THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY . 05 It. Illinois Contral Proposed Karlsbad Hotel Damon Springs, Ky. The pages which are missing were re* moved because they are advertisaents* July VOLG NS 1 A Laxative, Cathartic or Purgative, accord- ing to the amount taken. . Bottled only by DAWSON SPRINGS COMPANY Incorporated DAWSON SPRINGS, KY. HOTEL ARCADIA In Arcadia Park Dawson Springs, Ky. Five first-class mineral wells in park. Shippers of Salts Water. WILHELM REALTY CO., Lessees, Inc. F. W. NAGEL Established 1865 H. L. MEYER NAGEL & MEYER, Jewelers Third and Broadway PADUCAH, KY. Expert watchmakers (only) employed to care for your watches. Ball and other popular makes of railroad watches for your selection. New York Houston St. Louis James Stewart & Company, Incorporated Engineers & Contractors. Westminster Building, Chicago Grain Elevator Designing & Construction General Construction Oklahoma City Salt Lake Toronto The Varnish That Lasts Longest Made by Murphy Varnish Company KENFIELD-LCACH CO., PRINTS RS. CHICAGO . CONTENTS J. L. Sheppard Frontispiece. President Markham Answers Editorial Questions Asked by the Bolivar (Miss.) Commercial Relative to Requested Advance in Freight Rates 9 Public Opinion 12 Editorial Railroad Men, Attention ! 15 Military Department.. 16 Dawson Springs, Ky 22 Specialists and Special Collections 27 The Elimination of Grade Crossings 31 Accounting Department Office of the Auditor of Disbursements 34 Committee on Public Information 37 Memphis Convention of the Air Brake Association 38 Safety First General Safety Meeting of the Mississippi Division 41 Hospital Department Hot Weather Suggestions 43 Monthly Staff Meeting of Signal Maintainers and Signal Foremen of the St. Louis Division 45 Transportation Department United Effort 46 Letter from President Markham to Employes '. 48 Appointments and Promotions 48 Freight Traffic Department The Direction of the Land Movement 49 Claims Department _ 52 Engineering Department Final Maps and Profiles 58 Roll of Honor 63 Law Department 65 Mechanical Department Original Amboy Shops in 1871 74 Passenger Traffic Department 75 Contributions from Employes Just Plain Talk 87 Mr. Storekeeper, Try This Plan 88 Meritorious Service 89 Division News .. ....91 *Pu6lisbed monthly 6y the 7//inois Central J?.*/?. G>., in the interest of the Company and its 4^dD 'Employes - rates on - application^ Chicago ocal55 i$ f grade crossings by the Board of Public Utility Commissioners, is excellent both in method and in purpose and suggests a way by which the whole matter can be successfully handled; but that portion of the bill which arbitrarily provides that every railroad of the state shall every year eliminate at least one grade cross- ing on its line for every thirty miles of its whole extent, the commission to de- termine which crossings shall be dealt with first, seeks to accomplish an im- possible thing. It is not possible thus to lay down a hard and fast rule, and enforce it without a likelihood of bring- ing on conditions under which the whole undertaking would break down the re- sult in utter disappointment "What is needed is an adequate en- largement of the powers of the Board of Public Utility Commissioners. That board can be empowered, and should be empowered, to push the elimination of such crossings as fast as it is possible to push it without bringing hopeless em- barrassment upon the railways. The law could easily establish a principle by which it might be determined when it was equit- able that the several communities affected should participate in the expense and to what extent, if any, they should partici- pate. In this way all the results that could possibly be attained by the present bill would be attained without the risk and perhaps the discouragement and dis- credit of attempting a thing, in itself in- equitable and impracticable. "The non-enactment of this bill into law will, of course, be a serious disap- pointment to the people of the state, but it will only concentrate their attention upon the just and equitable way of ac- complishing the end in view. I do not believe that the people of the state are in such haste as to be willing to work a gross injustice, either to the railroads or to private owners of the property or to the several communities affected." It ought to be' the settled policy of all railroads to eliminate a certain number of busy grade crossings each year, the number to be eliminated to be controlled, of course, by the financial ability of a railrbad, to make such improve- ments. The distribution of these improvements should be in equal pro- portion over an entire system if the laws of the various states offered equal in- ducements. A state which places the entire burden of eliminating grade cross- ings upon the railroads should not ex- pect to be able to compete in securing these permanent improvements with states which contribute and require mu- nicipalities and counties to bear a sub- stantial part of the cost. Railway officers and employes located in states lagging behind in the matter of providing favor- able laws calculated to aid in the elimi- nation of grade crossings should draw the matter to the attention of influential citizens and to members of their legis- latures. Undoubtedly, the equity of this matter is with the New York plan, which requires the railroad to contribute 50 per cent of the cost, the municipality 25 per cent and the state 25 per cent. If such a law were upon the statute books of the states in which the Illinois Central lines are located, it would no doubt result in unusual efforts being made by the com- pany to provide more of these permanent improvements than it is possible to pro- vide under present conditions. Postponement of the Meeting of the American Asso- ciation of Railroad Superintendents Because of the war the meeting of the American Association of Railroad Su- perintendents, which was to have been held at Minneapolis, Minn., August 8th, 9th, and 10th, 1917, has been indefinite- ly postponed. L/evarbneni / Office of the Auditor of Disbursements The office of the Auditor of Dis- bursements audits and accounts for all expenditures of the Company. The expenses are classified in accordance with the several classifications as pre- scribed by the Interstate Commerce Commission and the sub-division of same as required by the Company. Organization The office force is comprised of the following mutually dependent bureaus, the duties of which are briefly out- lined : Immediate Bureau Supervisory and General. Miscellaneous Bureau This bureau handles the accounting of expenditures in connection with Investment in Road and Equipment, Material and Supplies, Open Account, Hospital Department, and auxiliary records in connection therewith. The records of expenditures charge- able to Investment in Road and Equipment are kept separately by Work Authority numbers and by primary accounts for each authority. There are approximately three thou- sand open Work Authorities to which charges are made currently. An auxiliary record of expenditures in connection with Preliminary Sur- veys is kept for the purpose of hold- ing in suspense charges connective with certain work until a definite de- cision is reached as to whether the project will be undertaken or aban- doned, at which time the account, Pre- liminary Surveys, is cleared. Charges are not accepted without authority of the Engineering Department. The record of Material and Supplies is kept by classes of material, and also by Departments in whose custody the material is kept. An auxiliary record is kept of fire losses allowed and unexpended, con- sisting of amounts appropriated from the Insurance Fund, covering losses to property by fire. Each loss is covered by a separate allowance, which is set up under a distinct fire loss number, to which charges are accepted up to the amount allowed. Statistical Bureau The compilation of all records in connection with Operating Expenses and preparation of all reports in con- nection therewith are under the direc- tion of this bureau. The records of Operating Expenses are compiled by divisions and by states separately for freight and passenger service. This bureau is required to state the total Operating Expenses on the 10th day of each month, following that for which the expenses are stated. Voucher Bureau The work of checking, examining and recording of all vouchers is per- formed by this bureau. Index ledgers are kept by names of individuals and firms, from which, at any time, the status of an individual account may be ascertained. Separate records are kept in detail of vouchers in favor of Foreign Railroads. Registers of vouch- ers, showing distribution by accounts are kept in numerical order, such rec- ord showing the paid and open items Payroll Bureau The auditing of payrolls, writing pay checks and preparing reports in connection therewith are assigned to this bureau. A record is kept of pay checks is- sued, showing amount drawn on each bank; another record is kept of paid and open items. Approximately one hundred and ten thousand pay checks ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 35 are written in this bureau each month. For the purpose of annual reports an accumulative record is kept, by classes, of the number of employes, days or hours worked, and total compensation. This record is kept separately by states. Another record is kept of all monthly positions with amount of sal- ary authorized for each, and of all by car number of each car of coal pur- chased and unloaded, or approximately seven thousand cars each month. Car Repair Accounting Bureau The duties of this bureau consist of checking repair records, to know that the charges have been made in accord- ance with the Master Car Builders' Rules, preparing bills against Foreign authorized increases in same, for the purpose of preventing any additional monthly positions or increases in same being entered on the payrolls without the proper authority. Fuel Accounting Bureau This bureau handles the records of and prepares vouchers for payment of all Company coal. A record is kept Lines, and issuing vouchers in favor of Foreign Lines for repairs to equip- ment. Approximately two hundred and sixty-five thousand repair cards are priced, checked, etc., by this bureau each month. Stenographic Bureau Miscellaneous stenographic and typ- ing work. 36 ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE Comptometer Bureau Computes and verifies payrolls, vouchers, reports, etc. Time Inspection Bureau This bureau consists of a Chief and Traveling Time Inspectors, whose duties are to make surprise checks of Maintenance of Way labor, Station labor, and Shop labor forces, to know that the employes checked are actually on the work ; also instructing as to how the records should be posted. Traveling Auditors: The duties of Traveling Auditors are of a miscellaneous nature, such as checking facilities used jointly by this Company and Foreign Lines, to deter- mine that there are only included in the Foreign Line bills, items of ex- pense that should be borne jointly by this Company and the Foreign Lines; and to know that bills rendered by this Company against Foreign Lines contain all items that should be in- cluded in the joint account ; Checking Division, Shop and Storehouse Labor and Material records to know that the charges have been properly computed, and charged to the various accounts as prescribed by the Interstate Com- merce Commission, and any other mis- cellaneous duties which they are called upon to look into from time to time. The Traveling Auditors also make periodical visits to the Division offices, and in a general way, go over the various accounting matters with the Accountants with a view of assisting them in the way of instructing on matters that are not being properly handled, etc. The successful handling of disburse- ment accounts by this office and others, depends largely upon the co- operation of all concerned, such co- operation being of mutual advantage to all interested. This office is fully cognizant of the volume of work and difficulties experienced in connection therewith, which the Division Ac- countants and others have to deal with, and it is the knowledge that full co-operation between all concerned will, to a great extent, lessen or make more .easy the work of all interested, that prompts this request. Subsequent articles will define work of the various bureaus in particulars, especially treating upon the connec- tion between reports furnished by Superintendents, Master Mechanics, and others, and the handling of same in this office. Rule 720 ILLINOIS CENTRAL RAILROAD COMPANY The Yazoo & Mississippi Valley Railroad Office of General Manager Chicago, June 18, 1917. Rule 720 of General Regulations of the Rules and Regulations of the Trans- portation Department is herewith changed to read as follows : "Minors under 19 years of age will not be employed in yard, train or engine service. When minors are employed it must be with the written consent of parent or guardian, on prescribed form, which must be filed with application for employment." T. J. Foley, General Manager. Approved : W. L. Park, Vice President. ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 37 George Creel, Chairman The Secretary of State The Secretary of War The Secretary of the Navy Committee on Public Information Washington, D. C. To the Employes of Illinois Central Railroad : In order that the public may be thoroughly informed upon the various activities of the Government during the present crisis, President Wilson has established a Commit- tee on Public Information. This Committee is composed of the Secretary of War, the Secretary of State, and the Secretary of the Navy, and has as its chairman, Mr. George Creel. Its services are at the call of any who may desire to be informed upon the affairs of the Government, as they relate to the present crisis. It is peculiarly essential that those in charge of railroad affairs should be well posted upon Government problems, and this is therefore addressed to you with the hope that you will avail yourself whenever you desire of the serv- ices of this Committee. All inquiries should be addressed to L. M. Harris, 8 Jackson Place, Washington,' D. C. Memphis Convention of the Air Brake Association By L. P. Streeter, Air Brake Engineer, I. C. R. R. Co. HPHE Twenty-fourth Annual Conven- tion of the Air Brake Association was held at the Hotel Chisca, Mem- phis, Tenn., May 1st to 4th, inclusive. The convention was opened by pray- er offered by Right Reverend T. F. Gailor, Bishop of the Protestant Epis- copal Diocese of Tennessee. Hon. Thomas C. Ashcroft, Mayor of Memphis, welcomed the delegates on behalf of the city, and Mr. W. C. John- son, President, Chamber of Commerce, extended greetings, followed by an in- spiring and patriotic address by Hon. Bolton Smith, of the League to En- force Peace. In the absence of Vice-President Park, who was unavoidably detained in Chicago, Terminal Superintendent Walsh greeted the convention on be- half of the Illinois Central and other railroad interests. Delegates repre- senting the principal railways of the country were present, and the follow- ing papers were presented and dis- cussed. Slack Action in Long Passenger Trains, Its Relation to Triple Valves of Different Types, and Conse- quent Results in the Handling of Passenger Trains By Mr. J. A. Burke, A., T. & S. F., and Mr. Wm. Hotzfield, of the Soo Line. This paper can be considered as sup- plementary to the paper following, by the committee on slack action on long passenger trains. What Is the Safe Line of an Air Brake Hose? Committee : M. E. Hamilton, St. L. & S. F., chairman; Jno. W. Walker, Pennsylvania; M. S. Belk, Southern, and George W. Noland, Pennsylvania Lines. This subject is admittedly one of the most important brought before the as- sociation, both from the point of safety and expense involved. Primarily the committee's object was to formulate a definite recommendation for the M. C. B. Association, which will follow shortly. Handling Heavy Tonnage Trains on Grades with Air Brakes Exclusively. Committee: C. H. Rawlings, D. & R. G., chairman ; J. E. Fitzgerald, Ten- nessee Central ; L. S. Ayer, Southern Pacific, and C. T. Goodwin, B. & O. This paper touched on the features involved in grade operation, principally 2 per cent or over, use of retainers, also the necessity of hand brakes only when trains are standing on grade. Suggested Practice of the Cleaning and Lubricating of Brake Cylinder Packing Leathers By Mr. R. C. Burns, Pennsylvania This paper brought out a new prac- tice of handling work of this character, the savings due to the reclaiming of packing leathers, and the elimination of kerosene as a cleaning medium. Recommended Practice Committee: S. G. Down, W. A. B. Co., chairman; H. A. Walhert, W. A. B. Co.; N. A. Campbell, N. Y. A. B. Co. ; J. R. Alexander, Pennsylvania ; H. A. Clark, Soo Line. The work of this committee is to standardize and revise the practices in connection with modern engine and car equipment. Slack Action in Long Passenger Trains Committee : G. H. Wood, A., T. & S. F., chairman ; L. S. Ayer, Southern Pacific; M. S. Belk, Southern; J. A. Burke, A., T. & S. F. ; W. J. Hatch, Canadian Pacific ; M. E. Hamilton, St. L. & S. F. ; C. U. Joy, N. Y., N. H. & H. ; T. F. Lyons, N. Y. C. ; W. F. Peck, 38 ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 39 B. & O. ; M. Purcell, Northern Pacific ; William Spence, Grand Trunk, and L. P. Streeter, I. C. R. R. The report of this committee, which is carrying on a country-wide investi- gation of this important subject, with a view of making definite recommenda- tions to the railways through the M. C. B. Association, to reduce rough han- dling to a minimum, rendered a pre- liminary report of progress to date, which leads us to believe that the pres- ent situation can be materially im- proved when all of the evidence is in and carefully weighed. All papers were fully discussed, and many points of interest brought out that will be of value in bringing about a higher efficiency in brake operation and maintenance. The strictly professional papers and reports were followed by illustrated lectures and moving pictures as fol- lows : Illustrated lecture on the manufac- ture of shrapnel shell, also moving pic- ture and lecture on the operation of the triple valve, supplemented by lantern slides on "Freak Inventions," by Mr. W. V. Turner, Manager of Engineer- ing, W. A. B. Co. Mr. Turner's lec- tures are always of keen interest and features at our conventions, and as usual he did not disappoint us. Mr. W. E. Dean, Jr., one of Mr. Turner's assistants, gave an interest- ing illustrated lecture on the func- tional inter-relation between the com- ponent parts of the air brake system, which brought out clearly many funda- mental facts relating to the art. The following Railway Associations were represented : Master Car Builders' Association, Mr. F. B. Barclay, Superintendent M. P. ; American Railway Master Me- chanics' Association, I. C. R. R., Mem- phis ; Traveling Engineers' Association, Mr. J. B. Feeny (President), Traveling Engineer, I. C. R. R., Memphis; Rail- way Signal Association, Mr. W. M. Vandersluis ; Signal Engineer, I. C. R. R., Chicago ; Railway Storekeepers' Association, Mr. W. D. Stokes, Assist- ant General Storekeeper, I. C. R. R., Memphis; International Railway Gen- eral Foremen's Association, Mr. W. F. Lauer, General Foreman, Shops, Mem- phis ; American Railway Electrical En- gineers' Association, Mr. L. C. Swaf- ford, Division Electrical Foreman, Illinois Central R. R. Co., Memphis. The general and well arranged ex- hibits by the railway supply men of the association were most interesting and complete. Fifteen manufacturers of devices and products allied with the art, co-operated to make this feature a success. The entertainment was ably conducted by the chairman in charge, Mr. B. J. Feeny. A trip by special train was tendered by the Illinois Central to the Cotton Compress of the Memphis Terminal Corporation, who threw open their plant to our inspection, and personally conducted the delegates through. A river trip on the Steamer Idlewild, also an automobile trip to the Memphis Country Club, where luncheon was served, was tendered by the Chamber of Commerce. Two informal and one convention dance were given, also a reception, at which Miss Margaret Woodrow Wilson, daughter of the President, was the guest of honor. The association also provided an Old Southern Negro Entertainment of un- usual interest. Mr. L. W. Sawyer, N. Y. A. B. Co., Assistant Chairman of the General Committee on Arrangements, ably co- operated with Mr. Feeny, and all agreed that in interest manifested, work accomplished, and entertainment, the convention was the best in the his- tory of the association. The officers for the ensuing year were elected in the following order: President, Mr. C. H. Weaver, N. Y. C., Cleveland, Ohio. First Vice-President, Mr. C. W. Mar- tin, Pennsylvania, Jersey City, N. J. Second Vice-President, Mr. F. J. Berry, N. Y., O. & W-, Childs, Pa. - Third Vice-President, Mr. T. F. Lyons, N. Y. C., Cleveland, Ohio. 40 ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE Secretary, Mr. F. M. Nellis, W. A. B. S. B. Chapman, J. Cronin, H. E. Co., New York, N. Y. Exby, B. J. Feeny, W. T. Getly, F. H. Treasurer, Mr. Otto Best, Nathan Hinton, T. J. Hunt, W. L. Ickes, J. |. Mfg. Co., New York, N. Y. Millett, H. V. Neville, P. H. Ryan, C. Executive Committee E Sieber> j. W . Shepherd, A. G. Tur- ^L. P. Streeter, I. C. R. R., Chicago, ]ey> s Tudey and w G Weldon Mark Pursell, N. P., St. Paul, Minn. Master Mechanic Watkins, of Mem- George H. Wood, A., T. & S. F., P hls ' was present; also air brake men Topeka, Kan. from Chicago, Freeport, Mattoon, Cen- C. M.' Kidd, N. & W., Roanoke, Va. tralia, Memphis and McComb. R. C. Burns, Pennsylvania, Altoona, Before adjournment the convention, Pa. representing over 1,100 members, sent Sixteen traveling engineers of the a telegram to President Wilson pledging I. C. R. R. and the Y. & M. V. R. R. its support as a whole to the nation's registered as follows : cause. A DESERVED COMPLIMENT TO THE ILLINOIS CENTRAL DINING SERVICE Des Moines, Iowa, March 15, 1917. Mr. W. C Francis, Supt., Dining Car Service. Illinois Central Railroad, Chicago, Illinois. Dear Mr. Francis: I take just a moment to write you in commendation of Conductor T. R. Collins of your dining service between Cherokee, Iowa, and Sioux Falls, South Dakota. I eat very fre- quently on dining cars in the Iowa service but I have never had finer service than that which Mr. Collins and his corps of assistants gave me. The food was appetizing and served in the most acceptable manner. The car is sanitary, all of which is certainly most commendable. I believe in giving the flowers to the living. Yours very truly, Aretas E. Kepford, State Lecturer LETTER FROM THE SUPERINTENDENT OF THE ASSO- CIATED PRESS THANKING SUPERINTENDENT OF TELEGRAPH F. T. WILBUR FOR ASSISTANCE IN PROCURING INFORMATION BEARING UPON THE TORNADO AT MATTOON, ILLINOIS. Chicago, Illinois, May 23, 1917. Mr. F. T. Wilbur, Chief Telephone & Telegraph Service, Illinois Central Railroad Co., I. C. Terminal, Chicago. My dear Sir : Please accept my thanks for your courtesies to The As- sociated Press on May 26th, in giving us information about the tornado at Mat- toon, Illinois. We gave the Illinois Central credit for getting out the first dis- patches. Yours sincerely, PAUL COWLES, Superintendent. SAFETY FIRST General Safety Meeting Held in the Office of Superintendent, at Water Valley, Miss., Monday, April 16th, 1917. PRESENT: A. D. CAULFIELD, Superintendent, Chairman. N. W. SPANGLER, Train Master. W. H. PETTY, Train Master. L. S. HOUSTON, Chief Train Dispatcher. S. R. MAULDIN, Master Mechanic. C. E. SEIBER, Traveling Engineer. J. J. DESMOND, Road Master. G. M. HUBBARD, Supervisor, Bridges and Buildings. G. R. WILKINSON, 'Supervisor, Grenada District. J. F. WATTS, Supervisor, Jackson District. G. H. PEACOCK, Supervisor, Water Valley District. W. E. McCUNE, Supervisor, Aberdeen District. J. T. WESTBROOK, Assistant Engineer. R. L. BELL, Carpenter Foreman. J. E. LUFKIN, Signal Foreman. "J. C. TURNAGE, Bridge Foreman. J. H. BLACKBURN, Section Foreman. W. L. ALBRITTON, Section Foreman. I. L. CHAPMAN, General Foreman, Durant. * R. R. ROYAL, General Foreman, Water Valley. W. E. Hoyt, Storekeeper, Water Valley. C. M. McELROY, Special Agent. W. F. ADAMS, Yard Master, Water Valley. B. A. Talbert, Agent, Winona. E. M. SHERWOOD, Agent, Grenada. M. L. HAYS, Agent, Water Valley. E. I. NEWTON, Conductor, Jackson District. W. E. WOODSON, Conductor, Jackson District. M. L. BATES, Conductor, Jackson District. W.J. ROYAL, Conductor, Water Valley District. E. W. WHITLOCK, Conductor, Jackson District. J. W. TARVER, Chief Clerk to Superintendent. C TATEMENTS read of fatal and serious personal injuries occurring on the different Divisions in March. It is observed that the troops now guarding some of our bridges are not as careful as they should be. We will call on these Guards and request them to not sit on track, also not walk over the bridges which they are guarding, and call their attention to the fact that men guarding structures have been 41 42 ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE killed in other part of the country, account of not exercising reasonable pre- caution in keeping off track and bridges. Supervisors and Road Master requested to continue campaign with Sec- tion Foremen to the proper placing of their men, tools, etc., on motor and hand cars, and not running same at an excessive speed. It is observed that there are a good many trespassers on trains at this time. Good many of the negro laborers that have been carried north by La- bor Agents are beating their way back south on trains. Attention called to recent injury to Conductor, caused by curtain over cab window of engine striking seed house on siding. Seed house at this and a number of other points too close to siding since size of locomotives has in- creased. Making campaign to have all of these houses moved back standard clearance. First three months of 1917, 76 cases of personal injury on Mississippi Division, as compared with 113 same period last year. We feel that campaign we have been making on personal injuries has been effective and all concerned requested to bring about a further reduction. BY COMMON SENSE, AVOID WASTE In these thrilling times of high prices and food shortage, it is not amiss to suggest Common Sense as a leading factor to reduce wastage to a minimum. Care in seeing that matches, lighted or unlighted, are not dropped or thrown down, will avoid many fires as well of property in buildings as in meadows or grain fields. Meadows and small grain growing near public highways or railroads is, especially of a dry season, a source of much waste. A few rows of corn be- tween hay or small grain surface will avoid thousands of dollars of loss from human and animal food sources. A strict compliance with the stock laws of the several states will largely reduce the destruction of horses, cattle and hogs by railroads, automobiles, and wire