1846, coming 
to America in 1871, and on March 34, 
1878, entered the service of the Chicago, 
St. Louis & New Orleans Railroad as 
axle turner at Water Valley, Miss. He 
remained in this position until April 30, 
1916, at which time he was retired on a 
pension. 




JOE STROlJN 




THOMAS HAILS 

'. HAILS was born in Jefferson 
County, Mt. Vernon, 111., March 31, 
1846. For a short time he was em- 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



87 



ployed in the shops at Centralia. Re- 
entering the service of the Illinois Cen- 
tral Railroad as brakeman in 1869, and 
served in this capacity for about two 
years and was then transferred to the 



position of train baggageman, later on 
being transferred to Centralia baggage 
room, where he remained until he 
was retired on a pension April 1, 
1916. 



Movement of Troops 



Division Passenger Agent R. J. Car- 
michael, with the assistance of the Trans- 
portation Officials of the Illinois Central 
Railroad, has undoubtedly made a hit 
with the soldiers that have been ordered 
to the front, as will be attested by the 
following clippings from newspapers and 
telegrams from officers of the various 
regiments : 

MOVEMENT FIRST REGIMENT 

The band played patriotic airs for an 
hour while the men waited, "Tipperary" 
being taboo on orders from Col. Sanborn. 
At 11:45 the First battalion began en- 
training at Van Buren street, and the 
second and last section had left at 12 :15. 
R. J. Carmichael, special agent for the 
Illinois Central, was on hand to see that 
the trains were ready on the dot, and a 
record in getting away was established. 
It was a strong contrast to the delay and 
confusion encountered by the First cav- 
alry on Tuesday night. 

The only ones left at the armory were 
Capt. Carroll M. Gale and a detail of 
twelve men, who will have charge of re- 
cruiting. Chicago Tribune, June 23. 



COL. SANBORN THANKS I. C. 
FOR SERVICE 

R. J. Carmichael, division passenger 
agent of the Illinois Central Railroad, to- 
day received the following telegram from 
Colonel Joseph B. Sanborn, commanding 
the First Infantry, in Springfield : 
"Both sections of your train arrived in 
Springfield ahead of the schedule sub- 
mitted by you. Allow me to congratu- 
late you for the excellent loading ar- 
rangements which were afforded my boys 
last night at your Van Buren street sta- 



tion, and for the satisfactory train serv- 
ice en route." Chicago Evening Ameri- 
can, June 23rd, 1916. 

Col. J. B. Sanborn of the First Infan- 
try wired his congratulations to the Illi- 
nois Central Railroad on the way the 
troop trains, carrying his command were 
handled. His telegram reads : 

"Arrived Springfield ahead of sched- 
ule submitted by you. Allow me to con- 
gratulate you for excellent loading ar- 
rangements afforded my boys last night 
at Van Buren street station and for sat- 
isfactory train service en route." Chi- 
cago Daily News June 23rd, 1916. 



COL. DENNISON THANKS I. C. 

Colonel Franklin Dennison of the 
Eighth Infantry, I. N. G., was so well 
pleased with the way the Illinois Central 
lines handled his regiment on the way to 
Springfield that he last evening wired R. 
J. Carmichael his thanks : "I am indebt- 
ed to you, and to the reliable Illinois Cen- 
tral, for your kind attention to the men 
of the Eighth and to myseelf," he said. 
Chicago Sunday Examiner, June 25th, 
1916. 

Springfield, 111., June 24th, 1916 
R. J. Carmichael, Division Passenger 
Agent, I. C., Chicago, 111. : During my 
term as Colonel of the Eighth Infantry, 
and moving my men from Chicago, I ex- 
perienced for the first time great satis- 
faction. Your arrangements for hand- 
ling the regiments from your Van Buren 
street station met with favor generally. 
I am indeed indebted to you and the re- 
liable Illinois Central for your kind at- 
tention to the men of the Eighth and 
myself. Col. Denison, 

Eighth Regiment. 



The West Feliciana Railroad 



The First Railroad in Mississippi 
By C. R. Calvert, Traveling Freight Agent, Y. & M. V. R. R., Memphis, Tenn. 



I 



N the multitude of books, pamphlets 
and magazine articles that have been 
written on the subject of "Railroads," 
we search in vain for more than passing 
comment on the early railroads in the 
lower Mississippi Valley. And, yet, in 
this Mississippi Valley, rich in the mem- 
ories and traditions of two hundred 
years, the beginning of the railroads was 
coincident with that of the Baltimore & 
Ohio Railroad, the Charleston & Ham- 
burg Railroad and other roads on the 
Atlantic Seaboard that are heralded as 
pioneer roads in the New World ; their 
development has been as romantic; and 
their influence has been as important and 
as far reaching. At least two of these 
early roads have remained in continuous 
operation to the present time. 



A meeting was held on February 12th. 
1827, to consider the feasibility of build- 
ing a railroad from Baltimore toward the 
West ; and that meeting resulted in the 
construction of the Baltimore & Ohio 
Railroad. At the time of that meeting 
there was no railroad in this country 
for the transportation of freight and 
passengers between distant points. On 
July 4, 1828, the first stone sill, or "Cor- 
ner Stone" of the new road was laid by 
Charles Carroll, of Carrollton, with great 
ceremony; and on Sept. 30 of the same 
year a letter appeared in the "Wood- 
ville Republican" suggesting a railroad 
from Woodville to St. Francisville. 
Woodville was a little town in Wilkin- 
son county, Mississippi, while St. Fran- 
cisville was in Louisiana, twenty-six 
miles south of Woodville. 

St. Francisville was the steamboat 
port for the greater part of the Mis- 
sissippi territory south of Natchez, and 
was a quaint little town with an inter- 
esting history. It was originally settled 



.when the country was under the Spanish 
domination and was called New Valen- 
cia ; it was here that the inhabitants 
raised the standard of revolt against the 
Spanish authorities and, marching 
against Baton Rouge, overthrew the gov- 
ernment at that point, returned to St. 
Francisville and set up an independent 
government ; after - which they called 
upon President Madison for admis- 
sion to the American Union. Gov- 
ernor Claiborne was sent to St. Francis- 
ville with a force of militia to raise 
the "Stars and Stripes" and take pos- 
session in the name of the United States. 

The proposed railroad was to be sim- 
ply an outlet to the steamboats for the 
products of the plantations in the in- 
terior. St. Francisville was, therefore, 
the logical port of destination for the 
road, although it was not the point on 
the Mississippi river nearest to Wood- 
ville. 

The letter suggesting the building of 
the railroad was signed "Publius" and, 
as there was no indication of the iden- 
tity of the writer, it is probable that we 
shall remain in ignorance of the name 
of the person entitled to the credit for 
suggesting the first railroad in Missis- 
sippi, and the first in the chain of roads 
now controlled by the Illinois Central 
Railroad Company. 

The letter of "Publius" is long and 
somewhat argumentative, but it is given 
in full, without apology. 

( Communicated ) 

Railway Between Woodville and St. 
Francisville 

In this age of general improvement, 
works of utility must necessarily engage 
attention and bring into action the en- 
ergies of every man of public spirit. 

The internal improvements of a State, 
when effected by constitutional means, 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



A Dj fy M CS 



r E L I C I AN A 



WEST FELICIAIXTA 
RAILROAD 



As projected in 
1830 



III Baton Roug 




meets with no objectors and is consid- jection urged against national legisla- 

ered the wisdom of legislation; and tion on the subject would never apply 

when the power to be exercised, as in to the states, in their individual capaci- 

this respect is conceded as virtually re- ties, 
siding in the state sovereignties, the ob- It being admitted, therefore, that there 



90 



is nothing in the fundamental laws of 
a state that would exclude or prohibit 
the exercise of this power of improve- 
ment, I would suggest, as a practical ex- 
periment of the system, a railway be- 
tween this place and St. Francisville, 
and I think the work could be accom- 
plished partly by the Legislature and 
partly by voluntary contributions of 
the citizens of the parish of West 
Feliciana and the counties of Amite 
and Wilkinson. 

The state of Louisiana, rich in her 
resources, on a proper representation of 
the citizens of the parish of Feliciana, 
setting forth the advantages likely to be 
derived from a work of this kind, would 
no doubt contribute largely to its accom- 
plishment. And, I'll venture to say that 
in Mississippi the subject will meet with 
a candid and impartial consideration. 

There is, perhaps, no road in the 
U. States, of the same extent, as well 
calculated for the construction of a rail- 
way, or where the immediate benefits of 
a work of the kind would be sooner ex- 
perienced or felt. Let us therefore en- 
deavor to elicit and draw the attention 
of the public to the subject and let us 
continue our labors in this respect until 
we find that we are struggling a hope- 
less cause. 

The work to be accomplished is too 
important and our resources too great 
finally to despair of success ; and when 
we reflect that in addition to what we 
may reasonably expect from the Legis- 
latures of Mississippi and Louisiana, the 
liberal and high minded inhabitants of 
the two states, possessing, as they do, 
capital and wealth, will extend their aid 
and friendly co-operation in effecting a 
work which, I think, must eventually 
shed its light and blessing upon this sec- 
tion of the country. 

The facilities of transportation af- 
forded from this method of transporta- 
tion is acknowledged to be superior to 
any other kind and upon the mere esti- 
mate of the cost in horses and wagons, 
would prove a saving to each planter in 
the transportation of his cotton to mar- 
ket of from $200 to $500 annually, an 



important desideratum, these times, in a 
man's expenses. 

But it may be asked how is this to be 
effected? In what way are these things 
to be brought about? Let us therefore 
look at the system (although in doing 
so we shall take an imperfect view of 
it) and see if we are mistaken in our 
deductions. 

From the most early and authentic 
accounts we have of the railroad or rail- 
ways, they were first thought of in the 
collieries of England as far back as 
1602 and 1649 and that the inhabitants 
of New Castle and the neighboring 
country derived at that time and at sub- 
sequent periods greater facilities in the 
transportation of coal from the pits to 
the shipping than was ever had from any 
other species of roads. But before the 
system had arrived, at much perfection 
the usual method of construction, 
a late and distinguished writer on the 
subject, was to this effect a road 
was traced six feet in breadth, it was 
then excavated to level the ground, and 
to arrive at a proper distance of two or 
three feet from each other the pieces 
square, at their extremities only, upon 
these were laid down and fastened other 
pieces of wood in the direction of the 
road. These were sawed six or seven 
inches broad by five deep and secured to 
the other pieces with pins of wood ; they 
extend on each side of the road along its 
whole length ; commonly they are placed 
at four feet distance from each other 
and form the breadth of the road; but 
the wooden rails not answering the pur- 
pose so well, and being found subject to 
decay, they were changed to that now 
used and recommended by Strickland 
and others ; the cast or wrought iron 
rails eighteen or twenty feet in length, 
which are fastened down upon supports 
at every three feet. And I find on a 
road thus constructed, from the obser- 
vations of Col. Long, in his letter to the 
president of the Baltimore & Ohio Rail- 
road Company, that the weight of the 
carriage compared to that of its maxi- 
mum load, is as 1 to 2.5 ; and that the 
force of traction equal to 1 pound, is 
supposed to drag a load of 150 pounds. 
(To be continued} 



L. P. MOREHOUSE 



T GUIS PECK MOREHOUSE was 
born in New Haven, Conn., March 
30, 1835, and died March 18, 1916. 
Graduated from Yale College in 1856, 
and in 1857 entered the service of the 
Illinois Central Railroad as an assistant 
engineer, and was successively Assistant 
Chief Engineer, Land Commissioner, 
Tax Commissioner and Custodian of 
Deeds. He was retired eleven years ago, 
and to a large extent has passed the in- 
tervening years on the Pacific coast. 

Mr. Morehouse was an honorary mem- 
ber of the Western Society of Engineers, 
of which he was one of the founders, and 
for many years its secretary. 

While in Chicago he lived in Kenwood, 
and was warden of St. Paul's Episcopal 
Church. 

He is survived by his widow, a daugh- 
ter and two sons. 

Mr. Morehouse has been writing for 
the Illinois Central Magazine some very 
interesting reminiscences of his connec- 
tion with that company, one of the 
articles appearing in the current number. 

He is well and affectionately remem- 




, L. P. MOREHOUSE. 

bered by the Illinois Central employes 
who were in the service during the time 
that he was an official. 




Personal Recollections of L. P. Morehouse, Who, 

Up to the Time of His Recent Death, Although 

on the Pension Roll, Still Considered 

Himself an Employe 



Before the first of these articles was pub- 
lished I suggested that the name of the 
writer should not be given, but Mr. Editor 
thought otherwise and has handed you my 
card. 

But as it is a good many years since my 
name has had any significance on the road, 
it may be well for me to introduce myself 
to the reader as having served in more than 
one department during my term of nearly 
fifty years and as Assistant Chief Engineer, 
Land Commissioner, or Tax Commissioner, 
having come in touch with the people, big 
and little, of whom I make mention in these 
pages. ' 

Colonel Mason, during the five years of 
construction, had brought from Connecticut 
quite a number of men who had been with 
him on the New York & New Haven, and 
Housatonic roads, and sdme of these re- 
mained after the Central was completed, 
taking different positions in the Operating 
Department. One of these remained a long 
time in the service and some of you will 
remember him, for he was the man who 
came in personal touch with more em- 
ployees than any other officer, and there 
certainly was one whose regular coming 
was more pleasing to everybody. 

C. H. Comstock, for many years Pay- 
master, was one of these New York & New 
Haven men. He had been the unfortunate 
conductor whose train plunged into the 
open draw at Norwalk, with the loss of 
so many lives at that time the worst rail- 
road accident the country had experienced. 
Along with the engineer of the train he 
had been placed on trial for murder? was 
it, Walter? but had been acquitted. He 
was very willing to accept an offer from 
Colonel Mason to come to Illinois. 

Mr. Franklin Fairman, for nearly fifty 
years connected with the freight depart- 
ment, Assistant General Freight Agent, 
Auditor of Freight Accounts, etc., was also 
a Connecticut man, although only indirectly 
one of Colonel Mason's people. He came 
to La Salle in 1855 at the invitation of Mr. 
Keeler, the agent there, whom Colonel Ma- 
son had brought out from the Housatonic 
road. 

Mr. Fairman was very soon transferred 
to the General Freight Office at Chicago. 



Had he lived a year longer, to this time, 
I should be able to mention people and 
dates with more accuracy than I can do 
now, as he had a remarkable memory and 
was never at a loss to give time and place 
for any event of which he had previously 
known. 

Outside his railroad work Mr. Fairman 
was widely known in connection with the 
fraternal order of the National Union, to 
whose interests he devoted practically all 
his time and efforts during the ten years 
after his going onto the retired list. 

It was largely through his wise counsels 
that this organization attained the sound 
financial position it now holds. 

Most of you know the name of T. B. 
Blackstone, who for so many years was 
president of the Chicago & Alton. 

Mr. Blackstone was Division Engineer 
on the Bloomington division during con- 
struction of the Illinois Central. I think 
he was with Colonel Mason on the New 
York & New Haven, which was completed 
a short time before Colonel Mason came to 
Illinois. 

At Bradford, Connecticut, there was an 
enduring monument to Mr. Blackstone in 
the beautiful Blackstone Memorial Library, 
as well as at Kenwood in the Blackstone 
Memorial Library building there. 

Mr. Blackstone was a native of Brad- 
ford. 

But as the road neared completion there 
was a demand for officers who had had ex- 
perience in railroad ooeration and the di- 
rectors of the Illinois Central Railroad, 
the longest railroad in existence, went to 
one of the oldest in the country and up to 
that time the longest road, the Baltimore 
& Ohio, for them. I have already men- 
tioned Mr. Doane and Mr. Clarke. 

Samuel J. Hayes came as Superintendent 
of Machinery; John C. Jacobs was Super- 
intendent of the Amboy Division: C. C. 
Berrv was Trainmaster at Chicago; Stephen 
E. Knott was in charge of Passenger Re- 
pairs at Chicago. All these men had an 
affection for the B. & O. and were alwavs 
ready to talk about it. When Mr. Pull- 
man brought out his first sleeping cars Mr. 
Knott sniffed at the idea. The B. & O. 
had tried that a long time before and it 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



93 



was a failure. They put one car on but 
nobody would pay to ride in it, so it was 
taken off and put on a stock train for the 
free accommodation of the stockmen. 

By the way, the Michigan Central people 
also had no use for Mr. Pullman at first. 
They got out a sleeper with three tiers 
of berths, the upper one so high up that 
you could rub your nose on the ceiling 
above you, and the middle one was also 
pretty cramped. 

Of course, there was nothing inventive 
about Mr. Pullman's cars; everybody knew 
it was a revival of the old canal boat sys- 
tem, but somehow they came into use 
pretty rapidly, "And long may they wave!" 

Mr. Hayes was not only an efficient offi- 
cer, but a most likeable man one of the 
sunniest men I ever met. Ask Mr. E. T. 
Jeffery about him. Mr. Jeffery started as 
office boy with him, climbing up to the As- 
sistant Superintendent of Machinery, and 
then going to the General Manager. 

"Old Man Berry" was pretty taciturn 
generally, but when he got started he 
could talk B. & O., world without end, 
amen! 

Famous men had locomotives named after 
them. One of ours was the "C. C. Berry." 
And how the passenger engines did shine 
in those -days. Solomon in all his glory, 
etc.! Everything possible about them was 
brass, and this had to be kept in the most 
highly polished condition. The passenger 
ads always called attention to the mag- 
nificence of the locomotives. 

Coaches, however, were pretty poor af- 
fairs, with low, almost flat, roofs. When 
the Michigan Central put on some cars 
with monitor roofs the innovation was 
frowned down by the other roads. Such 
extravagance! 

Cars were lighted by candles big car 
candles. Of course, there was a wood 
stove at each end of the car. 

During the construction of the road, 1852 
to 1856. sections of it were put in operation 
from time to time and rolling stock had 
gradually been accumulated when, in Sep- 
tember, 1856, the entire line of 705 miles 
was completed. 

Wood burning locomotives were at that 
time in use on most roads, and all of the 
Illinois Central engines were of that type. 
But the Baltimore & Ohio people began im- 
mediately to introduce coal and in a few 
years the wood burners disappeared. 

In 1859 there came a radical change in 
our department. Captain McClellan devoted 
himself to his general duties as Vice-Presi- 
dent and General Manager, and Mr. L. H. 
Clarke was made Chief Engineer. He was 
at the time Division Engineer of the Third 
Division with his office at Champaign. He 
had been on the road since 1852. His as- 
sistant, J. M. Healey, was made Division 
Engineer, and I was transferred to Mr. 



Clarke's office when he came to Chicago. 

Mr. Biddle left the road, and, I might 
mention here, was on General McClellan's 
staff during the war. 

In 1860 McClellan went to the Ohio & 
Mississippi as President and was filling 
that position when the war broke out. 

You can read your history if you desire 
to follow him further. 

Speaking of history, however, a curious 
error has gotten into some histories of 
Chicago in which it is stated that in 1843 
our Captain George B. McClellan was in 
charge of the harbor at Chicago and put 
in some protection work at the mouth of 
the river. 

Inasmuch as in that year our Captain 
was only sixteen years old and was just 
beginning his studies at West Point, this 
is evidently a case of mistaken identity. 

In 1843 the only McClellan holding a 
commission in the United States Army was 
Captain John McClellan, who left West 
Point in 1826. Doubtless Captain John was 
the engineer officer in 1843 who did the 
work at Chicago. 

The Illinois Central not only was the 
longest railroad on the Continent, but the 
Chicago passenger house was the largest 
building of that character. It extended 
from South Water Street nearly to Ran- 
dolph Street. The shed was covered by 
an arch roof of one hundred and sixty-six 
feet span. The South Water Street end 
contained the waiting rooms on the ground 
floor and the general offices in the second 
and third stories. 

Turchin's water color is an accurate 
representation of the building. The preser- 
vation of this drawing was quite a help in 
getting our insurance after the great fire. 

I suppose the picture still hangs in the 
Vice-President's office. 

Nobody could ever explain to me why 
General Mason had trains on the double 
track between Chicago and Kensington 
(then Calumet) take the lefthand track. 
The nearest explanation was that this was 
the English method and as the English ele- 
ment was largely represented in the stock- 
holding he desired to cater to this by in- 
timating that the management would be 
along English lines. Possibly, for this 
practice did not obtain on any other roads 
which he built. 

However, it is possible that he really was 
not responsible for this. The fifteen miles 
between Chicago and Calumet were built 
in 1852, long before any other part of the 
road was in operation, for the exclusive use 
of the Michigan Central, and it would seem 
likely that the road which was to operate 
these tracks for three or four years would 
have the say as to how they should be 
used. 

You can take your choice, or make your 
own guess. 



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ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



I have mentioned that in 1857 the Land 
Department was the most important de- 
partment of the Company. Mr. John Wil- 
son was Land Commissioner, having re- 
signed the similar position in the United 
States Land Office at Washington to ac- 
cept this one. Mr. Wilson lived on Park 
Row in one of the continuous row of three- 
story brick houses that extended west from 
the railroad. 

After the Michigan Avenue houses north 
of Lake street were sold, Captain McClel- 
lan moved to the most easterly house in 
this row. The Chicago general office build- 
ing includes the lot which this house occu- 
pied. 

Since Mr. Wilson's time the position of 
Land Commissioner has been filled by a 
number of gentlemen, among whom I re- 
member very pleasantly Mr. J. B. Calhoun. 
He was one of Colonel Mason's Bridgeport 
people and, I think, at first Assistant Treas- 
urer in Chicago. 

Mr. Calhoun was apt to see the funny 
side of things. You perhaps are familiar 
with the name of Isaac R. Hitt, at one time 
a leading politician. He had an office sign, 
"I. R. Hitt, Attorney at Law." Mr. Cal- 
houn objected to this. He said, "I Are 
Hit" was not grammatical. It should read, 
''I Am Hit." 

When in December, 1860, the first ordi- 
nance of secession from the Union was 
passed, we had a large map of the United 
States hanging in our office. Mr. Calhoun 
painted a heavy black ink border around the 
State of South Carolina, in mourning for 
her lamentable suicide. 

While speaking of the Land Department, 
perhaps I might mention here a eentle- 
man who had a long connection with the 
road and was for several years Cashier of 
this Department. 

Billy W was hail fellow well met, with 
everybody, a jolly good fellow, which no- 
body could deny. But you can overdo even 
a good thing. One day Mr. Osborn de- 
scended on the Department and made a 
personal investigation of matters. In the 
Cashier's drawer were a lot of papers which 
had been in -the habit of going into the 
daily balance as Cash on Hand, but which, 
strictly, were not cash. 

It seems that when any one was short 
of money he went to Mr. W and obtained 
the necessary amount from him, leaving his 
I. O. U. for the five dollars or five hundred 
dollars as it might be. 

I have spoken of Mr. Osborn as of a 
nervous temperament, and this method of 
handling cash excited him considerably. In 
fact he used such language that Mr. W at 
once decided to leave the service. 

One or two others whose acknowledge- 
ments were for considerable amounts also 
resented Mr. Osborn's remarks and did the 



But Mr. W was really a valuable man 
and, some time after, was given a position 
in the President's Office. During this em- 
ployment I was myself assigned to duties 
there after the disbanding of the Engineer- 
ing Department, and was uncertain whether 
in the future I was to be made fish, flesh 
or fowl. 

I would like to put on record that I was 
much indebted to Mr. W 's kindly phil- 
osophy in tiding over several months of 
uncertainty. 

Mr. W. R. Arthur was General Superin- 
tendent during a good part of "Period A." 
In those days the General Superintendent 
was the head of the operating department. 
General Managers had not been evolved. 

The Engineer Department had charge of 
tracks, bridges, buildings, real estate, and 
in fact all tangible property, except rolling 
stock, machinery, and office and station fur- 
niture. But the Chief Engineer reported to 
the General Superintendent. 

I always regarded Mr. Arthur as a very 
able executive officer. In some respects 
he was like Mr. Osborn, but the latter al- 
ways put his own judgment before that of 
any who differed from him, while Mr. Ar- 
thur was willing to hear, and sometimes to 
be governed by, the opinions of others. 

It was said that he would swear a blue 
streak, but there was no personal malice in 
his emphasis. His men were afraid of him, 
but I think he was regarded as a just man 
and was generally well liked. 

He certainly was desirous of doing what 
he could for the benefit of the employes. I 
heard him. say that after the road earned 
enough to pay the stockholders their divi- 
dends, he wanted the men to have the rest. 

When he left us Mr. Arthur went to the 
North Missouri as General Superintendent. 

I have mentioned Twrchin as the man 
who made the Passenger House drawing 
which hangs in the Vice-President's (?) 
Office. He was an accomplished engineer 
and draftsman who had been an engineer 
officer in the Russian Army, and had left 
Russia shortly after the close of the Crim- 
ean War. He was not given to talking, but 
occasionally would impart interesting in- 
formation and ideas. One thing, however, 
which he narrated as a fact derived from 
his personal experience seems to have been 
proved untrue in later days. He told me 
that men never met in a bayonet charge. 
Before the Cloud struck one side or the 
other gave way and ran. 

Personally, I have had no opportunity 
for obseration, but in subsequent wars there 
are any number of accounts where oppos- 
ing bodies of troops have crossed bayo- 
nets. How is it, Captain Dinkins, do they 
really meet, bayonet to bayonet, or are 
bayonet wounds given and received only 
when one party is in flight? 

Shortly after our war broke out, Tur- 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



95 



chin was put in command of the Nineteenth 
Illinois, and soon was made a Brigadier 
General. 

One feature of his military career was 
that he was court martialed for (his friends 
said) knowing more than his superior offi- 
cers. I forget the exact charge, but the 
penalty was a light one. 

Haec fabula docet, young man, that it is 
not prudent to know more than vour boss, but 
remember that 'the best way to do the particu- 
lar thing is the way the boss thinks it ought 
to be done. 

After the war General Turchin did con- 
siderable colonization work for the Land 
Department. Radon was established by 
him as a Russian settlement. 

I have in my mail this morning ? letter 
postmarked at a neighboring city and I 
know it is from a somewhat regular corre- 
spondent of mine, a young lady who is a 
student at a well known college. Her let- 
ter calls to my mind the fact that the world 
is moving on, and that the people around 
me are many years removed from those 
who were with me on the streets of Chi- 
cago in this Period A of which I am writ- 
ing. 

For it is through Catherine's great-grand- 
father that I happen to know Catherine. 
Yes, I've said it correctly, "great-grand- 
father," although it is pretty difficult to 
realize that I was contemporary with a 
person of that venerable designation. 

The letter coming at this moment brings 
to mind an incident connected with this re- 
mote ancestor and my early housekeeping 
experiences, which, by the way, I would 
hardly narrate in all details to Catherine. 

C. F., the patriarch spoken of, was Su- 
perintendent of the Illinois Central Car 
Works (at Twenty-fifth Street), and a man 
of emphasis and action. I had occasion to 
see him frequently on business and became 
accustomed to his free and easy way of 
handling the English language, so I was 
not surprised one day to ^et a telegram 
from him to this effect, "What shall I do 
with that dam cow?" 

You see, I had recently gone into a mat- 
rimonial partnership with a young lady, 
who from that time to this has been "The 
Young Lady," and some little time after 
we had gone to housekeeping we decided 
that to make our happiness more complete- 
ly complete it would be a good scheme to 
have a cow. There was a barn on our 
premises, and we would have a place to 
keep her all right. 

So I sent twenty-five dollars to Dan Fair- 
man, who was Yard Master at Amboy. and 
asked him to send me a nice voung cow 
waybilled to me in care of C. F., at Car 
Works. "D. H." of course. Eggs, butter, 
barrels of flour, potatoes, car loads of 
wood, and cows, all came that way. It was 
oretty hard when everybody had to pay 
half rates. 



Well, my cow had arrived, and I took the 
noon Hyde Park train to. the car works. 
I had no trouble in locating my property, 
for the air was resonant with the more or 
less soft notes in which Molly was express- 
ing her emotions. 

As cows were not often handled on these 
tracks, it was some little trouble to unload 
this particular one, but this was facilitated 
by a vigorous application of Anglo-Saxon 
English on the part of C. F., in which he 
expressed his opinion of cows and their 
purchasers. 

Perhaps I might as well continue the cow 
episode to its finality as it will give you a 
glance at some of the features of Chicago 
life at this time. 

We lived on Michigan Avenue near the 
corner of Twenty-sixth Street, where Trin- 
ity Church now stands. We told our 
friends that there was only one house be- 
tween us and the Gulf of Mexico, and none 
at all west of us this side of the Mississippi 
River. The house south of us, near Twen- 
ty-ninth Street, was occupied by a real 
estate man who was wild enough to predict 
that sometime the city would be built up 
out t,o Thirty-fifth Street! 

Oh, he was a visionary! 

Our house had seven rooms, a woodshed, 
a barn, a well, a cistern, and a tree in front. 

At first we paid eight dollars a month, 
but in May the greedy landlord raised the 
rent to ten dollars. Our grocery store was 
at the corner of State and Twenty-second 
Street. 

Returning to our cows, every morning 
the cow man came along driving one or 
two hundred cows picked up from down 
town, and Molly joined the company, which 
during the day pastured on the unfenced 
nrairie south and west of us. At sunset the 
lowing herds winded slowly over the lea 
to the music of tinkling bells, and Molly 
generally paused near her barn. But oc- 
casionally the wanderlust held her and she 
didn't show up either at night or in the 
morning. Then it devolved on The Young 
Lady to devote her energies to an explo- 
ration far out upon the prairie in search of 
her. But only upon one occasion did the 
guest have to get beyond Forty-third 
Street. 

What would you people say now-a-days 
to see a dainty young lady escorting a cow 
over the prairie from Forty-third to Twen- 
ty-sixth Street? 

This eccentricity on the part of Molly 
was not, moreover, her only one. At first 
I had enthusiastically taken up the milk- 
ing business, but it came to be rather mo- 
notonous and I got Aleck, a neighboring 
youngster, to perform this operation. How- 
ever, after a while the quart at a milking 
which Aleck took for toll was almost all 
that Molly contributed. Therefore it was 
a relief to us when Molly considerately 



96 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



died. I was quite willing to pay three 
dollars for her burial expenses. 

Perhaps you would better not buy a cow. 

The end- of Period A brings us to the 
Civil War, and I recently read a news- 
paper paragraph that brought back forci- 
bly to me the state of feeling that pre- 
vailed when hostilities first began. Mr. 
Seward, Secretary of State, had optimisti- 
cally stated that the trouble would be over 
in ninety days, and unfortunately there 
were few people who realized that the con- 
flict must necessarily continue to a state 
of exhaustion. 

Indeed, had this been fully appreciated 
at the beginning it is probable that the 
North would have refused to enter upon 
such a gigantic task. 