fences. It is much safer to cut growing grass along the highways and in the streets and alleys, and carry it to the barn, or to a safely enclosed feed lot, than to turn or even picket animals on or near the danger locations. The money damages recovered for destroyed small grain, grass, or animals, does not replace horse for service, or the bovine or swine for food. These suggestions are pertinent to all times but in this period of war stress, they are of prime importance. Due heed to them is not only prudence, but, still greater, it is patriotism. Apply good old-fashioned Common Sense, and avoid waste or reduce it to the unavoidable minimum, and not only thousands of but millions of money, but, more important, incalculable SUB- STANCE necessary to the sustenance of both human and animal kind, will be conserved. EnPassant. Toledo, 111., May 12, 1917. Division Passenger A?ent R. J. Carmichael of Chicago, 111., in the foreground; District Pas- senger Agent G. G. Truesdale of Pittsburg, Pa., in the rear, at the Passenger Agents' Meeting, Vicksburg, Miss. We hope the difference in size is not indicative of their ability to secure bus- iness. How to It is not trie Science or curing Disease so much as trie prevention 01 it tfiat produces tne greatest ^pod to Humanrty. One of me most important duties of a Health Department should be tne educational service A A A A teaching people how to live A A A A Hot Weather Suggestions T HE great American humorist, Mark Twain, once said, "In July and August wash feet." This is excellent advice inasmuch as the proper care of the feet, and especially the application of cold water to them, has a tonic ef- fect. There are also many other im- portant injunctions that can later be given to make life more pleasant for the busy worker, especially during the hot months. The heated period of summer is the most trying one of the year, especially for those employed, who must remain at their duties day after day in spite of the long hot days. In order that these trying and unpleas- ant months may not be the means of disabling our employes the following suggestions are offered: What To Avoid Avoid alcohol in all its forms, i. e., wine, beer, whiskey and brandy. These should be especially avoided during the hot weather. Avoid meat. All kinds of meat should be taken sparingly or not at all during the heated period, and meat or fish should not be taken more than once a day in the hot summer months. Those who do not eat any meat will be better off. Avoid tea, coffee, sugars and all sweets. Avoid overeating. It is unwise to overeat at any time, but particularly unwise to overeat during hot weather. Keep the digestive organs in the best possible condition. All the meals should be light, and especially for of- fice workers. Light and frequent meals, with plenty of water between, are in the right line for all hot weather. Avoid drinking too much ice water. This is particularly applicable if one is employed in a hot power house and engine house, or exposed to the hot rays of the sun. Avoid the hot rays of the sun. If necessary to work in the hot sun some protection should be used over the head in the way of a sun helmet or vegetable leaves in the hat. These prevent the sun's rays from striking directly on the head. If possible ar- range to do more work in the cooler part of the day. Avoid taking extremely cold baths when the skin is covered with perspi- ration. Temperature of the Water If no warm water is available it is much better to first cool the body somewhat by applying cold water on the wrists and forearm. Also bathe the face and neck. Never plunge into a cold bath or cold water, as in swim- ming, without first cooling the body temperature. Avoid as far as possible active exer- cise while in the hot rays of the sun, especially during the hottest part of the day at noon. Take active exer- cise, but avoid tljis hottest part of the day. If working in the hot sun it is wise to step in the shade for a few moments from time to time. Avoid constipation. When the flu- ids of the body are drained off by pro- 43 ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE fuse perspiration, the contents of the lower bowel become less fluid and con- stipation develops. Avoid this by drinking quantities of water and fruit juices to overcome this condition. What To Eat First : Eat vegetables. Vegetables should be the principal part of the diet during the heated period of the sum- mer. The green vegetables especially are beneficial during this period. Second : Fruit juices and fruit sal- ads are palatable as well as cooling. Lemonade, orange juice, grape fruit and all kinds of citrous fruits are to be taken freely. These should not be taken ice cold, however. Third : Eat coarse food, whole wheat bread, bran muffins and cereals. Fourth : Fish. All kinds of fish are excellent food in hot weather. The prophets of old urged upon their peo- ple : "These ye shall eat that are in the water; all that have fins and scales shall ye eat." (See Deut. 16:9-10.) Beef and chicken soups with crack- ers or bread are important articles of diet. Drink plenty of water. A hot dry mouth is indicative of a lack of fluids in the body. Oatmeal or barley water are good drinks and are commonly used in the heated terms of the sum- mer. Never drink milk after eating fish or fruit salads. You would not think of pouring milk over the fish or salad ; therefore, avoid mixing them in your stomach. Inharmonious combinations like this are accountable for many of the stomach disorders. If you wish milk or buttermilk take these at a dif- ferent meal from your fish and salads. What To Do in Hot Weather Slow up your pace in the hot weath- er. Take things easier. Bathe often. Exercise freely, but early in the morn- ing. Sleep nine hours a day. It is lieneficial to get a little rest in the aft- ernoon if practicable. Take a glass of buttermilk or milk on retiring. Avoid constipation. Drink plenty of water to make up for the fluid that is lost in perspiration. Oatmeal or barley water is an excellent drink. Protect the head by the use of an umbrella or wearing a helmet, such as is worn in the trop- ics. This is especially of advantage to those who are susceptible to the hot rays of the sun. Employes Are Reaping the Benefit of the Hospita/ Department and Are Very Appreciative of Attention Received Water Valley, Miss., Sept. 25th, 191G. Dr. G. G. Dowdall, Chief Surgeon, Chicago, 111. Dear Doctor: It fell to my lot to be a patient in the Illinois Central Hospital, Chicago, for two weeks, in July. I. am taking this opportunity to thank you and your entire staff for the good treatment given me while there. You have furnished us with an institution that is equal and in many respects far superior to many hospitals in the country, where every employe can go and feel that he will receive the very best of care. It is a place where the poorest laborer gets the same attention as the highest official or any one else, and I can certainly consider the 50c assessment levied each month the best invest- ment any employe can make. Wishing the hospital much success, I remain, Your friend, (Signed) Fred Pearson, Engineer, Mississippi Divison. Monthly Staff Meeting of Signal Maintainers and Signal Foremen of the St. Louis Division On June 1, 1917, the monthly signal department of the St. Louis Division staff meeting was held by making an inspection over Signal Maintainer H. R. Wasmer's section by the following officers and Signal Department employees: W. Atwill, Supt. ; P. E. Thornley, Maintainer. J. H, Butridge, Chief Signal Inspector; J. E. Coleman, Maintainer. P. W. Martin, Signal Inspector; J. Rader, Maintainer. P. G. Pendorf, Supr. Signals; A. Rader, Maintainer. W. Rieck, Material-man; C. E. Ferrell, Maintainer. F. W. Partridge, Signal Foreman ; H. R. Wasmer, Maintainer. E. E. Goddard, Signalman ; W. F. Turk, Maintainer. J. Shadwick, Signal Foreman ; J. O. Brady, Maintainer. C. Kruger, Maintainer; F. Kennedy, Maintainer. C. Anderson, Repairman; S. Speck, Maintainer. J. O. Wells, Maintainer; P. E. Greene, Maintainer. J. Hultz, Maintainer; J. E. Bethel, Maintainer. C. F. Weld Supr. Signal, Springfield Div. ; Wm. Krause, Buda Company. H. R. Wasmer's section was selected as the best maintained on this division. The trip was made by using a No. 32 and No. 19 Buda motor car and push car coupled to No. 19 Buda car, and stops were made at most of the signal loca- tions. The idea was to impress on each maintainer that each section on this division is expected to be maintained in the future in accordance with the standard set up by maintainer H. R. Wasmer. Signal Department Employes Carbondale, 111.. 45 lii '||l TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT United Effort By T. L. Dubbs HpHE successful operation of a Rail- road today consists of not only moving the traffic promptly and in ro- tation, with due regard for the relative kind of commodity to be transported and at a rating of power and a speed both determined by tests as being the best adapted for the production of the most satisfactory results ; but the con- serving in many ways of net earnings so that they can be used for their right- ful purposes instead of their being dis- sipated unnecessarily. The money paid for Personal Inju- ries, Lost Freight, Damaged Freight, Live Stock killed and injured, Fire Claims, etc., amounts to 14% and avoidable damage to track and equip- ment to '10%, making a total of 24% of the net earnings of the railroads in the United States, the aggregate of the money so paid annually is one hundred millions of dollars. We should, by a careful study of dif- ferent features, prevent 75% of these claims and damages, which would re- sult in an annual saving of seventy-five millions of dollars. We have all been kept well informed concerning the cost to our railroad of the freight lost and damaged ; we have been thoroughly drilled in the ways necessary to prevent such loss and damage ; we have been made familiar with the results of failing to practice Safety First methods insofar as the safety of ourselves and others and property are concerned and that splen- did results can be obtained by a cam- paign of good examples and hearty co- operation. We know that live stock upon the right of way and station grounds con- stitutes an important claim factor, as well as a hazard involving the safety of persons and property. Owners of stock, where stock laws exist, should be required to keep their stock off the railroad company's prop- erty, otherwise such steps should be taken by the proper employes to have this stock taken up and handled in ac- cordance with the law by the desig- nated county or city officer as the law provides. Where no stock law exists every effort should be made to have one passed at the first session of the state legislative bodies, and a vigorous campaign conducted with the owners of stock by the supervisors, section foremen, and if necessary, other di- vision employes and officers interview- ing such owners personally, and also endeavor to secure the co-operation of the influential ^people along the line of road for the purpose of interesting them upon the subject with a view of having stock controlled and laws passed restricting it from running at large. In connection with the destruction and injury to live stock, due consider- ation should be given to the waste in- cident thereto, as no one realizes any return from this waste, on the other hand as stated above it constitutes not only a hazard, but an expense also. Every effort should be made to re- move whatever obstructs the view at highway crossings at grade. If this is not possible an effort should be made to change the location of the crossing 46 ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 47 to a point where a clear view can be had of the track for a reasonable dis- tance in both directions. Care should be exercised in the in- spection of trains at all points where an organization is maintained for that purpose, and an inspection should be made on line of road as frequently as circumstances will permit. Particular attention should be direct- ed to the condition of draft rigging, brake rigging and other equipment which is liable to cause derailments or serious damage if it should become de- tached and fall upon the track. Every effort should be made to in- sure every car being loaded to its sten- ciled capacity, and if possible to carry the additional 10%, and under all cir- cumstances should be loaded to their cubical capacity, and where the com- modity is of such a light character that it is impossible to get a reasonable amount of weight into the ordinary car, cars of greater cubical capacity should be selected. The matter of loading and unloading cars promptly should be kept constant- ly before the consignor and consignee. The free time clause should not be taken into consideration, but the cars should be loaded and unloaded upon the first day, the fact that this can be done with the greater percentage of cars used has been demonstrated to the satisfaction of all concerned upon the Pacific coast. A campaign should be conducted against the plan of billing cars to dif- ferent points for reconsignment, using them as warehouses until a satisfac- tory sale of the commodity which they contain can be consummated. Railroads are burdened with a great deal of expense and loss in efficiency of equipment by reason of having to handle shipments consigned to ship- pers' order, necessitating cars being delayed waiting for bill of lading to be produced and then forced to additional expense switching cars to delivering tracks. This, in many instances, not only delays cars directly involved, but interferes with the proper and econom- ic handling of other business at the station. A special campaign should be con- ducted towards having all cars billed to their final destination direct. Di- visions, districts and terminals should keep in close touch with each other so as to insure the distribution of power in such a manner that the loading will be moved district to district and di- vision to division promptly; this at times may necessitate the running of light power. A study should be made of the util- ization of cars for loading in both di- rections to as great an extent as pos- sible with a view of reducing empty car miles. There are about 2,283,000 freight cars in the United States today. It has been demonstrated by increasing the load per car a small per cent, by load- ing and unloading cars promptly, and by moving them without delay, we can increase their efficiency 33^%, it will therefore be observed that by careful supervision and hearty co-operation we can add the equivalent to the car effi- ciency of equipment of 761,000 freight cars, or in other words, move the busi- ness we heretofore would require 3,- 044,000 freight cars with the 2,283,000 cars we now have. In view of the fact that it is neces- sary for us to conserve not only the materials and the labor which we pos- sess in order to divert them to other and more necessary purposes, it de- volves upon us to take advantage of every short cut within our power, and in order to do this all concerned must eliminate the personal equation in- volved and view it from a standpoint of patriotism. People not connected with the rail- roads and their successful operation should realize that every citizen of the country is in a large measure interested in their economic operation, as the cost of transportation is based on this fact, also the advantages they personally de- rive from having these facilities for their convenience. 48 ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE There is no doubt, that if these American citizen will call forth that matters are brought to the attention of hearty co-operative effort for which those responsible or concerned, the pa- our people are noted, and the results triotic spirit which is the dominating obtained will be gratifying beyond our factor in the make-up of every true expectation. Illinois Central Railroad Company The Yazoo & Mississippi Valley Railroad Company Chicago, Memphis & Gulf Railroad Company Chicago, June 15, 1917. TO ALL EMPLOYES : So far as is consistent with their duty to the government, the public and the general body of employes, it will be the policy of the above named railroad companies to, upon their return, re-employ, in the same or equally as good posi- tions, those leaving their employ to enter Military or Naval Service during the present war, provided the necessary physical examination is successfully passed and application for such re-employment made within sixty days after an honor- able discharge from war service. In so far as is practicable, their seniority rights shall be protected, but the time absent will be deducted. Those leaving the employ of these companies to engage in Military or Naval Service will, upon return to such employ, be given continuous service in so far as pension rights are concerned, with the exception that the time absent will be deducted from their service records. No salary will be paid to any employe who may now be in or who may hereafter enter Military or Naval Service, and while recognizing the patriotic duty of their employes, and desiring to assist them in every consistent manner, the above must in no way be construed as binding upon these companies to keep open any position or give any employment at the termination of Military or Naval Service. C. H. MARKHAM President. Appointments and Promotions Effective July 1, 1917, at a meeting of Mr. John J. Pelley, superintendent of the the board of directors held in New York, Memphis Division, is extended to include June 27, 1917, Mr. W. D. Beymer was Memphis Terminal, vice Capt. John M. elected comptroller, vice Mr. M. P. Blau- Walsh, terminal superintendent, who. has velt, resigned to iccept service with an- accepted an appointment in the United other company. States Army. Effective June 1, 1917, Mr. Lewis H. Bond Effective June 16, 1917, Mr. Mark Fenton is appointed assistant engineer maintenance is appointed assistant general development of way, with office at Chicago, vice Captain agent, headquarters Memphis, vice Mr. G. William G. Arn, who has accepted an ap- B. Harper, promoted. pointment in the United States Army. Effective June 1, 1917, Mr. E. H. Doug- Effective June 16, 1917, Mr. G. B. Har- las is appointed traveling freight and pas- per is appointed general development agent, senger agent, 207 Crocker Building, San headquarters Chicago, vice Mr. John C. Francisco, Cal., vice Mr. W. R. Burns, re- Clair, resigned after many years of efficient signed. service to engage in other business. Effective July 1, 1917, Mr. W. Scott Mat- Effective June 20, 1917. the jurisdiction of thews, is appointed dairy extension agent. The Direction of [the Land Movement By Mark Fenton, Assistant General Development Agent CTUDENTS of economics see an im- pending peril in the growing practice of farm occupancy by tenants. The state- ment is made that in some sections of the country, the rate of increase of tenant farmers over home owners is two to one, and in the middle western states, includ- ing Ohio, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas, tenants on farms are becoming more numerous than owners. In 1910 throughout the United States thirty- seven of every one hundred farms were operated by tenants as compared with twenty-eight of every one hundred in 1890, an increase of thirty-two per cent in twenty years. Nevertheless, there are many young northern farmers who would like to own and operate their farms, but who have not the necessary means to pay the high prices for lands that now exist in the north, so the pertinent ques- tion for consideration is what can be done to give those who wish to follow the business of farming an opportunity to own the land they cultivate? Un- doubtedly, this is the ambition enter- tained by every man and woman now en- gaged in farming. Our older residents recall the time when farm land in the best agricultural sections in the Union could be bought for a very few dollars per acre. It is easy to understand how these pioneers in the business, although attended by hardships, could acquire ownership of the land they placed under cultivation and due to its productiveness and great enhancement in value, now find them- selves in fairly good circumstances, and in some instances, wealthy. It is de- cidedly a different problem our present generation of younger farmers confront. It is true that the farmer of today is better equipped with methods of opera- tion, but it is only the favored few who are in a position to pay $100.00 to $200.00 per acre for the farm they would like to operate and own. Our foremost students are endeavoring to devise means of solving the problem, and with some measure of success. The vast army of farmers and others who aspire to be- come such, are casting about for a ter- ritory where their generally limited capi- tal will permit purchase of the farm they desire to operate and where the soil, climatic and marketing conditions prom- ise a fair measure of success. The free lands of the United States and Canada are mostly gone. Such tracts as are left are valuable more on account of their scenic nature than other- wise. During the period our National Government was giving land away in the west and north-west, the trend of the land movement was in those direc- tions. Little was known of the wonder- ful opportunities for farming and stock raising in that vast section south of the Ohio river. Today we find conditions exactly reversed. The direction of the land movement is no longer to the north 49 50 ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE and northwest, but to the south. The best farmers in this country have started a great migration which will make use of the large areas of splendid agri- cultural land in the lower Missis- sippi Valley. There is only one sec- tion of the United States where large tracts of good cheap land are avail- able and that is in the South. The state of Mississippi alone has twenty million acres of unimproved land that can be bought for from five dollars per acre up, varying with location and im- provements. Going farms, with all of the necessary improvements, including houses, barns, etc., can be bought for twenty dollars per acre up, varying with quality of improvements and distance to towns and the railroad. This vast area is situated between the 30th and 35th parallels of latitude, the latitude of the greatest variety of products and fruit- fulness. Mississippi is a temperate zone state, bordering on the semi-tropics. Most of the state is from three hundred to five hundred feet above the sea level. There are a great variety of soils, adapted to the growing of a large number of crops. Here we find the desirable com- bination insuring the success of the farmer who is willing to apply himself, viz. : good soil, warmth and moisture. Good soil is readily fourfd in most states, but warmth is not always dependable and in the northen states, the growing season is confined to five months at the best. The Mississippi winter is the seed- ing season, and something can be grown every month in the year. It is a ter- ritory in which the farmer does not have to spend in the winter what he has saved in the summer. Climate has a cash value. The number of growing days to a very great extent determines the success or failure in crop production, number of crops that can be grown, and to a con- siderable extent, the actual cash returns. Mississippi winters are short, with little or no snow, . no severely cold weather, early springs and long summers, without extremes of heat. There are no heat prostrations in this territory. The rain- fall is from 45 to 60 inches, generally well distributed. There is an abundance of good drinking water, and conditions generally make for a healthy country. The mortality rate of the state is about thirteen per thousand. Looking at the long growing season from a financial standpoint it will be readily appreciated that the Mississippi farm with two hun- dred and fifty growing days per year has a great advantage over the Canadian farm with less than one hundred grow- ing days. Houses and barns are far less expensive, so little protection from the cold being needed. The same applies to the fuel and clothing, and to a con- siderable extent, to heat producing feed for stock. For many years, cotton has been Mis- sissippi's greatest crop, its long staple being declared the best grown, selling at an advance over ordinary market quotations. Northern farmers have no trouble growing cotton in Mississippi. Any man who can raise wheat, corn or oats, can produce cotton. While cotton will doubtless remain one of the leading crops, the unexcelled opportunities for diversified farming, including stock rais- ing and dairying, are fast being realized. It has been demonstrated that grasses and legumes can be grown in larger ton- nage and with greater certainty in Mis- sissippi than in any other state. Pas- tureage lasts practically the entire year. Hogs can be produced for from two and one-half to four cents per pound, and beef from four and one-half to six cents. Corn is being grown to good advantage. Little has been heard of Mississippi as a corn state, due to the fact that the acreage in this grain has been compara- tively small. Climate conditions make it a corn country. Much encouragement has been given the Boys' Corn Clubs and these boys, as well as their elders, are very successful where proper methods are employed. One boy made a record yield of two hundred and twenty-seven bushels on one acre. A farmer in LeFlore county made a yield of one hun- dred twenty-one and one-half bushels per acre on a seventy-acre field. Heavy yields of oats are also made, the highest of which we have record being one hun- dred and thirty-five bushels. While little ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 51 attention has been given to the raising of Irish potatoes, as a matter of fact, Mississippi outranks the northern potato producing states in yield per acre, an average of ninety-one bushels per acre having been secured throughout the state. Had sweet potatoes been con- sidered in the computation, this average would have been much higher. The state will grow successfully all the fruits and vegetables of the temperate zone and many of those of the semi-tropics. The climate reduces frost damage to the min- imum and the abundant rainfall makes irrigation unnecessary. The state has attained a country-wide reputation in her truck crops, and great profits are be- ing made. During the heavy shipping season, vegetables are taken out of some sections by the trainload to northern markets. Rapid progress is being made in dairying and the day is not far dis- tant when Mississippi will rank as one of our greatest dairying states. It has the essentials good feed, abundance of water, and the climate. . The state has an efficient system of public education, which efficiency is being constantly increased. There are good graded high schools in all cities and larger towns, also in most of the smaller places. The University of Mississippi is located at Oxford and the Agricultural and Mechanical