The paragraph that I refer to was to the 
effect that General George A. Forsyth was 
dead at Rockport, Massachusetts. 

General Forsyte's name had not been 
prominently before the public for a good 
many years, but during the War he made 
a record for bravery and ability, and after- 
wards became widely known on account of 
the desperate battle in 1868, which he and 
his command of fifty men, intrenched on 
a small island in the Republican River, 
waged for nine days against a force of 
several hundred Indians. The spot is 
pointed out as you go over the Union 
Pacific. 

After being retired from the Army, he 
wrote several books pertaining to military, 
life. One of them, "The Story of the 
Soldier," is an exhaustive volume relating 
to the United States Army. 

I have mentioned that I was accustomed 
to sit in a certain pew in the Second Pres- 
byterian Church, and George occupied it 
with me. We both boarded at Mrs. Van's, 
115 Wabash Avenue. 

George enlisted in Barker's Dragoons 
for the three months' term, and after be- 
ing mustered out entered the service again 
as Second Lieutenant in the 8th Illinois 
Cavalry. He was taking a look at himself 
in the peer glass in the parlor just after 
donning his new uniform, and I said, 
"That's a pretty expensive suit, George, it 
seems to me." And he replied, 

"Oh, I thought I might as well get a 
good one. When this thing is over, we 
fellows will be trotted out on public oc- 
casions, and I shall want something good 
to wear!" 

I have often thought that he must have 
had use for several more suits before the 
thing was over. But his remark pretty 
well expressed the prevalent public opin- 
ion. 

When the War actually beean. the Illi- 
nois Central people were frightened to 
death. A provision in the charter erave the 
United States the right to use the road 
without charge, and occasionally small 



bodies of soldiers had been carried free 
under this clause. It would now seem 
that for an indefinite time the road would 
be used very largely for military purposes, 
and with no remuneration for this service 
the inevitable result would be bank- 
ruptcy. 

But Mr. John M. Douglas, afterwards 
President, then principal attorney for the 
company evolved an interpretation that 
not only saved the day, but enabled the 
company to pay ten per cent dividends 
before the war ended. 

While the road was free for the use of 
the United States, there was no objection 
on the part of the company to perform 
the service of transportation. The Gov- 
ernment might put on its own trains and 
run them, but if the railroad provided train 
service it should be allowed reasonable 
compensation. 

I forget just what was conceded for this, 
I think it was one-h?lf the regular rate. 

Mr. Douglas was president from 1865 to 
1871. ' He was very different in his manner 
and method from his predecessor, Mr. Os- 
born. The latter looked sharply after de- 
tails of operation as well as the financial 
problems, but Mr. Douglas was contented 
to leave the operation to the respective 
heads of departments. The maintenance 
of the ten percent dividend was his prin- 
cipal anxiety. At least I think so from the 
fact that he seldom came into our office 
strictly on department business, but did 
come in occasionally and demand, "What 
I want to know. Clarke, is how I am going 
to get my dividends!" 

Mr. Osborn talked a great deal; Mr. 
Douglas was reticent. He apparently did 
a great deal of thinking. He had lived in 
Galena a long time before he came to 
Chicago, and was thoroughly familiar with 
that part of the state. I have heard him 
say that in his time there was more wealth 
in Galena than in Chicago. 

Perhaps I might mention here an inci- 
dent concerning the name of Mr. Douglas 
that occurred some twenty years or more 
after the ti^ne I have just been speaking 
of. 

In speaking of Mr. Osborn, I said that 
he was very much in favor of the 1867 
lease, under which we obtained control of 
the Iowa lines. But I think the plan origi- 
nated with Mr. Douglas, who saw the 
necessity of branching out into new terri- 
tory. 

Some years after the lease went into 
operation the New York people seemed to 
think thev had made a mistake, but Mr. 
Douslas, I know, made a strenuous defense 
of the arrangement. 

I was talking with Judee Harris, our 
district attorney, in his office at Jackson, 
Mississippi, and we spoke of Chicago. 
Judge Harris had never been there, al- 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



97 



though his friend, Judge -Douglas, years 
ago, had often urged him to visit him. 
I was somewhat surprised to learn that 
these gentlemen were so well acquainted, 
but having met Mr. Douglas a few weeks 
before, I said that I had so seen him 
and that he was evidently in very poor 
health. 

Looking at me pitingly, Judge Harris 
responded with much dignity, "Sir, I refer 
to the Honorable Stephen A. Douglas, 
formerly United States Senator from Illi- 
nois, who died in the year 1861!" 

I lamely tried to explain that my Judge 
Douglas had been so long in my mind 
as prominently connected with Chicago 
and the Illinois Central that I supposed he 
was the person alluded to, and moreover 
that I was aware that the favorite son of 
Illinois, "The Little Giant," had passed 



away many years before. But the Judgr 
evidently thought I was very stupid. 

I suppose it was in the middle fifties, nl 
Washington, when the Honorable Wilov 
P. Harris and the Honorable Stephen A. 
Douglas were chums, the former then be- 
ing a representative from Mississippi and 
the latter a Senator from Illinois. 

Mr. Douglas was president again in 187r> 
1876 and 1877. 

But I am not sure that Mr. Douglas was 
a great lawyer. 

We would draw up a contract in ouv 
office, and I would take it to him for re- 
vision. "Read it," he would say. And 
then, "Do you mean just what you say?" 
"Yes, sir." "Then it is all right, there is 
no special form of words necessary if you 
make your meaning perfectly clear." 

But other great lawyers would have 
doctored it. 




ntri buttons 



from 




Handling Rail on Ship-Board 

X 

By J. J. Henneberry, Burnside Storehouse 



DECENTLY the Illinois Central re- 
ceived from the Algoma Steel Cor- 
poration,. Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, 
two cargoes of new 90-lb. rail. This 
rail comes over the Great Lakes to the 
Illinois Central pier at Chicago, where 
it is transferred direct to cars on the 
pier. 

Before unloading the captain must 
notify the United States Internal Rev- 
enue Inspector, by whom the cargo is 
released. Each of the steamers, T. J. 
Drnmmond and J. A. McKee, has a 
verv large tonnage, and there was on 
each steamer approximately 2,950 
tons. They each have three different 
hatches. Over each hatch is a 
"wench," by which the rail is hoisted 
from the hatch. A wire cable and 
heavy rail tongs are used. Two men 
work down in the hatch, while one 
operates the wench. The rail is raised 



endways, through the hatch, until it 
clears the deck, then lowered until the 
lower end rests on some planks on the 
deck, another man guiding the rail 
with a long hook. The rail is lowered 
on two skid rails, which are close to 
the hatch. Four to six men slide it 
along the skids until it reaches the 
side of the car. It is then handled by 
two men on the car, each of which has 
a rail tong, and work with 990-pound 
rails as a child would with blocks. The 
writer can fully appreciate the art of 
rail handling, as they do it, for he had 
the experience of trying to put a rail 
in place on a car. Certainly it gives 
one who is green at it an awful shak- 
ing up. 

Of the three hatches, the middle one 
contains the greatest amount of rail, 
the head one next and the rear one the 
least. With the full cargo the steamer 



98 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 




draws 22 to 24 feet, and when the 
cargo is unloaded only 8 to 10 feet. 
The rate of unloading is from 55 to 60 
rails an hour for one hatch. Three 
hatches work at the same time, a car 
being set to each hatch. 

The first illustration gives a fairly 
good idea of the wench, the skid rails 
and shows the rail in the air. It also 
shows a rail lying on the deck, which 
has been rejected by the inspector. On 
raising the rails from the hatch it 
sometimes occurs that the tongs do not 
get a secure clutch on the rail, letting 
the rail drop back into the hatch. This 
bends the rail, making it unfit for use. 
After the end is rested on the deck the 
grip sometimes loosens, and the rail 
drops upon the skid rails ; this also 
bends the rail. All bent rails are re- 
turned to the steel mills on the same 
boat. The danger of dropping these 
rails makes it very hazardous work, 



and men are continually cautioned to 
be careful "Always Safety First " 

The second picture shows the three 
hatches at work. There is a rail in the 
air at the first hatch, one lying on the 
skid rails at the middle hatch, and the 
far hatch is evidently on the point of 
raising a rail from the hatch. As 
skids from the side of the boat to the 
cars, rails are used for the first 18 or 20 
cars loaded, and as the boat lightens 
the rails are relieved by planks. The 
first few cars to be loaded are flat cars ; 
the surface of the car is higher than 
the side of the boat, making it an up- 
hill push, and hard at first, but as the 
boat lightens it becomes easier, until 
toward the last they have to hold the 
rails back, even with planks as skids. 
The third picture was taken as the 
boat was about two-thirds unloaded, so 
one can see that it gets very high by 
the finish. 



There Is No Car Shortage 

As Seen by Illinois Central Car Number 143000 
F. B. Wilkinson 



IF YOU should tell Tom Smith, who is a 
cotton buyer down in Tennessee, that 
THERE IS NO CAR SHORTAGE, he 
would think you crazy and would very 
promptly inform you that you were a pre- 
varicator and that of the first water. 

Now Mr. Smith has good reasons for 
believing that there is a car shortage. He 
has about 1500 bales of cotton in the com- 
press, wanted by New England Mills, which 
he cannot deliver because there are no cars 
available in which to move it. 

This cotton is worth, on an average $60.00 
per bale and the freight charges will amount 
to $1.00 on each, so you see, Mr. Smith is 
paying interest on $90,000 worth of cotton 
and $1,500 worth of freight bills all because 
there are no cars available. 

Another Tennessean, John Jones, owns 
a small strawberry farm in Madison County. 
Madison County has greatly improved in 
recent years, or to be more explicit, since 
the coming of the Demonstration Farm and 
Community Clubs. 

Twenty years ago, when Judge McCorry 
and Attorney Bullock used to ride together 
through the country in a buggy on their 
way to Court, the red clay land was ex- 
tremely poor and farming very unprofit- 
able. 

Once on a sultry summer day as they 
were driving along a stretch of hot, sandy 
road, the attorney noticed an old one-gallus 
farmer ploughing a worn out mule up on 
the side of a red clay hill. It was as hot 
is blue blazes. 

"Judge," said Bullock, "look at that poor 
devil up there. We often complain of our 
lot in life but when we see a man like that 
we should certainly be thankful that we 
do not have to labor as he does for our 
iaily bread." "Yes, Bullock," replied the 
Judge, "that is true, but perhaps his case 
's not so bad as we imagine. Maybe he 
ioesn't own the darn farm; maybe he just 
rents it!" 

Things have changed since then. Our 
friend Jones has fertilized and farmed scien- 
tifically and in a few days his berries will be 
ready for shipment to the northern markets 
where a good price awaits them, provided 
he can get them there in salable condition. 

Here comes the rub! 

His berries must move under ice and no 
refrigerator cars are available. They are all 
tied up in the congestion in the East. 



Jones is in a worse fix than Smith, for 
berries cannot be held in storage until cars, 
can be secured. His berries must move or 
his crop will be a total loss. Jones doesn't 
think there is a car shortage; he knows it! 

While the people say there is a car short- 
age, we can maintain that there is not for 
we know there is enough good order equip- 
ment in the United States to promptly move 
all the freight if a fair degree of efficiency 
could be obtained with each car. 

What then is* the trouble? Why can't 
Smith, Jones, et als., get their freight 
moved? It is this. Railroads are the bowl 
of the funnel and the ports and other ter- 
mini are its spouts. THE SPOUT HAS 
CLOGGED UP! 

When the war in Europe got into full 
swing, a stream of ammunition, supplies and 
equipment began to pour through the fun- 
nel, the small end of which is the Eastern 
Atlantic Ports. 

All was well just so long as vessels were 
on hand to receive the flood of business as 
rapidly as the funnel discharged it; but the 
U Boats got in their work, vessels were 
diverted from American ports by the En- 
tente Allies who needed them to move 
troops, soon the docks and warehouses 
were filled and the weather got bad. 

The funnel stopped up and began to over- 
flow. 

Now was the time for the buyers for the 
Allies to study American geography and to 
divert the business to the open South At- 
lantic ports, but instead, they continued to 
send the bulk of it to the East over the rails 
of roads already congested and battling 
against the rigors of a hard winter. 

Maybe this was done to save a long rail 
haul, but it is more probable that it was 
done because the New York banks were 
handling the Allies funds and it was easier 
to verify the ladings and pay the drafts in 
New York than at more distant points. 

In the meantime the big and little guns 
on the battle front were devouring moun- 
tains of ammunition and clamoring for 
more. 

The War God must be fed! The feeders 
wielded the Big Stick while Uncle Sam 
held the Pen. Unfortunately for our friends 
Smith and Jones: 

"The Stick is mightier than the Pen." 

Uncle Sam protested but the guns grew 
more and more insistent and ships, which 



99 



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ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



contained small lots of munitions, sailed, 
only partially loaded, leaving part of their 
tonnage on the already over-crowded docks. 

Vessels loading at South Atlantic Ports 
were rushed half filled to New York where 
they took on small lots of munitions and 
were hurried away to Europe. 

The Allies were not interested in Smyth 
and Jones and the guns and soldiers must 
be fed! 

Thousands of good cars stood loaded on 
sidings, many miles from New York, wait- 
ing their turn to be moved in and emptied 
as the vessels took the freight. But few 
vessels came. They were needed for trans- 
ports and other work and the U Boats con- 
tinued to take their deadly toll. 

Alarmed by bad conditions which were 
rapidly growing worse, the business people 
in the congested territory anticipated their 
wants and bought in large quantities, hop- 
ing to fill their warehouses before the con- 
gestion became too acute and they thus 
precipitated a condition bordering on chaos. 

Unable to get relief through the ports, 
overwhelmed by the flood of tonnage for 
local delivery, and handicapped, and in some 
cases, paralyzed, by storms and blizzards 
they gave up the ghost. 

Thousands of good cars, urgently needed 
to move the traffic of non-congested terri- 
tory in other sections of the country stood 
idle for weeks while their owners made 
appeal after appeal for their return and in 
the meantime hundreds of other good cars, 
loaded with freight for the congested terri- 
tory were slipping away and stranding on 
the sidings of the helpless lines in the East. 

With our friend Smith in mind and hop- 
ing that the situation would soon be eased, 
the lines west of Pittsburgh hesitatingly 
continued to permit their equipment to be 
loaded with freight destined to the East. 
With so many cars going away and none 
returning, their territory soon began to 
keenly feel the loss. 



To continue to lose their equipment meant 
ruin to Jones, Brown and all their local 
patrons except Smith, who could protect 
himself by finding other markets for his 
goods. 

With all hope for an early return of their 
equipment lost, a temporary embargo was 
laid and the further loss of cars averted. 

Nothing else could be done if the busi- 
ness of the country was to be saved. 

We cars believe that a lesson is to be 
learned from all this and if it is well learned 
that the cost will not prove too dear. 

"It is the value of the Individual Car." 

There are so many cars that people think 
of them by the thousand and feel that the 
delay to just one of them does not matter. 
Is this true? Let us see. The Illinois 
Central owns 68,079 cars. 

The public demand 48 hours free time for 
loading and 48 hours free time for unload- 
ing when 24 hours free time would be ample. 
Let a man need a car to load and see how 
quickly he will unload it. Let us assume 
that a car makes only one trip each thirty 
days. On Illinois Central cars alone 136,158 
car days per month would be saved if 24 
hours instead of 48 hours were used for 
loading and unloading. 

Each month these cars could move, if 
loaded to capacity, more than 181,520 ad- 
ditional tons of freight. 

Boiled down, it means that not less than 
4,538 Illinois Central cars stand idle every 
day because they are not loaded and un- 
loaded promptly by the business men of the 
country. 

If 4,538 cars belonging to one railroad are 
avoidably idle each day from this one cause, 
would not the situation be greatly relieved 
if all cars were released promptly? 

Watch the cars, see how needlessly many 
of them are delayed and then tell me if you 
do not agree with me that THERE IS NO 
CAR SHORTAGE. 



To the Employes of the Illinois Central Railroad 

By D. L. Bowen, Chief Caller, Memphis, Tenn, 



THE subject of economy in the different 
* departments has been the source of a 
great deal of discussion and about which 
a great deal has been written. And yet, 
with the eyes of one of my limited railroad 
experience, it is plain to see that an amaz- 
ing amount of money could be saved our 
company each year if each employe would 
do even a part of what he can do. This 
spirit should not be entered into with tite 
thought, "Just look what we are doing for 
this company," but "See what a saving is 
being made by each of us doing our duty," 
which most certainly is the duty of each of 
us to this great system which gives us em- 
ployment. 



In my opinion, a great waste is caused by 
carelessness, unthoughtfulness and seeming 
indifference of our employes, because 
THEY DO NOT STOP TO CONSIDER 
THAT IT IS THE SMALL THINGS 
WHICH CONSTITUTE THE LARGE 
ONES. If they did they would not waste, 
destroy, misappropriate, fail to utilize the 
supplies, equipment, accessories, tools or 
other material furnished by the company 
for company use. 

Ask yourself the question, WOULD I 
RETAIN AN EMPLOYE, WERE I IN 
BUSINESS, WHO DID NOT WORK 
TO MY INTEREST, WASTED MA- 
TERIAL, MISAPPROPRIATED STOCK 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



101 



BECAUSE "THERE WAS PLENTY 
MORE WHERE THAT CAME FROM?" 
YOU MOST EMPHATICALLY WOULD 
NOT. 

Then let me ask you: If you are a mem- 
ber of the great WASTE ARMY of this 
company, responsible for thousands upon 
thousands of dollars of WASTE EXPERI- 
ENCE, because you fail to do your part 
to stop this AVALANCHE of what might 
almost be termed MALICIOUS CARE- 
LESSNESS, do you consider yourself a 
loyal employe? 

I wish to say in this connection that I 
have not been "practicing what I am now 
preaching," but, commencing now, and at 
all times, I am going to do what I can to 
save just as much as I can, just as often 
as I can, and I hereby make this unsolicited 
appeal to every employe of this system to 
join me. What do you say to setting the 
amount we are to save the first year by 
economizing at $1,000,000.00? This can very 
easily be done by a little energy spent in 
the right direction, and the proper consider- 
ation of the company for which we are 
working. TODAY is the time to start; are 
you ready? If you are not, I feel very 
frank in saying to you that you are not 
worthy of the position you hold. This sys- 
tem is far better to, and more considerate 
of, its employes than any other road in 
the country; it has the name of so doing. 
Let us then not only have the name of being 
appreciative, but get down to business and 
save $1,000,000.00 this year. 

If each of the 45,000 employes of this 
company will save just (5) cents per day, 
in one year's time we will have saved 
$820,550.00. If each of us will watch our- 
selves and not willfully waste anything, 
do not give anything away, even though it 
be ever so small or inexpensive, to anyone, 
for other than company use, utilizing ma- 
terial which can be utilized, taking care of 
things which can be sold for scrap, and will 
call the attention of other employes when 
they have forgotten their duty, even a 
greater saving can be effected. 

SAFETY FIRST we hear a great deal 
about. If safety to its employes and pa- 
trons COMES FIRST with the company, 
most assuredly economy should come sec- 
ond with the employe. 

The ECONOMICAL DEPARTMENT 
could be handled in the same manner as 
the Safety First plan. Each Division or 
Terminal could have its committees., rec- 



ords kept and reports rendered showing 
which made the best record for a certain 
period. In my opinion, however, I believe 
to attain the best results, a representative 
for each office, gang, crew, shop, plant or 
yard, or any place where several are work- 
ing together, should be appointed or elected 
to serve for a certain period, then the at- 
tention of any forgetfulness or lack of in- 
terest on the part of any of the employes 
could be called and the forgetful one would 
not feel hurt for being so reminded of his 
duty. I shall not attempt to enumerate the 
many hundred different ways that money 
can be saved by being careful and eco- 
nomical, but will just mention one or two 
as a starter in the ECONOMICAL DE- 
PARTMENT, which I sincerely hope will 
be organized at once: 

1. Have you ever stopped to consider 
that if just two tablespoons of oil be spilled 
or wasted while pouring, or transferring 
oil from one receptacle to another, each 
time each employe, whose duty it is to 
handle or to transfer same, that NO OIL 
TANK MADE WOULD HOLD ONE 
DAY'S LOSS? The next time you get a 
chance to watch some one fill an oil can 
see if he does not run it over before he 
is convinced that it is full. 

2. How many sheets of paper, carbon, 
pencils, envelopes, pins, pens, erasers, 
rubber bands, blotters and other station- 
ery do you waste a day? If you really 
knew, I wager you would be ashamed to 
tell it. 

We must bear in mind the smaller the 
article is, the least expensive ones, are the 
articles that we cannot estimate the cost 
of one, and yet when we figure the cost of 
several hundred of these small, inexpensive 
articles we then realize the SMALL 
THINGS DO COUNT AND COUNT 
BIG, TOWARD OUR MILLION DOL- 
LARS.. 

Let us take for our motto, ECONOMY 
SECOND. If we will practice this in our 
work it will soon become second nature 
to us; we will begin to economize at home, 
and as a result we will be better off men- 
tally and financially, the company will not 
be ravaged by the WASTE ARMY, and 
you can enjoy that feeling which every 
conscientious man wants to feel THAT 
YOU ARE DOING YOUR DUTY. 

If this subject interests you, talk to your 
fellow workmen and get them interested, 
submit your ideas and let us hear from you. 



Duty of Employe to Employer 

By J. M. Milstead 



17 VERY employe of a railroad is a unit of 
* ' that great corporation; and, should, in 
the sense of duty, consider himself a part 
of same. His work should be performed 



as though it were his own. Every piece of 
machinery and every car should be handled 
and worked the same as if he owned it; 
and every piece of work turned out should 



102 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



be as complete and perfect as tools and ma- 
terial could make it. My thirty-seven years 
as a railroad employe taught me that the 
man who performs the best work is the man 
who always succeeds. 

I have always endeavored to give the 
company one hundred cents for every dol- 
lar I receive. I formed the habit of doing 
my work well. Remember that the incal- 
culable aid of an educative, painstaking 
habit, in the furthering of one's fortunes 
can hardly be appreciated. The painstaking, 
accurate person will comprehend at a glance 
the details of work that to the dullard is 
an inextricable tangle. Cultivate the habit 
of seeing everything that should be done 
on the job you are at work on. Little things 
here and there overlooked may cause serious 
trouble, and possibly loss of life and proper- 
ty. Little things noticed and attended to, 
little scraps picked up, little notes made here 
and there, will in time come of good use. 
The man who is only looking for six o'clock 
and pay-day, the one who carelessly goes 
through his day's work is the man who runs 
on to disaster and defeat; while the pains- 
taking, industrious man will grasp the situa- 
tion, straighten out all kinks and produce 
success. 

I read once of a young man in a western 
railway superintendent's office who was an 
errand boy at the age of ten years, who, 
by the time he reached his majority, was 
chief dispatcher of the division. How did 
he get it? Not by having a rich father, 
for he was the son of a common laborer. 
The secret was his painstaking accuracy. 
During his spare time he studied and per- 
fected his writing and arithmetic. At each 
step his employer commended him for his 
accuracy and good work. In time he learned 
to telegraph and continued to advance, and 
thus it is with every occupation, the pains- 
taking, industrious man is the one that 
makes his mark. Those who employ men 
do not wish to be on the lookout to see 
that they do an honest day's work and that 
it is done right, for if the foreman has to 
stand over his men all the time to see that 
they do good work, you may be sure the 



employer is going to get rid of such men 
very soon. 

Saving is another item of great import- 
ance to railroads. Learn to save every- 
thing. Good material you can use. Scrap 
can go back and be reworked. I well re- 
member when the Kentucky Division just 
ran from Elizabethtown, to Paducah, in the 
early seventies. The road was operated in 
a slipshod way; went into the hands of a 
receiver, and changed hands and officers 
several times. At last a superintendent was 
appointed who started a scrap train, and 
picked up enough scrap on the line to pay 
for two locomotives. Waste had bankrupt- 
ed the road. I heard a man tell once of 
his experience when he started out to earn 
his own living, an orphan of 13 summers. 
He hired to a merchant to help in the store. 
One day a load of express goods were re- 
ceived, and it fell to his part to open up 
the new goods. He took out his knife to 
cut the strings from around the packages 
when the proprietor stopped him and said: 
"Do you see that man behind the counter, 
he is clerking for me now, all because he 
cut his strings and threw them in the waste 
heap instead of untying them and saving 
them." The man who told me this was 
then worth two hundred thousand dollars, 
and said that one little lesson in saving was 
worth what he then possessed. He put it 
into practice and succeeded by doing so. 
So it never pays to be wasteful. It never 
pays to be a botch of a workman. If you 
are a car man aim to do honest work and 
neat work. If you are a machinist, or boiler- 
maker, see that every bolt and rivet is as 
firm as if your life depended upon its 
properly fulfilling its duties. How many 
a young machinist has destroyed his own 
future and committed moral suicide by 
turning out a poor piece of work. It doesn't 
pay to do dishonest work. Do the best 
you can; and when that is done you will 
see an opening for something better. "The 
hands of the dilligent maketh rich." 

Be sure that the company will always 
reward you for merit. Don't forget that 
the highest officials know your ability as a 
workman, and will not forget your ability 
when the time comes. 





Uentonous o 



ous OQrvice 



FAVORABLE mention is made of the 
following conductors and gatekeepers for 
their special efforts in lifting and preventing 
the use of irregular transportation in connec- 
tion with which reports (Form 972) were 
rendered to the auditor of passenger receipts, 
who, in cases of this kind, advises the other 
departments concerned, so that proper action 
may be taken, all pass irregularities being 
brought to the attention of the vice-president. 

Illinois Division 

During May the following suburban gate- 
keepers lifted commutation tickets account 
having expired or being in improper hands : 
W. F. Bowe, 
K. F. Emmanuel. 

Conductor H. B. Jacks on train No. 24 May 
loth and No. 1 May 29th declined to honor 
card tickets account having expired and col- 
lected cash fares. Passengers were referred 
to passenger department for refund on tickets. 
Conductor T. W. Ward on train No. 34 May 
23rd declined to honor card ticket account 
having expired. Passenger purchased other 
transportation. 

St. Louis Division 

Conductor A. E. Reader on train No. 2 May 
5th and No. 22 May 16th declined to honor 
card tickets account having expired and col- 
lected cash fares. Passengers were referred 
to passenger department for refund on tickets. 
Conductor Van Smith on train No. 21 May 
8th declined to honor goine portion of ticket 
account returning portion being missing and 
collected cash fare. 

On train No. 23 May 23rd he lifted expired 
card ticket on which passenger admitted hav- 
ing previously secured transportation and col- 
lected cash fare. 

Conductor W. C. Walkup on train No. 201 
May 15th^ and No. 208 May 22nd declined to 
honor Agoing portions of card tickets account 
returning portions being missing and collected 
cash fares. 

Conductor J. W. Hallagan on train No. 60S 
May 22nd lifted expired card tickets on which 
passengers admitted havine previously secured 
transportation and collected cash fares. 

Wisconsin Division 

Conductor L. Bowley on train No. 331 
May 12th declined to honor card ticket account 
date of sale having been altered and collected 
cash fare. 

Conductor J. B. Stewart during May de- 
clined to honor several card tickets account 
having expired and collected cash fares. Pas- 
sengers were referred to passenger department 
for refund on tickets. 

On train No. 123 May 29th he lifted going 
portion of card ticket on which passenger ad- 
mitted having previously secured transporta- 
tion, and collected cash fare. 



Kentucky Division 

Conductor C. O. Sims on train No. 302 May 
1st declined to honor Sunday excursion ticket 
account having expired and collected cash fare. 
Conductor W. Y. Hansbrough on train No. 
104 May 12th lifted 48 trip coupon pass book 
in accordance with bulletin instructions and 
collected cash fare. 

Tennessee Division 

Conductor W. M. Blackburn on train No. 6 
May 8th lifted returning portion of Sunday 
excursion ticket account having expired and 
collected cash fare. 

Conductor J. E. Nelson on train No. 110 
May 15th declined to honor card ticket ac- 
count having expired and collected cash fare. 
Passenger was referred to passenger depart- 
ment for refund on ticket. 

Conductor J. S. Wesson on train No. 1 May 
28th lifted employe's trip pass account being 
in improper hands and collected cash fare. 

Mississippi Division 

Conductor F. J. Hines on train No. 23 May 
1st declined to honor Sunday excursion ticket 
account having expired and collected cash fare. 
On train No. 23 May 21st he declined to 
honor card ticket account having expired and 
collected cash fare. Passenger was referred 
to passenger department for refund on ticket. 
Conductor M. H. Ranson on train No. 5 
May 22nd declined to honor Sunday excursion 
ticket account having expired and collected 
cash fare. 

Conductor R. F. Cathey on train No. 24 
Mav 4th declined to honor card ticket account 
having expired and collected cash fare. Pas- 
senger was referred to passenger department 
for refund on ticket. 

Conductor A. M. King on train No. 3, May 
6th lifted penny scrip book account being in 
improper hands and collected cash fare. 

Conductor O. A. Harrison on train No. 34 
May llth declined to honor card ticket account 
expired and collected cash fare. Passenger 
was referred to passenger department for re- 
fund on ticket. 

Conductor B. B. Ford on train No. 3 May 
13th declined to honor mileage br>ok account 
being in improper hands and collected cash 
fare. 

Louisiana Division 

Conductor L. E. Barnes on train No. 1 May 
8th and No. 34 May 17th declined to honor 
Sunday excursion tickets account having ex- 
pired and collected cash fares. 

On train No. 34 May 25th he declined to 
honor mileage book account having expired 
and collected cash fare. 

On train No. 34 May 27th he lifted annual 
pass account passenger not being provided with 
identification slip and collected cash fare. 
Conductor G. O. Lord on train No. 6 May 



103 



104 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



12th lifted 54 ride individual ticket account 
having expired and collected cash fare. 

Conductor R. E. Mclnturff on train No. 23 
May 17th lifted employe's term pass account 
passenger not being provided with identifica- 
tion slip. Passenger refused to pay fare and 
was required to leave the train. 

Conductor M. Kennedy on train No. 331 
May 28th declined to honor mileage book ac- 
count having expired and collected cash fare. 
Memphis Division 

Conductor S. M. Todd on train No. 524 May 
18th lifted 46 ride monthly school ticket ac- 
count having expired and collected cash fare. 

Conductor G. T. Reeves on train No. 523 
May 22nd declined to honor Sunday excursion 
ticket account having expired and collected 
cash fare. 

Conductor J. W. Chambers on train No. 
523 May 29th declined to honor Sunday ex- 
cursion ticket account having expired and 
collected cash fare. 

Vicksburg Divisioh 

Conductor J. R. Hoke on train No. 15 May 
7th declined to honor Banana Messenger's 
ticket account having expired and collected 
cash fare. 

New Orleans Division 

Conductor R. E. Cook on tram No. 21 May 
2nd and No. 12 May 18th declined to honor 
Sunday excursion tickets account having ex- 
pired and collected cash fares. 

Conductor H. B. Cook on train No. 214 May 
4th^ lifted employe's term pass account being 
in improper hands and collected cash fare. 

Conductor S. K. White on train No. 12 May 
27th lifted trip pass restricted to intrastate 
travel account being presented with local 
tickets for an interstate trip and collected cash 
fares. 

Illinois Division. 

Conductor I. G. Bash has been com- 
mended for discovering and reporting I. C. 
115370 with no light weight stencilled on 
same. Arrangements were made to have 
car stencilled. 

Conductor J. F. Monahan, Extra 1775, 
has been commended for discovering and 
reporting I. C. 122101 with no light weight 
stencilled on same. Arrangements have 
been made to have car stencilled. 

Conductor Lindsay, extra 1598, June 21st, 
has been commended for discovering and 
reporting I. C. 69908 with no light weight 



stencilled on same. Arrangements have 
been made to have car stencilled. 

Towerman F. Palmer, Burnside, has been 
commended for discovering and reporting 
car in Erie Train No. 4, passing Burnside 
Tower with brake beam down, June 21st. 

Brakeman C. A. Stitt has been commend- 
ed for reporting rough place in track north 
of Branch Junction, June 24th. Upon in- 
vestigation it was found that both angle 
bars were gone from the rail and end of 
rail dropped about 4 inches. Section men 
were called to make repairs. This action 
undoubtedly prevented possible accident. 

Engineer F. Sabin has been commended 
for discovering and reporting corn leak- 
ing, out of I. C 43446 July 2nd. 

Agent L. E. Andrews of Humboldt, 111., 
has been commended for discovering and 
reporting brake beam down on I. C. 29095 
June 17th. Train was stopped and brake 
beam removed, thereby preventing possible 
accident. 

Signal Repairman Keller has been com- 
mended for discovering and removing 
broken angle bar found on switch point 
south bound main Gilman, June 6th. This 
action undoubtedly prevented possible ac- 
cident. 

Foreman P. G. McGuire has been com- 
mended for discovering coal leaking from 
car in train Extra 1753 north of Clifton. 

Conductor F. Pitcher, Extra 1672, June 

18th, has been commended for discovering 

and reporting car improperly stencilled. 

Arrangements were made to correct same. 

Springfield Division. 

Engineer John Hamilton, Fireman R. R. 
Reid. Conductor- G. W. Mclntyre, Brakemen 
W. H. Anderson and J. W. Keemer have 
been commended for discovering and ex- 
tinguishing fire south of Mt. Pulaski. 

Fireman E. M. Chandler has been com- 
mended for discovering and reporting 
broken angle bar on track south of Elwin. 
Repairs were pomptly made and possible 
accident prevented. 

St. Louis Division. 

Section Foreman Thos. Choat, Carter- 
ville, 111., has been commended for dis- 
covering and stopping Extra 733 north. 
May 6th, account of brake beam down and 
dragging. Brake beam was removed, 
thereby preventing possible accident. 



Di 



vision 

New Orleans 

Mr. Andrew A. Williams, passenger 
agent, New Orleans, represented that 
department in the Preparedness Pa- 
rade. 

Illinois Division 

Hy Stahl of Claim Department is 
glowing like a sunbeam, due to too much 



News 

tennis with the fair ones. 

Morris Rice and Walter Dorgan have 
been promoted to the car-record desk. 

Some class to Mr. Taylor's new straw. 
(J. L. A. F. E.) 

Gertrude Rosenburg entertained the 
E. B. girls at a stag at her home. All 
reported having had a fine time. 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



105 



Leroy Wellington Lappin is spending 
three weeks in the sunny south. 

We sympathize with Mr. Cassidy.in 
his recent bereavement and loss of his 
beloved sister. 

John Walsh of Claim Department 
went out west to seek his fortune but 
sad to relate, he changed his mind. 

Walter Sheehan and Gene Cochrane 
are dancing during their lunch hour at 
the Randolph Lunch Club. 

Is Lester Eckman married ? 

Eddie Kelly was surprised to have an 
old friend visit him recently. Ask Ed- 
die. 

Ewald Belk is the proud possessor of 
a full growth of shrubbery on his upper 
lip. 

Speaking of shrubbery we are in- 
clined to believe that Johnny Mackey 
of Claim Department will soon leave us 
to join the Holy Rollers or possibly the 
Carranzaites. 

E. H. Stahl's favorite dish is hot bis- 
cuits for breakfast. 

"Shorty" Begley is handling the in- 
terline fruit accounts. (Go to it 
"Shorty.") 

Is Jno. Stewart wearing his Bull 
Moose hat these days ? (is he?) 

Miss Francis Prendergast has had a 
riz from claim department to that of ac- 
count ^department. 

Join your jane on the joltless jitney 
joy jigger at Lincoln Park. 

Miss Anna Quinliven of cashier's de- 
partment has returned to her desk after 
an illness of several weeks. 

Quotation from Joe Odell ("hope it 
won't rain Sunday.") 

Master Harry Hedstrom of in-freight- 
house spent an enjoyable week in De- 
troit with his boy chum. 

"Shorty" Powers is ready to bet any 
one from here to New Orleans that the 
flag hung from a pole and not from the 
building. 

Frank Kusenback is Mr. Bulley's as- 
sistant. 

Curley Langan and Skinny Wright are 
hitting 'up some high scores in 40-love 
these days. 

Our slogan (votes for women). 



Indiana Division 

That smile on the faces of all clerks on 
the Division is occasioned by the volun- 
tary increase in salaries, which took effect 
June 1st. 

Business on the Indianapolis District 
shows a marked increase. The number of 
loads into Indianapolis the first twenty 
days compared with the same period a year 
ago, increased 70 per cent. The movement 
of tomatoes began June 1st. Two more 
900 class engines have been assigned to 
that district (received from Wisconsin 
Division) on account of the increased busi- 
ness. 

The work on the new tracks at Pales- 
tine, the wye at Bloomington and several 
side tracks, is progressing rapidly. 

Arrangements have been put into effect 
to hold a meeting in the office of the 
Superintendent each Monday morning to 
go over correspondence, and discuss mat- 
ters of benefit to the service. Several of 
these meetings have been held, much in- 
terest being manifested, and it is thought 
good results will be had. 

Superintendent L. E. McCabe and the 
members of his staff, made an inspection 
trip over the Division the early part of the 
month, checking stations, relative to sup- 




Railway 
Employes 
Eyes are 
Exposed to 
Wind, Dust 
and Alkali 
Poisons 

The Rush of Air, created by the 
swiftly-moving train, is heavily 
laden with coal-smoke, gas and 
dust, and it is a wonder that train- 
men retain their normal Eye-sight 
as long as they do. 

Murine Eye Remedy is a Con- 
venient and Pleasant Lotion and 
should be applied follow- 
ing other ablutions. 

Murine relieves 
Soreness, Redness 
and Granulation. 

Druggists supply Murine 
at 50c per bottle. 



The Murine Eye Remedy Co., 
Chicago, will mail Book of 
the Eye Free upon request. 




100 



ply of stationery and material on hand, 
sanitary conditions, etc. 

Mr. A. C. Kenny, of the Road Depart- 
ment, has been transferred to the Valua- 
tion Department, headquarters Chicago. 
Mr. W. O. Walker, from the New Orleans 
Division, has been appointed Instrument- 
man in Mr. Kenny's place. 

Mr. J. L. Pifer, Supervisor, has been 
transferred from the Mattoon District to 
the Indianapolis District to fill the place 
made vacant by Mr. G. A. King. Mr. H. H. 
Cordier has been appointed Supervisor on 
the Mattoon District. 

Miss Helen Lee Brooks, of the Superin- 
tendent's Office, has taken a leave of ab- 
sence and has departed for Palestine, Texas, 
to spend several weeks. 

Messrs. Stevenson and McFadden, the 
fishermen of our force, had some "tough 
luck" the other day and they are now 
staunch advocates of PREPAREDNESS. 
In future, both will see that their dreams 
of big fish do not prevent them from see- 
ing that the Ford is supplied with enough 
gasoline for the return trip also, so it will 
not be necessary to walk a mile through 
mud and rain to the home of kind farmers. 

Mr. A. F. Buckton, Chief Clerk to Master 
Mechanic J. A. Bell, has returned from a 
trip to Waterloo, la. 

Free to Oar Readers 

Write Marine Eye Remedy Co., Chicago, for 
48-page illustrated Eye Book Free. Write all 
about Your Eye Trouble and they will advise 
as to the Proper Application of the Hurine 
Eye Remedies in Your Special Case. Your 
Druggist will tell you that Murine Relieves 
Sore Eyes, Strengthens Weak Eyes. Doesn't 
Smart, Soothes Eye Fain, and sells for 50c. 
Try It in Your Eyes and in Baby's Eyes for 
Scaly Eyelids and Granulation. 

Mr. G. M. Hosmer, Paint Foreman, is 
spending a vacation with old friends in 
Fort Dodge and Waterloo, la. 

Mir. George Leach, Coach Cleaner, has 
spent a few days fishing in the vicinity of 
Greenup. 

Mr. Joe Bradbury, Stationary Engineer, 
has returned to work after taking a vaca- 
tion. He visited relatives in Oklahoma. 

Mr. Leo Jobe, Timekeeper in the office 
of the Master Mechanic, and Miss Iris 
Hickernell were married June 10th. They 
are both popular and well known young 
people and our best wishes are extended to 
the happy couple. "Leo" stills wears a 
smile. 

Mr. Maryon Boulware, formerly Assist- 
ant Accountant in the office of the Master 
Mechanic, has been transferred to the posi- 
tion of Clerk in the office of the Division 
Storekeeper. 

Conductor C. A. Richmond has taken a 
ninety days' leave of absence. 
Minnesota Division 

Mr. Arthur Young, lineman at Freeport, 
111., who is in Denver, Colo., temporarily 
on account of ill health, desires to express 
his thanks and appreciation for the kind- 
ness and assistance of his good friends and 




Now know the comfort of quick, legible 
writing on a regular $100 typewriter 
sold by us for only $48.50. And the 
privilege of 30 days' free trial besides. Earn enough 
money during trial time to pay for the machine. 
You will easily get from lOc to 20c a page from 
those near you who will be glad to get work done. 

Reliance Visible Typewriter 

One of America's standard machines. Sold under ad- 
vertised name for S100.00. Has all the conveniences, 
the best improvements, the strength andjine appear- 
ance. We guarantee that it will prove 
as satisfactory as any standard ma- 
chine. We know it will. We use it 
right here in our office. Save half. 
Write for Typewriter Catalog 
It tells why we can sell this S100. 00 visible 
writing typewriter for leu than half price. 

Dept. 
E124 

HewYork,Chicago,KansasCity,Ft.Worth, Portland 
Write to the house most convenient 




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The Hardy 

Welding Glass 

FROM 

The Harmful Rays of Light 

OF 

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OR 

Electric Welding Torch 

Descriptive Booklet 
Upon Request 

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JOHN H. HARD1N 
President 

10 So. Wabash Ave., CHICAGO, ILL- 



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ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



107 



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via Charlevoix, Petoskey, Harbor Springs, Mackinac, "Soo" River in daylight, 
returning via Grand Traverse Ports $27.50 including meals and berth. 
Seven Day Cruise, "S. S. Minnesota" to Buffalo, N. Y., and return via Mil- 
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daylight. 9 hours at Buffalo to visit Niagara Falls $40.00 including meals 
and berth. 

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City Ticket Office: 138 S. Clark Street, Chicago 
Telephone Superior 780O 



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108 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



fellow workers of the Illinois Central; and 
is sorry to say he has not derived much if 
any benefit up to date, but hopes to in the 
near future. 

Springfield Division 

Mr. Orie Wood, Truckman at Clinton., 
will visit friends and relatives in Jackson, 
Tenn. 

Mr. Tony Witrod, Springman at Clinton 
Shops, will visit relatives in Cleveland, 
Ohio. 

Mr. Frank Gallagher, Engineer, and 
wife will visit friends, and relatives in 
Birmingham, Ala. They will also visit in 
Memphis, Tenn., and Oklahoma City, Okla. 

Mr. F. A. Jones, Engineer, and wife 
will visit in St. Joseph, Mo., and Denver, 
Colo. 

Mr. Ernest Armstrong, Machinist Ap- 
prentice at Clinton Shops, will visit friends 
in Jacksonville, 111. 

Mr. Wm. Allen, Wood Machine Man, 
and wife will visit friends and relatives in 
Louisville, Ky., and Nashville, Tenn. 

Mr. F. W. Sieveking, Engineer, will visit 
in Memphis, Tenn., and Hot Springs, Ark. 

Mr. C. H. May, Roundhouse Clerk at 
Clinton, attended the Elks' State Conven- 
tion in Danville, 111. Clarence reports a 
good time. 

Mrs. J. C. Fish, Stenographer in the 
Master Mechanic's Office, visited relatives 
in Nashville, Tenn. 

Mr. E. J. Robbins, Pensioned Machine 
Shop Foreman, and wife, will visit in 
Davenport, Iowa. 

Mr. Roy Seats, Clerk, and wife will 
visit in French, N. M. 

Mr. Frank Tucker, Machinist Handy- 
man at Clinton Shops, will visit in Detroit 
and Flint, Mich. 

Mr. John Geer, Car Inspector, will visit 
in Detroit, Mich. 

T, P. Crymes has been appointed Rod- 
man on the Springfield Division, vice Wil- 
liam Meyer, transferred. Mr. Crymes has 
been in the employ of the Government on 
the Mississippi River for the past several 
years, connected with the new levy work. 
He has only recently come into the serv- 
ices of this Company. 

Authority has been granted the Engi- 
neering Department to carry a chainman 
temporarily to work on Valuation reports. 
Mr. F. T. Kraft of Clinton, 111., has been 
given the position. 

Signal Foreman M. D. Welds has moved 
his family from Chicago to Springfield so 
that they will be on the Springfield Divi- 
sion with his work. Mr. Weld has worked 
on the Springfield Division for several 
years but has never moved his family from 
Chicago, where he previously worked. 



A. H. Roberts, Signal Maintainer on the 
Litchfield District, is the proud possessor 
of a new Mudge Motor Car. He finds that 
the car works very well and greatly de- 
,creases the labor of covering his District. 
Mr. Roberts has found by experience that 
this make of car will run vastly better on 
the rails than on the ties, and that it is 
essential that gasoline be used as a mo- 
tive power, unless one desires to use it 
solely as a push car. 

T. R. Beach was installed as Agent at 
Penfield May 4th. 

Agent Lake Fork has been off duty ac- 
count sickness since May 5, this station 
being looked after by relief Agent O. S. 
Jackson. 




Can you, by looking at a watch or piecef 
of jewelry, tell how it will look ten, twenty or forty 
years from now? 

If not, it means a good deal to you to know your 
jeweler, and therefore you should make the acquaint- 
ance of Milton Pence, who for two decades has been 
supplying dependable jewelry to "the boys" of the 1. 
C. Among those you rub elbows with at the shops 
are many proud possessors of watches and other ar- 
ticles bought from me as long as twenty years ago 
things that are as good today as the day they were 
made, and will be the same twenty years hence. 

From coast to coast I have earned the title of "the 
railroad man's jeweler." Among railroad men in gen- 
eral and I. C. men in particular I enjoy a larger 
patronage than any jeweler in the United States. My 
business has been built up through the "boosting" of 
appreciative customers. 

There isn't a finer selection of railroad watches any- 
where than you'll find in my stock. Howard, Elgin, 
Illinois, Waltham and Hamilton movements cases for 
every taste and requirement at a considerable saving 
from what the same thing would cost you elsewhere. 

You can't buy a diamond from me that isn't abso- 
lutely flawless but you can buy a stone that's above 
criticism at a price below par. Furthermore, should 
you at any time wish to turn a Pence diamond into 
money, I will take it off yotf- hands at the price you 
paid me, less a small stipulated discount. I will issue 
to you a Pence Diamond Bond a legally binding 
agreement to do this. 

I put on no "front," but I'm a stickler for through- 
and-through quality. No matter what you may want 
in the line of good jewelry for any member of the 
family, you can make a safe and pleasing selection 
here. And by riding up 4 floors in the elevator 
you bring the price down to bed rock. I have no ex- 
cessive rents or uniformed attendants to charge you 
for. 

If you can't come to my store, I will send goods 
to you for inspection. 

First class watch and jewelry repairing. 



P*nr* 

rence 



29 E 



401 Heyworth Bldg., 

. Madison st., CHICAGO 



Headquarters for I. C. Button* and "Safety First" 
Buttons. Gold, Only $1.00 Each. 



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Office 
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L 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL 
MAGAZINE 




AUGU/T 



VOL 5 N22 




When Horse Sense 
Means Plow Sense 




Picking out the tractor that will get the most out of your land then buying the plow 
that will get the most out of your tractor that's horse sense. Also, it's PLOW 
sense. The SENSIBLE plow for your light tractor is 

The Grand Detour Junior 



The Junior and the 



work 



together like one machine a machine 
that will save you time, trouble and 
labor every day you use it. The Junior 
can never be a misfit or a makeshift 
no matter what tractor you buy. It was 
designed and built to fit any light tractor. 
It backs up, turns short, and lifts bot- 
toms high and level smooths out all the 
kinks of spring plowing. 



The Junior has set a mark for others 
to shoot at. It has hit the bull's eye in 
lightness, strength and efficiency. Comes 
in two-bottom sizes and upward with a 
special hitch for every tractor. A post 
card will bring you all the details and 
some good plowing advice. 



Grand Detour Plow Company 

Established 1837 

824 Depot Avenue ... Dixon, Illinois 




E. W. Sprague Frontispiece. 

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

Public Opinion 14 

Dixon, Illinois 17 

The West Feliciana Railroad The First Railroad in Mississippi 26 
How Employes Should Proceed to Purchase Illinois Central 

Stock 32 

Law Department 34 

Passenger Traffic Department 39 

Freight Traffic Department 51 

Baggage & Mail Traffic Department 55 

Claims Department 59 

Transportation Department 66 

Appointments and Promotions 67 

Mechanical Department 69 

Hospital Department 72 

Roll of Honor _ 74 

Loss and Damage Bureau 77 

Safety First 80 

Contributions from Employes 

How the Service of a Railroad May Be Improved 82 

Reminiscences of An Old Timer 83 

Fuel Economy 84 

Local Talent and Exchanges _ 87 

Meritorious Service 89 

Division News.... _ 91 



*Pu6lished monthly 6y the Jtlinois Central *}?. ^?. G v 
in ihe interest of the Company and Us 4^000 "Employes 

Advertising rates on - application.*? 

fflDSMichiqan&tt ^hone ^WaSasti 22(D 
Chicago y ocal55 

15 <f pr. copy $ I.JO pr. year 




E. W. SPRAGUE 
Assistant General Claim Agent 

D ORN in Buchanan, Michigan, May 29, 1874. Entered the service of the Illinois 
*-* Central Railroad Company as stenographer in the office of Mr. H. A. Winter, 
General Baggage Agent, February 20, 1895, serving in that office one year; in the 
General Freight office at Chicago two years; in the Law Department three years. 
On May 1, 1901, was appointed chief clerk in the Chief Claim department; in 1909 
was appointed Assistant Chief Claim Agent with headquarters at Chicago and in 
September, 1911, was transferred to Memphis, Tenn. Title changed to Assistant 
General Claim Agent in 1915. 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL 

Magazine 



Vol. 5 



AUGUST, 1916 



No. 2 



Tfio Story of tfi 
Illinois Central Linos 

during the 

Civil Conflict i86i-5 

Lucius Qirintus Cincinnatus Larnar 

(Continued from July.) 



According to Grotius and other ac- 
cepted authority on the law of self-de- 
fense, "An injury done or threatened is 
a legitimate casus belli," or cause of 
war. From Congressman Lamar's writ- 
ten admissions he considered, both as a 
lawyer and a law maker, and also as a 
Southern citizen, that the threat of in- 
jury by the North was so manifest and 
pronounced it could not be misunder- 
stood. The South was essentially reli- 
gious, more so as a whole than New Eng- 
land, the home of all sorts of religion- 
ignoring philosophers and different 
grades of skepticism, as well as open and 
notorious infidelity to Christianity and 
the Bible. A large portion of New Eng- 
land people interpreted the Bible liter- 
ally, and naturally along the lines of 
their own predilections and material in- 
terests. One interpretation of the Bible 
made slavery a great wrong, a crime' 
against humanity, and politically they 
knew it was against the interests of New 
England, for it was helping to make the 



South, the Southwest, and the middle 
West, independent of New England. 

There were open propositions that cer- 
tain parts of the West and the South 
should withdraw from New England and 
unite with Spain, who had closed the 
mouth of the Mississippi to the upper 
valley trade. To look at the matter 
fairly, New England had as much reason 
to fear the future as did the South ; and 
in the end New England won in the 
greatest forensic struggle and contest at 
arms the world has witnessed for ages. 
Each thought it was fighting not only for 
commercial supremacy, but perhaps for 
actual commercial existence. The reli- 
gious South believed that their peculiar 
institution, on which they thought their 
prosperity depended, was fully justified 
by both the Bible and the Constitution. 
From their point of view, there was no 
escaping a fight sooner or later, and the 
sooner the better ; and they thought they 
were adequately prepared for a short, 
sharp, decisive struggle that would soon 



10 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



settle the whole matter, when the South 
would work out its own salvation in its 
own way, unhampered by New England. 

That is the way it appeared to many 
Southerners, and to Lincoln and other 
Northern leaders ; otherwise why the call 
for 90-day men? It is, perhaps, neces- 
sary to bear these facts in mind if one 
would fairly judge the action of such 
noble men as Laniar, Benjamin, Stephens 
and other statemen in the South ; and 
such as Lincoln, Sumner, Banks, Mc- 
Clellan and others in the North, With 
such divergent opinions these opposing 
men yet considered each other honest and 
sincere, and respected each other accord- 
ingly, however bitterly they fought. The 
night of February 5, 1858, about one 
o'clock, occurred in the House a famous 
physical encounter known as the Keitt- 
Gow fight, in which a number of other 
Congressmen became involved while 
seeking to make peace. "Even Mr. La- 
mar" had an active experience with Par- 
son Owen Love joy for about ten min- 
utes. Peace was finally restored and no 
serious damage done, and there were 
mutual apologies and handshaking all 
around. This is an indication of the in- 
tense feeling that prevailed. Of course, 
it was not a very dignified proceeding, 
but something quite similar had occurred 
in the British Parliament a few days be- 
fore. The Democratic Party was repre- 
sented b*y a game cock and the Union 
Party by an Eagle. These two pugna- 
cious birds were ready to fly at each 
other on slight provocation. 

Lamar was doubtful about accepting a 
second term in Congress. Evidently he 
was weary of the strife and turmoil, for 
he was at heart a peacemaker, till he 
felt that some essential right had been 
assailed. 

Hte was in Jackson, Miss., November 
3, 1859, and the Gazette contained the 
following: 

"The whole state witnessed with pride 
the successful debut of this rising young 
statesman." 

He was invited by the Legislature, ir- 
respective of party, to address the mem- 
bers that evening. Reporting that fa- 
mous speech, the Gazette said: 



"We have given but a hurried and im- 
perfect synopsis of his speech, which in 
all its parts we have never heard excelled 
in earnestness or eloquence, richness of 
diction, brilliant antithesis, and all the 
elements which make up a powerful pro- 
duction from a mind 'rich with the spoils 
of time.' Well may the First District, 
'the mighty North,' feel proud of her 
gallant young representative." In that 
speech Mr. Lamar referred feelingly to 
Northwestern men the South had trusted 
who had taken- sides against the South 
on the Kansas-Nebraska question. He 
said of Mr. Douglas: 

"Among them was one endeared to the 
South by the recollection of his former 
devotion to her rights. He, too, went 
over to his enemy and shot back a Par- 
thian arrow into the ranks of his former 
allies. That man was Stephen A. Doug- 
las, once regarded by the ^South as the 
model of political consistency and purity 
* * * and she cannot forget his 
treachery and Punic faith." This was 
just after 1 Mr. Lincoln had forced Mr. 
Douglas to take the stand that won him 
the Senatorship, but lost him the Presi- 
dency, just as Mr. Lincoln had predicted. 

Finally consenting again to become a 
candidate, Mr. Lamar was unanimously 
elected to Congress in 1859, there being 
no opposition candidate; apparently the 
whole "mighty North," as the upper dis- 
trict of Mississippi was called, wanted 
his splendid service again in the great 
contest that was certain to come in the 
Thirty-sixth Congress. 

The Vicksburg Whig, a political op- 
ponent, said of the speech he delivered in 
November 11, 1859, to the State Legis- 
lature : 

"The ablest speech, as we have heard 
stated on all hands, delivered in that hall 
for years in defense of Democratic men 
and Democratic principles. Mr. Lamar 
believed in the manifest destiny of this 
republic. Territorial expansion is, with 
him, proof of a prosperous nation ; he 
favored the acquisition of Mexico, Cen- 
tral America and the Antilles." * * * 
Doubtless Mr. Lamar was aware of the 
great dream of Senator Judah P. Ben- 
jamin, to connect the Upper Mississippi 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



11 



Valley, through Jackson, Miss., with New 
Orleans by what is now the Illinois Cen- 
tral Railroad; and with the Tehuantepec 
Isthmus by steamer line, and across the 
Isthmus first by rail, then by canal, with 
the world commerce beyond. Stranger 
things have happened than that this 
dream should yet be realized. 

Then came the Presidential contest of 
1860 with the four great tickets in the 
field, headed by Lincoln and Bell, the two 
respectively representing the Republican 
Party and the Union Party, while Doug- 
las headed the Northern Democrats. It 
is interesting to note that the Southern 
Democrats who believed in secession 
were led by John C. Breckenridge, of 
Kentucky, the state whose motto is: 
"United we stand ; divided we fall." Of 
course, Mr. Lamar supported Mr. Breck- 
enridge, though not for secession per se. 

On the 13th of November, 1860, which 
was "Meteor Night," Lamar wrote to his 
father-in-law, Judge Longstreet: 

"The election of Lincoln has diffused a 
general feeling of dissatisfaction through 
the state. Some are anxious and dejected 
(myself among them) ; others confident 
and hopeful of resistance; a large mass 
waiting for the overt act, and a few bad 
men rejoiced at the overthrow of the 
Democracy by any means, and ready to 
hang and quarter the secessionists. 

"If South Carolina will only have the 
courage to go out, all will be well. We 
will have a Southern Republic, or an 
amended Federal Constitution that will 
place our institutions beyond attack." 

Meanwhile, the future Professor La- 
mar had accepted the chair of Ethics 
and Metaphysics in the University of 
Mississippi, with the intention of with- 
drawing from politics in favor of edu- 
cational pursuits. 

All the Mississippi members of the 36th 
Congress were present at the opening of 
the second session, December 3, 1860. It 
being plain that none of the compromise 
measures could avail, Professor Lamar 
resigned his seat and started South, De- 
cember 12th, to work up the Mississippi 
secession per se. The Vicksburg Whig 
shortly afterward said : "Mr. Lamar ad- 
vances a plan for the formation of a 



Southern Confederacy. It is the first 
which has been promulgated having the 
least practicability about it." 

Undoubtedly he and Senator Jefferson 
Davis were acting in harmony, and he 
knew all about the secret meeting at 
Washington, held early in January, by 
the Senators of the seven Southern 
States, who, by that action, formed the 
nucleus of the Southern Confederacy, 
which took concrete form soon after 
those fourteen Senators bade their fare- 
wells to the Senate. Among those Sen- 
ators was Judah P. Benjamin, of Louisi- 
ana, whose last speech there is listed 
among the classics of oratory. 

On the ninth of January, the third day 
of the secession convention, so well 
worked up by Mr. Lamar that two-thirds 
of the delegates were for unconditional 
secession, he reported the following plan, 
adopted by the Committee of Fifteen ap- 
pointed on the 7th on Mr. Lamar's reso- 
lution. It was entitled "An ordinance 
to dissolve the Union between the State 
of Mississippi and the other states united 
with her under the compact entitled, 
The Constitution of the United States 
of America.' " 

Then followed the details of the act 
of secession, on which the roll call vote 
showed "Ayes, 84; Nays, 15." During 
the profound silence which followed, the 
president waved his hand to Rev. Whit- 
field Harrington, in whose eloquent 
prayer for God's approval and guidance 
all the 100 members of the convention 
with bowed heads solemnly united. 

This was no hasty, ill-considered ac- 
tion, but, as in later years Mr. Lamar 
said himself, "On the contrary, it was 
the culmination of a dynastical struggle, 
an 'irrepressible conflict' between two an- 
tagonistic societies, a culmination which 
had been foreseen and predicted by the 
wisest statesmen of the nation * * * 
this culmination was the result of the 
operation of political forces which it is 
not within the power of any individual 
man or set of men to postpone." 

Of him Mr. Blaine said: "He stood 
firmly by his state in accordance with the 
political creed in which he had been 
reared ; but looked back with tender re- 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



gret to the Union whose destiny he had 
wished to share, and under the protection 
of whose broader nationality he had 
hoped to live and die." 

February 4th the Provisional Congress 
of the Confederacy, at Montgomery, pre- 
pared for war. Jefferson Davis was 
commissioned Major-General of the 
Confederacy, while Earl Van Dorn, 
Charles Clark, J. A. Alcorn and C. H. 
Mott were appointed Brigadier Generals 
with instructions at once to enlist and or- 
ganize an army to maintain the right of 
the Southern Confederacy against the 
encroachment of the United States. Mr. 
Lamar was made Lieutenant-Colonel 
(under General Mott) of the Nineteenth 
Mississippi Regiment, which, however, 
was the first in that state enlisted to 
serve "during the war." 

Colonel Lamar went with his regiment 
to Richmond, which had become the cap- 
ital of the Confederate States of Amer- 
ica. He and Mr. Davis were serenaded 
at the Spottiswood Hotel, June 1, 1861, 
and he was called out for a speech to 
the large concourse of citizens assembled. 
In a torrent of fiery eloquence he said, 
among many other things : 

"The time has come when they (the 
people of Virginia) are satisfied that the 
deliverance of this fair state depends 
not upon argument, not upon eloquence, 
not upon statesmanship; but upon the 
fighting manhood of the people of this 
country, upon the courage which dares 
to strike a braver blow for the right 
than the enemy dare strike for the 
wrong. The sentiment of the entire 
South is with her (Virginia) ; men from 
every rank and class of society are rush- 
ing to arms, begging the government to 
put any kind of weapons into their hands 
and to allow them to march to the battle- 
field of Virginia. I tell you, in our state, 
the little state of Mississippi, the num- 
ber of men who are ready to fight, I 
fully believe, is above our voting popu- 
lation. 