College, at Starkville. A state normal is also maintained, and in addition there are forty-five county agricultural high schools and the smaller public schools are fast being consolidated into community high schools. Attention is invited to the Develop- ment Bureau of the Illinois Central Rail- road Company, which will gladly aid any- one seeking a desirable location for farm- ing, by placing the inquirer in communi- cation with such sources of information as will enable him to make good farm selection for the money he has to in- vest. The following letter is self explanatory SUBJECT : Meritorious action on the part of Head Brakeman Roy Reese, and Fireman Woodward, engine 1592, train 53, May 4, 1917, St. Louis Division. Chicago, 111., June 5, 1917. Mr. A. E. Clift, General Superintendent. Dear Sir: On May 4, 1917, as train 53, Conductor Hays, engine 1592, stopped at St. Clair Avenue Crossing, East St. Louis, 111., at 1 :00 P. M., Fireman Woodward and Brakeman Reese saw a negro approach Ft. D. D. M. & S. car 5586 in their train, on the east side, and break seal, enter car, and, with the help of another negro, pull out a trunk, and start away with it. Engineer Eeck held train, while Fireman Woodward and Brakeman Reese pursued the negroes, and caused them to drop the trunk, but, unfortunately, not having fire arms, were unable to effect capture of the burglars. Fireman Woodward and Brakeman Reese replaced the trunk back in the car, and, when same was checked at the freight house at East St. Louis, May 5th, it checked O. K. This is so unusual that I think special mention should be made of same, and some letter of recommendation should be sent to these two loyal employes, by you, or division officials. I have personally written them, thanking them for the service performed, and expressing my appreciation of same. Yours truly, Tim T. Keliher, Chief Special Agent. CLEANINGS from me CIAIMS DEPARTMENT Jnterosting - ~/Vews - of- 1)omgs of Claimants- Jn - and- Out - of* Court 1 HELD FOR MANSLAUGHTER May 13, 1917, at 4 :45 P. M., fast pas- senger train No. 202 on the Rock Island, running between fifty and sixty miles per hour on double track, struck a Studebaker automobile at Midlo- thian, a suburb of Chicago. The auto- mobile was occupied by seven people, six of whom were killed. The only survivor was the owner and driver of the car, Guy A. Ferree, a real estate agent. Those who were killed were Jacob Livingston, age 50, and his wife, Mrs. Mary Livingston, age 45 ; Miss Esther Nowitz, age 19 ; Miss Josephine Tobin, age 30; Benjamin Hochstaadt, age 37, and Benjamin Lobel, age 83. An inquest was held on Tune 29th. The Coroner took the jury to the cross- ing where the catastrophe occurred and viewed the surroundings. The Coro- ner's jury returned a verdict to the ef- fect that the owner and driver of the car, G. A. Ferree, was guilty of crim- inal carelessness amounting to man- slaughter and bound him over to await the action of the Grand Jury. Ferree testified at the inquest that the auto- mobile was running at the rate of three or four miles an hour, and that he did not know what struck him until he woke up in the hospital and was old that his automobile was struck by a train. He testified that he did not see or hear the train. The evidence showed that there was nothing to pre- vent him from seeing or hearing the train if he had taken any precaution whatever for his own safety and the safety of those who had entrusted their lives to him. DEATH OF FIREMAN REYBURN. After having been told recently of the death of Fireman Reyburn, with whom he had settled on account of a serious injury, Claim Agent C. D. Cary, of the Illinois Division, wrote these few lines : "I had not heard of the death of Fireman Reyburn. I shall never forget with what fortitude he bore the great affliction that struck him down so early in life. He was a noble, manly fellow; 52 ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 53 his condition was more than pitiable, and at all times he was honorable and con- sistent. It is fortunate for him that he now is relieved of his suffering, but he was prepared for it and often told me that he did not believe that he would last over two years. I am sad to know that poor Reyburn is no more," DOG SUIT ENDED H. C. Douglas, a farmer who resides near Cordova, Ala., near the Frisco tracks, was the owner of a white bull dog, and on February 1, 1916, the dog strayed upon the tracks, and was run over and killed by an unknown train. The Frisco section foreman claimed to have passed the point of accident be- fore north bound Illinois Central train passed the point of accident, and no dog was to be seen, but soon after this train had passed the dead dog was found upon the tracks, and it was then con- cluded that the dog was run over and killed by the Illinois Central train. After several days it occured to the owner of the dog that a recovery could be had from the Frisco and the Illinois Central railroads, jointly, and a suit was insti- tuted against both railroads in the Justice of Peace Court. A verdict was re- covered for $25.00 against both rail- roads, because no defense was offered, but the case was appealed to the Circuit Court of Walker County, and on April 2, 1917, the case was submitted to Judge Curtis without a jury, and after hear- ing testimony introduced by plaintiff and defendant, the court readily ren- dered a verdict in favor of the Illinois Central as well as the Frisco Railroad, for the reason that he was not fully con- vinced whether the dog was negligently killed or committed suicide. DAMAGE CAUSED BY A ROAM- ING COW On the night of February 19, 1916, several section men took a motor car at Phillip, Miss., without first securing the proper authority and made a pleasure trip to Effie on the Charleston branch. When returning about midnight the car struck a cow which was lying in the middle of the track at the end of a trestle. One of the men on the car was killed and several others were seriously injured. The cow was also killed. Notwithstanding the fact that the men were operating the car without authority and were not on duty or on company business and the further fact that the cow was trespassing on the track, the owner of the animal placed a claim in the hands of an attorney and suit was brought. The trial resulted in a verdict for the railroad. The owner and his attorney, as is frequently the case, could not be convinced that an animal could be killed on the right* of way and the railroad not be compelled to pay for it, so they took an appeal to the Mississippi supreme court, which recently affirmed the judgment for the railroad. After the expenditure of considerable time and money this claimant now knows that recovery can not always be had against the railroad where stock is killed on the right of way. Had the owner taken care of the animal and not per- mitted it to stray at large, trespass on the property of others, a human life would have been saved and the owner of the animal would still have his cow and the money expended in his lawsuit. One of the striking things about this matter is that it never occurred to the owner of this cow that he was in any way responsible for this unfortunate oc- currence. Doubtless he did not realize at the time and perhaps does not yet that he was largely responsible for the death of the. man who was killed in the collision with the cow. In the early days when railroads were practically unknown and there was very little land in cultivation and the country almost wholly undeveloped ; in other words, when the country was in the frontier state, it was customary to permit stock to roam at large, but this practice has long since been abandoned except in Mississippi and parts of Louisiana. NOTHING FOR THE WHISKEY ANTON STATKEVICE is the name 54 ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE of a saloonist in the village of West City, which is attached to the west side of the pretty little city of Benton, Illinois. Once upon a time, in a court of justice, Statke- vice swore that his real name was one "Smith," but in the trial of the case here briefly reviewed he vigorously denied that Smith was ever his cognomen. This is sufficient for purposes of identification. At any rate, he was at the Illinois Central freight station the afternoon of October 10, 1916, with a two horse outfit to get a barrel of whiskey. After loading the barrel into the wagon he left the team unhitched and disappeared in the freight house. While thus gone something hap- pened to cause the animals to start away in a walk. Realizing that no one was on the wagon in control they moved fast- er and faster, and eventually were in full flight. The said barrel of liquor rolled out, and striking the pavement with some force, was lost. The Railroad Company was sued for the value of the whiskey. In the Justice Court the plaintiff testi- fied that he was inside of the freight house and did not see what occurred. From a judgment against the company the case was taken to the circuit court where it was recently tried. There, Stat- kevice testified that while he was in the freight house all right, he, nevertheless, had a clear view through an open door, and he further testified that the sudden "popping off" of steam from a locomo- tive nearby, frightened the animals, and thus caused them to run away. It was abundantly shown upon the part of the railroad that the engine was some dis- tance away and the train was motion- less. There was an absence of neglect, and upon this showing the jury's verdict was in favor of the Railroad Company. TRIED TO KNOCK LOCOMOTIVE OFF THE TRACK ADAM RANKELL against the I. C. R. R. was the style of a suit recently tried in the circuit court of Franklin county, Illinois at Benton. The facts briefly stated, were, that this man and Police Chief Wm. H. McEndree, occupying a Ford machine, moving south on South Main street between twelve and one o'clock, midnight, October 30, 1916, struck switch engine 824, which was backing toward the east, about the back driving wheel of the locomotive proper. It will be appreciated that the locomo- tive occupied the street and that the tank had passed the line of the auto- mobile's direction as it approached the crossing. The automobile was slightly damaged and both occupants were very slightly injured. Both testified that they were moving from eight to ten miles per hour; that when about 25 feet from the track they realized for the first time that the locomotive was at the crossing; that their car was in good order ; that brakes were promptly applied, and notwithstand- ing these facts the car slid perhaps 15 to 20 feet, striking the locomotive. Ran- kell was heard to say to persons coming up to the scene, "Hell, we tried to knock the engine off the tracks!" Of course he denied this statement in his dam- age suit for ONE thousand dollars ! Upon the part of the defense the evi- dence was that the auto was moving from twice to three times as fast as was claimed by the plaintiff; that the engine was equipped with an oil headlight and two smaller lights at the advancing, or tank end ; that the locomotive was mov- ing 5 or 6 miles an hour and that the bell was ringing continuously. The jury con- cluded upon these facts that the railroad was not guilty. Mr. McEndee's suit for $5,000 is still pending. ASLEEP ON THE TRACK Since the soldiers have been guarding the railway bridges during the last few months, four have been killed and four have been seriously injured on the Illi- nois Central System on account of fall- ing asleep on the track. Watching bridges in a peaceful country is a very tedious and uninteresting job. In addition to that, it has been proved from a scientific standpoint that the hum of the rails is almost as deadly as chloroform to those who sit down on the track or near the track. Dr. B. F. Ward, an eminent physician and surgeon of Winona, Miss., wrote a very interesting article on this subject, which apeared in the Memphis ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 55 Commercial Appeal of June 15, 1917, and which we here reproduce as fol- lows: "Within the last few months there have been reports in the papers of several young soldiers having been rather mys- teriously killed while on duty guarding bridges. These boys were, doubtless, all asleep on the track, a situation from which no one ever escapes unless there is fortunately, some one near enough to rescue them. "Several years ago I read a paper be- fore the Mississippi State Medical Asso- ciation in which I stated the broad prop- osition to which I still adhere, that, in all the history of railroads, no human being asleep on a railroad track, in touch with rail or crosstie, was ever aroused by an approaching train. They are al- ways killed if they are alone. "The purpose of the paper I presented was to prove that anaesthesia, as profound as that of chloroform or ether, could be produced by mechanical vibration such as that communicated to the rail by the revolving car wheels. "I had been studying the subject for several years and watching, with much interest, the reports of persons found dead on the track and involving the question ^whether they had been killed by the train or murdered and placed on the track to conceal the crime. "I was fully satisfied that most of these were cases of anaesthesia by me- chanical vibration, but had refrained from publishing my conclusions until I had an opportunity of verifying them by actual demonstration. "The first positive illustration that came under my observation was that of a strong, healthy negro man who had been at work all day in a wood yard north of the town of Winona, and who was on his way to his home a little south of town about 9 o'clock at night. He had purchased a few articles in town, and, being fatigued and suffering some with his feet, he sat down on the end of a cross-tie, intending to rest only a few minutes. He awoke next morning about daylight and found him- self lying on the ground parallel with the track. He said he felt a little chilly, as it was early in May and the morning was quite cool, but was not conscious of any other unpleasant sensation. He wondered what he was doing there, and on attempting to rise discovered that there was something the matter with his left arm, but did not feel the slightest pain. His arm was lying across the rail and a train had [passed over it, crushing the elbow and the bone, for two or three inches above the joint, to a pulp. "There 'was no train in hearing and he did not know whether more than one train had passed over his arm during the night. He got up and walked to town, holding the dead arm in the other hand, showing not the slightest evidence of shock. He sat on a stool and con- versed freely with me while I was mak- ing preparations to amputate his arm. I inquired if he had been drinking, and he replied, 'Doctor, I am one negro who never drank any whisky in my life,' and his fellow-laborers verified his state- ment. I asked if he had taken any med- icine, and he said no, that he had no need for medicine, as he was in perfect health. "He had been soothed to sleep and anaesthetized by the vibratory waves and, in falling, was fortunate in lying parallel with the track, only his arm being across the rail. "Since that time I have gathered, from only a few railroads, more than 50 such cases, some of them from eye-witnesses, which of course is only a small fraction of the number of similar cases through- out the United States. "My purpose in presenting the paper to the State Medical Association was to establish the fact that major operations could be performed under anaesthesia produced by mechanical vibration, with- out the shock and depressing effects of chloroform and ether. "In fact, the patient would wake up as normal and fresh as if he had been in a natural sleep. "Some of the bad results of serious op- erations are due in part to the satura- 56 ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE tion of the system, for so long- a time, with the poison of anaesthetics. "The association received my conten- tion with marked incredulity, because it was entirely new to the medical and sur- gical world, and doctors, as a rule, are disposed to be skeptical about anything that is claimed as a new truth unless they find it printed in a book. They seem to think that putting it in a book invests it with some color of 'authority.' "Only one member of the association made any attempt to discuss the paper. My good friend, Dr. Crisler, of Mem- phis, took issue with me on a minor and unimportant suggestion, but did not at- tempt to analyze the principle of anaes- thesia by vibration. I want to say this, however, that it was the only time I ever saw him confronted with any ques- tion before an association of medical men which he could not discuss intelli- gently and forcibly. I love Crisler be- cause his cerebration and thought range extend beyond the mechanism of surgery and the established routine of medicine. In other words, he thinks instead of seeking to accumulate useful information by merely committing things to memory. "The man makes a mistake who im- agines he is educated because he has stuffed his brain cells with lumber cut, dried and dressed by some one else. "It is claimed that there are several billion of these minute brain cells in every square inch of the brain surface, each one of which is susceptible of reg- istering, retaining and exercising a single and separate thought. "If this is true, there must be five or six times as many thought cells in a square inch of brain substance as there have been minutes marked on the dial plate of time since the Star of Bethle- hem appeared to the shepherds of Ju- dea. "The New York Medical Journal wrote a long editorial review of my ar- ticle and was inclined to agree with me, but said I should reduce it to practice instead of theorizing about it. "I wrote the Journal that I had pass- ed the theory station and had estab- lished, by actual demonstration, the principle announced, but that I was only a country doctor, and had given this fact to the profession, hoping some one in a great medical center like New York, would take hold of it. "I wrote to Mr. Edison to know if he could help me out with it. He expressed a very kindly interest in the matter and said if it could be made practicable it would establish a new era in surgery, but said it was out of his line and would require a new chain of experiments and also the addition of a surgeon to his staff, and demand more time than he could possibly give to it. "I expressed to him, as well as I could, what I regarded as the basic prin- ciple in the production of anaesthesia by mechanical vibration. That the vibra- tory waves should be uniform and rhyth- mic, of the greatest possible delicacy to begin with, increasing, with unbroken rhythm, in intensity till profound anaes- thesia was produced. For instance, if the train was 25 miles away and main- tained the same speed for that distance, the vibratory wave would increase in force and intensity with every revolu- tion of the wheels as the train; ap- proached a given point. "My idea was that a circular rail could be attached to the under surface of a steel table, with a wheel, constructed after the pattern of a car wheel, to run on this rail, propelled by electricity, the intensity of the wave to be regulated by increasing rhythmically the velocity of the wheel. "I simply give this rude sketch to con- vey the idea on which a perfect ma- chine might be constructed. "Of course, I am not pretending to discuss the merits or the practicability of anaesthesia by vibration in a communi- cation like this, the immediate purpose of which is to prevent people being killed by sleeping on the track. "Remember that the first effect of the vibration is to induce sleep, especially if it is night or the surroundings are very still and the person is alone. Do not sit or lie on the track if you are alone un- less you want to commit suicide." ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 57 The Commercial Appeal commented "The young man on guard duty, editorially on Dr. Ward's article, as lonesome, tired and drowsy, is inclined follows : to sit down on the end of the tie and In another part of this paper we drops his feet into the ditch below Or gladly print an article, "Asleep on the he ? s * on the rai i and Wlth his et Track," prepared by Dr. B. F. Ward. ms ! de - T .he s .P lnt Nov., 1912, received light repairs 102. 68J 69,458 July, 1914, received general repairs '. 3,225.42 April, 1916, received light repairs : 289.29 78,025 June, 1917, in Burnside shops for general repairs Total cost $19,095.89 Total miles 937,688 Yearly average expense $734.45 Yearly average, miles 36,065 Cost of repairs per mile $.02 D. E. Hilgartner. ROLL OP HONOR Name Theodore Shelton.. William M. Young Patrick W. Farmer Charles E. Spinner William Yeske Harry Y. Wilson.... Occupation Engineman Warehouseman Crossing Flagman Stockkeeper Laborer Engineman .(Y&MV) Date of Where Retire- Employed Service ment Elizabethtown 34 yrs. 5-1-17 Kensington 24 yrs. 7-1-17 Cherokee 27 yrs. 7-1-17 Paducah 22 yrs. 8-1-17 Colfax 30 yrs. 7-1-17 Vicksburg 28 yrs. 5-1-17 count of stock killed, fires, or personal injury, under his jurisdiction during his service with the company. HENRY BECKER. HENRY BECKER 1V/IR. HENRY BECKER was born 1V1 February 12, 1862, at Kenner, La., and entered the service of the Illinois Central Railroad Company, January, 1876, as laborer. He was promoted to foreman 1883 and served in that capac- ity at various points on the Illinois Cen- tral and Yazoo & Mississippi Valley Railroad Companies. Returned to Ken- ner Section of the Illinois Central in 1908 where he remained until retired on a pension March 31, 1916. Mr. "Becker avers that he never had a lawsuit ac- F. S. RICHARDSON. 63 64 ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE F. S. RICHARDSON R. F. S. RICHARDSON was born in Demopolis, Alabama, June 21, 1851. Entered the service of the Ala- bama Central Railroad as Baggage Mas- ter, September, 1869. Resigned this po- sition 1872 to run freight train from Marion Junction to Greensboro, Ala- bama, on the Selma, Marion and Mem- phis Railroad. In 1876 went to work for the Illinois Central Railroad from New Orleans to Canton, Miss. July, 1880, worked on the Cairo District as Conduc- tor where he remained for two months. Re-entered the employ of the Illinois Central Railroad Company, February, 1881, as Conductor, which position he held until retired on a pension April 30, 1917. JOHN ZEARS TV/TR. JOHN ZEARS, Section Fore- man, at Sandoval, Illinois, was born at Effingham, Illinois, in 1856. He en- tered the service of the Illinois Central Railroad Company as Section Laborer at Forsyth, in 1880, and worked in this capacity until May, 1883, when he was promoted to Section Foreman, and placed in charge of Section No. A-22, Sandoval, Illinois, and held this posi- tion until he was retired on a pension, March 31st, 1917. His retirement was due to ill health, and Mr. Zears intends taking an extensive trip through the West for the benefit of his health. JOHN ZEARS. Acknowledgement of Effective Work in the Conservation of Fuel Chicago, June 22, 1917. Mr. A. V. Barton, Mr. P. Scullion, Firemen : We made a check recently of the amount of coal used in suburban engines handling 4-car and 2-car suburban trains between Randolph Street and 67th Street. The result showed on 4-car trains the minimum of 1,110 pounds and maximum of 1,245 average 1,162 pounds. Fireman Scullion made the round trip with 1,110 pounds. Fireman Barton 1,125 pounds. On the two-car trains the minimum was 630 and maximum 945 pounds average, 799. Fireman Barton used 630 pounds. I want to congratulate you two gentlemen on the very satisfactory showing you made. A. Bernard, Trainmaster. FROM THE LAW DEPARTMENT Biographical Sketch No. 30 JOHN C. DOOLAN, District Attorney, Illinois Central Railroad Co., Louisville, Ky. 65 John C. Doolan, District Attorney, Illinois Central R. R. Co., Louisville, Ky. M R. JOHN C. DOOLAN was born in Shelby County, Kentucky, on June 15, 1868; received his academic training in a private school conducted by his father; was graduated from the Law Department of the University of Virginia in June, 1890; located in Louisville, Ky., September 1, 1890, and was admitted to the Bar during the same month ; became successively a member of the firms of Simrall, Bodley & Doolan, Simrall & Doolan, Pirtle, Trabue, Doolan & Cox, and Trabue, Doolan & Cox. On December 1, 1904, he was appointed one of the District Attorneys for Kentucky of the Illinois Central Railroad Company, and has ever since served it well in that capacity. Mr. Doolan's first introduction to the Company came about when the firm of Simrall, Bodley & Doolan represented Lloyd & Hawes, Trustees of Chesapeake, Ohio & Southwestern Railroad Company's second mortgage in the suit brought to enforce the lien of that mortgage. As result of the decree rendered in that case the Illinois Central acquired control of the old Chesapeake, Ohio & Southwestern properties in 1896, and thus extended its lines to Louisville. Mr. Doolan has achieved conspicuous success, not only as an adviser, but as a trial lawyer and man of affairs. He is a man of genial manners and has a rare gift of personality something easier to recognize and appreciate than to describe. History of Illinois Passenger Fares, 1906-1917 By A. P. Humburg, Commerce Attorney "Whenever the interstate and intrastate transactions of carriers," said Mr. Justice Hughes, speaking for the Supreme Court of the United States in the Shreveport Case, 234 U. S. 351, "are so related that the government of the one involves the control of the other, it is Congress and not the State, that is entitled to prescribe the final and dominant rule, for other- wise Congress would be denied the exercise of its constitutional author- ity and the State, and not the Nation, would be supreme within the national field." (a) State legislation caused reductions in state and interstate fares. Sub- sequent advances in interstate fares without corresponding advances in state fares brought discrimination, which commission ordered removed. When, in 1906, the Railroad and Warehouse Commission of Illinois, reduced by 20 per cent, the freight rates on classes 1 to 5, inclusive, and made other serious reductions in ireight rates, it provided as a part of its order, effective July 1, 1906, that the passenger fares shall be upon a basis not exceeding 3 cents per mile. Effective July 1, 1907, the legislature of Illinois reduced passenger fares from 3 cents to 2 cents per mile. This statute, and those like it passed in Missouri and Iowa, caused similar reductions in the interstate fares between points in Illinois on the one hand and points in Missouri and Iowa on the other. The Chicago, Peoria & St. Louis Railroad Company, then in the hands of a receiver, petitioned for an injunction to restrain the enforcement of the Illinois 2-cent passenger fare statute and the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois held 66 ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 67 that this statute was confiscatory and unconstitutional as applied to that road. Trust Co. of America, vs. C. P. & St. L. R. Co., 199 Fed. Rep. 593). Similar proceedings were had with the same result as applied to the Wabash, Chester & Western Railroad Company. In 1914, following the decision in Five Per Cent Case, 31 ICC 351, wherein the Interstate Commerce Commission said in substanc that the 2-cent fares were too low, the Illinois carriers increased their interstate fares from a basis of 2 cents per mile to % l / 2 cents per mile, including their nterstate fares between St. Louis and points in Illinois; but their intrastate fares wholly within Illinois were not advanced because they were held down to 2 cents per mile by the state statute. "We are confident," said the commission in the Five Per Cent Case, "that if these statutory fares are clearly shown to be unduly burdensome to the carriers, the people of these great states (including Illinois) will cheerfully acquiesce, as the people of New England have done, in reasonable increases and that the neces- sary legislative authority will be promptly given . The traveling public is giving expression to its demands for better service, better accommodations, and for the adoption by the carriers of all the devices that make for safety. A public that demands such a service cannot reasonably object to the payment of a reasonable compensation therefor." Accordingly, a bill was introduced at the 1915 session of the Illinois legislature for the purpose of increasing the basis from 2 cents to 2 l /2 cents per mile, but that bill died in the committee's hands. A similar bill came to the 1917 session, proposing an advance to 2.4 cents per mile, and it died in the same way. On June 4, 1915, the Business Men's League of St. Louis, filed a complaint against the Illinois carriers, alleging that their charging a 2 */ 2 -cent basis inter- state for the transportation of passengers between St. Louis and points in Illi- nois, as compared with a 2-cent basis wholly between points in Illinois, worked unjust discrimination against St. Louis and interstate commerce and undue preference of East St. Louis, Chicago, and other points, and of intrastate com- merce. The carriers answered that said discrimination and preference are not caused by any wrongful act upon their part ; that their interstate fares are reason- able; that the state fares are too low; and that if said alleged discrimination and preference are unlawful they should be removed, not by reducing reasonable interstate fares but by advancing the low state fares. The people of Keokuk, Iowa, intervened and contended that whatever shall be done for St. Louis should likewise be done for Keokuk, otherwise discrimination would result as between St. Louis and Keokuk. The state of Illinois and the people of the state, and the State- Public Utilities Commission of Illinois, by the attorney general likewise intervened and contended that the power to regulate passenger fares in Illinois is vested in the legislature of Illinois, and that the 2-cent state fares imposed no burden on interstate commerce. Several days each in two separate sessions in September and November, 1915 were consumed in the hearing of much evidence submitted by complainants, interveners, and the carriers. Voluminous briefs were filed, and a day was devoted to the oral argument before the commission in Washington. After the Business Men's League Case was tried and before its decision, the commission decided the Western Passenger Fares Case, 37 ICC 1, (Decem- ber 7, 1915) wherein it held that 2.4 cents per mile was a reasonable basis for the transportation of passengers between certain points in Illinois (embracing about one-half of the state) and other states, and points in Iowa and Missouri. (St. Louis-Illinois fares were not embraced in this proceeding.) The 2^-cent fares were accordingly reduced to 2.4 cents per mile within said territory; the same basis was put in force between points in Illinois for interstate basing purposes, and these fares have been in effect since January 15, 1916. 