# * * This very night I look for- 
ward to the day when this beloved coun- 
try of ours for, thank God, wehave a 
country at last will all be a country to 



live for, to pray for, and, if necessary, 
to die for." 

It is said that out of the vast clamour 
of applause one voice, wording perhaps 
the emotion of all, rose clear and proud : 

"Yes, I am willing to die for it a hun- 
dred times over." 

It was in such spirit "The Black Horse 
Cavalry" and the whole army of South- 
erners gathered at Manasses, fought the 
first Battle of Bull Run, and all the world 
wondered. An attack of vertigo, with 
semi-paralysis, while Colonel Lamar was 
at Richmond, and again while in camp 
with his regiment, prevented him from 
going to the front, a liability to that phys- 
ical disability hanging over him all his 
after life. So it is not known how 
great a soldier he might have become, in 
spite of his dislike of camp life, and the 
details of military tactics. 

Regretting his disability, Colonel Mott 
wrote him from the camp of the Nine- 
teenth Mississippi, "We may need that 
sort of vim and propelling power which 
you possess in a greater degree than any 
man I ever saw." 

The physician sent him home to Ox- 
ford about the middle of July. In No- 
vember he returned to Richmond, "drag- 
ging a left lame leg." That winter at 
Centerville, Colonel Lamar was offered a 
Brigadier's Commission, but he refused 
it, saying: "General Johnston, I shall 
never consent to receive a promotion 
over the head of my friend, General 
Mott; he deserves it, and I recommend 
him instead." 

After that Colonel Lamar continued in 
his regiment. It was at York-town, in 
April, awaiting McClellan's long delayed 
attack. At the fierce battle fought May 
5th, at Williamsburg, Colonel Mott was 
killed and Colonel Lamar took command 
of the regiment. He was honorably men- 
tioned in the report of General Long- 
street and three of his Brigadier Gener- 
als for the distinguished part he took on 
that memorable field, when Longstreet 
ceased his retrograde movement from 
Yorktown towards Richmond and re- 
pelled the Federal Army. As Chancellor 
Mayes describes it: 

"The Brigade of Wilcox, which was 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



13 



first in the field, was ordered to occupy 
the forest (on Longstreet's right, as he 
eastwardly fronted the oncoming Feder- 
als). The Nineteenth Mississippi was 
the center regiment of the brigade; the 
Ninth Alabama being to its left, and the 
Tenth Alabama to its right. The wood 
was entered. It was so dense that a 
colonel could not see his whole regiment 
when in line of battle. When the skirm- 
ish line had penetrated the wood, some- 
thing under two hundred yards, it en- 
countered a brisk fire from the Federal 
skirmishers. The bdttle was on. Colonel 
Mott gallantly led the Nineteenth Missis- 
sippi against the enemy, compactly 
formed behind a fence, and piled up with 
logs. After close firing, at about 30 
yards, the Nineteenth charged and drove 
back the enemy and prevented their ef- 
forts to re-form in the rear, driving them 
into the fallen timber. 

In that charge Colonel Mott was killed 
by a minnie ball through the breast, fired 
in the first volley. General Wilcox re- 
ported: "The Nineteenth Mississippi, 
after the fall of its highly esteemed and 
brave Colonel, was commanded during 
the remainder of the day by its Lieuten- 
ant-Colonel, L. Q. C. Lamar. This offi- 
cer, suddenly called to the command of 
his regiment, acquitted himself creditably 
throughout this long and stubbornly con- 
tested musketry fight, proving himself in 
all respects a competent, daring and skill- 
ful officer." But on May 17th a more se- 
vere attack of vertigo seized him and he 
fell unconscious while reviewing all that 
was left of his regiment 100 of the 501 
men who went into that battle. He was 
sent to Richmond in an ambulance and 
his active military career was over. In 
June he returned home and later took 
his family to Macon, Ga., where lived his 
mother and sister. The following Sep- 
tember he lost his dearly beloved younger 
brother, Lieutenant - Colonel Jefferson 



Lamar, who fell while charging the 
enemy with Cobb's Legion (of Georgia) 
at Crampton's Camp, in the Blue Ridge, 
in Maryland. He was shot just after 
charging over a stone fence. He lay on 
the ground, still encouraging his men, 
saying to those in front of him, "If you 
fall back you will tread on my body." 
Then he would call to those in the rear, 
"If you retreat you will leave me here." 

"Hours passed away in an unequal 
contest," Chancellor Mayes says. "All 
that remained of Cobb's Legion were 
taken prisoners, clustering about their 
dying Colonel's form." 

An eye witness told the writer that 
another officer with a broken leg crawled 
to Jefferson Lamar and lifted him up so 
he could give his last order to charge 
before falling prone, unconscious. 

Jefferson Lamar was the pet of the 
family, had many friends, and within a 
few months before had married his beau- 
tiful cousin, a niece of Mrs. Howell 
Cobb. His cousin, John B. Lamar, died 
next day from a wound received in the 
same bloody battle. Colonel L. Q. C. 
Lamar's health was so bad that he re- 
signed from the army in October, and 
he had other important work for the 
Confederacy. He was greatly loved by 
his men, who did everything that could 
be done to show their regret at his leav- 
ing and their hope that he would again 
command them if his health permitted. 

Within a month he was appointed spe- 
cial commissioner of the Confederacy to 
the Court of Russia, with instructions to 
remain at St. Petersburg as Minister 
Plenipotentiary, if he could succeed in 
getting the Czar to recognize the Con- 
federate States of America as a nation 
de facto. He started December 1, 1862, 
but had to go by way of Texas and Mex- 
ico, and did not reach London until 
March 1, 1863. 

(To be Continued in September Issue.) 




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iTirrnnnnnnnnnnmnri 



DDLEDflflflflauflDL 




Address Delivered Before the Annual Convention of 

the National Hay Association at Cedar Point, 

Ohio, July 1 2, by Frank Trumbull, Chairman of 

the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway Company and 

Chairman of the Railway Executives' 

Advisory Committee 



"Railway administration of today in this 
country is as honest as any other business. 
Notwithstanding this, railway directors and 
officials accept the principle of regulation 
because railroads are public service corpora- 
tions. I might entertain you with a long 
history of various attempts at regulation 
commencing with the so-called Granger 
Laws followed later by the Interstate Com- 
merce Law enacted twenty-nine years ago 
and both in turn followed by hundreds upon 
hundreds of statutes enacted by Federal 
and State Governments. But it is sufficient 
for thig occasion to say that these endeav- 
ors, due to a variety of motives, have all 
been of a piecemeal and patchwork char- 
acter. The time has arrived for blood 
remedies instead of court plasters. Rail- 
way legislation has been more conspicuous 
for quantity than quality and legislation 
and regulation are not synonymous terms." 

Mr. Trumbull said regulation meant "to 
put in good order," as, for instance, to 
regulate a watch or clock; and then declared 
that we have not obtained real regulation 
to date. He cited a report of the House 
committee on interstate and foreign com- 
merce, recommending the passage of the 
Newlands resolution for a joint inquiry into 
the whole problem of railroad regulation, 
both State and Federal. This report set 
forth that our system of railroad control 
was irregular and sporadic, and that it was 
not a uniform, compact structure. 



The report strongly recommended the 
proposed inquiry in order that the sys- 
tem's "diversities and incongruities" could 
be carefully considered and wherever pos- 
sible unified and improved. 

Emphasizing the importance of the rail- 
road and the necessity for dealing with it 
equitably and sensibly, Mr. Trumbull quoted 
the views of President Wilson, former 
Presidents Roosevelt and Taft, the Massa- 
chusetts Public Service Commission and 
U. S. Senator Underwood. He read an edi- 
torial from the railroad engineer's official 
organ, which said: "The great thorough- 
fares should have one boss instead of forty- 
nine, and the rate-making should be done 
by one factor of the government." 

Continuing, he said: "Men of all classes 
and of all shades of political opinion are 
realizing more and more that the trans- 
portation question is a national problem 
and not a local issue. Now, if you and 
other shippers and the people who travel in 
passenger trains or who receive mail and 
parcels post carried by the railroads, and 
railway directors and officials are all agreed 
that the propriety of regulation is no longer 
in dispute surely all of us together ought 
to be able to get down to business and dis- 
cuss the whole question from the stand- 
point of the public interest. 

"We may, therefore, ask ourselves, is it 
in the public interest (1) that the rail- 
roads of this country are required to make 



14 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



15 



over two million reports per annum to 
various Federal and State tribunals; (2) 
that passenger rates are only two cents per 
mile in some States and higher in more 
populous States; (3) that wagon-loads of 
testimony are submitted to various State 
tribunals to prove that passenger rates 
ought to be higher after a corresponding 
laborious inquiry by the Interstate Com- 
merce Commission, the result of which was 
a finding that passenger traffic is not pay- 
ing its share; (4) that some States pass 
extra-crew laws and other States refuse 
to pass them; (5) that one shipper the 
Post Office Department determines rates 
of pay to the railroads when other shippers 
are deprived of such a privilege; (6) that 
public service corporations are required by 
divided authority to violate the spirit of 
Section Two of Article Four of the Con- 
stitution of the United States which de- 
clares that: 'The citizens of each State 
shall be entitled to all privileges and im- 
munities of citizens in the several States;' 
(7) that public tribunals have said in some 
cases that rates by one line may be higher 
than another because the cost of production 
is higher, thereby penalizing superior lo- 
cation and construction; (8) that wages of 
steel workers, coal miners and others are 
voluntarily increased by employers and 
these increases then passed along to the 
consumer, including the railroads, without 
similar flexibility in favor of the railroad 
investors and two million employes?" 

"Our regulation," said he, "is locomotot 
ataxia, a disease of the spinal chord char- 
acterized by peculiar disturbances of gait, 
and difficulty in co-ordinating voluntary 
movements. Now the Federal Government 
may be likened to the spinal chord of our 
political system. Congress can, if it will 
and without any Constitutional amendment 
act in these matters in behalf of all the 
States. Any fear of too much centraliza- 
tion could be easily overcome by regional 
commissions, similar to the regional treat- 
ment of national banks." 

Discussing the question of railroad credit, 
Mr. Trumbull pointed out the necessity for 
private capital investment in railroads; but 
this, he declared, was only possible where 
a fair and reasonable return could be ob- 
tained. And this, in turn, said he, depended 
upon equitable and compensatory ' trans- 
portation rates. Railroad investors were 
quite willing, said the speaker, to have 
railroad securities supervised by the Federal 
Government, which could act in behalf of 



all the States; but they were hesitant to 
trust the work of nineteen conflicting State 
commissions. 

Pointing to the debt of the railroads as, 
approximately, $11,000,000^000, and the stock 
to about $7,000,000,000, he asked: "How 
long would your bankers do business with 
you if you were attempting permanently to 
borrow eleven dollars for every seven you 
put in the business yourself? Who would 
buy bonds or stock on returns of only 
prosperous years?" 

Declaring that railroad returns for the 
fiscal year ended June 30, last, were about 
5 l /4. per cent on property used by the public, 
as against about 4 per cent for 1915 and 
less than 4 per cent for 1914, he asked: "Is 
there any prosperous private business in 
the world that yields so small a return? 
Surely in no business is it conservative to 
draw out every year all the profits? How 
long would your bankers be cordial if you 
were to draw out every year all of your 
profits instead of building up reserves or 
adding to the real value of the property?" 

Mr. Trumbull then cited numerous il- 
lustrations of discriminations and costly re- 
sults to railroads and public under our two- 
headed State and Federal system of regu- 
lation. Some of these related to varying 
demurrage penalties, ranging from one dol- 
lar to five dollars a car; while others related 
to laws intended to secure preference for 
local shippers against shippers in other 
States and against interstate shippers; to 
conflicting hours of service and safety ap- 
pliances laws; to laws reducing freight and 
passenger rates, and to regulation of rail- 
road securities. 

In one case, delay by a railroad commis- 
sion, said he, cost the Southern Pacific 
$275,000, in an intended security offering. 
He also referred to attempts by States to 
exclude railroads not chartered therein 
from operation within their territory; and 
to the defiance shown by certain States for 
writs of injunction granted by Federal 
courts restraining the operations of State 
mandates. 

In conclusion, he said: "I trust that all 
hands will join in the inquiry proposed 
under the Newlands resolution and I am 
more than pleased that we here, today, are 
to help to bring order out of chaos. We 
should do for the railroads as fine a piece 
of constructive work as we have done for 
the banks. And it is just as patriotic to 
strive to solve the transportation problem 
as to serve our country on the battlefield," 



This wterW B8 y te 
few (Titfe 1? U. 



Dixon, Illinois The City Beautiful 

By John H. Byers 



D URE and simple-minded, faithful and 
-* true in all the relations of life, he 
has gone to his rest and his works do fol- 
low him." 

The above is a beautiful tribute paid 
John Dixon by a newspaper writer of Dixon 
at the time of "Father" Dixon's death, July 
6, 1876. He was aged ninety-one years. 
Dixon mourned his loss. Ten thousand peo- 
ple attended his funeral. His name is mem- 
ory. 

Dixon, Illinois, the county seat of Lee 
county, one of the most fertile counties in 
the commonwealth of Illinois, was named 
after this remarkable man. John Dixon was 
born in the State of New York, October 9, 
1784. His father, John Dixon, came to 
America from England during the War of 
the Revolution as an officer in the British 
army. 

In 1828 a French Indian half-breed named 
Joseph Ogee erected a cabin on the bank 
of Rock River at the present site of Dixon 
and operated a ferry there until 1830. Ogee 
continued to operate the ferry alone until 
November 21, 1829, when he sold a half 
interest. In 1828 John Dixon with his fam- 
ily left Peoria and located at what was 
called Boyd's Grove in what is now Bureau 
county, where they made their home until 
their removal to the present site of the city 
of Dixon. In March, 1830, Mr. Dixon made 
a lease of the ferry from Ogee, with its 
rights, privileges and appurtenances, and 
soon thereafter moved to Ogee's Ferry, as 
it was then called, with his wife and family, 
reaching there April 11, 1830. 

Ogee had built a log cabin near the ferry 
landing, and Mr. Dixon after his arrival 
added to the building. The log cabin was 
in two parts, a one-story structure erected 
by Ogee and a two-story portion built by 
Mr. Dixon. 

When John Dixon reached the Rock River 
and established his house at Ogee's Ferry, 
he was forty-six years of age, strong, hearty, 
vigorous and thoroughly acquainted with 
the frontier. He had traveled the then State 
of Illinois from one end to the other on 
horseback and on foot. He had met and 
lived with and among the Indians, had be- 
come their friend, and was recognized by 
them as such. Though in the prime of life 
and in the best of health, his hair was white 
and was worn long, giving him the appear- 
ance of age. The Indians called him "Head- 
Hair-White," which term in common speech 
was soon contracted to "Nachusa." The 



early settlers of Dixon, soon after his ar- 
rival, called him "Father" Dixon, and he 
was known by that name until his death. 
A man by the name of Gay was the first 
postmaster of Dixon. Mr. Dixon was ap- 
pointed postmaster of Dixon September 29, 
1830, and served as postmaster until 1837. 

On account of its beautiful location and 
surrounded as it was with fertile acres, 
Dixon began to grow. In 1836 its popula- 
tion consisted of six families. There was 
enough merchandising then to make it prof- 
itable. Tavern keeping was the most lucra- 
tive business. The first hotel built in Dixon 
was the Western. It was opened in the 
winter of 1836-7. In 1837 the Rock River 
House was built. In 1840 the Dixon House 
was erected and opened for business. 

In 1837 Dixon's population in families 
had increased to thirteen, and at that time 
Dixon was some town. In 1845 Dixon had 
forty-four voters and in 1845 the place had 
a population of 400. In 1840 Dixon was 
placed on the map of Illinois, and the place 
became a place of importance. The Land 
Office was moved from Galena to Dixon in 
1840, and Father Dixon was appointed Com- 
missioner of Internal Improvements, a great 
honor. As early as 1840, it will be seen that 
the people of Dixon commenced to pull 
political wires, and ever since she has played 
a big part in the politics of the state. 

After this date, Dixon, beautiful and at- 
tractive, grew to a good-sized place, and 
today the city boasts of 12,000 souls, and is 
one of the most widely known cities in the 
Rock River Valley; it is on the Lincoln 
Highway and every tourist motoring from 
the East to the West following this famous 
highway must pass through Dixon. Many 
of these tourists stop over here for a few 
hours, and many over night, and leave on 
their journey refreshed and pleased with 
their brief visit at Dixon. 

Dixon is less than 100 miles west of Chi- 
cago, on the main line of the Chicago and 
Northwestern railroad and less than fifty 
miles east of the Mississippi River. From 
ten to a dozen through passenger trains pass 
through Dixon daily on the Northwestern 
railroad alone, and from five to six passen- 
ger trains pass through the city from the 
west to the southland, over the Illinois Cen- 
tral railroad, the pioneer railroad of the 
state. Both of these roads do thousands of 
dollars of business at Dixon annually. 

Both roads have erected handsome pas- 
senger stations, and their freight depots are 



17 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



19 



large and sufficiently able to handle the 
large volume of business done. 

The business men of Dixon are aggres- 
sive, with but one aim boost Dixon. This 
they have done and this they are continually 
doing. One of the best methods used by 
them in advertising Dixon and keeping its 
name before the public is the manner in 
which they do business, and the modern 
stores and business houses they maintain 
in the city. Go where you will, outside of 
the larger cities, and you will not find a 
more up-to-date line of merchandise and 
better stores than you will find in Dixon. 

Dixon has three splendid banking insti- 
tutions, two national and one state bank. 
The deposits amount to $2,330,606. The 
home of the Dixon National Bank is a fine 
five-story structure, erected but a few years 
ago. The City National Bank has a home 
that is modern in every particular and is 
one of the oldest banking institutions in 
this section of the state. The State Bank 
is a flourishing institution and since its or- 
ganization has made a remarkable growth. 

Dixon has a splendid school systejn. Two 
high schools, one north and one south of 
the river. Each of these schools maintains 
a four-year course, and the graduates from 
both institutions may enter the State Uni- 
versity and the other state schools without 
an entrance examination. In addition to the 
public schools, Dixon has the Coppin's Busi- 
ness College, from which hundreds of young 
men and women are graduated each year. 
These young graduates enter the business 
world fully equipped to fill responsible posi- 
tions. Dixon is also the home of the Strong 
School of Music, one of the leading schools 
of its character in Northern Illinois. Hun- 
dreds of young people graduate from its 
courses yearly and become splendid teachers 
of music, and many of them fill responsible 
places on the faculties of some of the lead- 
ing schools of the country. 

The Lutheran Church maintains an assem- 
bly at Dixon that has lived and prospered 
for twenty-nine years. Other assemblies 
and chautauquas have lived a few years and 
died, but the Rock River Assembly still 
lives and is growing better and stronger 
each year. This assembly is known all over 
the United States, and every speaker and 
lecturer of note and every great musical art- 
ist and all the leading musical organizations 
in the entire country filled a place on the 
program of Rock River Assembly. There 
are several schools maintained each session 
under the management of the assembly, and 
young men and women from all the adjacent 
states to Illinois come here each year to 
take advantage of this wonderful assembly. 
Rock River Assembly is located in one of 
the most beautiful and attractive parks on 
the banks of Rock River, which is known 
far and near as the "Hudson of the West." 
Dozens of comfortable cottages have been 



erected in this park. A fine hotel, where 
tourists come to pass a vacation, is one of 
the prominent features of Assembly Park. 
On the banks of the river in this park is 
one of the finest bathing beaches in Illinois, 
and hundreds enjoy bathing there each day 
and evening through the long summer 
months. 

In the center of Assembly Park stands an 
auditorium that will seat 10,000 people. Sev- 
eral years ago the United States Marine 
Band played a concert there that was heard 
by 15,000 people. Every man and woman 




W. B. BRINTON, 
President, Chamber of Commerce, Dixon, 111. 

who has. appeared on the platform at the 
Rock River Assembly departs declaring that 
the Dixon Assembly Park is the most beau- 
tiful park for chautauqua purposes in the 
United States. 

Madame Schumann-Heink appeared at the 
Dixon Assembly Friday, August 4, this year, 
and sang a concert that was heard by nearly 
15,000 people. 

Dixon is a city of parks. For its size, it 
has more beautiful parks than any other 
city in the country. It has Adelheid Park, 
containing 40 acres, filled with timber and 
deep ravines. In North Dixon lies John 
Dixon Park, named for its donor, the found- 
er of the city. Four miles up the river 
is the beautiful Lowell Park, given to the 
city by Miss Carlotta Lowell. This park 
contains 200 acres and is one of the finest 



20 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



natural parks in Illinois. Miss Lowell pre- 
sented the park in honor of her mother, 
Josephine Shaw Lowell, the late eminent 
philanthropist of New York City. Lowell 
Park has a shore line nearly one mile in 
length and affords one of the most attrac- 
tive bathing beaches in the state. Each sea- 
son many thousands visit Lowell Park and 
hundreds enjoy the bathing beach daily. 
The park contains a large pavilion, refresh- 
ment booths, well houses and the keeper's 
lodge, where meals are served and hundreds 
each summer take advantage of this one 
feature of the park. 

Dixon is surrounded by many attractive 
places. Six miles from the city is Grand 
Detour, now a famous summer resort with, 
two splendid hotels. Visitors from Chi- 
cago, Milwaukee, Peoria and many other 
cities visit this beautiful inland resort each 
season. Each hotel can accommodate 100 
guests. Boats run from Dixon to Grand 
Detour daily, and the highway between 
these places is one of the best in the state. 

Castle Rock is one of the attractive places 
up the river from Dixon. From the top of 
this wonderful rock one can behold some 
of the most beautiful scenery that Rock 
River affords. From its top a magnificent 
view of the river is obtained, dotted as far 
as one can see with islands, locally known 
as the "Thousand Isles." 

Several miles north of Dixon is a pretty 
stream known as Pine Creek. On this 
stream is the largest body of natural pine 
woods in Illinois. An effort is now being 
made to make this a state park. Pine Creek 
contains fine bass and other fish and during 
the fishing season many fishermen camp on 
the banks of this stream. Dixon business 
men always find some time during the sum- 
mer months to take a day off and go fishing 
for bass in the waters of Pine Creek. The 
scenery along this notable stream is exceed- 
ingly beautiful and attractive. 

Dixon's prosperity is made known to the 
country through two daily newspapers. The 
Evening Telegraph, a daily and semi-weekly, 
is the oldest and largest newspaper in Lee 
county. One of its owners and editors was 
the late Benjamin Shaw, one of the founders 
of the Republican party in Illinois, who was 
on intimate terms with all the leading states- 
men of his time. He knew Lincoln well and 
conferred many times with Lincoln in the 
early days of the Republican party. Mr. 
Shaw was Dixon's postmaster for many 
years. The Evening Telegraph was founded 
in 1856. 

Dixon's other daily paper is the Morning 
Leader, and although a comparatively new 
enterprise is becoming one of the good 
papers of the state. Both papers devote 
much space for boosting Dixon and both 
papers owe considerable of their success to 
the enterprising people of Dixon and Lee 
county, and appreciating this fact their edi- 



tors are always willing to say kind words 
about the steady growth and splendid pros- 
perity of Dixon the city beautiful. 

Dixon is a city of churches. Almost every 
denomination is represented. 

The Baptist Church was organized in 1841. 

The Methodists erected their first church 
edifice in Dixon in 1843. 

In 1854 the Congregationalists organized 
a church society. 

The same year the Catholic Church was 
organized in Dixon with twenty-five mem- 
bers. 

St. Paul's Lutheran Church was organ- 
ized in 1848. 

St. Luke's Parish was organized in 1858. 

A Unitarian church or society was organ- 
ized in 1850. 

The Dunkards now have a flourishing 
church in Dixon with a splendid member- 
ship. 

The Christian Church has a large congre- 
gation and is in a prosperous condition. 

The believers in Christian Science have 
an organization and hold regular meetings, 
which are quite largely attended. 

The German Lutherans also have a splen- 
did church organization. 

The Presbyterians have a beautiful church 
edifice and a large membership. Each church 
organization supports Sunday school work, 
the largest of which is the Sunday school 
supported by the Methodists. The edifice 
of this particular organization is the largest 
in the city, and its membership is also the 
largest. 

Connected with the Catholic Church is a 
school where the children of Catholic par- 
ents receive their early education and are 
there prepared for high school. This school 
was started by Father Michael Fpley. St. 
Patrick's Church has grown until it has the 
largest congregation in Lee county. 

In addition to the churches of Dixon, the 
city supports a large Y. M. C. A. The home 
of this organization is one of the most 
modern in the country. It has splendid 
bathing facilities, schools for athletic in- 
struction, and amusements of all kinds 
for the enjoyment of its membership. , 

Nearly every lodge in existance is rep- 
resented in Dixon. The Masonic order has 
several flourishing lodges. The Odd Fel- 
lows own their own building and have a 
large membership. The Elks also own 
their own home, erecting the same several 
years ago at a cost of $30,000. The mem- 
bership of the Elks is over 500. Just re- 
cently the Moose organized and today this 
order is one of the largest in the city. 

The Knights of Columbus have a splen- 
did lodge and its membership is constantly 
increasing. 

Nearly every lodge in existence is rep- 
agent in Dixon. The city has many promi- 
nent attorneys and physicians and^surgeons. 
Several of its attorneys have attained state 



22 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



wide reputation, filling high and responsi- 
ble positions. Dixon was the home of 
James K. Edsall, once attorney general of 
the state. Hon. Solomon Bethea, who filled 
the position of Judge of the United States 
District Court, was a resident of Dixon. 
William Barge, a prominent democrat and 
one of the leading lawyers in Illinois, lived 
in Dixon. Among the Dixon attorneys who 
filled the office of United States District 
Attorney, were S. H. Bethea, Charles B. 
Morrison, Sherwood Dixon, Henry S. 
Dixon and William B. Sterling. 

Dixon furnished several distinguished 
leaders in the Civil War, and several of 



the manufacturing center of the central 
west. There is absolutely no reason why 
Dixon should not attain that reputation. 
Her two great railroads cross the state 
from east to the west; and from Galena to 
Cairo. The Illinois Central is the medium 
through which products may be brought to 
Dixon from the wheat fields of the great 
northwest; and north from the cities and 
the rich and fertile valleys of the mighty 
southland. The Northwestern, the medium 
through which the products of the Atlantic 
seaboard can be brought to Dixon, and from 
the Pacific coast may be brought, over the 
same line of transportation, products that 




her citizens came out of the war with the 
rank of general and colonel. 

I am not unmindful of the fact that the 
one purpose of this article is to give to the 
country the industrial advantages of Dixon, 
but in order that I might give a story of 
Dixon that will read like a story should 
read, I had to tell, to some extent, some- 
thing of the early history; something of 
Dixon's public spirited men; something of 
her schools and churches; something of her 
parks and something of her beauty and 
places of interest to the tourist as well as 
of industrial advantages, of which she has 
an unlimited quantity. 

Industrially speaking, Dixon ranks high. 
Located on the banks of Rock River, her 
water power facilities are wonderful. In- 
dustrially speaking, Dixon is yet in its in- 
fancy. In time to come, Dixon will be 



Dixon merchants can dispose of and Dixon 
people can consume. 

In time to come manufacturers will take 
advantage of the remarkable water power 
Dixon has to offer, and will come and erect 
large industrial institutions. Dixon's facili- 
ties for waterpower and her facilities for 
such excellent transportation, ought to at- 
tract those men who have money and who 
desire to find a suitable location for the 
erection of large industrial plants. We in- 
vite all such to Dixon to look over the 
land and ascertain for themselves just what 
we have to offer. 

The Clipper Lawn Mower Company 
ships its mowers into every country in the 
world; The Grand Detour Plow Company 
sells its plows to the farmers and dealers 
in every state of the Union and into every 
country on the face of the earth; Borden's 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



23 



condensed milk is used in the far north, 
the Orient, the extreme south, in the west 
and the far east; Dixon's cement is used 
everywhere where buildings are erected and 
industrial plants are constructed; Dixon's 
shoes are worn by people in every state in 
this country and in every country in South 
America and Europe; Dixon's wagons are 
sold everywhere, and all of Dixon's indus- 
tries are compelled to run full time in order 
that her products may be supplied to pur- 
chasers and consumers. Never was Dixon 
more prosperous than she is today. 

The Dixon Home Telephone Company 
has placed a phone in nearly every home 
in the city and also in nearly every farm 
house for thirty miles beyond the city 
limits. The Illinois Northern Utilities 
Company have made Dixon its headquar- 
ters for the northern section of the state. 
The company has expended many thou- 
sands of dollars in Dixon and as a result 
almost every home in the city is supplied 
with gas and electricity. Dixon has an ex- 
cellent street car system, and it is con- 
nected with Sterling by an interurban line, 
cars running between the two cities every 
hour. 

The Dixon Water Company is one of 
the most modern in the state and furnishes 
its patrons with as fine a quality of artesian 
water found anywhere in the entire coun- 
try. 

Before entering into detail regarding 
Dixon's more prominent industries, I wish 
to call attention to the fact that in Dixon 
was recently located the State Colony for 
Epileptics. This colony is -nearly complet- 
ed and will be ready for occupancy before 
the snow falls. The first expenditure by the 
state was the handsome sum of $1,500,000. 
Dixon feels very grateful to Hon. William 
B. Brinton for this institution. Mr. Brin- 
ton was for several years mayor of Dixon, 
and is today one of the state's most promi- 
nent democratic politicians. The colony is 
located at one of the most attractive places 
on the banks of Rock Rivei and was given 
to Dixon principally on account of the ex- 
cellent site the city had to offer. 

The Sandusky Portland Cement has lo- 
cated one of its largest plants at Dix*on. 
The company's special brand of cement 
manufactured here is the Medusa. About 
300 men are kept working all the time. 
The plant runs twenty-four hour per day 
and 365 days in the year. About 90,000 tons 
of coal are consumed each year. Nearly 
5.000 cars of products are shipped annually. 
The concern pays each year to the two 
railroads, nearly $90,000 for freight on coal 
alone. The annual pay roll is nearly $350,- 
000. In 1907 the plant was ready to do 
business, taking but one year to construct. 
The company expended over $1,000,000 in 
the construction of the plant. 

The Brown Shoe Company employs 
several hundred persons and is being op- 



erated every day except Sunday. Its work- 
ing force is being increased almost daily. 

The Grand Detour Plow Company, or- 
ganized in 1837, is one of the most reliable 
institutions of Dixon. The large plant is 
operated summer and winter. This plant 
also employs several hundred people. Its 
volume of business is increasing materially 
each year. 

The American Wagon Company is an- 
other of Dixon's institutions that is grow- 
ing rapidly. 

One of the most prosperous institutions 
in Dixon is the Reynolds Wire Company, 
whose watchword is "Quality." The Rey- 
nolds Wire Company began operations in 
Dixon in 1894. Ever since the business 
has grown, every year the factory has 
worked full time, and in the money panic 
year of 1907, it ran not only every day, 
but every night. It is well to consider in 
passing that all the operations in this large 
area of space are supplied with power from 
the 700-foot dam. A year or so ago the 
company erected a new building, and to- 
day have some of the finest offices in the 
state. The new building is the best in 
lighting and fire-proofing, in sanitary ar- 
rangement, in electrical devices, in labor 
saving methods and in general fitness for 
the purposes of the business. When the 
ooet sang of the "Monument more endur- 
ing than brass," he could not have had in 
mind a better illustration than the one the 
Reynolds Wire Company has built to its 
lasting credit. 

Mr. Reynolds' whole effort was centered 
in learning how to make the best wire 
cloth. Even his early, competitors admitted 
he succeeded. A short time ago the com- 
pany began to manufacture the Reynolds 
Rust-Proof Alumina cloth with the Sun- 
Red Selvage. This cloth has ten rust-re- 
sisting coats of chemically-pure zinc put on 
by electricity. It is guaranteed to last 
more than twice as long as any galvanized 
cloth with a trade mark woven into the 
selvage. 

There are three big reasons why Rey- 
nolds' quality is possible at no extra cost 
an abundance of cheap power; their unique 
labor-saving devices; and their patent 
processes for coating the cloth. The com- 
pany owns an enormous water-power plant 
in the Rock River, a stone's throw from 
the factory. They believe in honest weight 
and honest measure. 

Borden Condensed Milk Company's plant 
is among the most stable and important of 
Dixon's manufacturing establishments and 
has had much to do with the growth and 
prosperity of Dixon and surrounding coun- 
try. 

The company's plant was put in opera- 
tion in July, 1887, and has been operated 
seven days each week since that time. 
Milk is furnished to this plant from 400 



24 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 




VIEWS OF THE STATE EPILEPTIC COLONY NOW UNDER CONSTRUCTION AT 

DIXON, ILL. 



farms within a radius of ten miles of the 
city and the daily delivery represents the 
milk from 8,000 cows. 

The principal products are Condensed 
and Evaporated milk and in the production 
of these great care and cleanliness is nec- 
essary and the company keeps this in mind 
throughout its entire factory operation, 
everything being handled in the most mod- 
ern and sanitary manner amidst clean and 
healthful surroundings. 

In addition to this their inspectors visit 
the farms where the milk is produced and 
by the assistance they give help to create 
and maintain a condition which will insure 



delivery of clean, wholesome milk up to 
the Borden standard. 

This milk is used in all climes and is 
particularly adapted for use as a food for 
babies. 

The factory at present employs about 250 
both men and girls giving steady employ- 
ment at good wages. 

The Dixon factory also has a depart- 
ment devoted to the manufacture of candy 
wherewith most advanced machinery and 
methods they are able to produce from 
15,000 to 20,000 pound^ of candy per day 
most of it being caramels. 

On account of the large production and 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



25 



low cost there is a great demand for this 
and it is sold widely throughout the United 
States and Canada with considerable for- 
eign trade. 

My story of Dixon The City Beautiful 
would hardly be complete if I neglected to 
mention in conclusion that Dixon has a 
country club, with one of the best golf 
courses in the state, and a clubhouse, mod- 
ern in every particular. At this country 
club Dixon's business and professional men, 
their families and friends, enjoy daily rec- 
reation. Here many pleasant parties are 
held in the quiet evening, and dancing is 
enjoyed by Dixon's young people. 

I believe I have told, in rather a modest 
manner, the great worth of Dixon as a 
suitable place for the manufacturer to come 
and locate; it is a suitable place for men 
retired, to come and enjoy the declining 
days of life; it is a suitable place for par- 
ents to come to enjoy home life and where 
they can educate their children. Dixon has 
every advantage for all this and more. 

"Father" Dixon chose wisely when he 
chose this section in the fertile Rock River 
valley for his town, now a city. He builded 
well. 

Everyone who visits Dixon once, comes 
again. That is one of the ways Dixon 
advertises herself. Her river is the "Hud- 
son of the West" and no city from the 
source of Rock River to its mouth, can 
boast of more beautiful scenery, more na- 
tural advantages to offer, than can Dixon. 

Abraham Lincoln visited Dixon and here 
delivered one of his great addresses. It 
was at Dixon where Lincoln and Jefferson 
Davis camped while both were soldiers in 



the Black Hawk war. It was near here 
that Black Hawk and his warriors camped 
and traded with the whites. Indian Mounds 
are still much in evidence. 

It was near Dixon that Governor Char- 
ters erected his home and today that home, 
Hazelwood, is one of the most delightful 
places in Lee County. At the Charters' 
home the prominent men .of the nation, in 
those days, were entertained. 

Dixon The City Beautiful in a few 
brief years will become one of the chief 
commercial centers in the commonwealth 
of Illinois. Its aggressive citizens will 
strive to make it such. 

There is no more beautiful, no better 
city in every particular, in which to reside 
than is Dixon, Illinois. Go where you will, 
you will run across someone who has lived 
in Dixon, or who knows something of the 
beauties of Dixon. 

Dixon has an organization the Chamber 
of Commerce that is working all the time 
for the upbuild of the city. Every member 
is aggressive, and every member has the 
welfare of the city at heart. Large sums 
of money are expended to advertise the ad- 
vantages Dixon has to offer. Meetings are 
held weekly for the discussion of the city's 
needs, and every stranger within our gates, 
is made welcome by the men who compose 
this splendid organization. Drop a line 
to the Secretary of the Chamber of Com- 
merce and you will be surprised how 
quickly you will get a reply and all ques- 
tions asked will be answered. 

When you approach the "Gates f of 
Dixon," stranger, knock and they shall* be 
open unto you, ask and ye shall receive. 




GRAND DETOUR PLOW CO., DIXON, ILL. 



The West Feliciana Railroad 

The First Railroad in Mississippi 
By C. R. Calvert, Traveling Freight Agent, Y. & M. V. R. R., Memphis, Tenn. 



(Continued from July Issue.) 



So much then for our saving in horses 
and wagons ; but this is not all if we look 
at the time employed in the present mode 
of transportation during the winter sea- 
son, when the roads are in bad repair; 
we shall find that, instead of two or 
three days in reaching St. Francisville, 
there will be a diminution of time in the 
two modes of transportation of at least 
one day and a half, and this, sometimes 
when taken in connection with the mar- 
ket, would be all important ; the price of 
cotton is often fluctuating and the dif- 
ference of a day would oftentimes de- 
prive us of the benefit of a market. 

Signed "PUBLIUS." 

Apparently, the suggestions contained 
in the letter met with a favorable recep- 
tion ; for, notwithstanding the scattered 
population and slow means of communi- 
cation, in little more than a year March 
20th, 1830 we find the account of a 
public meeting held at Woodville in the 
interest of the Railroad, in which reso- 
lutions were adopted as follows : 

At a public meeting of the citizens of 
Wilkinson County convened at the town 
of Woodville, on Tuesday, the 16th inst., 
Moses Liddell in the Chair and F. A. 
Browder, Esq., Secretary; the object of 
the meeting having been announced and 
some appropriate remarks made by Mr. 
Haile, the following resolutions were 
unanimously adopted : 

Resolved ; that Messrs. G. C. Brandon, 
John Joor, Edw. . McGehee, Peter Ran- 
dolph, Wm. Haile, James L. Trask and 
C. E. Hall be appointed a Committee 
whose duty it shall be to open corre- 
spondence with the President of the U. 
S. upon the subject of directing an En- 
gineer to visit this section with the view 
of making a survey to ascertain the 
most eligible route for a Rail Road from 



Woodville to the nearest shipping point 
from thence to the Mississippi River. 

RESOLVED; that the Committee, 
previous to opening the corresponding 
with the President of the United States 
shall obtain all such, information as they 
well can, relative to the quantity of Cot- 
ton annually exported from the County, 
the value of the lands, &c., &c., as may 
be calculated to throw light on the sub- 
ject; which facts and information shall 
be embraced in their communication to 
the President. 

RESOLVED; that the Chairman of 
the Committee shall have power to call 
meetings, from time to time, for the 
promotion of the objects contemplated 
by this meeting. 

RESOLVED ; that it is the opinion of 
this meeting that the Act passed at the 
last session of the Legislature, authoriz- 
ing the raising of $25,000 by Lottery, 
for the improvement of the road from 
Liberty to Fort Adams, is expedient; 
and that the Commissioners appointed by 
such Act be requested to accept the trust 
imposed, and enter upon the duties as- 
signed them by aforesaid Act. 

RESOLVED ; that the proceedings of 
this meeting be signed by the Chairman 
and Secretary and published in the 
Woodville Republican. 

Moses Liddell, Chairman. 

F. A. Browder, Secretary. 

Hardly had the project been placed 
thus before the public, until the ubiqui- 
tous "knocker" appeared, and the col- 
umns of the weekly paper were taken 
up for several weeks with the contro- 
versy between "Clinton," for the oppo- 
sition, and "Veritas" for the railroad. 

The first letter of "Clinton" is of in- 
terest from the information it gives as 
to the expectations in regard to the traf- 



26 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



27 



fie of the proposed railroad; but, even 
this one is very long and contains much 
that is without value or interest. The 
later letters degenerate into the discus- 
sion of personal motives and qualifica- 
tions of the writers and have no value 
to the public. 

It will be seen from "Clinton's" letter 
that the income of the road was esti- 
mated on basis of the number of bales 
of cotton to be carried to St. Francis- 
ville and that no account was taken of 
any tonnage in the reverse direction. A 
glance at the early tariffs issued by the 
railroad after it was actually begun 
shows that this idea persisted for some 
time; and, in fact, it was not until 1844 
or 1845 that the tariffs made any ade- 
quate provision for merchandise traffic. 

THE RAILWAY 
Cras credemus, hodie nihil 

As a firm and decided friend of inter- 
nal improvements, I can not but rejoice 
at any circumstances calculated to ex- 
cite our citizens upon a measure so im- 
portant to the interests of all as the con- 
struction of good roads. With a public 
spirited liberality and enterprise, some 
of the most influential and wealthy of 
the citizens held a meeting in our town 
on Tuesday, the 16th inst, for the pur- 
pose of advising upon the expediency of 
constructing a railway from this to the 
nearest and most convenient shipping 
point on the Mississippi River. 

To make it profitable, the facilities and 
advantages of a railroad should rival 
that of water transportation, and give 
new impulse to business of all kinds 
it should have the benefit of lively, brisk 
and active commerce, in the midst of a 
dense population, with a soil unrivalled 
in fertility, producing every article nes- 
essary to make a full market and be in 
the midst of capital and enterprise equal 
to any. emergency, added to that of 
flourishing manufactures. 

Whether our condition fills the above 
is a question of infinite magnitude and 
importance and deeply to be weighed, 
before we enter upon the anticipated 
project let us examine. 



The actual expense for labor and ma- 
terial to complete one mile of railway 
has been estimated at Manchester, Eng- 
land (see American Farmer, No. 49, 
Vol. 11), where both labor and material 
are far cheaper than in any portion of 
country, to be about 20,000 sterling, lit- 
tle short of $90,000. At these rates, if 
we construct 19 miles of railway, the 
distance between this and Fort Adams, 
the nearest and most practicable route, 
we will find the expense for labor and 
material to amount to the gross sum of 
$1,700,000, estimating it at the price 
of cast iron rail butts, but, if formed of 
malleable iron, which is far preferable, 
it will cost one-third higher. 

***** 

In the county of Wilkinson we grow, 
at the "furthest, not more, than 20,000 
bales of cotton, a large portion of which 
is too contiguous to the water communi- 
cation to pass over the railway. Say 
we transport over our railway three- 
fourths of our crop and from the coun- 
ties around the like number will pass 
over it, we will have 30,000 bales 
annually to be shipped by the steam 
cars. Now we pay $140,000, the interest 
shown above, out of the carrying of 
these bales of cotton, will be levying a 
tax of something near 4 dollars and six- 
ty cents a bale. 

***** 

I admire their seeming devotedness to 
internal improvements, and -only fear 
their own zeal to effect much good may 
lead them to an irreparable evil ; for to 
attempt a workj the completion of which 
would bankrupt a whole state, is, in the 
humble opinion of your writer, a wild 
scheme. CLINTON. 

Among the members of the commit- 
tee appointed at the meeting of March 
16th, 1830, was Mr. Wm. Haile, a law- 
yer, of Woodville, who had represented 
Wilkinson County in the State Legisla- 
ture and had represented Mississippi in 
the twentieth Congress. Mr. Haile ap- 
pears to have been one of the leading 
spirits in the enterprise and to have 
written letters to various persons that he 
thought might furnish information that 
would be of service to the committee. 



28 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



On August 25th, 1830, he wrote to the 
editor of the paper a letter with which 
he submitted a letter received from Mr. 
Thos. R. Ingalls, an engineer, living at 
Jackson, La., with reference to rail- 
roads. 

Mr. Haile's letter gives some unique 
arguments in favor of the Woodville 
Road and states some facts in regard to 
the mineral prospects that have not been 
realized. 



heavy as are generally used when stone 
and coal are transported. 

2 The ground is level and sufficiently 
firm to sustain any reasonable weight 
that may be put upon the rails. 

3 It is presumed that nothing but 
sugar, cotton and timber will be trans- 
ported on our road, and, being bulky, 
there will not be much pressure on each 
rail, but the weight will be equally dis- 
tributed. 



trees in the old 
Church bury- 
ing ground. 




Midwinter scene 
on the old 

West Feliciana 
Railroad 




Mr. Editor: 

I send you a letter from Mr. Ingalls 
on the subject of our contemplated rail- 
road to Bayou Sara. 

The subject of railroads has awakened 
much interest in the world thirty tons 
are drawn, in England, on the Manches- 
ter Railroad, by a locomotive engine; 
they move at the rate of twenty-seven 
miles an hour. 

A single railroad can be constructed 
on this road at a less expense than is 
generally supposed. 

1 The rails need not be so thick and 



4 There will be no excavations of 
any consequence. 

5 There is much interest along the 
line of the road and much money has 
been voluntarily subscribed. 

6 The saving of horses and oxen 
would pay a large part of the expense. 

7 It will increase the value of the 
real estate along the line. 

8 There is a large stone quarry on 
the proposed route that will be devel- 
oped. 

9 It will make Woodville the manu- 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



29 



facturing town for the whole surround- 
ing district. 

10 There is a fine deposit of fire clay 
on the route that will be developed. 

11 There is an extensive copper 
mine on the Buffalo Creek near Wood- 
ville that will contribute tonnage. 

12 It will increase the value of real 
estate east of the road by making Wood- 
ville the market for produce destined 
down the river. 

13 The U. S. Government Engineers 
surveyed the Baltimore & Ohio Road 
and should be secured for our road. 

14 Let us unite and build the road. 

W. Haile. 

Mr. Ingalls letter was dated August 
14, 1830, and reads as follows: 

Jackson, La., 14th August, 1830. 
Dear Sir: 

I received the honor of your letter de- 
siring my opinion relative to the prob- 
able cost of a railroad from Woodville 
to Bayou Sara and the expediency of 
using timbers for tracks, and I find it 
difficult to say whether I feel more grat- 
ified by the compliment you have paid 
me in thinking my opinion worth asking 
or more embarassed at having so little 
information to offer. 

It seems to be a datum in England 
that a railroad with two sets of tracks 
costs half as much as a canal for a 30- 
ton boat. The railroad is supposed to 
be built in the most permanent manner 
with wrought iron tracks let into cast 
iron sleepers. 

The price of such a canal in the ordi- 
nary excavation is estimated by the New 
York Engineers $5,000 per mile exclud- 
ing locks and culverts. 

The relative cost of labor in the North 
and here will, of course, attest this es- 
timate. 

It is thought that cars carrying half 
a ton are, on the whole, the best and 
especially so, I should judge, in the work 
in contemplation, as the bulk of the main 
articles would render a heavier load un- 
manageable. 

Wooden rails and sills would, there- 
fore, doubtless be strong enough and the 
only consideration to be examined is 
whether they are relatively cheapest. 



Without more exact data than I have 
been able to obtain relative to the price 
of labor, the nature of the ground, etc., 
it would be useless to draw any conclu- 
sions from the above statements; and, 
indeed, without any more practical in- 
formation than I posses, it would be im- 
proper to offer any opinions as worth 
your consideration. 

I am, dear sir, with great respect, your 
obedient humble servant. 

Thos. R. Ingalls. 

A second letter from Mr. Haile was 
published a few weeks later, submitting 
a letter from Mr. W. W. Hoffman, of 
New Orleans, in regard to the railroad. 
Mr. Printer: 

I enclose, for publication, a letter 
from Mr. Hoffman, of New Orleans, on 
the subject of our railroad. 

If apathy exists on this subject, in the 
minds of the people, it is hoped the in- 
teresting facts detailed in that letter 
will awaken confidence as to the means 
in our hand for accomplishing the rail- 
road. 

Mr. H was one of the projectors 

of the Ponchartrain Railroad, and reli- 
ance can be placed in his estimates, as 
he has visited and examined all the prin- 
cipal railroads in the United States. 

How much more interesting would it 
be to a planting community (instead of 
angry political discussion) to turn their 
attention to local improvement. 

I see no other mode to ward off some 
of the blows of our oppressors. 

W. Haile. 

New Orleans, La., Sept. 6, 1830. 
Dear Sir: 

I had the honor to receive your favor 
of the llth ult. this morning and take 
pleasure in complying with your request 
as far as my acquaintance with the sub- 
ject referred to will permit. 

The construction of a railroad consists 
of : 1 Graduation or reducing to the in- 
tended level ; 2 Laying the sleepers and 
string pieces; 3 The rails of iron on 
the wood. 

Over the country you describe, the 
only grading necessary would be to pre- 
vent water standing on the road a ditch 
on each side will suffice leaving the 



30 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



bed of the road twenty feet in the clear, 
which will suffice for a double track. 

Of the cost of that part of the work, 
you are better able to judge than those 
who have not passed over the ground I 
should venture to put it at five or six 
hundred dollars per mile. 

The cost of cedar logs would be seven 
cents per running foot, hewing three 
cents more, delivering on the ground, 
two cents more. I would estimate, 
therefore, the cost of cedar or cypress 
at $2,100 per mile single track or 
wagon way. 

The cost of iron rails will depend on 
the kind used the cheapest to answer 
good purpose, are such as are used on 
the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, called 
"edge plate rail," and would .cost you 
delivered at Bayou Sara (if bought in 
England) $1,100 per mile of road. 

The weight of the rails of above de- 
scription is from 18 to 22 tons and 
might be had, delivered here from Eng- 
land, at about $50.00 per ton, all charges 
included. If obtained from Pittsburgh, 
as seems to be contemplated, the cost 
will be at least doubled ; for the company 
here ordered one ton from that place 
with the intention to prefer the manu- 
facture of the United States, if the dif- 
ference should not be too great, and it 
came to $107 the ton. The freight from 
Pittsburgh is twice that from England 
say five or six dollars from ten shil- 
lings the ton. 

I would estimate the cost of a single 
track railway as follows : 

Grading $ 500 

Timber 2,100 

Iron Rails 1,100 

Laying Timber and Rails 1,200 



Total $4,900 

Add 15% for Turnouts $ 735 

As much more for Cont. ( ?) 735 



Total cost per mile. 



.$6,370 



As the B. & O. R. R. passes or is 
expected to pass through two states, 
recourse could be had to its charter in 
preparing yours. Some useful provis- 
ions might be taken from the charter of 
our Company. I have copies of both at 



the service of the gentlemen of your 
Committee. 

General Swift is expected here by No- 
vember 1st, to superintend the construc- 
tion of our road and harbor, and will be 
much occupied with that until next June, 
It would, no doubt, be in his power to 
survey the route during the winter, and, 
if not prevented by his other engage- 
ments, take care of the construction after 
the month of June, next year. 

Your most obedient servant, 

W. W. Hoffman. 
Mr. Wm. Haile. 

Shortly after the meeting at Wood- 
ville, or on May 3, 1830, a meeting was 
held at St. Francisville, with the same 
object in view, and a Committee ap- 
pointed similar to the one appointed at 
Woodville. This Committee did not 
complete its labors until nearly the close 
of the year, and on December 4, 1830, 
the Chairman of the May meeting, Isaac 
Smith, called a meeting of "all of the in- 
habitants of the Parish of West Felic- 
iana, friendly to the construction of a 
railroad between St. Francisville and 
Woodville "to meet at the Court House 
at St. Francisville on the first Monday in 
December, next, at Ten O'clock A. M." 

As a result of this meeting, applica- 
tion was made to the Louisiana Legisla- 
ture for a charter for the railroad and it 
was promptly granted and approved by 
Governor Roman on March 25, 1831. 

The first section of the charter pro- 
vided that: 

"There shall be established a railroad 
company in the Parish of West Felic- 
iana, with a capital of $150,000, divided 
into 1,500 shares of $100 each share, to 
be subscribed and paid for in the manner 
hereinafter provided, and the said com- 
pany shall constitute a body corporate 
with the title and name of the "West 
Feliciana Railroad Company" and by 
that name shall have the powers and 
rights now given by law to private cor- 
porations on the condition and agree- 
ment that said company shall construct 
and make a railroad from the Missis- 
sippi River at or near St. Francisville to 
the boundary line dividing this state 
from the state of Mississippi running on 
the route which shall be deemed by them 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



31 



the most practicable, toward the town 
of Woodville, in the state of Mississippi. 

Section 6 gives the West Feliciana 
Road the exclusive right for forty years 
to construct a railroad from the Missis- 
sippi River at or near St. Francisville, 
in the direction of Woodville. 

The charter also provided that each 
new Board of Directors, within ten days 
after their election, should publish in 
some news paper published in St. Fran- 
cisville, "the rates to be demanded for 
passage or transportation of persons or 
property; with the wharfage or storage 
thereon, for and during their adminis- 
tration." 

The charter in Mississippi was not 
granted until December 20, 1831, under 
the title "An Act to Extend and Incor- 
porate the West Feliciana Railroad Com- 
pany within the State of Mississippi." 



The act was very brief and provides that 
"Full and entire assent is hereby given 
to all and each of the provisions men- 
tioned and contained in an Act of the 
Legislature of the State of Louisiana 
passage or transportation of persons or 
etc., etc." 

Notwithstanding the fact that the 
charter had not yet been secured in 
Mississippi, the people of Woodville 
were invited to attend a meeting at 
Woodville on May 31, 1831, to meet Mr. 
James Bradford, a Commissioner of the 
Louisiana company, who desired to open 
books for the subscription for stock in 
the railroad company. The books were 
opened in June, 1831, under the super- 
vision of Judge Edw. S. McGehee, and 
Mr. Wm. Stamps, and $15,000 was sub- 
scribed on the first day. 

(To be Continued.} 




32 ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 









tw Employes max/ become stock- 




holders in the Illinois Central R.R. 






on the installment plan. 






n J.L - f ; / 1 
lor the information of employes 






desiring to acquire stoclc in the Illinois 






Central R.R..W quote below from the 






Circular issued by the President May 95* 






1896, addressed to officers and employes: 






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

/ v/ } "v / ' ' 'l ' /O / 

ket price on me day the application is received in L,omptroi- 
lers office .. .C-sfn employe is offered the privilege ofsobsan)- 






/ / / y // ft /' / 11 ' s ' 

ma lor one share at a time, payable by installments in sums 

of $5 or any multiple of$>5~, on tne completion of 
Wnicn tne Company will deliver to Aim a certificate of ' 
me snare registered in his name on the boons, of the Com- 






pany, c^ze can men, ifne wisnes.beain the. purcnase of 
another share on the installment plan. c & J ne certificate , 






ofstocK. is transferable on me Company's books, and 






entitles tne owner to such, dividends as may be de - 






dared by the &oard, cfjuirectors, ana to a vote in. 






tfieir election. 






C^iny officer or employe making payments on mis 
plan will be entitled to receive interest on his deposits, 






at tne rate of four per cent per annum, dunna the time he 






is payma for bis share of stock, provided ne does not al- 
low twelve consecutive months to elapse witnout ma/zmq 

/ * /"*/"'/'' ' \ * 






any payment, at the expiration of which period interest 






will cease to accrue, and the sum at nis credit will be 






returned -to nim on nis application tnerefor. 






C^iny officer or emploi/e rn.aR.inq pai/ments on me fore- 
Jj M ) / / 7 )-/ > 7 ) J 






qomq plan, and for any reason desiring to discontinue 






77 7 / / J / -7 };-'/' ' / ) 
them, can nave his money returned to him with accrued 







ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 33 











interest, &y maAing application to the head of the de- 
partment in which he is employed. 






CX& employe, luho has made application for a share 
/" / ' /y // / '. ) / 
of stock, on the installment plan, is expected to make 

the first^oayment from the first waaes which may 6e due 
him. Jorms are provided, for the purpose, on which the 

/ '/ ' / i*' i "V- 3 7 C/^ 






subscribing employe authorizes the oLocai- (oreasurerin 
Chicago, or the oUocal '-'treasurer in ( ifyew (Orleans, or 






the Paymaster or the C^/ssistant '^Paymaster to retain 
from his wages the amount of installment to he credited 
monthly to the employe for the purchase or a snare of stock.. 






cm case an employe leaves the service of the Company 






f / / '/ ^ s it s i 

from any cause, he must then either pay in full for the 

share for which he has subscribed and receive a certifi- 






cate therefor, or tak.e his money with the interest which 

s y ~) ~ 






has accrued. 






^sne roreaoina does not preclude the purchase of 






shares of stock, for cash. Cxm employe who has not al- 

^y y ). t* - ' y * / x~X 

ready an outstanding application for a share ofstoch on 

the installment plan, which is not fully paid /or, can in any 
given month made application for a snare ofstockfor cash 
at the price quoted to employes for that month , ana he can. 

ft 1 / // / rf '/ / /' y ' X" 

m the same month, it he so desires, make application for an- 
other share on the installment plan. 
(Smp/oyes "who Want to purchase more than one share 
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 
apply to his immediate superior officer, or to one of the 
< *bocal c ?oreasurers py filling in the following coupon : 






Mr O r "Mnu Date. 






Local Treasurer, 






Chicado 111. 






Will you please send me an application tlanR, 






for tAc purcnase ofl.C. Stock on trie installment plan. 






oicned. 






Employed as -. . 
























/ 

Biographical Sketch No. 25 




WILLIAM BARGE, DIXON, ILL. 



Hon. William Barge, District Attorney, Illinois Cent- 
ral Railroad Company at Dixon, 

111., 1877-1908 



VX7LLIAM BARGE, youngest child of 
**^ John and Jane (Elliot) Barge, was 
born near Kittanning, Pennsylvania, Febru- 
ary 26, 1832. When he was about one year 
old, the family moved to Richland county, 
Ohio, and thence, in 1839, to Wayne county, 
Ohio, where he attended the Wooster Acad- 
emy. The father dying in 1850, the family 
moved to Henry county, Illiois, where Wil- 
liam engaged in farming and teaching 
school. When opportunity presented he 
studied law chiefly in Rock Island in the 
office of Wilkinson & Pleasants, and, later 
in the office of Judge Underwood in Belle- 
ville. He moved to Dixon in 1854 to take 
charge of the Union School. There he es- 
tablished in the old brick school house on 
the side of Peoria Avenue, near Fifth Street, 
the first graded school in Lee county, and 
one of the first, if not the first, in the state. 
He remained in charge of the Dixon schools 
until 1859, when he went to Belleville, Illi- 
nois, to take charge of the public schools 
there. 

In 1860, having been admitted to the 
bar, he returned to Dixon and engaged in 
the practice of his chosen profession. He 
maintained his office in Dixon until 1874, 
being at one time in the firm of Barge & 
Fouke, and at another in the firm of Barge 
& Heaton. In 1869 he organized the firm 
of Eustace, Barge & Dixon, holding his 
membership therein until his removal to 
Chicago. In 1874 he was appointed District 
Attorney of the Chicago & Northwestern 
Railway Company, in charge of all of its 
business in Illinois, excepting Cook, Lake, 
DuPage and Kane counties. In 1877 he was 
appointed District Attorney for the Illinois 
Central Railroad Company in charge of its 



legal affairs in La Salle, Lee, Ogle, Stephen- 
son and Jo Daviess counties. During all this 
time his home remained in Dixon, to which 
place he removed his office upon receiving the 
last mentioned appointment. 

Mindful of Lord Cokes' observation that 
"the law is a jealous mistress and will tol- 
erate no rival," he devoted his life to his 
profession. He was a convincing speaker, 
very successful in the trial of cases, and 
stood in the front rank of able lawyers. 

Among the earlier cases won by him is 
I. C R. R. Co. v. Bethel, 11 111. App. 17 
(1882), where, in a suit for damages by 
flood the Appellate Court applied the an- 
cient rule that one building a bridge across 
a stream is not responsible for damages 
occasioned by extraordinary floods. His 
argument in Meyer v. I. C. R. R. Co., 177 
111. 591, 1899, on the question of who are 
fellow servants has ever since been regarded 
by the company's law department as authori- 
tative. 

On August 19, 1856. he married Elizabeth 
Dixon, daughter of James P. and Fannie 
(Reed) Dixon, and grand daughter of the 
pioneer, John Dixon, and he retained his 
home in Dixon until his death, July 21, 1908. 

His son, William D. Barge, is attorney 
for the Chicago, Burlington & Quincv 
Railroad Company, in Chicago; his son, 
Charles Robert Barge, is engaged in the 
general practice of the law in New York 
City; his son John James Barge resides in 
Hammond, Ind., his daughter, Mrs. Eliza- 
beth B. Martin, in Dixon, and his daughter, 
Mrs. W. W. Rathbun, in Chicago. 