68 ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE Then followed the commission's decision in Business Men's League of St. Louis, vs. A. T. & S. F. R. Co., et d., 41 ICC 13, 503, on July 12 and October 17, 1916, wherein it was found that fares constructed upon a basis not in excess of 2.4 cents per mile (bridge tolls excepted) between St. Louis and Keokuk on the one hand and points in Illinois on the other are not unreasonable ; that the bridge tolls are not unreasonable; that the maintenance of a higher basis interstate be- tween St. Louis and Keokuk and points of Illinois than the intrastate basis between points in Illinois, within the terms of its order of October 17, 1916, is the practicing of unjust discrimination against St. Louis and Keokuk and against interstate commerce, and of undue preference in favor of East St. Louis, Chicago, and other points in Illinois, and in favor of intrastate commerce ; and the carriers were required to remove that discrimination and preference on or before January 15, 1917. (b) The carriers proceeded to obey and sought the protection of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, but Judge Landis held the Commission exceeded its power. Obedient to the requirements of the Commission's order of October 17, 1916, tariffs were filed to become effective January 1, 1917, reducing to 2.4 cents per mile the interstate fares, and advancing to 2.4 cents per mile the intrastate fares, insofar as it was necessary to remove the discrimination and preference condemned by the Commission ; and on October 20. 1916, before the effective date of said tariffs, the Illinois carriers filed their bills (29 in all) in the United States District Court at Chicago, setting forth what is required of them under the Commission's order, setting forth also the conflict be- tween that order and the state statute, and asking that since they are required under the Supreme Court's decision in the Shreveport Case, 234 U. S. 323, to obey federal power, the State authorities be enjoined from enforcing against them the penalties of the state statute on account of the carriers obeying the order of the Interstate Commerce Commission by charging the advanced intrastate fares thereby required. Upon the conclusion of the hearing, Judge Landis held, on January 13, 1917, that the Commission intended to hold invalid the Illinois statute, that the Commission exceeded its power in making said order, and he dismissed the carriers' bills for want of equity. The carriers immediately prosecuted an appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States and applied to one of the Justices for a temporary restraining order against the State authorities, pending the final determination of the case in the Supreme Court ; that application was denied ; the carriers' application for the advancement of the cause was granted, and the appeal is to be heard upon its merits on October 2, 1917, that being the day assigned for its oral argument in the Supreme Court. Thus the carriers complied with the order as to interstate fares by putting them into effect on January 1, 1917 ; but they did not then commence the charging of their advanced intrastate fares. (c) Then the Federal Court at St. Louis, the tribunal appointed by lazv for the direct review of the Commission's order, commanded the carriers to obey said order. Not to charge the advanced state fares was contrary to the Commission's order. The Commission's Chief Counsel therefore filed a bill against the carriers in the United States District Court at St. Louis, alleging that the order was duly made and regularly served and that the carriers were disobeying the same, and asking that they be enjoined from further disobedience. The carriers admitted the making of the order and its validity, but justified their non-compliance by the threats of the State authorities to prosecute them for exceeding the^ statutory fares, and they asked that the Attorney General and State's Attorney of Illinois, also the State Commissioners, be made parties to that case and be enjoined from further interfering with the carriers' obedience to the Commission's order. The carriers also submitted their tariffs showing ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 69 how they proposed to obey. The Commission's Counsel and the Counsel for St. Louis objected to the State authorities being made parties to the proceeding. The Court (Judges Hook and Dyer) held that the State authorities were not necessary parties to the St. Louis suit; therefore the court did not bring them into this case, but entered a decree requiring the carriers to obey the Commission's order within 30 days from May 1, 1917. Preparatory to charging the advanced intrastate fares, the carriers asked the Interstate Commerce Commission for a rule on the State authorities to show the Commission wherein the tariffs filed by the carriers did not comply with the Commission's order or were otherwise unlawful. That application was denied. The carriers then served the Attorney General, State Commissioners, and State's Attorneys of Illinois each with a certified copy of the decree entered by the St. Louis Court on May 1, 1917 and the State authorities were advised that, com- mencing May 30, 1917, the advanced intrastate fares would be charged. (d) Before the carriers could obey the federal decree, the State Court in Chicago restrained them from rendering such obedience. Then spoke again the Federal Court at St. Louis, Judge Dyer in no uncertain terms announcing that his court is the controlling power over the enforcement of its decree and the Commission's order, and that the new fares must be put into operation in 5 days. On May 28, 1917 a bill was filed in the Superior Court of Cook County by the Attorney General of Illinois in the name of the People of the State of Illinois against the Illinois carriers, and they were notified that next morn- ing he would ask the Court to restrain them from charging in excess of the 2-cent statutory fare. The carriers filed their petition and bond for the re- moval of the case to the Federal Court. That petition and was denied. The hear- ing proceeded under protest and at 11 .00 P. M., preceding Decoration Day, the restraining order was granted. Ticket Agents were advised that fares in excess of 2 cents should not be charged, awaiting the further order of the Federal Court at St. Louis. At the same time notice was served on the State authorities that on June 4, . 1917 the carriers would appear before the Federal Court in St. Louis to present a statement of the occurrence in the State Court, presenting also the reasons for their non-compliance with the decree of Federal Court at St. Louis, and that they would ask the direction of that court as to the manner in which they shall comply with the Commission's order, without being required to reduce interstate fares, and would also ask that the State authorities be made parties to the St. Louis Case and be enjoined from further interfering with the carriers' obedi- ence of the order of the Commission and the decree of the Federal Court. The Interstate Commerce Commission and the St. Louis Chamber of Commerce (formerly Business Men's League) also appeared and asked that the Illinois carriers be fined for contempt for not obeying the decree of the Federal Court. After full argument, District Judge David P. Dyer delivered the following oral opinion on June 7, 1917 : "THE COURT: "I have listened with a great deal of interest to all that has been said ; it has been a very instructive discussion. "I believe the government of the United States is supreme under the consti- tution in every State in this Union, and is supreme now in reference to regulat- ing commerce between the several states, and wherever state enactments con- flict with federal enactments with reference to interstate commerce, the state enactment must give way to the higher and superior authority of the govern- ment. "The Interstate Commerce Commission, acting under the law, found a dis- crimination that it ordered removed. That order was not complied with, and, acting under the law, the Commission came to this Court for an order to en- 70 ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE force the finding and order of the Interstate Commerce Commission. This Court entered its decree, and while other matters were presented at that time to the Court, such as the application to make the Illinois authorities a party to the proceeding, it was thought then by the court that the only question that it had to deal with was the question of enforcing the order of the Interstate Commerce Commission; so everything wth reference to bringing in other parties was stricken out of the answer, and the sole question presented was upon the bill of the Interstate Commerce Commission, the Intervening Petiton of the St. Louis Chamber of Commerce and the answers (with that portion in them stricken out). "The Court entered a decree as plain and direct as one could be made. It required the carriers to put in force a tariff that would relieve this discrimina- tion and allow a rate of not exceeding 2.4 cents per mile. Time was allowed in the decree for compliance therewith. Exceptions were taken to the action of the Court in striking out that portion of the answer that raised the question of bringing in the Illinois parties. An appeal was allowed defendants to the Supreme Court. "The rate prescribed by the Interstate Commerce Commission is plainly su- perior in authority to that fixed by the State of Illinois. The Commission fixed this rate at not exceeding 8.4 cents. Some of these carriers say that they have complied with the decree and put in force that rate, and others say that they were ready to put it in force but have not done so because they are threatened with interference by the authorities of the State of Illinois. "It is the duty of these carriers to put in* force the rate that the Interstate Commerce Commission said that they might put in, and to not stop on account of any supposed interference with that command of this Court. If they had gone on and put in force the rate as the Court directed them, and someone had arrested their men, or the Attorney General, or anyone else, over in the State of Illinois had directed that their men be arrested, I would have had no trouble in citing these individuals to come down here and show why they should not be adjudged in contempt of this Court. "But the carriers are not in that position. They have not complied with that decree and order. The excuse they offer here now is not sufficient. They must go and put their rates in force ; then if anyone interferes with them in obeying the order of this Court, I will issue a rule against him. "I will not now bring in the State of Illinois, the Attorney General, or any other of the Illinois authorities as parties to the cause. But let the carriers comply with the decree of this Court, and if they don't comply, I will then issue an order on them to show cause. "The carriers have their rates all fixed. They must put them in force and do it within the next five days. "I don't intend that the Wabash Road should be put in a position of disad- vantage here on account of the other carriers failing to comply with this decree. "Let the rates be put in force in that time, and let it be understood that there must be no interference with this Court's decree in putting in force what the Interstate Commerce Commission has ordered. Let that be understood, and let the Illinois authorities understand that this Court is of the opinion that it has jurisdiction over this matter and that it is the controlling power over the en- forcement of this decree and should there be offered any obstruction to the en- forcement of the order of the Commission it will then be time for further ac- tion here. "That is the order of this Court. It is a proper exercise of authority, and the only thing that I am now deciding is that this decree made by Judge Hook and myself must be enforced and the rates put into operation in the next five ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 71 days, and if anyone undertakes to prevent the enforcement of that decree then this Court has jurisdiction to punish for such interference." Thereupon the St. Louis Court made a further decree on June 8, 1917, order- ing and directing the carriers to comply on or before June 12, 1917 with its decree of May 1, 1917 ; and then the intrastate fares, as so advanced in compli- ance with the order of the Interstate Commerce Commission, and the decree of the Federal Court at St. Louis, were put in effect on June 10, 1917. (e) A truce follows. The carriers are charging the advanced intrastate fares aivaiting the decision of the Supreme Court. Then upon the application of the Attorney General of Illinois the Superior Court of Cook County issued a rule on the carriers to show cause why they should not be punished for con- tempt of its decree. The rule was issued and the carriers answered, expressly protesting that the State Court has no jurisdiction over the subject matter, and showing in substance that what they have done was done in obedience to the order of the Interstate Commerce Commission and the decrees of the Federal Court at St. Louis, having exclusive jurisdiction over the subject matter; that they cannot obey the decree of the State Court because they must obey the de- crees of the Federal Court at St. Louis. Thereupon an agreement was reached between the Attorney General and the carriers that pending the final determina- tion by the United States Supreme Court of the validity and scope of the Com- mission's reports and order of October 17, 1916 in the Business Men's League of St. Louis Case, the carriers would deliver to each purchaser of an intrastate ticket for travel between points in Illinois, sold at a rate in excess of the present Illinois statutory maximum passenger fares, a coupon or certificate witnessing that the Company agrees to pay the purchaser of the ticket of date stamped on back, between points shown, the part of fare for said ticket in excess of the present Illinois statutory maximum charge therefor, if and when it is finally determined by the Supreme Court that the reports and order of the Commission under which said ticket was sold do not justify collection of such excess; and the state case was postponed to December 31, 1917. (f) Shreveport doctrine applied to the South Dakota Express Rate Case, which has some things in common with Illinois Passenger Fares Case. The Law- yers' Committee in charge of the Illinois Passenger Fares Case filed, pursuant to leave granted by the Supreme Court, a brief as amid curiae on behalf of the Illinois carriers in the South Dakota Case. By its opinion of June 11, 1917, de- livered by Mr. Justice Brandeis, the Supreme Court held in that case (American Express Company v. South Dakota}, involving a conflict between interstate and intrastate express rates, that under the order of the Interstate Commerce Com- mission the carriers could comply with the same (a) by reducing the interstate rates to the South Dakota scale, or (b) by raising the South Dakota rates to the interstate scale, or (c) by reducing one and raising the other until equality is reached in an intermediate scale; that the Commission's report contains, among other things, a finding that the interstate rate which was prescribed by the Com- mission was not shown to be unreasonable; and the Supreme Court says that this finding gives implied authority to the Express Companies both to maintain their interstate rates and to raise to their level the intrastate rates involved, citing the Shreveport Case, 234 U. S. 342. "For, if the interstate rates are maintained, the discrimination can be removed only by raising the intrastate rates." The Court holds further that the existence of the p'ower and authority of Congress to remove an existing discrimination against interstate commerce by directing a change of an intrastate rate prescribed by state authority should not have been questioned by the State Court since the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States in the Shreveport Case. The Court holds further that the power of Congress is dominant only to the 72 ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE extent that the exercise is found by it to be necessary to remove the existing discrimination against intrastate traffic; that 'provisions of the state statute can- not be held to apply to changes in intrastate rates over which the State Com- mission has no control; that proper conduct of business would suggest the giv- ing of' some notice (as was done by the Express Companies in the instant case) ; but that a valid order of the Commission is, when applicable, a legal justifica- tion for disregarding a conflicting regulation of the State law because the fed- eral authority is dominant ; that in cases where dominant federal authority is exerted to affect intrastate rates, it is desirable that the orders of the Commission should be so definite as to the rates and territory to be affected as to preclude misapprehension; that if an order is believed to lack definiteness, an applica- tion should be made to the Commission for further specifications, but that this express rate order, although less explicit than desirable, is, when read in con- nection with the railroad map, not lacking in the requisite definiteness. Opinion in Fifteen per Cent Case On June 27, 1917 the Interstate Commerce Commission decided the Fifteen Per Cent Case, 45 ICC 1, in a 35-page report. We give here only the ultimate conclusions, omitting the Commission's reasons leading to these conclusions : 1. General horizontal advance denied but coal advances sustained in part. "For these reasons, necessarily stated in somewhat general terms, we are led to the conclusion that no condition of emergency exists as to the western and southern carriers which would justify permitting a general increase in their rates to become effective. In the eastern district increased rates have recently been permitted to become effective generally on bituminous coal, coke, and iron ore. We think that similar increases may properly be permitted in the southern district on coal, coke, and iron ore, and in the western district on coal and coke. This will preserve rate relationships between the several districts. In the southern district the proposed increased rates on coal are on the basis of 15 per cent, with a maximum of 15 cents per ton. These tariffs we shall permit to become effective. In the western district the increases are based upon 15 per cent, with a minimum of 15 cents per ton. These tariffs will be suspended, but the western carriers may, if they so elect, file new tariffs carrying increases in rates on coal and coke not exceeding in any case 15 cents per ton. All of the tariffs included in this proceeding of the western lines will be suspended. All of the tariffs included in this proceeding of the southern carriers will be sus- pended, excepting those applying on coal, coke, and iron ore " 2. Class rate advances for eastern carriers "As. has been indicated however, the conditions confronting the eastern carriers are substantially different from those confronting the southern and western carriers, and we are persuaded that they are entitled to increased revenue beyond and above that which they are securing and will secure from the increased rates on bituminous coal, coke, and iron ore It is not possible to estimate with confidence and accuracy the amount of additional revenue that will accrue from increased class rates, but from the best information at hand we conclude that the eastern carriers should be permitted to increase their class rates between New York and Chicago to the fol- lowing scale, and to correspondingly increase their other class rates applying intraterritorially between points in Official Classification territory, observing the established relationships between ports and localities : 1 23 4 5 6 90 79 60 42 36 30 Such tariffs may be made effective upon not less than five days' notice, given in the usual way " ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 73 3. Rates via rail and water routes may be advanced. "Special emphasis has been laid upon the unusually heavy increased expenses that have been laid upon the carriers by water, which, because of arrangements for through carriage with rail carriers, are subject, as to part or all of their rates, to our jurisdiction. Ordinarily rates via rail-and-water routes are maintained at a lower level than via all-rail routes. Largely increased costs of operation, the diversion of traffic to other channels because of war conditions, and the attendant increased ma- rine insurance have laid upon such rail-and-water routes unusual burdens. We think that existing conditions justify the maintenance of rates via such routes on a level not higher than the all-rail rates between the same points. Carriers in the eastern, southern, and western districts, parties thereto, may, if they so elect, file and make effective, upon not less than five days' notice, tariffs in- creasing existing joint rates between rail-and-water carriers to a level not high- er than the all-rail rates between the same points " 4. Commission will observe operating results for future. "We shall, through the medium of the monthly reports of the carriers, keep in close touch with the operating results for the future, and if it shall develop that the fears which have prompted the carriers are realized or that their realization is immi- nent, we shall be ready to meet that situation by such modification or amplifi- cation of the conclusions and orders herein reached and entered as are shown to be justified. If it shall develop that what has been accorded herein is more than is appropriate or that the increased rates are no longer warranted, we shall depend upon the pledges of the carriers to respond promptly to an announce- ment by us of a conclusion to that effect. Inasmuch as a general percentage in- crease is so undesirable because of its serious effect upon commercial condi- tions and established relationships, it would seem to be appropriate for the car- riers to cancel the tariffs which we suspend herein, and permission is hereby accorded them so to do. The record will be available for consideration in any further proceedings that may be necessary or appropriate in this connection in the future, and any substantially changed conditions which may develop can be promptly, adequately, and fairly dealt with. The foundation for any such ac- tion can doubtless best be laid in conferences between the Commission and rep- resentatives of the carriers and of the shippers. The existing public sentiment to which we have referred and the manner in which the proposals of the car- riers have been presented and handled by them, indicate a feeling of mutual con- fidence, which at many times in the past has been regrettably absent." /jffcchanical '* if for. ILLINOIS CENTRAL R. R. SHOPS AT AMBOY, ILL. Original Amboy Shops in 1 87 1 '"pHE building to the left of the round house was used as sand house, tank and pump house; to the left of that was the coal shed. The round house was a complete circle of 2'4 stalls, including the arch. To the right of the round house was the machine shop, which had the boiler and engine room in the rear, the upper story of which was used as the wood work shop. The building adjoining the cor- ner of the machine shop to the right was divided for use of blacksmith shop and boiler shop. The next building is still being used as a store house and office building, the building immedi- ately to the right of that is still stand- ing and was used for overhauling freig-ht cars and coaches. 74 PASSENGER TRAFFIC DEPARTMENT Intensive Training A circular letter from a metropolitan newspaper drifted in on my desk not long since by mistake, but the heading of a printed circular that accompanied it was so forceful that I was interested in reading more or less of the latter, its caption was ''Vacation Engineers," and its text started out as follows: "There are a whole lot of engineers on the modern railroad and lake boat line nowadays, besides the one we see up ahead in the engine's cab or in the boiler room. For hauling freight and passengers is only part of the engi- neering in the big transportation sys- tem. When we buy our ticket we sel- dom realize that we are buying much more than the right to ride from Here to There." This and much more led up to an application of the purpose of the ac- companying letter; but these three opening sentences had to my ear a sort of traffic ring that made me think it worth while to call the Rambler's attention to them. "Yes," said the latter musingly, as he passed the papers back, "there truly are many kinds of engineers in our profession, although they go by various names, and 1 do not know why there cannot be a vacation engineer as well as a mechanical engineer. In fact, I think the definition of the word will be found to be broad enough to cover almost anything. Of course we in our profession are more apt to associate the term with the man sitting in the engine cab, with the boys out on the line with transit and level, with the man whose plans and specifications govern the construction of our ma- chinery or with the one to whom we look for the development and mainte- nance of our block signal system. But let's see what it does mean in its broad- est sense," and he went to the diction- ary and after turning its pages until coming to the word engineer, read the first definition that he found for that word. "Just as I thought," he said, "listen to this," and he read as follows : "Engineer, to put through or manage skillfully or by contrivance and effort; as, to engineer a scheme." "According to that we are all more 75 7'G ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE or less engineers, and I think it ap- plies particularly to passenger traffic efforts. Take, for instance, the work of our Traveling Passenger Agents. They are constantly investigating, contriv- ing and evolving skillful efforts to 'engineer' business. That's a good thought," he continued laughingly, "and as everything helps I believe I'll work it oft" on Slim the next chance I get." On asking who "Slim" was, never having heard the Rambler mention anyone with that cognomen, he laughed and said, "O, that's only a nick name I have given a protege of mine. You've seen him around the building, but probably do not rec- ognize him by that name. In fact it doesn't apply to him particularly as far as his physique is concerned, although in a whimsical mood I fastened it on him in the way of contrast. I think, however, the real thought I had in mind was the slim progress that he's making in the new job to which he has been promoted, he having been made a Traveling Pas- senger Agent about six months ago. You remember I was telling you some time back about a boy who was crazy to ride railroad trains, and how much trouble we had to whip him into prac- tical shape on account of his train-rid- ing mania? That's Slim, now grown to be quite a young man, for it was some years back that we first put him into the service. You will recall, I think, that when telling you of his early days with us I said that we now consider him one of our rising young men. But he has had to work for each new phase of his development, and just at present he is having to feel his way rather slowly. Like the travels I sent him on at the time he learned to observe things with a broad mind, he is not yet fully conscious of the various faculties that he has to bring into play to achieve the objects of his present task. But he'll get there!" concluded the Rambler with emphasis, as I left him to return to my own office, "par- ticularly as he possesses the redeeming grace of being aware that he does not yet 'know it all' and is willing to be told." A few days later I was introduced to "Slim" by the Rambler as we three met accidently going down the eleva- tor, and immediately became interested in the young man. So much so that I made it a point to cultivate his ac- quaintance, for I thought that anybody the Rambler thought it worth while to try to educate along professional lines must have that in his make-up which would make him eventually an inter- esting acquaintance. I was not disap- pointed in this thought, for among the early conversations I had with him, remembering the little talk with the Rambler on the subject, I was re- minded to ask him if the latter had told him as yet that he as a Traveling Pas- senger Agent was an engineer. "Pos- sibly," I added, "he has told you that you are a 'Traffic Engineer.' " "No," was the laughing reply, "he has not told me exactly that, but he has given me lots of good advice, and tried to help me in various ways which I ap- preciate. But," he added, in a rather amused and semi-confidential tone, "that Rambler has funny ways of get- ting at things some times, don't you think?" I smilingly nodded my ac- quiesence and asked him what partic- ular thing he knew of that the Rambler had been doing recently to cause him to make that remark. "Well, I guess I'll tell you," was the somewhat thoughtful response, "if you'll not think I am gossiping about the Ram- bler. However, he is such a good friend .of yours that I think you will understand, particularly as in the main it was a good joke on myself, I was so thick at seeing through it at the time. In fact, as the saying is, I had to have a 'diagram' made of it by the Rambler before I could understand what he was driving at. But this is the story. "You know the Rambler has been awfully good to me ever since I have worked for the company. Not that he has shown me any favoritism or re- frained from roundly scolding me at ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 11 times when I needed it. But he seems to have felt, and correctly I guess, that I am one who needs considerable train- ing, and without his saying so, I have from time to time felt that he was aching to give me advice for my own good if I would only put myself in the way of his doing so. He seemed par- ticularly solicitous as to how I was going to make it when I was given my job as a T. P. A. So he told me, after more or less explanation before I started out as to what I should and should not do in my new work, to be sure and consult him when I felt that I needed help or advice. I have taken pleasure in doing so from time to time, and it was on one such occasion that the Rambler caught me as though there was 'nobody home' in my brain chamber. You see," said Slim, as he settled back in his chair and smiled at the apparent recollection of what he was going to tell, "I had found, at a station on a foreign line of my terri- tory, an agent whom I could not seem to make warm up to me in the slight- est. He was coldly courteous only, volunteered nothing in the way of in- formation or help, and if asked for in- troductions as a means of getting at certain citizens in his town, he was either evasive, too busy, or pretended not to know the party. I tried all the wiles that I knew of to gain his friend- ship without avail. I studied him as carefully as I knew how, but could not seem to penetrate the shell of reserve in which he seemed to be encased as far as I was concerned. But there was some important business in his town that I was exceedingly anxious to se- cure, to get a line on which it seemed rather necessary that I have some aid, suggestions or introductions from this agent. But there was 'nothing doing' from him. So, apparently at the end of my resources, I went to the Ram- bler for advice and possible aid. "The Rambler said if he ever knew the man it was so long ago that he had forgotten him. Consequently he questioned me closely as to all I knew of him, what methods I had employed to pierce his armour of reserve, and what conclusions I had reached as to his characteristics. Then he gave much time to questioning me as to the station itself. What helpers did the agent have? Where was his ticket of- fice located, and many other such in- quiries, even going into the matter of whether there were any benches or other outside seats at the station. Some of the questions he asked seemed to me to have practically nothing to do with how best to get at my man, but I answered them all to the best of my ability and the Rambler then said that he would think the matter over and let me hear from him in a day or so. When therefore, I was in on the following Saturday he sent for me and gave me instructions to the following effect : 'This agent,' he said, 'I have learned is of long experience in the business, but has recently been transferred from another station at which he was located for many years. The change he considers was a bit of a let-down, although he receives the same pay as formerly. Just at pres- ent, however, he is a bit sore, as the saying is, with things in general. This may partially account for his failing to warm up, not only to you, but I have learned to others. In fact, even among his old acquaintances he is beginning to be called an old grouch. I don't know what I can do for you with him ; I am afraid it is a matter of your own personality and tact, but I will go down there and look the situation over and possibly between us something to the good may come of it. But I want you to do exactly as I tell you in every particular, and above all things, when we are together there, ask me no ques- tions in that agent's presence that touch either directly or indirectly on business pertaining to either his road or ours. Now listen attentively to what little I want you to do. Next Monday night you can make X City, which city, if you are not al- ready familiar with the fact, is located on a branch of the grouch's road about twenty miles distant from his station. ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE There is a train goes over in the morn- ing that reaches the latter about an hour before the arrival there of the main line Phantom Express. You go over Tuesday morning on that branch train and spend the hour before the arrival of the Phantom as best you may with that, agent; renewing your efforts diplomatically, but with not too much evident desire to thaw him out. A bit of indifference rightly applied will not hurt him or your cause. If he shows signs of considering you a bore long before the hour is up, let him alone. Wander around the station in its vicinity as you please, but with- out keeping yourself wholly out of his sight for too long a time. In other words, don't let him forget that you are 'round about, although it is just as well if he gains the impression that you are not there solely to see him. If he seems to particularly dislike your company that morning, be sure and not be within speaking distance of him during those wanderings. When the Phantom comes in I will alight from it and you can be reasonably surprised to see me. From then on just drift with me, and let me do the talking. But above all things, do not attempt to rush me up to that agent to give me an introduction. Don't attempt to in- troduce me or get us together at all until I accidently, if I do at all, knock off your hat. Then make it a casual introduction and do not act as though you expected me to pay any more at- tention to him than the civilities of an ordinary introduction would require. Don't be surprised, or make any move or comment, if I take you away from that station without practically talk- ing to that agent or making any ap- parent effort to get you together.' "I wondered somewhat at this pe- culiar line of talk from the Rambler, but agreeing to do what he said I went to X - City Monday night and over to the agent's station the next morning, according to the program. As I anticipated, the agent gave me practically no opportunity to further cultivate his acquaintance, saying he had a lot to do before the Phantom came down. Hence, as suggested by the Rambler, I drifted. While doing so I incidentally scraped up a fair ac- quaintance with the baggage man and general assistant about the station, who seemed to be as genial in disposition as his superior was grouchy. "In due time the Phantom arrived and for a few minutes I began to be afraid the Rambler was going to dis- appoint me, for I did not see him among those that got off the train. He finally made his appearance, however, by jumping off the baggage car follow- ing a trunk on the end of which his own initials were painted. 'Was afraid that baggage man would forget to put my trunk off,' he said to me in the way of greeting, as he stood beside his property and awaited for the station baggage man to come up for it with his truck. It happened to be the only trunk put off at the station that morn- ing, and when the baegage man got around to it the Rambler in a most genial manner said to him, 'Hello, my friend, just re-check this please to K. Station. The Phantom doesn't stop there you know, but I thought I'd rath- er come down on the through train and wait over here in good company like yours for the local that follows in a half-hour than to be pottering all the way through on that accommodation. You are good company, aren't you?' he said, with that rare smile of his that he sometimes wears, and that his friends say is the smile 'that won't come off.' At the same time he passed the man a cigar as he prepared, by taking a box of matches out of his pocket, to light up one himself. 'I may be good com- pany/ retorted the baggage man with a good-natured grin, 'but I'm afraid I will be too busy to entertain you very much. Give me your check, please. Got a ticket? Why didn't you get it checked through?' he added, as on re- ceiving the Rambler's claim check he detached the strap check from the trunk and was about to start off to make the re-checking. 'It would have gotten there on the same train that it will now ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 79 and have saved both you and myself some bother.' "Say," remarked Slim, divergingly, "that Rambler should have been an ac- tor. I mean a real one on the stage. You ought to have seen the innocent and surprised expression on his face as he replied to that mild rebuke at not having checked through. " 'I never thought of that/ he said. 'But then, perhaps it is better this way after all, it might have gotten lost un- less I saw it through ; I kept pretty close watch on it in the baggage car coming down. Of course,' he added quickly, 'it's all right here with you, but one can never tell what will hap- pen to a trunk en route ; it might have gotten lost somehow.' 'Lost nothing!' exclaimed the baggage man, more amused than put out by the Rambler's air and manner, for he rather shrewdly guessed that the latter was not such a tenderfoot as he appeared. 'Nothing is ever lost on this road,' the man con- tinued, as he started off to get new checks for the trunk, 'and above all,' he added, 'you couldn't lose anything on this main line of it.' 'Hold on, hold on !' said the Rambler, putting a hand on his shoulder and lightly detaining him, 'I am not so sure of that. It re- minds me of the newspaper story that is going the rounds, of an impatient conductor who said to a man on the train who was searching his pockets, 'you couldn't have lost your ticket you know.' 'Couldn't, eh?' said the pas- senger. 'I lost a bass drum once.' "This brought forth a laugh which seemed to put the baggage man in a rather friendly mood toward the Ram- bler, so that when, on moving to start off again and being again detained by the Rambler, who at the same time slipped him a quarter, he made but slight demur on the Rambler's unex- pected request that he move that trunk of his over into the shade, up against the side of the station, and near an outside open window of the ticket office. Of course, the baggage man re- marked that it was an unnecessary pro- cedure, as the trunk would be picked up at practically the same place where it then stood. When, however, the Rambler jokingly told him that he had butter in it and that he was afraid it would melt out there in the sun, to say nothing of the fact that there was no seat outside of the station for him to sit down on, while with the trunk there in the shade, he could rest decently by sitting on its end, the man good na- turedly gave in and placed the trunk in the spot pointed out by the Rambler, remarking as he did so, 'maybe you could lose a bass drum, but if you will now sit on this trunk you will probably not lose it.' 'Nothing slow about you, I guess,' was the response of the Rambler, as by a backward spring he perched himself on the end of the trunk. Puffing vigorously on his cigar for a moment, then taking it out of his mouth and looking at the lighted end to see if it was burning right, he hastily continued before the fellow had a chance to get away, 'your not being slow evidently proves that you're not working for a railroad that I read about the other day in, I think, Puck. The president of that road, you know, was telling the corporation lawyer that an- other farmer was suing on account of his cows, and on the lawyer asking him if the cows had been killed by their trains, the president said, 'No, he com- plains that our passengers are leaning out of the windows and milking his cows as the trains go by.' This caused the baggage man to evidently change his mind as to proceeding about his business for a moment or so longer, for he fished the cigar out of his pocket that the Rambler had given him and lit it, the Rambler passing over his box of matches for him to do so. In re- turning the matches with thanks, he accidentally fumbled the box, so that the Rambler, to recover them was obliged to make a quick motion, which so jarred his body that ashes from off the end of his cigar, which had been going good since his scrutiny of a mo- ment before, fell into his lap. The bag- gage man made an apology for his awkwardness, to which the Rambler 80 ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE cheerfully said, 'never mind,' as he be- gan brushing the ashes off his clothes with his hand. Finding that he was making rather sorry work of it, he re- marked that a broom brush might be better, but as it was he was reminded of a little jingle that he had recently read in either Puck or Judge, he didn't remember which, which ran : The Porter, with his stubby broom, I cannot slay and slaughter. But, like a buccaneer of old, I'll render him no quarter! ' 'I don't believe it!' said his hearer, as he leaned on his truck and slowly shook his head at the Rambler. 'A man that would give a baggage man a quarter to move his trunk into a shady corner so that he could sit on it while waiting for a train, would not be at all likely to turn down a poor, hard- working Pullman porter in .the little matter of a brush-off. But I've work to do and must be going!' 'Well,' dryly remarked the Rambler, 'As we don't want the whole transportation department of your road tied up on ac- count of your little loafing, perhaps we had better let you go. But, speaking of transportation tie-ups, I am remind- ed of what Judge said Aloysius McFee said, which was that he, McFee, pro- posed to his wife in a taxi. That either went over his head,' said the Rambler to me, 'or he didn't hear it( for the man was pushing his truck down the platform toward his baggage room.1 'Wait a minute, until I holler after him!' What for, I said, haven't you bothered him enough? 'Not,' contin- ued the Rambler, as though he had not heard my interruption, 'that I neces- sarily needed a megaphone, for you know I used to be in public life, in which connection I had a reputation for a voice with what they called carrying power. Here, let me read you about it,' and hastily bringing out a mem- orandum book from his pocket, he pro- ceeded to take therefrom two or three clippings. One, which was credited to the Birmingham Age Herald, he pro- ceeded to read to me. Here it is, said Slim, taking that and other clippings from an envelope in his pocket, the Rambler gave it to me afterwards". It read as follows : "To look at me now, mum, you wouldn't think that I used to be in public life," said the tattered visitor. "Dear me !" exclaimed the sympathetic housewife. "Were you a member of Congress or something like that?" "No, mum, I was train announcer in one of the largest railroad stations in the country." On my finishing the reading Slim went on with his narrative, saying that the Rambler kept rattling on with sto- ries and talking to him about things that they saw going on about them. "He was," continued Slim, "apparent- ly unconscious of a fact that I had no- ticed for some time. That was that the station agent had been leaning out of his window for quite a while listen- ing to the talk. Beyond giving him a slight bow of recognition, I had paid no attention to him, remembering the Rambler's general instructions. But I did not understand why the Rambler did not -seem to notice him, or to be even aware of his presence. However, I waited in vain to have my hat knocked off, even when I had become convinced that the Rambler knew of the agent's presence, but was purpose- ly ignoring him. So we continued to talk between ourselves, Rambler sit- ting on the end of his trunk, swinging his legs and banging his heels against its side, while I leaned back against the station wall, the pair of us probably having to a casual observer all the ap- pearance of being two bored individ- uals waiting for the train. 'That fel- low over there,' he pointing across the track as he felt in his vest pocket for another cigar, 'pinching that freight car along on the siding, suggests a joke that one of the college papers recently . incubated under the title of 'Twasn't Fair.' It went to the effect that the answer to the question as to what was the fastest time made by the junction train was : a train with three passen- gers made the trip in seventeen min- utes and forty-two seconds, but it was ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 81 discovered later that the brakeman was pushing. That in turn reminds me,' he went on, 'of the Philadelphia Rec- ord's little joke about suburban trains, it saying that on being asked by a pros- pective purchaser if late trains were run to a certain suburban station, the real estate agent promptly answered, 'sure, all our trains are generally late/ "This rapid fire of story and com- ment to both the baggage man and my- self, had been kept up by the Rambler in a tone of voice which, while not boisterous, was of sufficient loudness to reach the agent's ears. This last I began to perceive sometime before the end, was exactly what was being aimed at. I also noted that it was appar- ently having its desired effect, for I ob- served with surprise on several occa- sions a smile or a quiet laugh from my hitherto grouchy acquaintance when he did not know I was looking. If the Rambler also noticed that the agent was interested, and that at times he even laughed a bit, he made no sign. On the contrary, he kept talking away, or making me talk, on subjects that he, by direct inquiry or by implication, controlled until he saw the baggage man coming back toward us with his truck. On looking at our watches it was discovered that the half hour was nearly up and that he was evidently making for the trunk; at which the Rambler jumped down from his seat and with some kind of a jolly allowed him to wheel it away. After he had gotten out of ear shot, the Rambler turned suddenly onto the ticket agent, who was still in his window, and whom I have said was apparently not noticed before, and passed him one of the little newspaper clippings that he had taken out some time before and still held in his hand. 'Here,' he said, with a per- functory bow such as one would give to the* stranger of whom a passing in- quiry was being made, although with one of his most engaging smiles, 'is something I think that baggage man would appreciate, and which I forgot to tell him about. Give it to him, will you please, sometime when he is not busy.' Then, turning to me, he said : 'Come on, Slim, we'll go down to K. Station together.' As we walked down the platform I noticed the agent was reading the slip the Rambler had given him, and later, when the Rambler looked in his direction, he with a smile on his face waved his hand at him, holding the slip up and nodding as much as to say 'that is a good one/ "What was on the slip, do you know?" I asked Slim. "Yes, I have another copy of it here," was the re- sponse, "for you can imagine I was so curious as to ask the Rambler about it and he later hunted up a duplicate." The item was from the London Sketch, was entitled 'One on Jock,' and read as follows : Irate Passenger (who sees his trunk on the platform as the train moved out) : "Why didn't you put my luggage in, you blithering old ass?" Porter: "There's mair sense in yer trunk than there is in yer heid, mon. It's you that's in the wrang train !'' "Go on," I said, as I handed the clip- ping back to Slim, "what happened next? Doesn't seem as though you or the Rambler had either of you gotten along very far with that agent so far." "That's what I thought," said Slim, as he settled further back in his chair and laughed softly as if amused at the rec- ollection. "I said as much when we got on the train, and rather reproach- fully, I fear, suggested to the Rambler that he had not given me a chance to introduce him unless I had made some mistake in the program and had failed to recognize my cue." 'You did per- fectly right,' was the prompt response. 'In fact, much better than I thought you would. Don't you see into the game yet? I didn't want an introduc- tion to him ; things were shaping them- selves too much to my liking without it. What do you gather from what you have seen within the last half hour?' "I confessed to not being able to gather very much in the matter, whereat the Rambler laughed and said, 'O Slim, O Slim ! Outside of specific things you have wanted that agent to do for you, what have you been trying 82 ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE to do with him without success ever since you first met him?' "I thought hard before replying," continued Slim, "for I saw that the Rambler, notwith- standing his apparent surface levity, was really working out for me some- thing that he at least hoped would bear fruit along the line of my desire. In fact, I thought long and earnestly, while the Rambler eyed me kindly, but thoughtfully until he, I reckon, thought I was not going to be able to answer his question ; for at times while I was trying to think he gently crowded me by saying: 'Well?' "Finally it came on me in a flash what kind of a reply the Rambler probably wanted. So I said hopefully, I've been trying to find out the nature of the man. I suppose. What his likes and dislikes are, his weaknesses or his strong points, that I may understand better how to be ac- ceptable to him and thereby benefit di- rectly or indirectly myself and through me our road. 