District Attorney Doolan Addresses Bar 
Association 



At the annual meeting of the Tennessee 
Bar Association held in Memphis on June 
26, 1916, Mr. John C. Doolan, one of the 
District Attorneys for the Illinois Central 
at Louisville, Ky., addressed the associa- 
tion on "A Sketch of the Postal Power 
under the Constitution." His 34-paged 
paper treats of the growth of the post- 



office, presents an analysis of the postal 
power, defines what are post roads, includ- 
ing railroads and telegraphs, and there is 
also mentioned the Radio Telegraph Act, 
passed in 1912, for the purpose of regulat- 
ing the use of wireless apparatus. He gives 
the following historical sketch of post of- 
fices during the colonial period: 



35 



36 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



"The first authorized post office in this 
country was established on November 5, 
1639, when the General Court of Massa- 
chusetts Bay ordained that all letters from 
beyond the seas arriving at Boston should 
be taken to Richard Fairbank's Tavern, 
and that all letters to be forwarded across 
the seas might be delivered to him. For 
delivering or forwarding letters, he was en- 
titled to charge one penny each, but in case 
of letters forwarded the ordinance provided 
that "no man shall be compelled to bring 
his letters thither, except he please." 1 

From this modest beginning the postal 
service grew, with the demand for some 
safe means of communication until, in 1691, 
William III granted a patent to Thomas 
Neale to establish a postal service in the 
colonies and to charge the rates then in 
effect in England or "such other rates as 
the Planters and others will freely give." 2 

The system extended very gradually and 
with small results until Benjamin Franklin 
became deputy post-master-general in 1753. 
He had been postmaster in Philadelphia for 
sixteen years and his great administrative 
ability put life into a service that had de- 
clined, rather than improved, in efficiency. 
He not only made it pay, but he introduced 
many improvements in the service. For 
example, he reduced the time required for 
a round trip between Philadelphia and Bos- 
ton from six weeks to three, and between 



New York and Boston from fourteen days 
to four. 

In 1775, Franklin was made postmaster- 
general by the Continental Congress and 
by the end of that year the Royal Post 
Office had ceased to serve any of the col- 
onies." 

Anent the large volume of mail matter 
now being transported by railroad and 
other means, as compared with the small 
beginning with the first post office in 1639, 
Mr. Dpolan concludes his address with this 
quotation: 

"Another parable put He forth unto 
them, saying: The Kingdom of Heaven is 
like to a grain of mustard seed, which a 
man took and sowed in his field: 

"While indeed is the least of all seeds, 
but when it is grown, it is the greatest 
among herbs, and becometh a tree so that 
the birds of the air come and lodge in the 
branches thereof." (Matt. XIII:31-32.) 



1. Article on the Colonial Post Office by Wil- 
liam Smith in Amer. Hist., Rev. January, 1916, 
Vol. XXI, p. 258. 

2. Neale had a great faculty for obtaining 
kingly favors. Besides being postmaster for 
North America, he was, at one time or an- 
other, master of the English mint, groom por- 
ter to Charles II (and in that capacity auth- 
orized to license and to suppress gambling 
houses), conductor of government lotteries and 
commissioner of wrecks on the coast of Ber- 
muda. 



Rates on Stamped Envelopes Handled for Post Office 
Department as Freight Not Unreasonable 



In United States vs. A. & V. R. Co., 40 
I. C. C., 405, the Post Office Department 
asked to have reduced from first class to 
fifth class in official classification and to 
third class in western and southern classi- 
fication territory the rates on stamped en- 
velopes and stamped newspaper wrappers 
in carloads, and stamped postal cards from 
first to third class in these classification ter- 
ritories. The envelopes and stamped news- 
paper wrappers are manufactured at Day- 
ton, Ohio, and the stamped postal cards at 
Washington, D. C.; they are shipped in car- 
load lots to some 70 distributing points 
throughout the country; formerly they were 
sent by registered mail, but the act of June 
26, 1906, the Post-Master General was di- 
rected to withdraw them from the mails 
and to send them, when in freightable lots 
and when practicable, either by freight or 
express. They were withdrawn from the 
mails during the period from 1907 to 1909; 
many carloads have since moved by freight 
at rates quoted by the individual carriers 
and accepted by the Post Office Depart- 
ment. Until September 16, 1912, the rates 
ranged from fourth class to first class, but 



since then the carriers have charged rates 
on stamped envelopes and stamped news- 
paper wrappers, equivalent to first class 
without land grant deductions. The Post 
Office Department was advised by certain 
carriers that after January 1, 1916, rates 
equal to first class would be demanded on 
all carload shipments of postal cards. 

The commission held that it has power 
to prescribe reasonable ratings for this 
traffic, although under section 22 of the 
Act to Regulate Commerce the carriers and 
the government may agree upon some 
other way. It found that some of the ship- 
ments ranged as high as $2,770 per car to 
manufacture and $78,000 per car, including 
the postal value. Claims for loss are few, 
but the carriers are held practically to ac- 
count for the full value in the event of 
loss in a manner permitting the articles to 
reach the hands of unauthorized persons; 
and it decided that the southern classifica- 
tion rating of first class applicable to all of 
these articles, is reasonable and for the 
future will be a reasonable maximum rat- 
ing in official and western class rates also, 
but the commission said that nothing here- 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



37 



in said shall be taken to preclude considera- 
tion of a proper rating for private shippers 
if any. 



CAR RENTAL CHARGE ON REFRIG- 
ERATOR CARS SUSTAINED. 

In North Pacific Fruit Distributors vs. 
Northern Pacific Railway Company, 40 
I. C. C, 191, opinion by Mr. Commissioner 
Clark was attacked, the rule reading "when 
a refrigerator or other insulated car is 
furnished upon shippers order, a charge of 
$5 per car per trip will be made for the 
use of the car," as applied to the transpor- 
tation of deciduous fruits from the north- 
west during a season when protection from 
frost may be necessary and when such 
protection is by the shippers choice, fur- 
attack upon the lawfulness of the charge 
was based upon the theory that compensa- 
tion for the use of refrigerator or insulated 
cars was included in the transportation 
rates. The commission sustained the charge 
as being neither unlawful nor unjustly dis- 
criminatory and it said among other things: 

"The long continuance of the transpor- 
tation rates with no accompanying car 
rental charge would seem by implication to 
support the view of complainant and in- 
tervener, but, on the other hand, defendants 
showed that the car-mile and ton-mile 
earnings under the regular 'transportation 
rates have been and are relatively low as 
compared with earnings upon transcon- 
tinental shipments of analogous commodi- 
ties in box cars. Refrigerator cars cost 
more than box cars, and it is not questioned 
that transportation in the former is more 
expensive than in the latter. Aside from 
the fact that no extra charge for the use 
of refrigerator or insulated cars had been 
made prior to December 19, 1914, the rec- 
ord discloses no evidence to justify a find- 
ing that compensation for the more ex- 
pensive service in such cars was considered 
in fixing the transportation rates, and we 
cannot assume that such was the case." 



ILLINOIS PASSENGER FARES 
DECISION 

In Business Men's League of St. Louis vs. 
the Illinois Roads, 41 I. C. C_ 13, opinion by 
Commissioner Daniels, the Interstate Com- 
merce Commission held (a) that the two-cent 
intrastate Illinois passenger fares "impose an 
unreasonable and unlawful burden on inter- 
state passenger traffic" between St. Louis and 
Keokuk on the one hand and all points in 
Illinois on the other to the extent that the 
state fares are lower than 2.4 cents per pas- 
senger per mile ; (b) the present bridge tolls 
are found to be reasonable and may properly 
be charged in addition to the fares for actual 
distance including the distance over the 
bridges; and (c) in line with the Western 
Passenger Fares Case, 37 I. C. C, 1, the pres- 
ent interstate fares between St. Louis and 
points in Illinois are found unreasonable in so 
far as they are in excess of fares constructed 



upon a basis of 2.4 cents per mile plus a rea- 
sonable toll for crossing the Mississippi river ; 

(d) the interstate fares between points in 
Illinois on the one hand and St. Louis and 
Keokuk on the other hand are held to sub- 
ject Keokuk and St. Louis to undue and un- 
reasonable prejudice and disadvantage to the 
extent that those fares exceed the fares be- 
tween Chicago and those same Illinois points 
where the distances are approximately equal; 

(e) and it was held, further, that the intra- 
state passenger fares on the reasonably direct 
lines lying in the territory intermediate to Chi- 
cago on the north and St. Louis and Keokuk 
on the south and southwest, impose an unlaw- 
ful burden on interstate commerce to the ex- 
tent that the basis per mile for fares for in- 
terstate passenger travel between St. Louis and 
Keokuk and Illinois points situate in the gen- 
eral territory first described and reached by 
reasonably direct routes of defendants' lines. 

This decision is of the greatest importance 
to all roads, because it holds unlawful and 
void the statute of Illinois fixing two cents 
per passenger per mile as the maximum 
charge for travel between points in Illinois, 
under the circumstances above stated. 
COAL RATE ADVANCES SUSTAINED 

In Indiana and Illinois Coal Rate Case, 40 
I. C. C., 603, the Interstate Commerce Com- 
mission decided on July 6, 1916, that effective 
August 1, 1916, the interstate rates on bitumi- 
nous coal from mines in Indiana and Illinois 
to points in Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin and 
Michigan, may be advanced by 5 cents per 
ton. 



DIFFERENTIAL COAL RATE AD- 
JUSTMENT TO MEMPHIS NOT 
UNLAWFUL 

In Galloway Coal Co. vs. A. G. S. R. Co., 
40 I. C. C., 311, opinion by Commissioner 
Clements, it was held on June 22, 1916, that 
(a) the relative adjustment of carload rates 
on bituminous coal from mines in southern 
Illinois, western Kentucky and northwestern 
Alabama, to Memphis and other points in 
southwestern Tennessee, are not shown to be 
unduly prejudicial to mines in northwestern 
Alabama; (b) that differentials in rates to 
common markets in favor of certain producing 
points can be prescribed only when discrimi- 
nation can be found, and discrimination can be 
found only where the traffic from those points 
and from competing points moves all or a part 
of the way to the common markets over the 
rails of the same carrier; (c) that the relative 
adjustment of carload rates on coal from the 
same mines to Mississippi and Louisiana, east 
of the Mississippi river, is found unduly preju- 
dicial to mines in northwestern Alabama, but 
that the adjustment approved in Bituminous 
Coal to Mississippi Valley Territory, 39 I. C. C., 
378, is found remedial; (d) and that the di- 
visions of joint rates received by short lines 
in Mississippi on shipments of coal via the 
I. C. R. R., purchased by those short lines for 
fuel, are not shown to be unduly prejudicial 
to mines in northwestern Alabama. 




Fasson^pr Traffic 
Dopai'tmont 



Little Talks with 
"The Ramble?" 



Seivice Notes 'of 
A * * , Interest 



A Hot Weather Fantasy 



T" 1 HE late unprecedented heat term 
was at its height. The Rambler 
and myself, in common with others, 
felt its depressing influence, and each, 
according to temperament and to the- 
ory of conduct for such occasion, did 
the best we could to keep comfortable. 
The Rambler, I must admit, was some- 
what more philosophical in the matter 
than I was, and however much he may 
have suffered, if at all, he did not at- 
tempt to pass his heat troubles along 
to others and make them feel more 
uncomfortable than they already were 
by reminders or complaints. For my 
own part, having a theory that occu- 
pation of mind is a great aid in making 
one forget, I kept fairly busy, but in 
what I fear was not a particularly prof- 
itable way, with such light employ- 
ment as gave a minimum amount of 
physical exertion. Flight to some 
imaginary cool region was a thought 
that was momentary, for it was doubt- 
ful if such a region existed, the report 
having it that the hot wave was coun- 
try-wide. Hence the Rambler and I, 
with whom I discussed the matter, 
agreed that after all home was the best 
place in which to tide over the unus- 
ually fierce heat conditions, we both 
being fortunate possessors of establish- 



ments furnishing facilities for such 
comforts as hot weather conditions ad- 
mitted. An indoors existence, how- 
ever, was neither sought nor admis- 
sible. With the rest of the city, we 
sought to live as much as possible in 
the open, which to all city-bound meant 
porches, door steps, the shady side of 
a house and little lawns and grass 
plots, or meant perhaps to a half mil- 
lion people the seeking of the parks 
and the bathing- beaches. We at one 
time joined that great park and beach 
throng. In this last, however, we both 
agreed that possibly our room had bet- 
ter be given to others needing the space 
that we occupied on the beach, in the 
water or in the parks more than we 
did. In fact, the Rambler said while 
those crowds were a sight well worth 
seeing, he was not sure but that it 
stirred his blood unduly to witness 
such an impressive scene. Impressive 
in its volume and eagerness, but more 
so at the thought of there being af- 
forded such glorious opportunities as 
those parks and beaches to relieve the 
sufferings and the hot blood of such a 
multitude as took advantage of them. 
But one evening, after making the 
rounds of the parks with a friend in 
his automobile, the Rambler came to 



39 



40 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



the conclusion, in which I concurred, 
that his home was as comfortable as 
conditions admitted, and that he would 
in the end get more sleep, and conserve 
his vitality best, by being as quiet as 
possible in the coolest spot that could 
be found around or about his own 
apartment ; which spot proved to be, 
after the sun went down, his own 
screened-in porch on which he lounged 
and slept, dividing the lounging hours 
between the porch and the little grass 
court below, sharing the latter with 
other tenants of the apartments. For- 
tunately nothing called him on the road 
during this period, but in consequence 
he failed to get in touch with his fellow 
men as much as usual, and, for this 
and other reasons, evidently became a 
bit lonesome. Others than those at the 
beaches or in the parks had evidently 
come to the same conclusion he had, 
and were quietly resting on lawns, 
steps of porches of their homes. "But," 
the Rambler mentally observed, as he 
puffed on his pipe alone on his porch, 
"the most of them have some one to 
talk with to make them forget. There 
are families, the neighbors across the 
way have dropped in, or they have 
gone to the neighbors'. No neighbors 
come to me. I am a man of the road 
and of the office, and I am either too 
lazy to drop in on my friends and there- 
by join one of those little porch or 
lawn parties, or am too conscientious 
to add to their burdens by dropping in 
on them ; for it is an effort to be polite 
in such weather as this. Still," he went 
on to himself, "it is better to be occu- 
pied in mind with something, and pos- 
sibly I might be doing some of those 
friends a favor by forcing them to for- 
get themselves in trying to be decent 
to me." He then cast about in his 
mind as to whom he should thus "bless 
with his presence," as he facetiously 
put the matter to himself, and of the 
list he concluded that it either meant 
too much physical exercise on his part 
to reach them or that they were prob- 
ably in the water, taking a joy ride in 
their automobiles or lounging on the 
grass in the parks. So he dismissed 



the thought from his mind for a while, 
but finally recurred to it and tele- 
phoned me to come over to him. 

On receiving me, he snapped on the 
electric light of his screened-in porch 
only long enough for me to pick my 
way to a comfortable seat, after which 
we were in darkness again, except for 
the rather pleasant subdued light from 
the boulevard lamp in the near dis- 
tance. "Makes it feel cooler," he re- 
marked, "not to have a bright light 
going except when you have to." The 
place had been illuminated, however, 
long enough for me to notice books 
and papers on the little wicker porch 
table, and the various parts of the Sun- 
day newspaper (it was on a Sunday 
that this occurred) scattered over the 
floor and the swinging, porch couch. 
There were also various other little 
evidences of sqme kind of light occu- 
pation ; for, as I think I have mentioned 
on other occasions, I never knew the 
Rambler to be absolutely idle. On my 
remarking on this characteristic of his, 
he laughingly said : "Well, I have come 
as near being idle today as I ever ex- 
pect to be. There were times during 
the past week when I wished that I 
could relax into doing absolutely noth- 
ing, although I expect that about all I 
did attempt amounted to about that, 
after all. If so, I reckon I have had a 
lot of good company in that kind of 
shortcoming, and as everything helps, 
that thought ought to ease my con- 
science. But, say!" he exclaimed, with 
one of his characteristic sudden changes 
in the topic of his conversation, "I had a 
pretty good time this afternoon if it 
was hot." In reply to my suggestion 
that notwithstanding his previous de- 
cision to the contrary he had taken an 
automobile ride with a friend, or had 
been one of the lucky ones to obtain 
bathing facilities at the beach, he 
laughingly said, "No, you have not 
guessed it ; I went to the ball game." 
"Ball game!" I exclaimed. "Go to a 
ball game with the thermometer stand- 
ing at 102?" "That's just it," he inter- 
rupted ; "that game made me forget 
that it was 102. Of course, I got some 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



41 



heated in the crowds going and coming 
to the grounds, but once inside it was 
not so bad. I went early enough to 
get a top seat in the grandstand, and 
with palm-beach trousers, sport shirt 
with short sleeves and open collar and 
sans hat, but with the roof of the stand 
keeping the sun off while its open back 
and front admitted what little breeze 
there was, I was not as badly off as I 
expected to be. Of course, I lost some 
of the fine points of the game, being 
perched so high, up, but there was 
enough 4eft to keep me mentally em- 
ployed and interested. I am glad 1 
went." "Yes," I sarcastically re- 
marked, "and probably enough thrills 
were in that game, listless or not as it 
might have been, to have got your 
blood some heated." "Maybe it did get 
heated," was the reply, "but I did not 
know it at the time, and when later I 
sat here for an hour to cool off, it 
occurred to me that probably I would 
have been more uncomfortable in the 
long run if I had stayed here and tried 
to do something during the time I was 
away at that game. In other words, I 
would have been more uneasy and con- 
sequently more heat-conscious than by 
forgetting it." 

"While you were resting on your re- 
turn," I observed, nodding at the pa- 
pers and the literature on his little 
table, "I suppose you tried to read as 
a further aid to forgetfulness." "Well, 
yes, I did," he slowly replied, "but this 
is no weather for concentration of mind 
and I did not get on very well." "Tried 
to read about icebergs in the polar re- 
gions, I suppose, on the mental theory 
that thoughts in such direction would 
help cool you off," I somewhat fool- 
ishly remarked as I began to sip a glass 
of cool ginger ale that he had brought 
from the ice box in his kitchen. "Well, 
no," he smilingly remarked as he emp- 
tied the last from the bottle into his 
own glass and watched in a dreamy 
sort of a way the gas-made foam settle 
down to a sufficient flatness to enable 
him to sip his portion of the beverage. 
"It's funny, but if there is anything 
in your theory of suggestion, my read- 



ing was in quite the opposite line, and 
calculated to excite heat rather than 
coolness. I was not attempting to read 
anything serious, but was just glancing 
over some miscellaneous papers and 
pamphlets from the table here. Among 
them I came across a rather amusing 
jingle from the pen of a Mr. J. G. Heck- 
elman, rate clerk, published in the L. 
& N. Passenger Bulletin. Let me read 
it to you; it's rather a cute thing." 
Turning on the electric light again, he 
found the item mentioned and read it 
aloud, it running as follows : 

The Happy S. A. 

It's an awful lot of bother when a man 

approaches you 
And requests a special ticket to and 

from Timbuctoo 
And while you hunt a tariff that quotes" 

the current rate, 
Some gink sticks his head in, with 

"Is the train late?" 
When you find the tariff and have the 

ticket all made out, 
The passenger says, "I think I'll go by 

the other route." 

Then you hustle like the dickens, rout- 
ing o'er another line 
And you smile very pleasantly while 

he's hunting for a dime. 
And just before the train pulls in, with 

work up to your neck, 
An actorine comes forth with thirty 

trunks to check ; 
After that you place the signal, grab 

ten sacks of mail, 
See everything is safe on board, then 

check your ticket sale. 
Then over correspondence you scratch 

your weary head. 
"Are you short or over?" Was the 

corpse alive or dead?" 
"You overlooked a supplement." 

"Where did you find the rate?" 
"Was the baggage checked on No. 8?" 

"Your weekly report is late." 
Then you check up your way-bills, send 

a telegram or two ; 
Seal a freight car, light your lamps, 

clean up the station, too. 
Oh, the agent's life is a busy one and 

always filled with woe 



42 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



But he often gets some sunshine and 

he ALWAYS gets his dough. 
"Do you know," the Rambler said 
when he had finished, "there is quite a 
bit of truth submerged in this thing, in 
a numorous and of course exaggerated 
way. The station agent at times cer- 
tainly does have his troubles. I refer 
particularly to what would seem to be 
unnecessary trouble from thoughtless- 
ness or indifference on the part of the 
public. The latter, the public, I have 
been convinced for years, is as a rule 
good natured and well meaning. It 
would not intentionally make unneces- 
sary trouble to a busy official like a 
station agent. On the contrary, if it 
understood it would good naturedly 
help if it knew how, or at least it cer- 
.tainly would not be so thoughtless at 
times. But thoughtlessness is in evi- 
dence from at least enough to appar- 
ently leven the whole lump. That's 
it," he continued, musingly, "leven the 
whole lump ; for, after all, it is not the 
great majority that is so thoughtless, 
but just a sufficient number to bring 
the whole into disrepute. That thought 
reminds me," he continued, "of an edi- 
torial that appeared in one of our line 
newspapers some little while ago which 
I cut out and saved. I believe it is 
apropos to the thought that our poet 
here has expressed. Let me see if I can 
find it." He then went into the library, 
and on turning on the light soon un- 
earthed from a desk drawer a news- 
paper clipping which he said was an 
editorial from the Daily News of Cham- 
paign, and which he handed to me to 
read. This I did with much interest, 
the article being as follows : 

Time Tables Are for Use. 

A citizen of Champaign went into a 
local railroad depot the other day to 
buy a ticket for a short business trip. 
He knew just where he wanted to go 
and had the money in his hand to pay 
for his transportation. The office was 
crowded with the variety of persons 
who are usually present when a train 
is about due to arrive. People were 
lined up in front of the ticket win- 



dows two and, in some places, three 
deep. 

The head ticket clerk was busily en- 
gaged in trying to deal with a young 
man who wanted to take a trip to a 
distant city. The young man wasn't 
sure just when he wanted to start. He 
wasn't sure at what points en route he 
wanted to stop over, or how long he 
wanted to stay at any of them. He 
was a nice, bright looking chap, but 
he seemed to have small appreciation 
of the idea of distances, of the time it 
would take to go from place to place, 
of the connections he could make, of 
the time of arrival and departure of 
any of the trains at any of the places 
on his itinerary. 

The ticket clerk patiently helped him 
to make up his mind about several mat- 
ters, and still more patiently told him 
about more of the possibilities in the 
way of catching trains on the various 
stages of his journey, together with a 
vast amount of incidental information 
asked for by the patron, while the lat- 
ter jotted it all down carefully in a 
small note book. 

When the clerk got through with 
him it had taken just an hour and a 
quarter to wait upon that one customer. 
And a part of that time people who 
had no questions to ask were waiting 
to get a chance to buy their tickets. 
Now, there was not a question that 
young man asked that he could not 
have answered for himself if he had 
simply taken a railroad folder and fig- 
ured it out. 

The reading of time tables is more 
than a public service, as it would have 
been in this particular case. It is a 
good mental exercise, a fascinating "in- 
door" sport for any one who has the 
imagination of the true traveler. Time 
table study should really be a part of 
every child's education. Besides achiev- 
ing the purpose mentioned above, the 
exercise for the adult mind may be 
made to extend much further, for in 
every well-arranged folder there is a 
store of kindred information of wide 
practical value at every turn in active 
life. 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



43 



"Well," I said, passing the clipping 
back, "there certainly is good food for 
thought in that editorial, but it is 
doubtful if the public as a whole could 
be convinced that reading a time table 
is 'a fascinating indoor sport,' even if 
one has the 'imagination of the true 
traveler,' although it might be willing 
to concede that it is a 'good mental ex- 
ercise.' Nevertheless, I believe that 
the assertions are true in a way. I re- 
member Tyro's telling me some years 
ago, when he was editing night tele- 
graph news on a paper, that as he sat 
up in the top story of the high building 
where the editorial rooms were located, 
it seemed to him when those dispatches 
came in from every quarter of the globe 
as if he were looking out over the whole 
world and seeing what was going on. 
There is something akin to this in 
working out one's route in a time table 
folder. But, Rambler," I continued, 
"you know that the alleged funny men 
of the newspaper craft have seen fit 
from time to time to make fun of that 
form of literature to intimate that the 
translation of Egyptian hieroglyphics 
by a layman is about on a par with 
reading train schedules in a railroad 
folder." "All humbug," burst in the 
Rambler. "Of course, there are time 
tables and time tables, put in folder 
form for the benefit of the public, and 
they represent simple and direct roads 
and also complicated systems. The 
trouble, however, is not with the fold- 
ers as a whole as much as it is with 
the public. It has simply been spoiled 
by being encouraged to ask questions 
until it has failed to see the necessity 
of using the same care and thought in 
reading a folder that it would ordinar- 
ily exercise in investigating a matter 
new to it that interested, but which did 
not solicit patronage through agencies, 
representatives or other like means. 
Furthermore, it expects too much of a 
railroad folder. Of the hundreds of 
stations on a given railroad line, to ex- 
aggerate a little for the sake of illus- 
tration, if one does not see the partic- 
ular station to which he or she wishes 
to go at the top or near the top of the 



column and on the principal page, he 
or she (it's generally a 'he') becomes 
impatient and either hurries off to 'ask 
the agent' or else condemns the folder 
for lack of imagined clearness. Why 
cannot the same patience be exercised 
that would be given to looking up a 
word in the dictionary? For ins'tance, 
take the word 'heritor.' It would not 
be thought unreasonable of the dictionary 
that one probably had to first turn a 
few pages of the dictionary until com- 
ing to H in distinction to any other 
letter of the alphabet, and that it was 
required to turn further until reaching 
the page on which were the next letters 
in succession h-e-r. But with such a 
starting point it would be found in 
time that 'heritor' was a Scottish law 
term, meaning 'The proprietor of a her- 
itable thing; a holder in a parish.' It 
would also be observed that the search- 
er was further told to see 'hereditary.' 
If thorough knowledge was being 
sought, one would then, without find- 
ing fault with the dictionary, probably 
turn to 'hereditary,' and thus complete 
the investigation and obtain the full in- 
formation desired. 

"Now, what I maintain," continued 
the Rambler, after returning from the 
kitchen with another bottle of ginger 
ale, "is that a good railroad folder, one 
carefully adapted to the system it rep- 
resents, as is ours, is often not even as 
bad as the dictionary illustration I have 
used. In fact, when its use is confined 
to local requirements, to a journey be- 
tween two given points on the same 
system, it is an easy thing to quickly 
work out the problem of connections, 
even with no previous knowledge as to 
relative location of, say, two points be- 
tween which one wishes to travel; al- 
though no previous knowledge what- 
ever of the relative positions is not ordi- 
narily the case. Most every one has 
some little knowledge in such matters ; 
but," he continued, as he reached over 
the table and took up one of our fold- 
ers, the light having been left on while 
we were disposing of the contents of 
the second bottle, "let us take two 
points on our own system between 



44 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



which it is supposed one wants to go. 
The most natural thing in the world to 
do first, it goes without saying, is to 
consult the index of stations for the 
two points desired ; those desired in 
this instance being taken at random. 
The first station that catches my eye 
is McNair, Mississippi, and the next is, 
we will say, Paradise, Illinois. We all 
expect to go to Paradise sooner or 
later," he laughingly said as an aside. 
"Now, let's see how one would get from 
McNair to Paradise. First, however, 
the question arises, what do the num- 
bers in the index opposite those sta- 
tions indicate? If we have been as 
observant as we would have been in 
consulting the dictionary for the mean- 
ing of accent marks in case we were 
seeking a proper pronunciation of a 
word, we would have noticed at the 
top of the folder page in black face 
type, immediately under the caption of 
'Index to Stations,' that the figures are 
the table numbers. Then running cas- 
ually through the pages of the folder it 
cannot have failed to have been noticed 
that each table has a consecutive num- 
ber. Consequently, to start with, Mc- 
Nair is shown to be in table No. 57, 
which table is as readily found as is a 
word in the dictionary. Then in run- 
ning hastily through the stations of 
table 57, McNair will be found to be 
on the main line of the Y. & M. V., 
between New Orleans and Vicksburg. 
In the same way, Paradise will next be 
located in table No. 38. Now, McNair 
being a Mississippi station and Para- 
dise one in Illinois, a moment's thought 
shows that the movement between the 
first and the last must, of necessity, be 
northward. Hence, in starting out from 
McNair on table No. 57, one would na- 
turally, using the folder map if neces- 
sary to look up the routing, glance up the 
page toward Vicksburg rather than 
down toward New Orleans. A reading 
of the trains northbound out of McNair 
shows that of the two trains stopping 
there northbound, neither of them go 
beyond Vicksburg, whereas it is evi- 
dent that to get into Illinois the route 
must be continued further north. So 



it will next be noticed that there is a 
train passing through McNair, No. 12, 
which does not stop there, but which 
arrives at Vicksburg at 10 :40 p. m., and 
continues on north through to Mem- 
phis, as shown by observing the con- 
secutive showings, in tables 56 and 55, 
of train No. 12 through to its destina- 
tion and the terminus of the road ('the 
Valley') over which it runs. Further- 
more, table No. 57 shows a 2:33 p. m. 
train leaving McNair and arriving at 
Vicksburg at 4:45 p. m., ahead of No. 
12. Clearly, therefore, the 2:33 p. m. 
train, with a layover at Vicksburg for 
connection with No. 12, is the train to 
take from McNair, and in -turn it is 
shown by the 6 :10 a. m. arrival of train 
No. 12 at Memphis that the latter is 
the through train making connection 
with Illinois Central trains for the 
north. Now, as we have found Para- 
dise to be in Illinois, the connecting 
train to be taken on the Illinois Central 
out of Memphis is clearly No. 202 for 
St. .Louis, or No. 2 for Chicago, as 
shown in the condensed schedule above 
the arriving time of No. 12 at Memphis. 
Let's try the Chicago train No. 2 
and without previous knowledge as to 
how to find that train, we will run 
back in the station index to Chicago, 
and taking in turn the tables indicated 
thereon quickly find that table No. 9 
shows the through route between 
Memphis and Chicago, and that train 
No. 2 is clearly shown thereon. But 
as we know, Paradise is not located on 
that table, it not being on the main 
line over which No. 2 runs. So the 
next question is at what station is No. 
2 left for further connection ; and, as- 
suming no previous knowledge as to 
its location, there are two ways to get 
at the matter. One is by consulting 
the map, for while Paradise is not 
shown thereon, the reference already 
made to table No. 38 has shown that 
it is on a St. Louis to Eldorado line ; 
that line being easy to find on the map. 
The latter further shows that the main 
line over which No. 2 is run crosses 
the St. Louis and Eldorado line at Du 
Quoin. Hence DuQuoin is evidently 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



45 



the junction point sought. But assum- 
ing there was no map, there is another 
resource. Table No. 38, on which Para- 
dise was easily found, shows the repe- 
tition of two stations, i. e., Pinckney- 
ville and DuQuoin, and as arriving and 
leaving time is shown at these stations, 
the inference is plain that they are 
junction points. Acting therefore on 
that assumption, turn back to No. 2 on 
the main line, table No. 9, to see if 
that train goes through either of these 
points. It is found that it goes through 
DuQuoin and that No. 2 arrives there 
at 1 :37 p. m. Again turning to table 
No. 38, it will be seen there is a train 
leaving DuQuoin for Paradise at 7 :30 
p. m., arriving at that point at 7 :35 
p. m. 