'Right,' beamed the Ram- bler, 'you're progressing, Slim. You'll get there some time. Now, do you see where I have come in for you? But, no, I'll not tax your thinking powers further for the moment, as we will reach our station shortly, but here is the point. You tried in various ways to get at some one, or all the points you mention in regard to that man and failed. I, however, by taking a long chance in possibly a rather cheap way, have by my nonsense and overdone story-telling learned that he has a sense of humor. An attribute that he never gave you a look-in at. I purposely avoided trying to learn that by direct means, for had I attempted to draw him out by personal contact, such is his present mood that he would prob- ably have drawn himself into his shell and given no intimation of what is un- derneath the surface with him. You say he is grouchy. Maybe he is at pres- ent, but it is not natural to him. It is something of recent acquirement, due possibly to some disappointment or some particular burden that he has on his mind that we know nothing of. But good nature is never far away from a man who has a saving grace of humor ; and he evidently has that grace, as evinced by his interest in my stories. Now, campaign in some way in your mind, as would an engineer in working out a problem in hydraulics, to get at subtly, but rationally, the humor-lov- ing side of that man's nature. Don't try to crowd it down his throat, and don't be as brash about it as I was to- day. But get there with it somehow! It's one of your problems now, and the success of your working it out depends on your own individuality and acumen. You see, don't you?' he continued, 'why I did not want an introduction at this time. He's bright enough, and it would not have taken him long to put two and two together and surmise that I had come down on purpose to try and help you out with him. That, of course, would have been fatal. He has tempo- rarily set his mind against you, but in the long run he will thaw out if you learn to handle him right. He is not a bad fellow at all, and is not a grouch by nature. You will, however, be the fast- er friends, if you ever get together at all, for you're having apparently won him over through your own personal- ity. He'll remember me later, and the recollection will do you more good if it conies to him as an apparent incidental matter rather than in connection with an attempted butting-in. J "Of course," concluded Slim, as he changed his position in his chair pre- paratory to leaving, "I saw the Ram- bler's reason for acting as he did, but it was a queer way to get at the mat- ter, wasn't it?" "Oh, I don't know," I replied. "Maybe so. But what in the meantime have you been doing to fur- ther the Rambler's plan of campaign with that agent?" "I've not been back there since," was the reply, "but in the meantime I have been doing a lot of thinking. Just what I'll say when I get there I imagine will not be what I now think it will be. However, my thinking will probably get me nearer the right way than would have been the case but for the Rambler's little ob- ject lesson. By the way," he added, as ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 83 he took from his memorandum book a clipping and passed it to me, "that re^ minds me. When I do go I am to give that story to the agent with the Ram- bler's compliments and apologize for him, not for myself (the last the Ram- bler's specific instructions) for his, the Rambler's, not introducing himself that time he stopped over for half an hour; claiming as his excuse that he did not notice him until just as the train came, at the time when he handed him the baggage man's slip, and that he was afraid he would get left if he stopped to make his acquaintance." "Don't you think," I asked, "that the agent will look on that as a rather thin explana- tion and be offended that he was ig- nored?" "That's what the Rambler thinks he will be," was Slim's response. "In fact, he rather hopes he will be peeved ; says it will do him good in the long run to know that everyone is not running after him as long as he is in the mood not to meet decent fellows, like myself, half way. He insists, does the Rambler, that at heart that fellow is all right. That he will see the mat- ter from that point of view when his naturally good humor gets worked back into him." The clipping that Slim was to give him was from the People's Home Jour- nal, and read as follows: "Little Mary had never seen her Aunt Anna, and was much delighted when a visit was promised by the aunt. When the day arrived that the aunt was due a telegram was delivered at Mary's home which read: 'Missed train. Will start at same time tomor- row/ Mary stood quietly by while her mother read the telegram, and then burst into tears. 'Why, darling/ cried the mother, anxiously, 'what in the world is the matter?' 'Oh, mother/ replied the child between her sobs. 'I will never see my Aunt Anna after all/ 'Never see her!' exclaimed the mother in surprise. 'What do you mean, dear?' 'Why, mother/ explained the child, 'she says she will start the same time tomorrow, and if she does she will lose her train again, won't she?' "What do you think is the Rambler's object in having that story come from him?" I asked. "Oh," was the quick response, "I've got that figured out to a hair. Partially as an introduction to his message that I am to give and par- tially to let the agent see that he un- derstands the humorous phase of his character; but chiefly to touch up that agent's funny bone in association with me without its being me that does it." "By the way," I said, as I passed the story back to Slim, "where did you and the Rambler go after you boarded the local train?" "I kept on" was the re- ply, "some distance down the line to a place that I wanted to make, but the Rambler took an up train, that met ours at the K. Station, immediately back home." "Eh?" I said, "he carried that trunk back with him, did he? Won- der what on earth he started with it for on that kind of a trip." "That's just what I asked him," laughed Slim, as he rose to go, "and he replied, 'you told me there were no outside seats around that station, didn't you? How was I to get a seat under or near the agent's outside window if I didn't carry that trunk with me ? And without such a seat how would he have heard what I had to say? By the way/ he also said, 'that baggage man really saved the situation, I expect. Wish I had given him a dollar.' " Service Notes of Interest Schedule changes will be made Sunday, July 15th, on the Illinois Central, which in rough outline will be as follows: Train No. 10, the Seminole Limited north- bound, will leave Birmingham at 12:35 P. M. instead of 12:15 P. M. and arrive at Chi- cago at 8:15 A. M. Between Fulton and Memphis, trains Nos. 109, 203, and 136 will be discontinued. New local train, No. 133, will be scheduled to run between Fulton and Memphis, leaving Fulton at 5:29 A. M. The Chicago-Memphis sleeping car now handled on the Seminole Limited, south- ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE hound on trains Nos. 9-109, and north- bound on trains 110-10, will be handled southbound on train No. 3; no change north- bound. Train No. 1 will make regular stop at Rantoul, 111. Tram JNo. 3, in addition to stopping at Covington and Dyerstmrg, Tenn., to dis- charge sleeping car passengers from points north of Ashley, will also stop .at Coving- ton and Dyersburg to discharge sleeping car passengers from St. Louis and East St. Louis. Minor local changes and small adjust- ments will also probably be made. In addition to the above changes for July 15th, attention is called to the follow- ing equipment changes that have recently been made and which are now in effect: Cincinnati-New Orleans chair cars are now operated in trains Nos. 103 and 104 between Cincinnati and Memphis only, they having been discontinued on trains Nos. 3 and 4 south of Memphis. The through chair cars between St. Louis and Memphis, form- erly handled in trains Nos. 203 and 104- 204, have been discontinued. The 12 section drawing room sleeping car formerly operated between Chicago and Omaha in trains Nos. 13 and 14 is now operated between Chicago and Waterloo only on the same trains. Minor schedule changes have been re- cently made on Western Lines between Fort Dodge and Sioux City and Sioux Falls, which are now in effect. The most of the changes are of slightly later departures, but earlier departures are as follows: Train No. 15 leaves James 4:13 P. M., train No. 611 leaves LeMars 7:10 A. M., train No. f31 leaves Remsen 9:30 A. M., Oyens 9:40 A. M., LeMars 9:55 A. M., Merrill 10:10 A. M., Hinton 10:24 A. M., James 10:30 A. M., Leeds 10:35 A. M.; train No. 716 leaves Primghar 7:00 A. M., Gaza 7:10, Calumet 7:25 A. M. "The ordinary third-class Indian (Hin- du) passenger, undertaking a journey by rail, usually arrives at the departure sta- tion many hours before his train leaves. It is still a common sight to see groups of this class of passenger at practically all the big railway terminii sitting about the station and waiting for a train that suits their convenience, the convenient departure hour coming along after they have a meal or after the sun has gone down, or for one or other similar reasons, equally unim- portant." The foregoing is quoted from "The Indian Railway Gazette," and describes a further example of the extreme differences in "habit" between the people of the "East" and of the "West." The fact that the traveller in Canada and the United States does not arrive at the station "many hours before his train leaves," but, frequently, goes to the other extreme, and "cuts it fine," is a good rea- son why prompt, smart service at the ticket wicket is an expression of efficiency. One valuable aid, and, generally speak- ing, an essential to smart wicket service, is a proper familiarity with tariffs and proper anaii&emeut 01 tnem in tariff files. intelligent attention to ticket stock is also an important feature to be watched. Smart service does not mean doing things in a brusque, unthinking and careless haste, but rather the responding to passengers' requests in an alert, efficient, intelligent and ail time courteous manner. With the ticket wicket open for business at the proper time, and a habit of imme- diately attending to each passenger's re- quest, even the brief space of time the average traveller allows at stations for transacting his ticket purchasing business, checking baggage, etc., will be found amply sufficient. Grand Trunk Bulletin. The war situation has put a new phase on the railway management m tms country, something entirely different from that ever before experienced. A railway committee of five executives located in Washington is to have entire charge of the management of all the roads insofar as the Government welfare is concerned. An idea as to the functions and authority of this committee can be gained from the following state- ment recently issued by B. L. Winchell, director of traffic of the Union Pacific, in which he said: "Under this plan the railroads have been amalgamated for all purposes and in effect there is only one nationwide transportation system in the United States. Terminals mean nothing, strife for Government busi- ness is eliminated and equipment is pooled. "This committee has power to take en- gines or cars from the Illinois Central and send them to the New York Central; it has authority to order officers and em- ployes from the Union Pacific System for service elsewhere. It can order shipments diverted from one road to another, with- out regard to competitive earnings. Ex- pedition is the end in view. "This step was taken by the railroad of- ficials in a broad gauged and patriotic way, which eliminates the selfish interests of any company. The plan will furnish data valu- able to all of us in future operation of our properties along the lines of helpful co- operation, pooling of equipment, etc." Railway Journal. The following convention announcements for July and August, 1917, should be care- fully gone over by agents and kept in mind with the end in view of obtaining business therefor in cases where applicable to their territory: Illinois Knights of Pythias, DuQuoin, 111., July 16, 1917. Nat'l Assn. of Real Estate Agts., Milwau- kee, Wis., July 23, 1917. ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE Mosaic Templars of America, Little Rock, Ark., July 10, 1917. Nat'l Homestead Assn., Boston, Mass., July 18, 1917. Interstate Trap Shooters Assn. (Western Handicap), St. Joseph, Mo., July 17, 1917. Retailers Commercial Union, Chicago, July 30, 1917. National Hay Convention, Chicago, Julv 24-26, 1917. Inland Daily Press Assn., Chicago, Aug. 14, 1917. United Presbyterian Church (Young Peo- ples Christian Union), Chicago, Aug. 1, 1917. National Fraternal Congress, Chicago, Aug. 21, 1917. Iowa Prosperity Show, Dubuque, la., Aug. 27, 1917. American Powerboat Assn., Minneapolis, Minn., Aug. 28, 1917. Nat'l Meeting Amer. Home Economic Assn., Minneapolis. Minn., Aug. 22, 1917. Nat'l Retail jewelers Assn., St. Louis, Mo., Aug. 27, 1917. Kappa Delta Sorority, Birmingham, Ala., Aug. 27, 1917. American Life Convention, Grand Rapids. Mich., Aug. 8. 1917. Interstate Trap Shooters Assn. (Grand American Handicap), Chicago, Aug. 20-24, 1917. American Federation of Catholic Socie- ties. Kansas City, Mo.. Aug. 26, 1917. Manufacturers & Importers Assn. of America, Chicago, August, 1917. The Burlington announces the following by circular: "To enable one-way passengers to make detour through Yellowstone National Park, both ways via the Cody Gateway, the fol- lowing arrangements for extension of limit of one-way tickets will be in effect during the 1917 Yellowstone Park season, June 20th to September 15th, inclusive, 1917. Second Class one-way tickets, reading via the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad to or from Billings, Mont., between Casper, Sheridan. Wyo., or station south or east thereof on the one hand, and Butte, Helena, Great Falls, Mont., or station beyond on the other hand, will, upon presentation to agent at Cody, Wyo., immediately upon arrival, be extended the number of days required to make Park tour, plus additional number of days necessary to enable passenger to make continuous passage trip from Frannie, Wyo., or Billings, Mont., to destination, but total extension will not exceed ten days. Agent at Cody will attach necessary ex- tension paster." been discontinued: Trains NOB. 4 and 5 between Chicago and Cincinnati, in which connection they advise that the Chicago- Old Point Comfort sleeper will operate be- tween Chicago and Richmond, Va., being carried eastbound via the Big Four route between Chicago and Cincinnati, leaving Chicago at 12:55 noon daily. Returning the sleeper will arrive at Cincinnati as here- tofore on C. & O., train No. 5, and be attached to Big Four train No. 15, arriving at Chicago at 5:35 P. M. Owing to this change, connections are requested to route through business to reach the C. & O., at Cincinnati instead of at Chicago, thus using the Big Four, Monon, or Pennsylvania to Cincinnati. In addition to the above it is also an- nounced that C. & O. trains Nos. 6 and 1, between Cincinnati and New York, have been withdrawn. The man who took the word "operation" and set "co" in front of it took the common clay of work- and breathed soul into it. Look around with understanding eyes and you will see that Co-operation is but an- other and a better way of spelling "Life." Co-operation is at once the name and definition of a power almost as limitless as space, the secret of existence, the secret of success. Where co-operation is suspended, Nature is but cold stone. A business without co- operation is soon stone broke. A modern business is like a complicated piece of machinery the smallest cog must co-operate or quickly be replaced. He who compares life to a game of poker makes a bad mistake. No man can play a lone hand and win in the game of life. Notice! You will find the surest path of progress, the shortest cut to success, is the fullest co-operation with those with whom you work. Franklin's Key, Toledo, Ohio. It is announced by the Chesapeake and Ohio that ''conforming to the nation-wide demand for economies to meet conditions of national importance," the following through passenger trains of their lines have The particular attention of aeents is called to Illinois Central circular No. 4697, Y. & M. V. circular No. 801 and C. M. & G. circular No. 8. by which the discontinuance of prepaid orders from, to and within the South to be effective July 1. 1917. The territory within which prepaid orders will not be sold or honored the circular shows to be as follows; which is reiterated to impress the minds of the agents with the im- portance of the change, (a) I. C. (South- ern Lines) all lines south of the Ohio River: (b) Y. M. V. all southern stations; (c) C. M. & G. all stations; (d) all sta- tions on other railroads south of the Ohio and Potomac Rivers, and east of. the Mis- sissippi River; (e) between Cairo, Illinois and Evansville, Ind., on the one hand and all stations described by (a), (b), (c) and (d), on the other hand. It will be re- membered the circular further states that 86 ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE ticket agents are not to accept deposits of cash or the equivalent for the furnishing of prepaid tickets reading from, to or be- tween, stations in the above described terri- tory. service to be performed in Ireland, India, the Orient, or continuously around the world. Southern Pacific Rly. Bulletin. Mr. C. W. Strain, General Passenger Agent of the Gulf Coast Lines advises that in connection with their through train schedule of May 20th, their train No. 3, leaving New Orleans for Houston at 8:20 A. M., and their train No. 1, leaving New Orleans at 9:20 P. M., will be held for con- nections as follows as effecting the Illi- nois Central: Gulf Coast Lines train No. 3 will be held not to exceed thirty minutes for five or more passengers from Illinois Central train No. 5, scheduled to arrive at New Orleans at 8:10 A. M. Gulf Coast Lines train No. 1 will be held not to exceed thirty minutes for five or more passengers from Illinois Central train No. 3, scheduled to arrive at New Orleans at 8:45 P. M! The sale of passenger transportation re- quires a knowledge of many things besides the goods. It differs from a commercial sale in that the stock-in-trade is not al- ways before the salesman. Neither can he display samples of what he is selling a kind of service and not an article. "The proof of the pudding is in the eating." The salesman in a store has at hand the goods that he is to sell where his customer can see and judge them. The salesman in a ticket office deals with goods scattered to the seven seas. He sells in Oakland a The Michigan Central announces new summer arrangements for parlor and sleep- ing car service over the New York Central (Lines East), for St. Lawrence River and Adirondock Mountain Resorts. A sleeping car for Clayton will leave Buffalo in train No. 4, daily, at 10:05 P. M.; and a parlor car for Clayton will leave Buffalo in train No. 40, daily except Sunday, at 9:30 A. M A sleeping car to Saranac Lake and Lake Placid will leave Buffalo in train No. 44, daily, at 9:00 P. M.; and a parlor car for Lake Placid will leave Buffalo in train No 58, daily except Sunday, at 7:30 A. M. Selling railway tickets is as important as selling boots and shoes, or any other com- modity. You never heard of a salesman selling one boot or one shoe that's what you do when you fail to sell a round-trip ticket, if the purchaser intends to return. Selling round-trip tickets not only protects your company's revenue, but saves solicit- ing at the other end. In the ticket business, efficiency means securing the greatest amount of revenue possible from each transaction. Santa Fe "Ticket Selling Talks." Big Four trains Nos. 31 and 30, the Royal Palm, have been discontinued, and the Chi- cago and Cincinnati and Columbus and Jacksonville sleeping cars are now oper- ated in trains Nos. 43 and 34. One Hundred Per Cent in Freight Car Handling SOMEWHERE ON THE ILLINOIS CENTRAL I. C. Car 57883, loaded at New Orleans, April 10, arrived at a destination in Wisconsin April 17, unloaded that morn- ing and reloaded same date for New Orleans, arriving latter point April 22. I. C. Car 53244 loaded at New Orleans April 14, arrived at destination in Wiscon- sin April 20, unloaded same morning, loaded same date for New Orleans, arrived latter point April 24. I. C. Car 57794 loaded at New Orleans April 17, arrived some point in Wisconsin April 24, unloaded morning that date, re- loaded same day for New Orleans, arrived April 28. IMPRESS ON SHIPPERS THIS PRAC- TICAL AND SIMPLE WAY OF BREAK- ING THE CAR SHORTAGE. Just Plain Talk By G. S. Rought, Conductor A T certain periods, the railroads have been ** forced to a rigid economy, or a policy of retrenchment, in order to make both ends meet, and I believe that very few of us fully realize just what that means to the men higher up. Now that our country has entered the European conflict, there is no question but what the entire United States will have to adhere to an economic policy, domestic, business, state and national ; therefore, it seems to me to be timely, to interest our- selves in the matter of economy and saving, at least in so far as pur dealings with the management of the Illinois Central Railroad and the public are concerned, keeping in mind the motto, "Do unto others as you would they should do unto you." In order to practice the precepts of this motto, we should, all of us, feel that our resources are a part of the work- ing capital of the railroad, and that unless we so invest our resources (which is our labor) that they will earn a dividend, we cannot hope to be much of a success ; therefore in this article I am making a direct appeal to the man in charge of trains, for the reason that in him is vested the proper authority for the move- ment of the train in his charge, and the chance for economy lies in his hands more than in any other member of the crew. This, how- ever, does not mean that the principle is not applicable to all other employes, and, wherever possible, we should, as one great big family, help each other in the matter of saving and economy. The ^opportunities for saving are so many that with a systematic effort on our part we can accomplish results, but it must be a sys- tematic effort, for the individual alone can ac- complish but little. To successfully conduct any enterprise, system is necessary, and things done unsystematically are only half done. In the matter of supplies much can be ac- complished. Any unnecessary supplies carried on a caboose represents so much waste, or so much idle money. An over supply of nec- essary supplies means money standing idle that could better be used in meeting other ex- penses or demands. Much saving can be made in the use of sta- tionery; don't use large envelopes where a small one will do the work ; don't use a letter- head where a message clip will do the work; don't write a lot of unnecessary letters, what you do write make short and to the point, long letters seldom "explain." Oftentimes a notation on the original letter will accomplish what is desired. Be tidy in your caboose so that stationery is propeily cared for to pre- vent waste. Paper will be mighty scarce. Other caboose supplies should be watched and cared for in a like manner, and by a conservation and an economic use of these supplies, Very often an unnecessary shortage can be avoided. Many shortages are respon- sible solely from there being an over supply at points other than where needed. A careful watch of your train, and a proper attention to hot boxes at the right time, will avoid the renewal of brasses to such an extent that the saving will run up into the hundred thousands of dollars, and in my twenty-seven years' experience I have found that nineteen times out of twenty, a hot box can be prop- erly cared for in less time than it takes to set the car put, and by giving box attention at usual stopping places, you will be able to get journal to a bearing again. In addition to saving brasses, you are saving delays to freight, possibly have avoided future ship- ment from consignor from being routed over some other line, solely through being out of humor for delay to previous shipments ; in ad- dition to this you have advanced the earning capacity of the car, and at same time have not reduced the tonnage percentage of your engine. Engine performance is based on ton miles and to illustrate how much the earning capac- ity of an engine is reduced by setting out a hot box, suppose you set out fifty miles from your terminal, a 70-ton car of coal, you have lost for your engine 50 times 70 (or miles multiplied by tons), or 3,500 ton miles. Take a system like the Illinois Central and you can readily see what a daily loss of earning power of locomotives occur from hot boxes. Feel that you are a cog in the wheel, take the same interest in your work as if it were your money invested, and you will be surprised 87 88 ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE how much easier your work will be. At the same time we will be helping the management meet the increased expense due to the Adam- son Law being now in effect, and by doing this we will, if possible, make our already amicable relations more concrete. Mr. Storekeeper Try This Plan Billy Haid The store-keeper on a railroad is often asked by other storehouses for items of material and it is necessary that you have a record that is correct, quick and accurate so that there will be no delay in answering the telephone. Are you in a position to do it without delay? Can you release the wire as quickly as you should? Men are capable of remembering the names of a great many items, but when it conies to engine castings there are so many of them that he is sure to make a few mis- take_s unless the man is working with the material on the engines each day and then the mechanics have pet names for many of the items. Your superior says; have you any tender transom fillers in stock and he gives you the number of the casting can you give him the information at once so that there will be no delay on the line? Most of the stock-keepers go to their cast- ing rack to see if they have the item asked for, others look the item up in their stock books. How long does it take to give the necessary answer to the man at the other end of the line, is your method fast enough to release the line promptly? As a suggestion so as to make it pos- sible for any of the clerks in the office to give information to the parties asking for material such as castings, I would suggest that you make a petty book for the office and for the accurate accounting of your castings. Index a book in numerical* order from one to one hundred, divide your book into twelve columns, one for each month and use the last two figures on your castings discard the name of the castings in the petty book as you will have the proper name of the item in your stock books and check your stock books from the petty book. This method used in the checking of all kinds of castings is the most accurate way of being certain of what you have in stock and if the stockkeeoer is not sure of the name of the casting he will not lose it because he checks it blank in his stock books because he can not find it and instead of not having it in stock he often finds that he has and the old way often causes you to order a new supply when you really do not need it and your mistakes are costing the company ail unnecessary outlay of capital. If you will make yourself a little book as I have explained it and check your castings by starting at one end of your rack and go to the other you will find your informa- tion more accurate and satisfactory. If your bins are numerically arranged you can also put the bin numbers in the petty book as this proves very valuable to some of the clerks in the office who have not had any actual experience in the han- dling of the material but they can go to the bins and find it if called upon. In checking your stock books from your petty book you circle the items as you check the material in your stock book and by going through your petty book the second time you will discover any items that you have not listed in your stock books and often find errors have been made in the shipment and you find that you have castings on hand that you do not .need. I have tested this form of checking and I find that I can put an inexperienced man checking castings, he does not know the names of any of the castings but his in- formation is correct as he works mechani- cally taking each item as he comes to it. The petty book comes in handy in the office as the first question that is asked the party at the other end of the line is: What is the number of the casting? You open the petty book in an instant and you can give the party the correct reply in one- hundred part of the time it usually takes. MQritonous Sorvico EfAVORABLE mention is made of the * tohovvmg conductors and gatekeepers for their special efforts in lifting and pre- venting the use of irregular transportation in connection with which reports (Form 972) were rendered to the auditor of pas- senger 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 tae lollowmg suburban gate- keepers lifted commutation tickets, account having expired or being in improper hands: J. Powers Mary Crotty Suburban Conductor Jas. Hall on train No. 221, May 26, declined to honor monthly commutation ticket account having expired and collected cash fare. Suburban Flagman D. Flynn on train No. 612, May 30, lifted 60-ride monthly com- mutation ticket account being in improper hands and collected cash fare. Conductor J. P. Burns on train No. 302, May 17, lifted returning portion of expired card ticket from passenger who admitted it had been previously used for passage and collected cash fare. Conductor H. B. Jacks on train No. 25, May 19, No. 2, May 22, and No. 23, May 29, declined to honor card tickets, account having expired and collected cash fares. Passengers were referred to passenger de- partment for refund on tickets. Conductor F. A. Hitz on train No. 18, May 20, lifted time pass, account identification slip (Form 1572) having been improperly issued and collected cash fare. Conductor M. Cavenaugh on train No. 2, May 27, lifted employe's term pass account being in improper hands and collected cash fare. Conductor J. L. Ford, on train No. 18, May 28, lifted going portion of trip pass account returning portion being missing. Passenger refused to pay fare and was re- quired to leave the train. St. Louis Division Conductor G. Garter, on train No. 21, May 3, lifted going portion of trip pass, account returning portion being missing and collected cash fare. Conductor W. C. Walkup, on train No. 208, May 13, and 207, May 18, declined to honor card tickets account having expired and collected cash fares. Passengers were referred to passenger department for re- fund on tickets. Conductor J. H. Davis, on train No. 6, May 15, lifted trip pass account being in improper hands and collected cash fare. Conductor C. T. Harris, on train No. 6, May 26, lifted employe's term pass account passenger not being provided with iden- tification slip (Form 1572) and collected cash fare. Springfield Division Conductor W. G. Knowles, on train No. 132, May 18, declined to honor card ticket, account having expired and passenger left the train. Indiana Division Conductor J. W. Knight, on train No. 204, May 26, declined to honor card ticket ac- count having expired and collected cash fare. Passenger was referred to passenger department for refund on ticket. Wisconsin Division Conductor J. P. Reece, on train No. 124, May 8, declined to honor foreign interline ticket account having expired and collected cash fare. Passenger was referred to pas- senger department. Kentucky Division Conductor M. J. Keirce on train No. 302 May 24, declined to honor local ticket ac- count having expired and collected cash fare. Passenger was referred to passenger department for refund on ticket. Mississippi Division Conductor J. R. Kriter, on train No. 1, May 8, lifted mileage book account being in improper hands and collected cash fare. Conductor R. F. Cathey, on train No. 24, May 14, declined to honor card ticket ac- count having expired and* collected cash fare. Conductor C. M. Anderson, on train No. 5, May 19, lifted mileage book account being in improper hands. Passenger re- fused to pay fare and was required to leave the train. Louisiana Division Conductor H. T. Erickson, on train No. 2, May 4, lifted mileage book account being in improper hands and collected cash fare. Conductor M. Kennedy, on train No. 332, May 17, declined to honor mileage book ac- count having expired and collected cash fare. On train No. 331, May 20, he lifted banana messenger's return ticket account having been improperly issued and collected cash fare. Conductor L. E. Barnes, on train No. 34, May 18, lifted time pass, account passenger not being provided with identification slip and collected cash fare. On train No. 34, May 22 he lifted annual pass, restricted to intrastate travel, account 89 90 ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE being presented with a local ticket for an interstate trip. Passenger refused to pay fare and was required to leave the train. On train No. 24, May 24, he lifted mileage book account being in improper hands and collected cash fare. Conductor G. O. Lord, on train No. 1, May 24, lifted annual pass account identifi- cation slip (Form 1572) having been altered and collected cash fare. Conductor R. E. Mclnturff, on train No. 23, May 24, lifted expired card ticket from passenger who admitted having previously secured transportation on same and col- lected cash fare. Conductor E. S. Sharp, on train No. 313, May 30, lifted identification slip (Form 1572) account passenger not being provided with pass and collected cash fare. Vicksburg Division Conductor R. C. Buck, on train No. 35, May 15, declined to honor milieage book account having expired and collected cash fare. New Orleans Division Conductor A. L. Williams, on train No. 34, May 20, lifted mileage book account being in improper hands and collected cash fare. Illinois Division. Foreman William Stevens has been com- mended for discovering blazing hot box on an oil tank car in train 1513. Train was onned and trainmen's attention called to same. This action undoubtedly prevented possible accident. Engineer John Leahan has been com- mended for stopping train when approach- ing Paxton, June 21, when auto truck was stalled on south crossing. Towerman C. H. Campbell has been com- mended for discovering brake rod dragging on C. G. W. car 46010, passing Riverdale Tower in Extra 1596 South. June 13. Towerman at Harvey was notified to stop train so that repairs could be made, there- by preventing possible accident. Section Foreman Dolan has been com- mended for discovering brake beam drag- ging in extra 1753 south, north of Guthrie. Train was stopped and brake beam removed, thereby preventing possible accident. Switchman J. Clemens has been com- mended for stopping engine which had draw bar pulled out and was lodged under- neath car. This action undoubtedly pre- vented possible accident. Brakeman B. Walden has been com- mended for discovering broken rail joint near mile 145 while on extra 1663 south, June 16. and taking the necessary action to have same repaired, thereby preventing pos- sible accident. Operator C. E. Richards at Otto, has been commended for discovering lumber shifting on S. P. 78553 in extra 1729 north, June 5, which car also had hot box, and action taken in this case in flagging the train and having train crew give the car the necessary attention, thereby preventing possible accident. Switchman J. McCleary has been com- mended for discovering penstock at hos- pital across the south-bound track, June 2. His action in this matter prevented possible accident. Conductor C. H. Martin has been com- mended for discovering I. C. 122338 with no light weight stencilled on it. Arrangements were made to have car stencilled. Conductor George Lindsay in charge of Extra 1597, May 4, has been commended for discovering I. C. 106573, C. G. W. 6261 and C. G. W. 6813 with no light weight sten- cilled on cars. Arrangements were made to have cars stencilled. Brakeman E. E. Spivey has been com- mended for discovering K. R. L. 157 on fire while train was moving south of Watson. Train was stopped and fire was extin- guished by the crew. Engineer Shauger has been commended for discovering piece broken out of rail on north end of passing track at Tuscola, June 6. Same was reported to the dispatcher and section foreman instructed to make necessary repairs. This action un- doubtedly prevented possible accident. Springfield Division. Engineer C. F. Eecks, brakeman Roy Reeves and fireman A. Woodward have been commended for recovering trunk stolen from car in train 53, Mav 4. Section foreman Samuel Earls, Spring- field, has been commended for discovering two rolls of roofing paper on waylands near mile post 96, June 22, and turning same over to agent at Springfield for handling. St. Louis Division. Section foreman William Boner has been commended for discovering brake beam dragging on C. N. O. & T. P. car 12261, May 23, Extra North, engine 963, passing siding at Winkle. Train was stopped and defect adjusted, thereby preventing pos- sible accident. Indiana Division. Agent R. E. Billings, Wheeler, 111., has been commended for stopping extra 951, June 12, when he discovered brake rod dragging. Defect was attended to and pos- sible accident averted. Louisiana Division. W. S. Harrington, clerk at Hazelhurst, Miss., has been commended for action taken in promotly reporting brake beam dragging under O. R. T. 30117, extra 971, South. May 30. This action undoubtedly prevented possible accident. Tennessee Division. Engineer John Chester, in charge of extr.-j 1651, train 171, June 3, observed cattle which had broken through right of way fence two miles north of Trimble. Train was stopped and cattle driven off the track. Minnesota Division The young lady stenographers in the di- vision office at Dubuque, desiring to do something to serve their country, have planted a garden in the plot of ground which was formerly the depot park. The money realized from the sale of the vege- tables in this garden is to be turned over to the Red Cross. They have been receiv- ing a great many compliments on their good work and are only hoping that their sales will be as numerous. They now have a neat little sum toward the good cause. General Manager Foley, General Super- intendent Clift, and District Engineer Laden, on a recent trip over the division, were liberal in their praise of the results being secured from the stenographers' gar- den at Dubuque and backed their en- thusiasm by generous purchases of vege- tables which they later pronounced as first- class quality. Quite a number of employes and a few non-employes, have taken advantage of the permission granted by this company to cultivate its right of way. There are now over 100 acres under cultivation on this division and permits are still being re- quested. Conductor H. H. Everhart and Operator Floyd Belscamper have joined the Illinois Central Regiment. Third Reserve En- gineers, now at the Municipal Pier, Chi- cago, and have been receiving visits from a good many of their railroad friends. Both report enioying their work very much. F. J. Coates, assistant engineer on the Minnesota Division for the past six years, has been transferred to Chicago for service in the chief engineer's office. Mr. J. M. Beardsley, emnlpyed in the Valuation De- partment at Chicago, has been transferred to this division to fill vacancy by Mr. Coates. These changes were effective June 16. Summer vacations of clerks in the super- intendent's office at Dubuoue have begun. At present writing, Assistant Tonnage Clerk L. T. Weiler is enjoying his vacation in Chicago. Horace M. Lamb, ticket clerk at Dubuque station, has been promoted to a similar position at Fort Dodge. Jos. J. Spies has succeeded Mr. Lamb at Dubuque. Chief Accountant J. C. Neft and Assistant Accountant C. F. Duggan, attended the Northern Lines Accountants' meeting at Chicago on June 21. Master William Atwill, Jr., son of former superintendent of this division, is visiting friends at Dubuque and called at the super- intendent's office, renewing former friend- ship. Lhief Dispatcher P. E. Talty at Dub^que has returned from his annual vacation which was spent at his former home, Con- nellsville, Pa. Hotel Hayes and Annex Phone Hyde Park 4400 64th St. and University Ave. Chicago Popular Price Family Hotel American Plan RATES: Single $ 8.50 to $14.00 per week Double 16.00 to 19.00 per week Four blocks from new 63d Street depot and office building ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE Train Master Duckwitz is polishing his fishing tackle, preparatory to his summer onslaught against the finny tribes. General Yard Master Dahl, at Dubuque, and Agent Bowden, at Waterloo, are his close seconds and when the three of them meet, fish stories are the order of the day. We pre- dict that fish which were two inches long when caught will attain the length of at least two feet by the time their stories are told. Springfield Division Mr. M. M. Backus, roadmaster on the Springfield Division, has been appointed roadmaster on the St. Louis Division. Mr. Backus assumed his new duties on June 1. Mr. Chas. McAdams, stenographer in the roadmaster's office, has resigned his posi- tion and is now enjoying an extensive tour of the East. Mac expects to eventually locate in New York where he can keep in closer touch with the big affairs of the world. Mr. H. D. Walker, instrument man, has been transferred to locating party now working on proposed work near Dawson Springs, Ky. Indiana Division At about 3:30 P. M., May 26, 1917, the city of Mattoon was visited by a cyclone, Colonial Hotel 6325 Kenwood Ave. Phone Midway 1626 Chicago /uropean PI an RATES $4.00 to $7.00 Per Week One block from new 63rd st. office build- ing and depot. Hayes Bros., Prop. Oscar E. Westburg, Mgr. 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. accompanied by rain and hail, which left much devastation and loss of human life in its pathu It traveled eastward and spread over an area of four blocks north and south and about three miles east and west, literally wiping out that section of town. After the havoc was wrought, the appear- ance of the sky became a sickly green. When it was realized what distress this part of the town was in, conveyances of all descriptions (autos, buggies, drays, etc.) hurried to the scene and brought those taken from the debris on stretchers, old pieces of doors, etc., to the hospital, and when they could accommodate no more, the churches, library and undertaking parlors were made ready to receive the injured; also private homes were thrown open to receive them. All night long, bodies were taken from the wreckage, the relief work being done under difficulty, as the lighting plant was out of commission and the town was mostly in darkness: lamps having to be used. Telegraph and telephone wires were down, and the gas plant inoperative. Hotels were converted into emergency hospitals, and volunteer service was be- stowed willingly, until skilled help could be secured. The Illinois Central certainly did noble work at this critical time. A committee ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 93 waited on Superintendent H. J. Roth, to have special trains rushed to Mattoon with doctors, nurses, the militia, etc. The wires down in so many. places made it rather difficult to get in communication with sur- rounding towns, but by patience and per- severance, they were fortunate enough at last to be successful, and special trains carrying doctors, nurses, also cots, etc., were soon on their way. Then came the appeal for food and cloth- ing, and the different stations on Indiana and Illinois Divisions, are to be highly commended for the prompt manner in which they responded to the call of a neighbor in desperate need. The larger stations, and many of the smaller ones, wasted no time in getting together and sending a wonderful supply of good sub- stantial food and plenty of clothing for the afflicted ones. Too much thanks can- not be extended to those people along the line who so generously responded to the call for help, and it certainly is appreciated by all Mattoon. At first, disorder was very much in evi- dence, eVen though all were willing and did help wonderfully as far as they were able; later, various committees were ap- pointed, and took charge or the situation in a systematic way, and it was only a short time until order reigned once more. The Red Cross people from Chicago, with many able workers were installed, and im- mediately busied themselves investigating the district affected, and taking care of those in distress with food, clothing and money, as it was needed. The list of dead numbered sixty-five, with hundreds injured, and about five hun- dred families homeless. Their immediate needs have been taken care of and ma- terial is being rushed to build up the dis- trict which was laid waste, to provide places of abode for those who have really no other place. Much money is needed for this, and donations are being accepted already several thousand dollars has been received. The Illinois Central Railroad Company, through General Manager T. J. Foley, headed the subscription list with $1,000, and local donations have been made; subscriptions have also been received from persons connected with the Illinois Central who were formerly located at Mattoon. The fury of the elements does not yet seem to be appeased, as atmospheric con- ditions are unsettled, and a repetition of the cyclone of May 26 has seemed evident several times. Sympathy is extended to the families of employes who lost their lives in the cyclone of Mav 26; also to those employes who lost members of their families. Jack Pierce, machinist, Mattoon shops, lost his life in the cyclone May 26; he had been in service about five years and is greatly missed by his many friends. Walter Melton, call boy, also lost his life in the storm; he had been in service on the Illinois Central Railroad about three months. { The 100-foot flag pole on Mattoon shop grounds was broken off in the tornado; em- ployes had removed the flag when they saw the storm approaching. A new pole will be raised in the near future. A. C. Wilcox, chief accountant, is spend- ing a couple of weeks in St. Petersburg, Fla. Miss Helen Lee Brooks, of the superin- tendent's office, departed on June 16 for California and other western points. She expects to be gone several weeks. Several persons from Indiana Division at- tended the Galli-Curci concert given at Champaign, 111., the evening of June 1 at the university auditorium. C. A. Richmond, our well known and liked conductor on passenger train between Mat- toon and Peoria, was taken ill on May 23. We are glad, however, to receive encourag- ing reports from Peoria as to his condition, and hope he continues to improve rapidly. H. B. Brown, fuel inspector from Chi- cago visited the division one day this month. Such minor matters as war clouds hang- ing over us, disturbing influence of the ele- ments, etc., do not seem to intimidate Cupid or hinder him in his progress; he seems to be "working overtime" in our Ac- counting Department. On May 30, Frank Martin, of the accounting force, in the superintendent's office, was quietly married to Miss Ruby Ames, and appeared on the scene next morning just as usual, not taking any of us into his confidence; only for our morning paper, we might have been "in the dark" several days. Closely following in his footsteps Clarence Plurnmer, of Master Mechanic Bell's accounting force, thought he was surprising his friends when he and Miss Edna Adrian were married June 10. He didn't succeed in "keeping it quiet" as well as Mr. Martin, and friends took the "newly- weds" riding on an auto truck through the down town district, and then made Clarence "set 'em up" at a local confectionery to the whole bunch. Their honeymoon was spent at Niagara Falls. Miss Gertrude Hasler has accepted a position in Division Storekeeper Downing's office as stenographer and clerk, which was formerly filled by Marion Boulware, who has been promoted to general stock keeper. Webster Brannon is new time keeper in general car foreman's office at Mattoon. W. G. Arn, formerly road master on the Indiana Division, visited us June 20 a few hours on his way to Municinal Pier, Chi- cago, where he is captain adiutant of the Third Reserve Engineers of the Illinois Central. They expect orders shortly to depart for France. ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE Warren Stephenson, formerly M. C. B. clerk at Mattoon shops, has enlisted in, the Railroad Regiment and departed for the Municipal Pier, Chicago; his place is be- ing filled by J. L. Warren, formerly piece- work checker. A. D. Bullock transferred from master mechanic's office as time keeper to piecework checker, Maring Crane being employed as time keeper in master mechanic's office. Many heavy rains falling the past few weeks have caused much trouble on the Indiana Division, at one time this month, the railroad being washed out at six places on Indianapolis District and seven places on Peoria District; also Mackinaw Bridge between Green Valley and Sand Prairie out of commission three days current so swift making it necessary to detour both passenger and freight trains via the C. & A. and Big Four between Peoria and Pekin. S. P. Munson, clerk to supervisor B. & B., at Mattoon.. 111., submitted to an opera- tion in the Illinois Central Hospital at Chicago on June 18. We are gkd to re- ceive favorable reports the last day or so with reference to Mr. Munson's condition. Wisconsin Division. Fuel Economy Cars, in charge of Messrs. J. W. Dodge and O. L. Lindrew, were on the Wisconsin Division several days recently. Messrs. Dodge and Lindrew gave some very good lectures on "The conservation of coal." According to reports, there was a large number in attendance at each of these lec- tures and all concerned were pleased to note the interest displayed by employes in what might be termed at this time, a very patriotic movement. F. A. Redican, clerk in roadmaster's of- fice, Freeport, returned home from his honeymoon trip in the East, several days ago. Mr. Redican and wife visited at Chi- cago, Buffalo, Niagara Falls and New York City, and are now at home to their friends at No. 217 Float Street, Freeport. Graydon Powell, assistant accountant, in the superintendent's office, Freeport, spent a two week's honeymoon trip in the West, visiting Denver, Colorado Springs and Salt Lake City. Mr. Powell and wife are now at home to friends at No. 303 West Street, Freeport. R. L. Guensler, clerk in superintendent's office, Freeport, is the proud father of a baby boy. Louisiana Division Mr. J. North Abbott, who liad been in the service of the Illinois Central Railroad 27 years, as conductor on the Louisiana Di- vision, died at his home, in New Orleans, on May 2, 1917. Mr. Abbott was retired on a pension May 31, 1915. His many friends on the Louisiana Division are deeply grieved at his death. Mr. P. H. Houston, instrumentman, and Driver Agents Wanted ic, 34.7 H. P. Drive and demonstrate the Bush Car. Pay fo ' of your commissions on sales, my agents are making money. Shipments are prompt. Bush Cars guaran- teed or money back. Write at once for my 48-page catalog and all particulars. Address J. H Bush, ieicrgnition-El"ectT'sfg.1Sittg. Prea - Depfc7MS BUSH MOTOR COMPANY, Bush Temple, Chicago, 111. t Mr. W. T. Bolton, rodman, left on May 15, for Fort Logan H. Roots, where they are in training for the Engineering Reserve of the United States Army. Both passed their initial examination successfully, and will receive commissions as second lieu- 6 MONTHS INVESTING FOR PROFIT. a monthly Guide to Money-Making. TeLs how $10U grows to 0022, how to get richer quickly and honestly. H. L. BARBER, Pub., 439-32 W. Jackson Blvd., Chicago. tenants. Mr. S. R. Goldstein has succeeded Mr. Houston as instrumentman and Mr. B. D. Woods has succeeded Mr. Bolton as rodman. Mr. H. A. Wilmot, of the Accounting De- partment, has resigned to give his atten- tion to his farming interests in Roseland, La. All the boys were very sorry to see Henry leave. He was succeeded by Mr. J. A. Morrison. Miss Frances Otken, stenographer, has just returned from her vacation, which she spent very pleasantly in Texas. Mr. J. H. Rolfs, file clerk, has resigned to enter the contracting business in New Orleans. He was succeeded by Mr. W. F. McNulty. Mr. C. F. Coen has been ap- pointed assistant file clerk. Erecting Foreman J. C. Lyons is at pres- ent enjoying an extensive trip through the north and eastern states. ft: The entire force of McComb shop ap- prentices called a special meeting this week for the purpose of giving a banquet for senior apprentices before the expiration of their apprenticeship. Each of the boys are looking forward to this with much interest and expect to execute all details in much style. Their organization is lucky enough to possess several talented orators and each one of them will be expected to render little talks concerning the performance of their duties while serving apprenticeships and other items of interest to all con- cerned. Free to Our Readers Write Murine 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 Murine Eye Remedies in Your Special Case. Your Druggist will tell you that Murine Relieves Bore Eyes, Strengthens Weak Eyes. Doesn't Smart, Soothes Eye Pain, and sells for 50c. Try It in Your Eyes and in Baby's Eye* tat Scaly Eyelids and Granulation. School Information FREE Catalogs of all boarding schools (or camps) in United States EAST OR This Association maintained by annual dues from the schools-for past 11 years. J>HONE- CENTRAL 8848 CALL OR WRITK American Schools' Association 1515 Masonic Temple Jfros ant) Crossing Worfce SPECIAL WORK for STEAM 'and ELECTRIC ROADS Office Chicago IN- OPEN HEARTH BESSEMER and MANGANESE Work* Chicago Heights HOTEL ARCADIA In Arcadia Park Dawson Springs, Ky. Five first-class mineral wells in park. Shippers of Salts Water. WILHELM REALTY CO., Lessees, Inc. F. W. NAG EL Established 1865 II. L. MEYEK NAGEL & MEYER, Jewelers Third and Broadway PADUCAH, KY. Expert watchmakers (only) employed to care for your watches. Ball and other popular makes of railroad watches for your selection. New York St. Louis James Stewart & Company, Incorporated Engineers & Contractors Westminster Building, Chicago Grain Elevator Designing & Construction General Construction Houston Oklahoma City Salt Lake Toronto The Varnish That Lasts Longest Made by Murphy Varnish Company KBHFl ELD-LEACH CO.. PRINTERS. CHICAGO CONTENTS W. D. Beymer Frontispiece. The James Case Again 9 Courtesy 16 Letter from General Manager T. J. Foley 17 Transportation and Military Movement 19 Public Opinion 32 Public Meeting Traffic and Transportation Bureau New Orleans Asso- ciation of Commerce-New Orleans Committee Commis- sion on Car Service, With Shippers and Receivers of Cars, July 2, 1917 , 39 Military Department n 44 Interesting Letters from an ex-Illinois Central Employe Who Is Now a Lieutenant in the American Flying Battalion in France 49 Freight Traffic Department Classification, Production and Distribution of Coal 53 Engineering Department Car Repair Shed at Nonconnah Yards, Memphis, Tenn....57 Claims Department 60 Safety First 66 Accounting Department Freight Claims 68 Transportation Department Psychological Influence 70 Passenger Traffic Department 71 Mechanical Department Master Mechanic Charles Ulric Linstrom 82 Hospital Department Suggestions Regarding Hay Fever 84 Roll of Honor 86 Development Bureau Harvesting and Utilizing the 1917 Crop in Mississippi and Louisiana ..._ 87 Appointments and Promotions 88 Baggage and Mail Traffic Department 89 The Banana 90 Meritorious Service 92 Division News 95 Published monthly ty the Illinois Central R,. 