"I will admit," said the Rambler, lay- 
ing the folder down for a moment, 
"that quite by accident we have stum- 
bled onto a somewhat complicated il- 
lustration ; but still, I think I have 
shown that it was not particularly dif- 
ficult to work out with just ordinary 
care and patience. But there is one 
thing that we forgot," he added, hastily 
picking up the folder again ; "we found 
a way to get between McNair and Para- 
dise, but the question is, is it the best 
way? Let's start over again and this 
time we will go to the map, remember- 
ing McNair is on the 'Valley road' be- 
low Vicksburg. It is evidently not a 
station of sufficient importance to be 
shown on the map; but here in table 
No. 57 is something that helps, for 
McNair is shown to be the next station 
below Harriston, and as we found Du- 
Quoin to be, Harriston is evidently a 
junction point. Now, Harriston is on 
the map, the latter showing it to be 
on a cross line of the 'Valley road' run- 
ning between Natchez and Jackson, 
Mississippi, connecting with the Illi- 
nois Central at Jackson. Let's follow 
the matter up from this new angle. 
The index shows Harriston, Missis- 
sippi, to be on tables 57. 67 and 68. 
The first of these is evidently not what 
is wanted, as it is the one from which 
we worked in the first instance. No. 
67 will undoubtedly not help, as it sim- 



ply shows in the same direction as 57, 
but giving a Natchez connection. Table 
No. 68, however, is immediately a new 
proposition, showing plainly the line 
running from Natchez to Jackson, Mis- 
sissippi. Now, then, starting from Mc- 
Nair, we find there is a train leaving 
there at 9 :24 a. m., arriving at Harris- 
ton at 9:45 a. m., and by table No. 68 
that there is a train leaving Harriston 
at 9 :55 a. m. and arriving at Jackson, 
Mississippi, 12 :50 p. m. In other words, 
we have found a direct connection up 
to Jackson. The latter point, Jackson, 
will also be found on table No. 9, the 
same that we previously used for con- 
nection out of Memphis, and this table 
No. 9 shows that train No. 4 leaves 
Jackson at 1:50 p. m., giving another 
relatively direct connection. Following 
through table No. 9, being now on the 
main line of the Illinois Central, and 
leaving Jackson at 1 :50 p. m., it is 
found that No. 4 does not stop at Du- 
Quoin, the junction point for Paradise. 
But the next nearest junction point to 
DuQuoin is shown to be Carbondale, 
where the train arrives at 2:40 a. m. 
Then, in the schedule columns of the 
folder, directly alongside train No. .4's 
showing, it will be seen there is a loeal 
train, No. 24, which leaves Carbondale 
at 6:45 a. m. and arrives at DuQuoin 
at 7:22 a. m. Table No. 38 in turn 
shows a train out of DuQuoin at 10:40 
a. m. that arrives at Paradise at 10:45 
a. m. You see, therefore," the Rambler 
concluded as he tossed the folder aside, 
our illustration has interestingly devel- 
oped a case of choice of routes ; and 
there perhaps is where the agent may be 
properly approached, for it possibly in- 
volves a question of ticket fare. The 
agent may also be able to suggest to 
the patron, who perchance has worked 
this problem out, iust which of the two 
routes is the more preferable the one 
involving more time and longer lay- 
overs, but with the layovers at a more 
convenient hour, or the route running di- 
rect but making one change at an in- 
convenient hour in the night." 

He laughed quietly to himself as he 
relit his pipe for the third time, remark- 



46 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



ing as he blew out the match and put 
it in the ash tray: "I am sorry I stum- 
bled on such a relatively intricate case, 
for the majority of passengers travel 
on through lines, and if it were not 
too hot to go further into the matter, 
I think I could demonstrate that by 
condensed schedules and detail show- 
ings it is only a question of beginning 
right that makes the folder an easy 
guide for through runs or main line 
stations. Of course, though, it is al- 
ways to be presupposed that the index 
is judiciously used to start with that 
is the beginning right. When it conies 
to using a series of folders of foreign 
lines for an extended trip, the matter 
is, I admit, a little different. Practi- 
cally, however, it is the same with some 
general knowledge to start on, as to 
location and roads. Of course, I do not 
mean to imply in all this that the aid 
of an agent or railroad representative 
is not desirable at times. The point is, 
however, that they often have more 
than is necessary thrust upon them. 
Or, admitting the reverse for sake of 
argument, that patrons are not always 
considerate in the selection of the time 
chosen for approaching an agent for 
information. In ninety-nine cases out 
of one hundred, particularly at the 



smaller stations, the man making a long 
trip involving more than the initial 
road, generally knows about it some 
time in advance of his going, and has 
plenty of opportunity to drop in on the 
agent and discuss the matter with him 
at a time when he knows the agent is 
not particularly busy ticketing a near- 
due train. For instance, let us sup- 
pose the case of a merchant in some 
small inland city about to make a trip 
to the Yellowstone. Why can't he con- 
sider the ticket agent, and help all con- 
cerned very materially thereby, by do- 
ing what he would want the agent to 
do by him? That is, should the agent 
desire to discuss with the merchant 
some matter not connected with a di- 
rect purchase, the merchant would not 
take it kindly of the agent if he dropped 
in on Saturday night when the former 
was having his busiest retail trade. He 
would rather expect him to save that 
subject for some afternoon when trade 
was practically at a standstill, would 
he not?" 

"Whew !" concluded the Rambler, as 
he restlessly got up and looked at the 
thermometer, "it is 88 here again to- 
night. It's me to sleep on the swing- 
ing couch again." 



Service Notes of Interest 



The following from the Union Pacific 
Bulletin, may be of help to our agents in 
connection with prospective business to the 
Yellowstone Park. 

"Although Yellowstone Park is not 
fenced in, it is perhap the best game pre- 
serve in the United States. All hunters and 
poachers are rigidly excluded ?.nd the gov- 
ernment troops, with which Yellowstone 
Park is policed, use every effort to protect 
the animals. In winter, when the ground 
is covered with snow, and forage is difficult, 
the troops see that the animals have plenty 
to eat. 

The animals in Yellowstone Park are 
one of the multitude of attractions in this 
"National Playground"; although they are 
not tame, these four-footed creatures have 
been protected so well that they have no 
fear of Park visitors, and they gaze with 
only casual interest as the stages drive 
closely by them. 

Grizzly bears predominate in the Park; 



although of preponderous strength, he will 
not attack man, but rather run away, un- 
less he is cornered or thinks he is cor- 
nered. The grizzly is a fine swimmer, but 
cannot climb trees; he will eat anything 
he can chew, but prefers berries and fruits. 

The black bears and cinnamon bears are 
smaller than the grizzly, but are good tree 
climbers; they are usually timid, but fight 
in a rough and tumble manner, with much 
roaring and growling. 

The buffalo or bison, which formerly 
roamed in thousands over the western 
plains, are represented by a herd of about 
25 in the Park, although they are seldom 
seen near the highways. Fifty years ago 
a Union Pacific train was delayed over an 
hour to permit an immense herd of buffalo 
to cross the track. 

Antelope are practically extinct except in 
Yellowstone Park. This animal rarely sur- 
vives captivity. 

Mountain sheep, with circular horns, 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



47 



thrive in the highest and most inaccessi- 
ble places, so that the larger birds are their 
only enemies. 

Elk, of which there are thousands in Yel- 
lowstone Park, almost domesticated, are 
frequently seen near the road in droves of 
several hundred. 

The numerous deer always attract the at- 
tention and admiration of Park visitors. 

Among the other animals which are plen- 
tiful in Yellowstone Park are the mountain 
lion, coyote, otter, mink and beaver." 



The Great Northern Railway Company 
has issued a circular in regard to the 
Glacier National Park, reading in part, as 
follows: 

"Automobile service has been fully es- 
tablished in the Glacier National Park and 
hotels, Chalets and camps are giving satis- 
factory service to all tourists visiting the 
Park." 

"The impression seems to have gained 
currency, particularly in the eastern part 
of the country, that the most attractive por- 
tions of Glacier National Park are accessi- 
ble only by mountain climbing, horse back 
riding or other arduous means. In conse- 
quence a great many tourists have hesi- 
tated to visit the Park, fearing the difficulty 
of making the trip in comfort. This im- 
pression is entirely wrong. Daily automo- 
bile service is maintained between Glacier 
Park Station, at the eastern entrance of 
the Park, and Two Medicine Camp, sit- 
uated on Two Medicine Lake; also be- 
tween Glacier Park Station and St. Mary 
Camp at the foot of St. Mary Lake, a dis- 
tance of 32 miles; and to Many Glacier 
Hotel on Lake McDermott, 57 miles from 
the railway station ("the new half million 
dollar hotel). From St. Mary Camp a trip 
can be made by fast gasoline launch to 
Going-To-The-Sun Camp and return (near 
the upper end of St. Mary Lake), which is 
surrounded on all sides by mountain peaks. 
Many Glacier Hotel on Lake McDermott 
is the starting point for a number of walk- 
ing tours of varying length. It is not 
necessary, however, to leave the hotel, as 
from its verandas may be seen some of 
the finest mountain peaks, glaciers, and 
water falls in the Park. The view from 
Going-To-The-Sun Camp is probably un- 
suroassed on the American continent." 

"For those who enjoy horse back riding 
there is a great variety of short trips 
wh'fch can 'be made from the different 
camps and hotels which do not involve 
any more hardship or danger than riding 
through the average city park. The trails 
are wide and easy of ascent, the horses are 
thoroughly trained and reliable and the 
guides are all experienced men who give 
special attention to the comfort and safety 
of the tourists in their charge, particularly 
to women and children." 



The following, entitled "Conductor Al- 
ways Helps," cannot be strictly classed as 
a Passenger Traffic story. But, as passenger 
traffic is a part of our great system's "happy 
family" as well as our freight conductors 
and brakemen as two of its units, it is 
thought the poem will be enjoyed by pas- 
senger men as well as others. 
The brakeman heard the music of the car 

wheels humming low. 
With his head stuck out the window, up 

in the cu-py-lo. 
And he heard the merry warble of the birds 

out in the trees, 

Smelled the fragrance of the flowers borne 
. upward on the breeze. 
All the world seemed lovely, while his heart 

with rapture swelled, 
Till he heard a hot box howling, and the 

burning dope he smelled. 
He forgot the fragrant flowers and for- 
got the birdie's song, 
When he dug down in the locker for a 

brass ten inches long. 
All the world turned dark and dreary, and 

his heart it felt like lead, 
As he gathered up the outfit, put the brass 

upon his head. 
Around his neck he hung the bucket that 

was filled with greasy dope; 
In each hand a pail of water, in his mouth 

a cake of soap. 
Then he lifted up and balanced the jack 

block on his nose; 

Deftly gathered up the jack bar, and car- 
ried that between his toes; 
Put the jack down in his pocket on his 

ear he hung the hook. 
The conductor carried what was left the 

pencil and the book. 

C. G. W. R. R., The Maize. 



The "Service News" of the Nickel Plate 
Road has an article on "Team Work," 
which is herewith reproduced in part as 
being applicable to the Central's interests 
as well as those of the road for which the 
article was written: 

There are many ways in which agents 
may co-operate with our traveling represen- 
tatives in lining up business and every effort 
should be made to thoroughly understand 
each other when it is necessary to get in 
touch with prospective passengers through 
the aid of correspondence between each 
other. 

We believe our agents are alive to the 
fact that the Company's interest is their in- 
terest and that they are keen enough to 
seek out business with that almost uncanny 
intuition for which the real salesman is 
noted. 

Frequently the traveling representative 
on his route learns of a movement at a 
point which he cannot reach in time and he 
resorts to his fountain pen and paper to 
get in touch with the nearest agent, giving 



48 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



all the information at hand. It is then that 
the agent can, and usually does, prove his 
ability to co-operate by securing every de- 
tail of the prospective movement and trans- 
mitting it to the traveling man which en- 
ables the latter to formulate his itinerary 
accordingly and arrange a personal inter- 
view if necessary. 

It's the personal interview that counts 
and it generally lands the business. 

We must look for reverses occasionally, 
but with "heads up" at all times we can 
accomplish most surprising' triumphs. 

The Nickel Plate Road is considered as 
one of the large railroad families wherein 
the employes are pulling together like a, 
trained tug-of-war's crew. 

That's team work, and without it, disso- 
lution is inevitable. 

We are living in a rapid age and we 
must needs be alert for that which means 
our bread and butter, so let's dig in our 
toes and keep moving onward, landing the 
prospects at hand and creating new where- 
ever possible. 



"The 1916 Algonquin Park folder con- 
tains valuable information and illustrated 
descriptive matter of the territory." 



The Grand Trunk Railway System dis- 
seminates the following information in re- 
gard to the Algonquin Provincial (On- 
tario) Park for the summer season of 1916. 
"The park," it says, "is one of the finest 
vacation play-grounds in America. In it 
the Grand Trunk owns and operates the 
Highland Inn, at Algonquin Park Station, 
Ontario, Nominigan Camp on Smoke Lake, 
seven miles south of Algonquin Park Sta- 
tion, and Camp Minnesing, ten miles north 
of Algonquin Park Station. The camps 
are reached by stage line (operated by the 
management of. the Highland Inn) from 
the Highland Inn, Algonquin Park Station. 
Nominigan Camp may also be reached by 
canoe from the Highland Inn, and Camp 
Minnesing by canoe from Joe Lake Sta- 
tion; both of these canoe trips can be made 
with ease, though they necessitate three or 
four short portages on each route." 

"The principal game fish that are found 
within the confines of Algonquin Park are 
small mouth black bass, speckled trout, 
salmon trout and lake trout. Many of the 
lakes in close proximity to the hotel and 
the camps afford excellent sport; it is ad- 
visable to secure guides to obtain the best 
results. The Algonquin Park regulations 
provide for a charge of $3.00 for residents 
of Canada, and $5.00 for non-residents. 
These licenses are issued by the Park Su- 
perintendent, address, Algonquin Park Sta- 
tion, Ont., upon written or personal appli- 
cation, or by the rangers, who meet the 
trains on their arrival at Joe Lake Station." 

"Prospective visitors desiring accommo- 
dations at the Highland Inn or Camps 
should communicate with Miss Jean Lind- 
say, manager of the Highland Inn, Algon- 
quin Park Station, Ont., in advance." 



A wild-eyed, disheveled gentleman, ap- 
parently from the country, rushed into the 
police station, shouting he had been robbed. 

Sergeant Pat Murnane finally succeeded 
in soothing him into coherency. 

"Now, let's hear all about it," said Mur- 
nane. 

"Well, a half an hour before we reached 
St. Paul I had $5,000 in paper that I was 
bringing here to put in the bank. When 
I got outside the depot I couldn't find it 
anywhere. I don't know where it went. 
That money means a whole lot to me. If 
I don't " 

"Now, now. Don't get excited again," 
exclaimed Murnane. "That train breaks up 
here. Maybe the porter saw your money 
when he was cleaning up. I'll send for 
him." 

"Did you see anything of a small package 
when you were cleaning up your car?" 
Murnane asked when the porter arrived. 

"Yas, sah. It's a lot of money, sah." 

"Where is it now?" 

"Here, sah," and he produced it from an 
inside pocket. 

The gentleman from the country cheered 
up perceptibly when he saw the roll. 

"That's it," he exclaimed. "And it's all 
here, the whole $5,000." 

"Now, look here, porter," said Murnane 
severely. "I want to know why you didn't 
turn that package in the minute you found 
it." 

"Why, sah," he replied in an injured tone. 
"I s'posed de gemman had left it for a 
tip." St. Paul Pioneer Press. 



"Three hundred and twenty-five Ameri- 
can railroads reporting to the Bureau of 
Railway News and Statistics, Chicago, 
operating 161,948 miles of line, went 
through the entire fiscal year to June 30th 
without a single fatality to a passenger in 
a train accident. No such record of safe 
operation has been approached by the rail- 
ways of any other country in the world." 

"During 1915 the 325 railroads carried 
485,166,546 passengers a total distance of 
18,083,050,000 passenger miles and hauled 
1,217,959,477 tons of freight a distance of 
184,966,034,000 ton miles. No country in 
the world is large enough in railway mile- 
age or traffic to afford a comparison with 
these figures." 

"The decreasing hazard to trainmen is 
shown by the fact that 285 were emploved 
for one killed, by far the largest number 
in history. There has been almost a steady 
growth of safety in this regard since 1391, 
when only 104 were employed for one 
killed. Since 1910 the improvement is un- 
broken." Chicago Post. 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



49 



The B. & O. recently reported the fol- 
lowing important changes in train service 
from Chicago: Train No. 16 Akron, 
Youngstown, Pittsburgh, Washington, Bal- 
timore, Philadelphia, New York Night Ex- 
press leaves Chicago daily 10:45 p. m., in- 
stead of 9:00 p. m. as heretofore, arriving 
at points named on about the same schedule 
as previously in effect, which means short- 
ening of time one hour and forty-five min- 
utes. This train carries through coaches to 
Eastern destinations, through sleeping car 
Chicago to Youngstown, Pittsburgh, Wash- 
ington, Baltimore, Philadelphia and New 
York, and local sleeping car Chicago to 
Akron. 

New Train No. 22. Central, Eastern 
Ohio and West Virginia express leaves Chi- 
cago daily 10:30 p. m. with through coaches 
and sleeping car to Mansfield, Newark, 
Zanesville and Wheeling, with connection 
for Columbus, Marietta and Parkersburg. 



las, Fort Worth, San Antonio and Houston 
from one hour and fifteen minutes to one- 
half hour earlier. 



The attention of Illinois Central agents 
is particularly called to connections made 
at Effingham, Vandalia and Greenup, Illi- 
nois, by certain Vandalia Line trains with 
Illinois Central trains, as outlined in the 
following communication from Mr. J. V. 
Mo.disette, General Passenger Agent, Penn- 
sylvania Lines, Vandalia Railroad Company. 

"In checking up our connections with 
your lines we have made the ofllowing ar- 
rangements: 

Our train 114 at Effingham 

Your train No. 22 from the south is due 
at Effingham at 11:45 p. m., our train No. 
114 due to leave at 11:45 p. m. We have 
arranged to hold our train as much as ten 
minutes when you report passengers. 
Our train No. 39 at Vandalia 

Your train No. 124 is due at 10:02 a. m., 
our train No. 39 is due at 10:10 a. m. We 
will hold five minutes when you report 
passengers. 

Our train No. 27 at Greenup 

Your train No. 224 from the south is due 
at 10:07 a. m., our train No. 27 is due at 
10:09 a. m. We, of course, cannot wait long 
for passengers as our train No. 27 is a 
through New York-St. Louis train, but 
when your train is in sight and passengers 
are reported, we will hold sufficient time to 
get what passengers you have for us." 



The M. K. & T. announces that effective 
August 6th the schedules of their limited 
trains were changed to make quicker time 
to Texas from St. Louis and Kansas City. 
On new schedules, their No. 5, "The Katy 
Flyer," leaves St. Louis at 9:05 p. m., in- 
stead of at 8:32 p. m., and arrives at San 
Antonio, Houston and Galveston from fif- 
teen to twenty-five minutes earlier than 
formerly. Their train No. 9, "The Katy 
Limited," leaves St. Louis at 9:10 a. m., 
instead of 9:15 a. m., and arrives at Dal- 



During the past month the Michigan 
Central inaugurated new through sleeping 
car service between Chicago and Philadel- 
phia via Buffalo in connection with the 
Lehigh Valley and the Philadelphia & Read- 
ing Roads. The service consists of a 
twelve-section drawing room steel sleeping 
car with dining car service for all meals 
enroute, including breakfast into Philadel- 
phia. Eastbound, this car is carried out 
of Chicago on "The Wolverine," Michigan 
Central No. 8, leaving at 9:05 a. m., on 
Lehigh Valley No. 2 and P. & R., arriving 
at Philadelphia at 9:15 a. m. the next 
morning. Returning service is on the P. 
& R. train No. 311, the Lehigh Valley 
"Black Diamond," No. 9 and Michigan Cen- 
tral No. 1, leaving Philadelphia at 9:30 
a. m. and arriving at Chicago at 9:00 a. m. 

CHEERING SOME ONE ON. 

Don't you mind about the triumphs, 
Don't you worry after fame; 
Don't you grieve about succeeding, 
Let the future guard your name, 
All the best in life's the simplest, 
Love will last when wealth is gone, 
Just be glad that you are living, 
And keep cheering some one on. 

Let your neighbors have the blossoms, 
Let your comrades wear tfye crown; 
Never mind the little set-backs, 
Nor the blows that knock you down. 
You'll be here when they're forgotten, 
You'll be glad with youth and dawn, 
If you just forget your troubles, 
And keep cheering some one on. 

There's a lot of sorrow round you, 
Lots of lonesomeness and tears; 
Lots of heartache and of worry 
Through the shadows of the years, 
And the world needs more than triumphs; 
More than all the swords we've drawn, 
It is hungering for the fellow 
Who keeps cheering others on. 

Let the wind around you whistle, 

And the storms around you play; 

You'll be here with brawn and gristle 

When the conquerors decay. 

You'll be here in memories sweetened 

In the souls you've saved from pawn, 

If you put aside the victories 

And keep cheering some one on. 

John B. Linsley, C. A., Goodrich Transit 

Co., Grand Rapids, Mich., in the Way 

Bill. 



The two colored brothers were appar- 
ently about to come to blows. Rhetorical 
threats had been flying fast. 



"Niggah, don't mess wid me," warned 
one, "cause when yo' do yo' sure is flirtin' 
wid a hearse." 

"Don't pesticate wid me, niggah," replied 
the other, showing a great bony fist; "don't 
fo'ce me fo' to pres dis upon you,' 'cause 
if yo' do, ah'll hit yo' so ha'd ah'll separate 
yo' ideas from yo' habits; ah'll just nacher- 
ally knock yo' from amazin' grace into 
a'floatin' opportunity." 

"If yo' mess wid me, niggah," replied the 
other, "ah'll jest make one pas, an' dere'll 
be a man pattin' yo' in. de face wid a spade 
tomorrow mornin'." Exchange. 



SMILE. 

"Joke with him who jostles you, 
Smile on him who hurries you, 
Laugh at him who pushes you, 
It doesn't cost a cent! 

Don't be carrying around that chip, 
Wink your eye and curve your lip, 
And from life's sunshine take a sip, 
It doesn't cost a cent! 

Don't be always first to rile 

Your neighbor give him just a smile, 

It will cheer the dullest while, 

And doesn't cost a cent!" 
-Mildred Stewart, in the Plumbing and 
Heating Magazine. 



A man was appointed detective for a 
railroad company, and he showed his au- 
thority at every opportunity. While riding 



in a coach one day, he heard a little boy 
behind him sniffling. 

The detective turned to him and said, 
"Have you a pocket handkerchief, my little 
man?" 

The boy replied, "Yes, sir, but mamma 
said I shouldn't loan it to everybody." 
The Christian Herald. 



A society for disseminating religious lit- 
erature once sent a bundle of tracts to a 
railway manager for placing in the v/aiting 
room, with the title: "A Route to New 
Jerusalem." He returned them with the 
message: 

"We cannot place the tracts, as New 
Jerusalem is not on our system." 

New York American. 



First Trolley Conductor Why was Kelly 
fired? 

Second Trolley Conductor His car 
struck a man at Seventh street and carried 
him a block on the fender. After collect- 
ing a nickel from him Kelley, in the ex- 
citement, forgot to ring it up and the man 
was a spotter. Life. 



Auntie Bobby, why don't you get up 
and give your seat to your father? Doesn't 
it pain you to see him reaching for the 
strap? 

Bobby Not on a train, it doesn't. 
London Opinion. 



God gives every bird its food, but does 
not throw it in the nest. Clipped. 



entral 
Stations, 
Dixoii 111. 





Coal Review 

By B. J. Rowe, Coal Traffic Manager 




North 

M ORTH of the Ohio River, that im- 
portant branch of the coal business, 
the domestic trade, which embraces coals 
used for domestic purposes, is marking 
time, and just how many such steps it 
shall have to take before such activity 
as dominates the steam coal trade sets 
in remains to be seen. 

The great activity in all lines of manu- 
facture has caused such a demand for 
steam coal that the producers have been 
hard pressed for months to take care 
of the trade. It is not the temporary sit- 
uation of a few weeks' duration in the 
late spring and early summer that is al- 
ways to be expected, but is something 
that has existed for months, and the in- 
dications are will continue for some time 
as many of the large operations have 
contracted in advance for practically 
their entire output of this grade. 

Prices of all sizes have advanced over 
last year due to the increase in the min- 
ers' wage scale of April 1, 1916, and 
other causes, one of which is the short- 
age of eastern coal, and while domestic 
sizes have shown the customary disposi- 
tion of the summer season towards 
languidness, if one may judge from trade 
reports received from various consum- 
ing centers, it is not likely to continue in 
such condition long and there is no doubt 
as to the future, in the opinion of those 
well versed in the trade situation. The 
mines in the middle west, Illinois partic- 
ularly, have every reason to, and do, en- 
tertain high hopes of a very large ton- 
nage to round out the coal year. 



The northwest, as is well known, re- 
quires large quantities of coal for manu- 
facturing purposes, as well as domestic 
use, and in Minnesota, the Dakotas and 
the northern part of Iowa, the markets 
of which have been dominated by so- 
called "Dock" coal, the consumers are 
much disturbed over the scarcity of that 
coal and studying the question in its 
every phase, the conclusion is inevitable 
that, because of labor shortage in the 
east, because of the miners' strike in 
Pennsylvania, because of higher rates on 
the lakes, and because consequently of 
higher prices of this coal, there is going 
to be a greater movement of western coal 
into the northwest than ever before, and 
it is freely predicted that notwithstand- 
ing the 10-cent increase in the freight 
rate of September 30, 1915, Illinois will 
ship one million tons more to that terri- 
tory this coal year than ever before. 

Our railroad is ideally situated to par- 
ticipate in this increased movement. It 
serves the principal coal fields of the 
state; has ample motive power and 
equipment, and will continue the unex- 
celled service of the past. 

Our representatives in the west and 
northwest should grasp this opportunity 
to not only secure this new tonnage, but 
also put forth their best efforts to intro- 
duce Illinois coal in that part of the 
northwest which has been dominated so 
long by eastern or "Dock" coal. 

A complete list of all coal mines on our 
railroad, together with name and address 
of the operators, will be found in Coal 
Circular No. 44. 



51 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



South 

South of the Ohio River the revival 
of the coal traffic has been more gradual, 
as the influence of competition with 
Pennsylvania and West Virginia coal is 
absent, and seasonal changes do not 
cause as great fluctuation as in the north. 
Substantial increase, however, has taken 
place. 

I shall take this opportunity to explain 
the changes in the rates on bituminous 
coal from the mines in southern Illinois, 
western Kentucky and Alabama, effect- 
ive as of August 1, 1916, which may 
have been brought to your attention by 
patrons desiring an explanation. 

When the Act to Regulate Interstate 
Commerce was amended in 1910 requir- 
ing the carriers to eliminate departures 
from the long and short haul provision 
of the fourth section of the Act, except 
when sanctioned by the Interstate Com- 
merce Commission, they duly filed appli- 
cations for relief in respect to the then 
existing departures. The applications of 
the carriers in the Mississippi Valley in 
respect of bituminous coal rates were as- 
signed for hearing before the Interstate 
Commerce Commission in 1914, and as 
the result of that hearing Interstate Com- 
merce Commission Fourth Section Or- 
der 5234 issued requiring the carriers to 
revise these rates by August 1st. 

This order was designed to accom- 
plish a two-fold purpose: (a) To re- 
move all departures from the long and 
short haul rule, except where the Com- 
mission found such departures were jus- 
tified either by reason of active water 
competition or competition by rail of 
nearby coal fields, relief in such cases 
being granted where the distance from 
the more distant field (the mines were 
not treated individually, but were 
grouped as to Alabama on the one hand 
and Illinois and Kentucky on the other) 
was 115 per cent or more of that from 
the nearer field; and 

(b) To bring about a better relation- 
ship of rates from mines in Alabama, 
Illinois and Kentucky. 

In the past the rates had been the 
same from all three fields, except to com- 
mon points on the Southern Railway in 



Mississippi, Frisco and A. & V. Ry., 
where the rates from Alabama were ap- 
proximately 15 cents per ton less than 
from Illinois and Kentucky. 

The order aimed to, by reason of their 
proximity to the consuming market, 
bring about lower rates from Brilliant, 
Ala., and from mines in Alabama on the 
St. Louis & San Francisco R. R. and 
Southern Railway than from mines on 
our railroad in Illinois and Kentucky. 
Rates to Illinois Central and Y. & M. 
V. R. R stations were worked out on 
that basis, giving Alabama mines a dif- 
ferential under Illinois and Kentucky. It 
did not result in a uniform difference at 
all points of destination, but was gradu- 
ated from a negative differential of 5 
cents on the north end of the Y. & M. V. 
to a maximum differential of 45 cents 
in favor of Alabama on the extreme 
southern part of the I. C. and the Y. & 
M. V. This was brought about by the 
use of the maximum mileage scale or- 
dered by the Commission to apply alike 
from all coal fields as the maximum rate 
at intermediate points, only in such cases 
where the Commission found that the 
carriers were justified in applying lower 
rates to a point or points beyond on ac- 
count of water competition or competi- 
tive forces beyond our control. Some 
of our rates from Illinois and Kentucky 
were lower and some were higher than 
the Commission's maximum mileage 
scale ; with few exceptions the rates from 
Alabama were higher than the scale. 
Therefore, the new rates of August 1st 
show both advances and reductions, the 
major portion of the changes, however, 
being material reductions in the rates 
from Brilliant, Ala., and mines on con- 
necting roads, such as the Frisco, South- 
ern Railway and Mobile & Ohio in Ala- 
bama. 

Under this adjustment the rates from 
Alabama to Greenwood and other com- 
mon points on the Southern Railway in 
Mississippi, except Greenville, will be 
thirty (30) cents per ton less than from 
Illinois and Kentucky, rates from all 
three fields being advanced to bring them 
up nearer the level of rates in surround- 
ing territory and remove as far as pos- 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



53 



sible departures from the long and short 
rule. 

To stations on the Y. & M. V. R. R. 
north of the line of the Southern Rail- 
way in Mississippi the new rates from 
Alabama will be 5 to 15 cents (except 
on the Clarksdale district north of Lula) 
lower from Alabama than from Illinois 
and Kentucky, the average being about 
10 cents, and in the territory between 
the Southern Railway in Mississippi and 
the Alabama & Vicksburg Railway, the 
shorter distance from the Alabama mines 
makes the rates 20 to 25 cents per ton 
less from mines in that state than from 
mines in Illinois and Kentucky. 

South of the line of the Alabama & 
Vicksburg Railway the new rates to sta- 
tions on the I. C. and Y. & M. V. R. R. 
will be from 30 to 45 cents per ton less 
from Alabama than from Illinois and 
Kentucky. 

The difference at Jackson and Vicks- 
burg is 30 cents, in favor of Alabama, 
and at New Orleans, Baton Rouge 
Bayou Sara, Natchez and Greenville it 
is 25 cents There is no differential in 
the rates to Memphis, being the same 
from all fields, and no change was made 
August 1st in the rates from any of the 
coal fields to Memphis, New Orleans 
or Vicksburg, nor is any change contem- 
plated at this time or in the near future. 

We are permitted under this order to 
meet the competition of water-borne coal 



at New Orleans, the plantation group, 
Baton Rouge, Bayou Sara, Natchez, 
Vicksburg, Greenville and Memphis, and 
carry higher rates at intermediate points, 
provided they do not exceed the maxi- 
mum mileage scale hereinbefore referred 
to. 

It should be borne in mind that the 
maximum mileage scale applies only 
where the carriers elect to meet com- 
petitive conditions and carry a lower rate 
at a more distant point, and, conversely, 
does not affect the rate structure where 
there are no departures from the long 
and short haul rule, and in some such 
cases the rates exceed the mileage scale 
by 5 to 10 cents per ton. 

The rates from all fields to stations on 
the Mississippi Central and New Orleans, 
Mobile & Chicago roads were pretty gen- 
erally revised, but practically no changes 
were made in the rates to stations on the 
Gulf & Ship Island and New Orleans 
Great Northern roads, as the Commis- 
sion specifically exempted those roads 
from the application of the mileage scale 
for a period of two years. 

The new adjustment to stations on the 
I. C. R. R. and Y. & M. V. R. R. is a 
marked departure from the basis of rates 
on coal that has obtained in the past, 
and the result should be watched care- 
fully, in order that we may determine to 
what extent, if any, tonnage is shifted 
from one field of origin to another. 




Residences, Dixon, III 







Illinois Central Railroad Company The Yazoo & 
Mississippi Valley Railroad Company 

Mail, Baggage, Express and Milk Traffic Department 

H. L. Fairfield, Manager Baggage and Mail Traffic. J. A. Osborn, General 
Agent Chicago, 111., August. 1, 1916 

INFORMATION AND INSTRUCTION BULLETIN NO. 7 



Cylindrical Sample Cases. 

33. Notwithstanding that our tariff 
prohibits the checking of cylindrical 
sample cases, some agents either do 
not understand what a cylindrical case 
is or wilfully disregard the tariff in- 
structions. One agent recently, in ex- 
planation of having checked a cylin- 
drical sample case, said that the case 
contained hats and that everybody was 
checking it. A cylindrical case is one 
which is round, or approximately 
round, in one dimension, such as is 
used for samples of hats, china plates, 
etc. Since our tariff prohibits the 
checking of cylindrical cases, agents 
w r ill be expected to see that they are 
not checked hereafter. 

Checking Dogs to or Through Mon- 
tana and Wyoming. 

34. Dogs offered for checking to 
points in Montana or Wyoming, or 
through those states, must be accom- 
panied by a statement from a state or 
government health officer, or state vet- 
erinarian, that rabies has not existed 
for the past nine months within a ra- 
dius of 100 miles of the original point 
of shipment ; also a statement from the 
owner, or the party in charge, that the 
dogs, to the best of his knowledge, are 
free from disease and have been in the 
locality from which shipped since birth 



or for a period of nine months prior 
to the shipment. It is necessary to 
obtain a special permit for the admis- 
sion into Montana or Wyomng of 
dogs or other animals of the canine 
species when the above regulations 
cannot be observed. 
Holding Baggage at Point of Checking. 

35. A traveling salesman recently 
checked his baggage to his home town 
on a Friday about noon, and claims 
that the baggage was held at the check- 
ing point with consent of the baggage- 
man and with the request that it be 
forwarded the following Saturday 
morning, his admitted object being to 
evade the payment of storage charges 
at destination when he checked out on 
the following Sunday evening. The 
baggage was overlooked, and by rea- 
son of not being forwarded on Satur- 
day morning was not at destination 
when the owner called Sunday eve- 
ning to check out. As a result we 
were confronted with a claim for loss 
of time and business. Agents should 
bear in mind that baggage must be 
forwarded on the first available train 
after it is checked and the owner should 
be informed that it cannot be held over. 

Returning Railroad Mail. 

36. When train or station baggage- 
men return railroad mail for any rea- 



55 



56 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



son, that reason should be endorsed on 
the envelope so that when it reaches 
the sender he may know why the let- 
ter was returned to him. The date and 
point from which it was returned 
should also be endorsed on the en- 
velope. 

Failure to Show State on Baggage 
Checks. 

37. It has been observed that a great 
many agents in writing the destination 
on baggage checks fails to show the 
state in which such destinations are 
located. Owing to the duplication of 
names of towns and cities, this failure 
very often results in baggage going 
astray. On our own line we have a 
good many stations of the same name, 
as, for example, Madison, Wis., Madi- 
son, 111., and Madison, Miss.; Central 
City, la., Central City, 111., and Central 
City, Ky. ; Jackson, Tenn., and Jack- 
son, Miss., etc. It is very important 
in checking baggage that the name of 
the state in which the destination is 
located be shown. 

Chautauqua Baggage. 

38. Our attention has been called to 
a number of chautauqua companies 
carrying tents and other packages or 
pieces exceeding 250 pounds in weight. 
While our tariff provides for checking 
tents, poles, etc., for public entertain- 



ment companies, such equipment must 
be clearly within the limits specified 
in the tariff as to weight and size. 
Agents in checking chautauqua bag- 
gage should watch the business closely 
and see that our tariff provisions are 
not violated. 

Weekly Reports of Unclaimed 

Baggage. 

39. A large number of weekly re- 
ports of unclaimed baggage, form GBO 
6, fail to reach us every week. Many 
of these shortages evidently are attrib- 
utable to a misunderstanding on the 
part of agents who think that the re- 
port is not necessary if they have no 
baggage on hand. This report should 
be sent to the General Baggage Agent 
promptly at the close of each week, 
whether any baggage is on hand or not. 
If no baggage is on hand, the report 
should be endorsed "Blank" and prop- 
erly dated and signed. Baggage rooms 
should be carefully inspected before 
making this report, as in numerous 
cases we have found stray baggage 6n 
hand at stations which had been send- 
ing in weekly reports showing nothing 
on hand. This report is not to be 
enclosed in an envelope, but should be 
handed to the train baggageman, un- 
enclosed, on the trains designated in 
our Circular No. 5, dated March 1, 
1915. 



Railway Mail Pay Legislation 



1 THINK all of the readers of this maga- 
zine are familiar with the controversy 
between the railroads and the Post Office 
Department on the question of mail trans- 
portation pay. The present controversy 
began in 1907 and has waged with con- 
siderable bitterness since. 

The Post Office Department has claimed 
that the railroads were overpaid, but made 
every possible effort to prevent the ques- 
tion going before an impartial tribunal, 
such as the Interstate Commerce Commis- 
sion, while the railroads have strongly 
urged upon Congress to place this question 
under the jurisdiction of the commission. 
Congress finally decided that this request 
of the railroads was fair and reasonable, 
and the Post Office Appropriation Bill, 



which passed Congress the latter part of 
July, contains the following provisions: 

"The Interstate Commerce Commission 
is hereby empowered and directed as soon 
as practicable to fix and determine from 
time to time the fair and reasonable rates 
and compensation for the transportation of 
such mail matter by railway common car- 
riers and the service connected therewith, 
prescribing the method or methods by 
weight, or space, or both, or otherwise, 
for ascertaining such rate or compensation, 
and to publish the same, and orders so 
made and published shall continue in force 
until changed by the commission after due 
notice and hearing." 

Other paragrahps of interest are: 

"The procedure for the ascertainment of 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



57 



said rates and compensation shall be as fol- 
lows : 

"Within three months from and after the 
approval of this act, or as soon thereafter 
as may be practicable, the Postmaster Gen- 
eral shall hie with the commission a state- 
ment showing the transportation required 
by all railway common carriers, including 
the number, equipment, size, and construc- 
tion of the cars necessary for the transac- 
tion of the business; the character and 
speed of the trains which are to carry the 
various kinds of mail; the service, both 
terminal and enroute, which the carriers 
are to render; and all other information 
which may be material to the inquiry, but 
such other information may be filed at any 
time in the discretion of the commission. 

"The Postmaster General shall file with 
the commission a comprehensive plan for 
the transportation of the mails on said 
railways and shall embody therein what 
he believes to be the reasonable rate or 
compensation the said railway carriers 
should receive. Thereupon the commission 
shall give notice of not less than thirty 
days to each carrier so required to trans- 
port mail and render service, and upon a 
day to be fixed by the commission, not 
later than thirty days after the expiration 
of the notice herein required,- each of said 
carriers shall make answer and the com- 
mission shall proceed with the hearing as 
now provided by the law for other hearings 
between carriers and shippers or associa- 
tions. 

"All the provisions of the law for taking 
testimony, securing evidence, penalties, 
and procedure are hereby made applicable." 

"For the purpose of determining and 
fixing rates or compensation hereunderthe 
commission is authorized to make such 
classification of carriers as may be just and 
reasonable and, where just and equitable, 
fix general rates applicable to all carriers 
in the same classification." 

"At the conclusion of the hearing the 
commission shall establish by order a fair, 
reasonable rate or compensation to be re- 



ceived, at such stated times as may be 
named in the order, for the transportation 
of mail matter and the service connected 
therewith, and during the continuance of 
the order the Postmaster General shall 
pay the carrier from the appropriation here- 
in made such rate or compensation. 

"Either the Postmaster General or any 
such carrier may at any time after the 
lapse of six months from the entry of the 
order assailed apply for a re-examination, 
and thereupon substantially similar pro- 
ceedings shall be had, with respect to the 
rate or rates for service covered by said 
application, provided said carrier or car- 
riers have an interest therein. 

"The Interstate Commerce Commission 
shall allow to railroad companies whose 
railroads were constructed in whole or in 
part by a land grant made by Congress on 
condition that the mails should be trans- 
ported over their roads at such price as 
Congress should by law direct only eighty 
per centum of the compensation paid other 
railroads for transporting the mails and all 
service by the railroads in connection there- 
with. 

"The existing law for the determination 
of mail pay, except as herein modified, shall 
continue in effect until the Interstate Com- 
merce Commission under the provisions 
hereof fixes the fair, reasonable rate or 
compensation for such transportation and 
service." 

"That it shall be unlawful for any rail- 
road company to refuse to perform mail 
service at the rates or methods of com- 
pensation provided by law when required 
by the Postmaster General so to do, and 
for such offense shall be fined $1,000. Each 
day of refusal shall constitute a separate 
offense." 

In addition to the above the Postmaster 
General is authorized, with the consent and 
approval of the Commission, to place the 
space system of pay on a restricted num- 
ber of routes to test the practicability of 
such system. 






CLEANINGS 

from me 

CIAIMS DEPARTMENT 

Jnterostmg - J\QTVS - of- "Doings * of 
Claimants- Jn and- Out* of* Court 



Miraculous Escape 



Q N the night of June 11, 1916, 
^ weather dark but clear, Train Mas- 
ter Spangler mounted the fireman's seat 
in cab of engine 1003 which was pulling 
passenger train number 5, simply for a 
little inspection trip over the Water Val- 
ley District. 

This train, equipped with an electric 
headlight and all modern appliances, 
pulled out of Vaiden, Mississippi, right 
on time and had gained the usual high 
speed of such trains on good track, 
when, about midnight, just after getting 
over the hill south of town and upon a 
piece of perfectly straight track Mr. 
Spangler saw something ahead across 
the west rail which resembled a news- 
paper but almost in the same instant dis- 
covered that it was a man. In despera- 
tion he called across to the engineer who 
had already observed the object and who 
was applying the air brakes in the emer- 
gency. The train was fast coming to a 
stop when the object by this time just 
10 feet ahead of the pilot, rolled off to 



the end of the ties and clear of the rail. 
When the train had stopped, Mr. 
Spangler and the engineer got down 
from the engine and walked back, 
nerved up to view a horrible spectacle, 
but there immediately behind the tank 
they found two young white men, 
beastly drunk, with their heads so near 
the rail that if they had moved while the 
train was passing an altogether differ- 
ent story would have to be written. A 
quart whiskey bottle was found con- 
veniently near which spoke for itself. 

The young men were recognized and 
their names secured. They were loaded 
upon the train and* carried home, to 
Beatty, a few miles beyond. 

While these young trespassers prob- 
ably look upon their experience lightly, 
the shock sustained by the men on the 
engine was nerve wrecking and will un- 
doubtedly be remembered by them for 
many years to come. 

The young men were saved from hor- 
rible deaths by reason of the fact that 



60 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



one of them wore a Palm Beach suit; 
that they selected a piece of straight 
track for their bed, and the eagle eye 
of the train master and duty well per- 
formed by the trusted engineer. It is 
certain that the slacking of the speed 
of the train gave them time to get off 
the rail, which they otherwise would 
not have had. 



were 116 fatalities. With Russia's big 
average journey of passenger miles 
totaling 73.63 the number killed in one 
year was 225. 



NUMBER KILLED ON RAIL- 
ROADS OF ILLINOIS SMALLER 
PER MILE THAN IN EUROPE 

Striking evidence of the progress of 
the "safety first" movement in Illinois 
is found in a comparative statement 
published in the July number of the 
monthly bulletin issued by the Public 
Utilities Commission. 

Comparing Illinois fatalities with 
those on European railroads, it is found 
that only one passenger per 1,000 miles 
of track was killed on Illinois railroads 
during one year. The record per 1,000 
miles of track in Europe shows 6 each 
in Great Britain and Russia, 5 in Bel- 
gium, 4 each in Sweden and Switzer- 
land, 3 each in Germany, France, Italy, 
Norway and Holland, and 2 each in 
Austria and Hungary. 

One important feature in connection 
with the comparative table of fatalities 
is the fact that, in proportion to mileage, 
there were more deaths on railroads in 
Illinois than in Europe because of the 
greater percentage of trespassers in this 
state. Of the total number of deaths on 
railroads, the percentage of trespassers 
killed was 60 in Illinois, in Germany 50 
and in Great Britain 38. 

While the number of persons carried 
per mile of tracks is greater on the 
European railroads than on those in 
Illinois, the average journey of passeng- 
ers in Illinois is much greater than on 
any railroads in Europe, with the ex- 
ception of those of Russia. 

The average journey of passengers in 
Illinois is 26.27 miles. The number of 
passengers killed in 1915 was 14. In 
Great Britain there were '150 fatalities 
with an average journey of 8 passenger 
miles, and in Germany, with an average 
journey of 14.21 passenger miles, there 



A WARNING LETTER 

The following is a copy of a letter 
addressed to a prominent citizen of 
Martin, Tenn., by the agent, Mr. L. G. 
McMillion, under date of July 6th: 
Dear Sir & Friend: 

I am told that you frequently while 
driving your car, crossing over railroad, 
Main Street, do not observe the Cross- 
ing Flagman's signal to stop, but keep 
on across in face of trains approaching 
the crossing. This flagman was placed 
on this crossing at considerable expense, 
for the protection of the citizens of 
Martin and others, and not to observe 
his signals, is in violation of the City 
Laws. I am told you came very near 
being hit by a work train this morning, 
while crossing these tracks; this after- 
noon, you again failed to observe this 
man's signal to stop, but came on across 
in face of the passenger train, he flag- 
ging you down all the time. 

You disregarding this man's signal, 
makes it very hard on the old negro, and 
interferes with his duties; he has in- 
structions to report each man who vio- 
lates his signal, and bring his name be- 
fore the City Recorder for action. Of 
course we do not want to do this, and 
I am sure you had not thought of this 
violation as you should, and I hope you 
will take this letter in the spirit in which 
it is written. I have nothing but the 
kindest feelings for you, and wish to try 
and prevent your being injured by some 
train. 



SUNDAY TRAILHITTER ADMITS 
FRAUD IN DAMAGE SUITS 

Harry Craig of Council Bluffs, has 
had dismissed his suit against the Union 
Pacific Railway Co. for $50,000 dam- 
ages for alleged personal injuries in a 
wreck near Gilmore about two years 
ago. The suit has been on the docket 
of the Douglas County District Court 
for about a year, and was scheduled for 
hearing before Judge Sears. 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



61 



Craig was one of the "trailhitters" 
during the revival meetings conducted at 
Omaha last fall, and he is said to have 
told Judge Sears, lawyers for the rail- 
road company and his own counsel, T. 
A. Donahoe, that his allegations in the 
action for damages had been troubling 
his conscience ever since. He asked that 
no criminal action be taken against him. 
He also paid the costs of the civil pro- 
ceeding up to the stage where he ter- 
minated it. 



According to lawyers before whom 
Craig is said to have confessed that the 
injuries suffered by him in the wreck 
were unimportant, he also admitted that 
the $500 damages obtained from the 
Omaha Street Railway Co., some three 
years ago, for injuries which he then 
represented as severe, was undeserved 
and that he would refund the amount to 
the company as soon as he could get it 
together. 



A Scene at Independence, La. 




Children sitting on the main line of 
a busy railroad. Suppose one of them 
is killed. What then ! The railroad 
is sued for heavy damages and the alle- 
gation is made that the engineer should 
have seen them in time to have stopped. 
If the judges who sit upon such cases 
could occasionally ride over the line in 



the locomotive cab and witness at close 
range some of the nerve-wrecking ex- 
periences of enginemen it would prove 
of great help to them in dealing out jus- 
tice. The short-sightedness of the au- 
thorities in permitting trespassing upon 
railroad tracks is responsible for the 
evil. 



Lawyer, Client and Claim Agent 



The purpose of this article is to dis- 
cuss briefly the present and past rela- 
tion between the lawyer, his client and 
the claim agent of the railroad com- 



pany. There was once a time when 
lawyer and claim agent were bitter 
enemies and rightfully so. The methods 
used by some claim agents in the past 



62 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



to settle claims in which a lawyer was 
interested taught the lawyer to distrust 
and fear this agent of the company. In 
those days it was quite a frequent thing 
for the company to be called into court 
to answer some alleged wrong, which 
up to that time was not known to them. 
The lawyer would not take these mat- 
ters up with the claim agent for fear 
that some underhand method would be 
used to settle the case or that settle- 
ment might be made without his knowl- 
edge. 

In the present day we notice a great 
change. Experience has taught the 
claim agent that fair dealing with law- 
yer and client discourages underhand 
methods and the bringing of suits with- 
out notice. Whenever a lawyer has a 
claim against the company he either 
writes or calls on the proper party and 
informs him of the nature of his claim 
and in the majority of cases if after 
investigation it appears that the com- 
pany has committed a wrong an adjust- 
ment is made satisfactory to all parties. 

Long drawn out law suits which are 



expensive and in the end disastrous to 
some one are avoided. The company 
in nearly every instance is informed and 
given a reasonable time in which to con- 
duct investigations and it is practically 
an unheard of thing to be called to task 
"without warning". The present 
friendly relations should be encouraged 
and it is the duty of every lawyer who 
has the interest of his client at heart to 
see to it that his claim is properly pre- 
sented so that a satisfactory adjustment 
can be obtained instead of plunging his 
client into a law suit extending over 
several years, the outcome of which can 
not be foretold. The claim agents of 
this company appreciate the many 
courtesies extended them by the bar and 
they will never do anything that will 
cause a rupture of the present pleasant 
relations. We should remember that 
after all it is the claimant that is vitally 
affected. 

Reference here made of course ap- 
plies to reputable lawyers and not to the 
"ambulance chasers". 



Looking for Trouble at^Scaby, Miss. 




The value of the cow is of small con- 
cern, but suppose she derails a pas- 



senger train and kills a member of your 
family. Would you then feel like co- 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



63 



operating with the railroad in keeping 
live stock off the track ? Then why not 
do it now? 



RISK LIFE AND LIMB IN RAIL- 
ROAD YARDS 

To anyone who has never taken a trip 
through the railroad yards in Freeport 
it would be quite a revelation to observe 
how many people, mostly grown-ups 
who ought to know better, are using the 
tracks as a thoroughfare. No, they are 
not all walking on the tracks ; only a few 
of the hardened risk-takers do that. 
The majority walk between two tracks, 
or beside one of the tracks. This is not 
quite so hazardous as actually follow- 
ing the track, but it is far from being 
an illustration of good judgment and 
safety. 

More than 300 years ago Shake- 
speare wrote, "To be thus is nothing; 
but to be safely thus." And those few 
words convey a great truth. Near 
safety is a poor substitute for the real 
article and when it comes to a question 
of saving your life, that is all import- 
ant. Some of these money grabbers are 
the most flagrant riskers of life and limb. 
The manner in which some people go 
into the very teeth of death in order to 
save a little time is one of the mysteries 
of life. 

The wife or mother who is preparing 
the evening meal would rather wait a 
few minutes longer than to see her hus- 
band or son brought home a mangled 
corpse. Probably she does not know 
about the risks he is taking. 

Safety first is a good rule to follow 
and walking along the tracks of a rail- 
road doesn't tend to cause the insur- 
ance company agent with whom you 
carry a policy to shed any tears of joy. 
Freeport Journal-Standard, July 31, 
1916. 



ALABAMA LAW SUIT 

On September 28, 1914, about 2 :45 P. 
M., a very old frame dwelling located 
on the west side of the Northern Ala- 
bama R. R. tracks in the town of Lynn, 
Ala., was destroyed by fire, and for 
many days thereafter no intimation was 



made by any one that any railroad was 
responsible for the loss of the house. 
One of the sons of the owner furnished 
the reporter for the Birmingham News 
with an article of his own origination to 
be published in that paper, and in the 
article it was stated that the origin of 
the fire was unknown. 

After several months had elapsed a 
suit for $2,950 damages was instituted 
against the Illinois Central Railroad by 
Martha J. Barton, alleging that a north- 
bound Illinois Central freight train' 
passed and emitted sparks in such num- 
bers, that the house was set on fire and 
destroyed. 

In the trial of the cause on March 
30th and 31st, 1916, at Double Springs, 
Ala., two of the Plaintiff's sons testi- 
fied that they were standing on the east 
side of track, about 20 feet from the 
east rail, when the Illinois Central 
freight train passed north, and a great 
and unusual number of sparks were 
emitted from the engine, as it was pull- 
ing very hard up the hill, and running 
fast, and within a few minutes, they dis- 
covered their mother's house burning 
in an upstairs room, and on account of 
there being no water service, the house 
and almost all of the contents were de- 
stroyed; on cross-examination, both wit- 
nesses swore that there was an open- 
ing in the roof about 4 inches wide and 
four feet in length, and it was through 
this opening that the spark passed and 
ignited some cotton that was hanging on 
the walls of that room. The Northern 
Alabama section foreman testified that 
he was a short distance north of Lynn 
when the smoke was discovered, and he 
was positive that an Illinois Central 
freight train passed north, because he 
had to remove his push car from the 
track. 

The Assistant Post Master of the 
village and a woman testified that they 
were positive that a freight train passed 
north a few minutes before the fire 
alarm was sounded, but did not know 
whether or not it was an Illinois Cen- 
tral train. 

The railroad introduced two N. A. R. 
R. dispatchers with train sheets, and the 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



Frisco and N. A. operators from Jasper, 
and the operators of Nauvoo, Lynn and 
Haleyville, with train registers, as well 
as two conductors who were in charge 
of the only freight trains that passed, 
and it was clearly shown to the jury that 
one north-bound I. C. freight train 
passed Lynn at 8:45 A. M. Extra 656, 
and one north-bound freight train 
passed through Lynn at 6 P. M. Extra 
667, and there was no train passing 
through Lynn between the hours men- 
tioned, except a passenger train, and the 
building was then burning. 

The attorneys consumed four hours in 
argument and the jury consumed only 
ten minutes in rendering a verdict in 
favor of the railroad. 



PRETTY GIRL NOT AN ATTRAC- 
TIVE .NUISANCE 

The Texas Court of Civil Appeals in 
Johnson v. Atlas Supply Company, 183 
Southwestern Reporter, 31, refuses to 
sanction the claim that defendant cor- 
poration, by permitting "a sweet-tem- 
pered little girl" to live on its premises, 
thereby created an attractive nuisance, 
rendering it liable to plaintiff, a boy 
eight years of age, who was attracted 
to defendant's premises by the charms 
of the young woman aforesaid, and was 
there injured by the falling of pulley 
wheels. The court held that the doctrine 
of the turntable cases could not be ex- 
tended to attractive maidens, since they 
constitute an ordinary and natural, and 
not an extraordinary or unusual peril. 
West Pub. Co. 



INTEREST SHOWN BY SECTION 

FOREMAN IN KEEPING STOCK 

OFF WAY LANDS 

Efforts to keep live stock off the way 
lands are being unrelently waged on the 
Tennessee Division. Said a Tennessee 
Division officer : 

"I am informed that Foreman T. F. 
Crocker of Fowlkes, Tenn., a few weeks 
ago, kept driving a certain cow off the 
way lands, but she would immediately 
come back; he then decided that he 
would follow the animal to her home, 
and ask the owner why he could not 



keep her up, and he did. The owner 
lived about four miles off the railroad, 
and when he saw the section foreman 
bringing the cow home he asked what 
he was doing driving his cow. When 
told that she had been on the way lands 
for several days and that he wanted to 
keep her from being killed, the owner 
turned the cow in 'his lot and said the 
railroad would not be bothered with her 
again ; she has not been on the way lands 
since." 

Mr. D. L. Saint is another foreman 
who did the same "stunt" near Dyers- 
burg, Tenn., only that he found the 
owner had lost his cow and did not 
know that she was near the railroad. 
He assured the foreman that it would 
not happen again. 

Mr. Paris Lemmon, who has a sec- 
tion at Newbern, Tenn., was another 
who drove an old cow to her home, and 
the owner at first was rather indignant, 
but when Mr. Lemmon explained that 
they were trying to avoid killing the 
cow, the owner said if the Railroad 
Company was making that kind of an 
effort to keep stock off the tracks that 
it would not be bothered with his cows 
any more. 



IT WAS NOT THE I. C. 

There had been an accident on the 
worst railroad in the United States. 

The sole survivor of the wreck was 
sitting up in his hospital cot swathed in 
bandages. 

"I suppose you're going to sue the 
company for damages," said the friend 
at his bedside. 

"No," said the damaged one, "I shall 
do nothing of the kind." 

"Why not? You've certainly got a 
clear case against them." 

"Clear case nothing! Any intelligent 
jury in the world would bring in a ver- 
dict of contributory negligence. I ought 
to have known better than to travel on 
the blamed line." Exchange. 



OFFICIAL 

Sir: Just received report from sec- 
tion foreman across the river from 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 



65 



Dubuque, covering killing of head of 
stock : 

Q. Kind of stock? A. Steer. 

Q. Give any other information show- 
ing' good or bad qualities of animal, 
whether blind, lame, hobbled, or sick. 
If a cow was she dry or giving milk? 
A. He was not giving milk. D. F. H. 



PEREMPTORY INSTRUCTIONS 

"It is a poor rule that will not work 
both ways" is a very old and also true 
saying. Formerly in the defense of 
damage suits a great many peremptory 
instructions were given for the defend- 
ant. Laterly laws and the rules of 
practice have changed so that courts are 
inclined to submit to the jury for de- 
termination cases where there is any dis- 
pute as to the facts. Hpwever, it has 
been noted that there is a growing 
tendency in some localities to give per- 
emptory instructions for the plaintiff. 
If the defendant is not to be given a 
peremptory because it is the rule that 
the jury should be permitted to say on 
the evidence whether the defendant has 
disproved negligence, it should likewise 
be the rule that the jury be permitted 
to say whether the plaintiff's evidence 
tends to establish negligence. 

The recent opinion of the court in 
the case of Henry Sanders vs. Y. & M. 
V. R. R. Co., filed in Bolivar County 
and tried there (the court giving per- 
emptory instructions for the plaintiff 
and the jury returning a verdict of 
$1,250.00), discloses that the Supreme 
Court of Mississippi subscribes to the' 
rule that both parties to the litigation 
should be treated in the same way. In 
this case the plaintiff, a negro, claimed 
that in purchasing a ticket at Shaw, 
Miss., in 1911, the agent failed to give 
him correct change and upon calling the 
agent's attention to this he cursed and 
abused the plaintiff. The agent testified 
that he was on duty on the date in ques- 
tion, that he was personally acquainted 
with the plaintiff and had no recollec- 
tion of his buying a ticket on that day 
or any other day, and that he could not 



re 



WAT 



FLY" 




recall any ticket transaction with the 
plaintiff at any time. The theory of 
plaintiff's counsel in asking for and ob- 
taining from the court a peremptory in- 
struction to the jury to find for the 
plaintiff, was based on the fact that the 
plaintiff had testified affirmatively to 
facts that, if true, made a cause of ac- 
tion and that as the defendant's evi- 
dence was negative, that is, that the 
party charged was unable to recall the 
circumstance, that there was nothing for 
the jury to pass upon. 

The Supreme Court says, "On this 
evidence we think that whether or not 
appellant (Sanders) was mistreated in 
the manner claimed by him, was for the 
determination of the jury; consequently, 
peremptory instruction should not have 
been given", and the court set aside the 
judgment for $1,250.00. In other 
words, the idea of the court evidently 
is that the jury should have the right 
to say whether or not the agent, being 
on duty, being acquainted with the 
plaintiff and being unable to recall that 
he had ever purchased a ticket or that 
any difficulty whatever had been had 
with him, was not sufficient evidence 
that the plaintiff's story was untrue and 
that the occurrence did not take place. 




TRANSPORTATION 
DEPARTMENT 




Ton Miles Per Car Mile 



By H. P. Campbell 



HP HE word came down to me to write 
an article for the Magazine and I 
have not yet figured out why they 
picked me. It has been hanging over 
my head for three weeks now, and if 
finishing this article is going to be as 
difficult as finding a subject, then I am 
in for it. 

I have picked a subject that is more 
or less easy to write about, but the easy 
part stops right there. It is a difficult 
thing, and one worth anybody's thought 
and effort. We have heard a great deal 
about the train load but we are going 
to hear more about the "car load." In- 
creasing the gross train load is a good 
thing, but increasing the net train load 
is better. The best result comes from 
increasing the tons per car. It is a 
money saver to have the live weight as 
big a margin as possible over the dead 
weight. A campaign started in times of 
car shortage toward getting more tons 
per car should be kept up just as re- 
ligiously through times of car surplus, 
as it always costs money to haul dead 
weight. The less cars it takes to handle 
a given business, the more economical 
is the operation, and if it ever comes the 
time that cars are made "surplus" solely 
by increasing the tons per car, then we 
will have the unusual sight of a wel- 
come surplus. However, we do not look 
forward to that time, but rather to the 
time when i