12,. Gx. in. the interest of the Company and its ^4(S> Employes Advertising Rates on Application Office 1200 Michigan Av. Telephone Wab"ask 2200 Chicago Local 33 15 $ per copy, $15? per year W. D. Beymer. W. D. Beymer was born in Clyde, Ohio, April 10, 1866., moved to Creston, Iowa, in 1868, remained there until 1881 after which attended school in Ann Arbor, Michigan, for three years. Entered the railway service on September 1, 1886, as freight bill clerk of the B. & O. at Chicago. After one year went to Topeka, Kansas, as clerk in the office of the Auditor Freight Receipts, A. T. & S. F. Ry. During the next ten years was Chief Clerk, Agents' accounts, Chief Clerk, interline accounts and Assistant Chief Clerk of that office. On April 1, 1897, went to Savannah, Ga., as Chief Clerk, Accounting Department, Central of Georgia Railway Company and Ocean Steamship Company of Savannah. On July 1, 1902 was appointed Auditor and later Comptroller of those companies, occupying that position until appointed Comptroller, Illinois Central Railroad Company, on July 1, 1917. ILLINOIS CENTRAL Magazine i AUGUST, 1917 Vol. 6 No. 2 The James Case Again President Mark ham is having a newspaper controversy with one of the lawyers representing Mr. T. G. James, who recently secured a verdict at Charleston, Miss., against the Y. & M. V. in a drainage case, for $100,000. Mr. Markham's first letter, which precipitated the controversy, was published in the June number of the ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE. This was replied to by Mr. H. L. Gary, attorney for Mr. James. Following is Mr. Markham's reply to Mr. Gary; (From the Sumner (Miss.) Sentinel of June 28). To the people of Tallahatchie County: I had hoped that my published letter, which I addressed to you, dated the 5th ultimo, concerning the T. G. James dam- age suit, would provoke a reply from Mr. James or one of his numerous and able lawyers, and I am pleased that it had the desired effect. Mr. Gary begins by saying you were doubtless surprised that I should address you on the subject of the James case. Let me say that I imagine you were much more surprised when you first heard of Mr: James' damage suit and still more surprised when you heard the verdict of the nine jurors giving to Mr. James $100,000. I was anxious to see what could be said before the public in justification of that law suit. I realized that it would be a more difficult task to justify it be- fore people familiar with the James prop- erty and the Delta country than it was to justify it before the jury between the four walls of the court room at Charles- ton. Cajoling a jury and cajoling the public are two widely different things. But in his lengthy reply Mr. Gary has attempted to answer but few of the things mentioned in my letter. He has devoted himself principally to the abuse of me and The Yazoo & Mississippi Val- ley Railroad Company. That is the an- swer the justification for taking $100,- 000 of the railroad's revenues and giving them to Mr. James. Evidently Mr. Gary has great confidence in the efficacy of that same old shop-worn stuff which has worked so successfully in Mississippi in the past the brand of eloquence which has dwarfed the growth of the State and injured every taxpayer and citizen within its borders. It has, I ad- mit, benefited perhaps a dozen damage suit lawyers and their clients. I ask you, Mr. Gary, is it right that the whole State should be injured that they may prosper? But you may wonder how it happens that I have made this discovery and what license I have to speak upon the subject. My reply is that I have not made the discovery. It is a thing well known both in and out of Mississ- ippi. I have simply become sufficiently emboldened to make the charge openly before the public. My license is that the companies which I represent are the largest taxpayers in the State. My in- terest in the development of the State is very deep-rooted. I am sincerely anxious to serve the State, and if there are things which I know to be affecting the State unfavorably, it seems to me there can be no harm in my telling you the people about them. If you agree with me, I, of course, will feel encouraged to boost more than ever for Mississippi. If you do not agree with me I shall offer no complaint. I am simply asking for the privilege of discussing these matters 10 ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE with you, which Mr. Gary seems to think is very objectionable. He says it is im- proper to discuss a case publicly while it is pending in the courts. That, of course, would mean that there could be no public discussion at all ; it would mean the curtailing of free speech and a free press, because after the courts have finally disposed of a case, it is usually too late to arouse public interest in it. In my experience in dealing with law- yers who are attempting to break into the treasury of the railroad I have found that of all things which they most despise, publicity stands at the top of the list. They find it comparatively easy to take a citizen and a neighbor, particu- larly an influential one, with a grievance against the railroad real or imaginary into court and play upon the preju- dices of the jurors by poisoning their minds against the railroad, but poison- ing the minds of the people against the railroad is much more difficult. They hate publicity, but they know it is a pretty hard job to convince the people that there can be anything very wrong about a man writing a thing, signing it and publishing it to the world. Mr. Gary insinuates that my purpose in writing the letter about the James law suit and sending it out "broadcast over the County and State" was to in- fluence the Supreme Court. On this point I am compelled to question Mr. Gary's sincerity, for he knows that the Supreme Court will concern itself only in regard to whether errors of law were committed in the trial of the case in the lower Court. My published letter was not at all directed to a discussion of the is- sues which will be submitted to the Su- preme Court. My purpose was to direct the attention of the people of Tallahat- chie County to what I honestly believe to be a most unfair and unjust jury ver- dict, and to explain how impossible it is to devlop a railroad property if jurors are to deal thus recklessly with railroad revenueis. Mr. Gary will, of course, readily agree that nothing which may be said by either him or myself will have the slightest bearing on the outcome of this or any other case pending in the Su- preme Court. That Court, as I believe, tries every case upon the cold letter of the record presented, but I am entitled to appeal at any time to the highest Court of all the great tribunal of public opin- ion, where all causes are finally lost or won. Mr. Gary says I think the verdict awarded by the nine jurors was too large, the inference being that I felt that a smaller verdict should have been ren- dered. I wish to say that I have never seen the James property, but I have had access to very thorough investigation files, including statements by engineers of probity and reputation, maps showing the elevations and the topography of the country, the height of the railway em- bankment and the openings that were in it during the years complained of by Mr. James, and I am of the opinion that Mr. James' property was not damaged at all. If the suit had been brought against an individual, a jury would promptly have acquitted the individual, but such a suit would have never been brought against an individual, and here lies the meat of this controversy. I contend that things will never be right till the railroad can get equal justice with individuals. Mr. Gary thinks when a railroad gets beaten before a jury, after having had its chance to introduce testimony (but no chance beyond that), and then goes out and publishes what happened tells the people about it that such conduct is to play the "baby act." I assume Mr. Garv ought to be allowed to carry away $100,000 of railroad revenues unnoticed. That would constitute a manly act, ac- cording to Mr. Gary. One of the most amusing passages of Mr. Gary's lengthy letter is where he spe?.ks of the construction of the Charles- ton branch having destroyed the prop- erty of Mr. James. If there is any one in Tallahatchie County, or the State of Mississippi, who believes Mr. James' property has been destroyed, will he please go and look at the place, or try to buy it? Think of it, those of you who know the James property, those of you familiar with the Delta country, those ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 11 of you who have to earn your bread by the sweat of your brow the James plan- tation^ destroyed by the railroad. One would think from reading Mr. Gary's letter that Mr. James was now out of business and that his plantation had been abandoned as worthless. Mr. Gary has not a word to say to you about the fact that during the six years from 1908 to 1913, inclusive, while Mr. James' property was being "destroyed," Mr. James does not claim to have ever notified the officials of the Railroad Company of the damage it was doing him. How does that strike you, citizens of Tallahatchie County? Would you ex- pect a man who sustained a damage of over $40,000 in 1908 to wait six years before making a claim, and thus not give the railroad a chance to remove the cause of the damage, if there was a cause or if there was a damage? In 1909 an- other $40,000 worth of damage was done and still not a word, not a syllable, from Mr. James. In 1910, 1911, 1912 and 1913 there was, according to Mr. James and Mr. Gary, repetition of the damages of 1908 and 1909, and Mr. James, so far as acquainting the Railroad Company with the situation was concerned, con- tinued to lay so close to the ground that he could not be distinguished from the leaves. Another thing that does not have the appearance of righteousness to me is that the Railroad Company was fur- nished with no opportunity to investi- gate what the alleged damages amounted to as they accrued. Mr. James, himself, was able to give but meagre information on this subject except to measure the. damage in dollars. At that he developed into a wonder. As a juggler of figures involved in a law suit against the rail- road, Mr. James is in a class by himself. And, by the way, another thing which Mr. Gary neglected to explain was why Mr. James, in March, 1914, when he filed his suit against the Railroad Com- pany, thought himself damaged to the extent of $175,000 all told, and so stated in his petition, which was filed in Court, while in December, 1916, he figured the same damages at $250,000, and in Janu- ary, 1917, he asked leave of the Court to make it $500,000 to cover the same damages which he placed at $175,000 in the beginning. If this case had gone over for another year or two, I assume Mr. James would have made his demand a round million. I have never known anything to grow, develop and expand as rapidly as Mr. James' damages. Mr. Gary talks much about the wealth of the Railroad Company. In fact, that is the principal argument relied upon by him. The Illinois Central Railroad Com- pany, which owns the stocks and bonds of the The Yazoo & Mississippi Valley Railroad Company, on December 31, 1916, had 10,025 stockholders. The capi- tal stock of the Company is $109,296,- 000. The average holding of stock is, therefore, $10,902. The Illinois Central Railroad Company is large because so many thousands of people have invested their money in it, but the average stock- holder is a very small personage finan- cially in comparison to Mr. James, who in 1914, could not estimate within $325,- 000 of the amount of damage he had sus- tained in the six preceding years. Mr. Gary seems to have the wrong sow by the ear on the proposition of wealth, which he considers of so much import- ance in this case. Mr. Gary admits that the verdict for Mr. James was by nine of the jurors, but he says he thinks the other three were in favor of giving something, but not as much as $100,000. My under- standing was that the other three were not in favor of giving Mr. James any- thing at all. This information was got- ten directly from one of the jurors, and this gentleman, by the way, now states that Mr. Gary never asked him how he stood, and he says that one of the other gentlemen who stood out against Mr. James also states that Mr. Gary never asked him how he stood. The three gen- tlemen reside in Tallahatchie County and 1 assume it is not too late for Mr. Gary to inform himself concerning this mat- ter. Mr. Gary stated in his article that he asked every one of the twelve jurors how they stood. I do not regard this matter as important except in showing the discrepancy in Mr. Gary's statement 12 ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE and what two of the three jurors say about it. You, the people of Tallahatchie Coun- ty, are told by Mr. Gary that I made an unfair attack on Mr. Smith, the sole en- gineer who testified in this case for Mr. James. I confess that I thought it strange that in a case as important as this, where engineering questions alone were involved so far as liability was con- cerned, that but one engineer should be introduced by Mr. James. I still feel that way about it and have nothing to take back, even though it may be true, as Mr. Gary states, that Mr. Smith has been a resident of Tallahatchie County for ten years. Is that alone relied upon as rendering him infallible. I yield to no man when it comes to respecting and honoring Tallahatchians. I know many of them personally and hope to know more of them, but I do not think that because a man resides in any particular County or State, that he should be given a higher rating for veracity and ability than he would otherwise be entitled to. Upon inquiry, I find that shortly before Mr. James filed his suit, Mr. Smith ap- proached a gentleman in Charleston of irreproachable character and integrity and requested him to see General James E. Stone about trying to get him (Smith) employment with the railroad company, and stated that he thought a number of drainage suits were going to be brought against the railroad company and tendered his services. General Stone took the matter up with the Engineering Department of the railroad company and it was determined that Mr. Smith's serv- ices were not needed. Later, after the James suit was filed, Mr. H. W. Hagan, of the Claim Department, with head- quarters at Greenwood, accidentally ran across Mr. Smith and asked him if he was still open for employment, and Mr. Smith stated it was too late as he had gone to work for Mr. James. On the question of Mr. Smith working up drain- age suits against the railroad, I will an- swer Mr. Gary by quoting from Mr. Smith's own testimony in the case, as follows : Questioned by Col. W. R. Woods : Q. I will ask you if you remember the last time you and 1 rode from here to Philipp 1 rode to Philipp and you got off this side of Philipp in riding down there didn't you make this state- ment: "I have worked up enough dam- age suits against the Y. & M. V. R. R., which, if I am successful, will make enough money to put me on easy street for the balance of my life?" A. I did. I think it is but fair to say, from a careful examination of the record, that the testimony of Mr. Smith was abso- lutely riddled by the six engineers who testified for the Railroad Company, namely, Mr. E. I. Rogers, the engineer who constructed the Charleston branch; Mr. D. W. Thrower, engineer in charge of the maintenance of this branch for a number of years after it was built; Mr. T. M. Pittman, engineer who spent sev- eral months investigating the claims of Mr. James from an engineering stand- point and who prepared an elaborate topographical map which was intro- duced as evidence; Mr. Robert Ruffin, civil engineer of Como; Mr. M. H. Thayer, civil engineer of Greenwood, and Mr. Ed Fontaine, civil engineer of Coahoma County. With reference to the statement of Mr. Gary that one of the engineering witnesses for the Railroad Company had stated before the case was tried, that he wanted to help Mr. James, but had not been spoken to, and that he was going to testify for the side that put up the money. I presume he refers to Mr. H. M. Thayer, civil engineer of Greenwood, for Mr. Thayer was cross-examined in regard to a conversation it was claimed he had with Mr. B. E. Townes, one of Mr. James' star witnesses. Here is what the record which Mr. Gary says he had before him, but which he evidently did not refer to, discloses on that sub- ject: A. No, sir, I deny absolutely the en- tire matter which would indicate that I was willing, or still willing, to work for Mr. James in handling this matter. The examination proceeded along this ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 13 line and later Mr. Thayer was again asked : Q. I will ask you whether you did or did not say to him that whichever side of this law suit employed you, or secured your services, would win this case. A. No, sir. Q. State why you were in sympathy with the railroad in this particular case. A. My knowledge of the country without going into details inclined me to believe that Mr. James must be in er- ror in his claim and that this was an un- fair suit about to be brought. Mr. Gary says that the James lands, before the railroad was built, were not susceptible to overflow, and that since the railroad was built, they are inun- dated during every high water period, while the lands on the opposite side of the railroad can be plowed and planted to crops. He says this was established at the trial by twenty- four reputable wit- nesses, and he represented to you that he had the transcript of their testimony before him and that he knew what he was talking about. A thorough examination of the same transcript of the testimony which Mr. Gary talks so much about discloses the fact that but eight of the twenty-four witnesses testified that they had ever been on the James lands prior to the building of the railroad, and that only five out of the twenty-four (and one of them a negro tenant) testified that they had ever been on the James lands since the railroad was built. This is a fair sample of the fairness of Mr. Gary's famous reply. Mr. Gary has asked a good many questions and has made many statements. Now. I would like to ask him a few questions about matters recent enough to be susceptible of investigation and proof. Is it not true, Mr. Gary, that during April, 1917, the water in the Tal- lahatchie river at Philipp reached a stage of within seven-tenths of a foot as high as it did in 1912 the highest water during any of the years com- plained of by Mr. James in his suit? If you answer that that is true, will you then please state how much damage was done Mr. James' plantation by the high water of April, 1917 ? For your informa- tion, Mr. Gary, I will state that an in- spection of the railroad embankment and the James premises was made by seven disinterested and reputable men during the high water period of April, 1917, and that it was discovered that the water lacked several feet at its highest stage of getting over the east ridge of Matth- ews Bayou at any point. Is it true or not, Mr. Gary, that this ridge forms a complete levee along the east side of Mr. James' plantation? In some places along the railroad embankment opposite Mr. James' plantation the water lacked but six inches of reaching the top, and a stage of water sufficiently high to have flowed over the east ridge of Matthews Bayou at any point would have placed water, over the railroad embankment op- posite the James plantation at a depth of from six inches to three feet, for dis- tances of from two to three miles. The inspection of the April high water abso- lutely demonstrated that the railway em- bankment never held a particle of water on the plantation of Mr. James, and this is conclusive of the entire controversy, so far as justice is concerned. The Ap- ril, 1917, high water is an ugly factor in Mr. James' claims. Mr. Gary makes a labored effort to array himself with tEe people in con- demning the railroad. One would al- most think from reading his article that Mr. James and himself were going to divide up with the people that $100,000 they are expecting to get out of the railroad. I am unable to understand how the people can enthuse very much over Mr. James getting a verdict for $100,000 against the Railroad Company. I claim that the interests of the Railroad Company and those of the people are identical, and that Mr. James and Mr. Gary and the numerous and able law- yers in this case, in attempting to divert railroad revenues from their proper channel, are the real enemies of the pub- lic. Of course, if Mr. Tames plantation was "destroyed" the thing is changed completely. Nine jurors were cajoled into believing it was "destroyed." If 14 ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE they arrived at the correct conclusion, then Mr. James and Mr. Gary should have the $100,000, but the Yazoo & Mis- sissippi Valley Railroad Company ought to have a deed to the "destroyed" plan- tation. It is not fair that Mr. James and Mr. Gary should have the $100,000 and the ''destroyed" plantation, too, but if they get both, I think the pot should be made a real one and that there should be added to it the Charleston branch of the railroad; if Mr. James and Mr. Gary will agree to run the Charleston branch for the convenience and benefit of the public as well or better than it is being run by The Yazoo & Mississippi Valley Railroad Company and will give good and sufficient security to guarantee the result, I would be willing to use my influ- ence to have the Yazoo & Mississippi Val- ley Railroad Company turn this branch lock, stock and barrel over to them. I would be glad to see them take it and run it and later explain why it is not as good as a main line railroad, why the depots are not as commodious as they should be, why it is necessary to carry passengers and freight on the same trains, etc. Doubtless, Mr. Gary could explain all of these things with at least as much plausibility as he explained how Mr. James' plantation was "destroyed." It is said by Mr. Gary that Mr. James testified that, if the overflow of his lands by the railroad embankment was re- moved, his lands, at the time of filing his suit in 1914, would have been worth from $100 to $125 per acre, including all good, bad and indifferent. I think it has been fully developed that Mr. James is entirely mistaken about the railroad having damaged his lands at all. It is interesting to note what the records of Tallahatchie County show in connection with the assessed value of Mr. James' lands, and this might be con- sidered with reference to the taxes paid at the present time by the Railroad Com- panies which I represent. You will re- call Mr. Gary iniected taxes into this controversy by bringing up an old case which I know nothing about. For 1016 Mr. James' cleared lands were assessed at an average of $11.98 per acre and his uncleared lands were assessed at an aver- age of $5.00 per acre. For the year 1916 the Railroad Companies which I represent paid into the treasury of the State of Mississippi, as taxes, the huge sum of $973,506. Thes figures speak for themselves. It does not appear from the assessed value of Mr. James' lands that he is so very strong for Tallahat- chie County when it comes to taxes. Mr. Gary's letter abounds in contra- dictions and inaccuracies. In one para- graph he states that Mr. James' planta- tion was "destroyed," while in another he attempts to explain how it happened tJDat Mr. James has been raising more cotton since the Charleston branch was built than he ever raised before. He says this is because Mr. James has added greatly to his cultivated lands, but if the place was "destroyed," it appears that it would make little difference whether the number of acres of cultivated lands had been doubled, tripled or quadrupled. In another place he attempts to figure out the damages per acre per year and says that $50,000 of the verdict was on ac- count of permanent damage to land. In the declaration it is charged that the land was permanently damaged by being made "sour," but there is not one word of proof in the entire record concerning the lands being made "sour." However, Mr. Gary in his calculations, charges up $10 per acre on the entire 5,000 acres, or $50,000, for permanent damage, which I presume means souring the lands, and then he estimates that the damage to crops was $15 per acre, or $2.50 per acre per year, on 3,500 acres for the six years, and winds up this amazing calcu- lation by asking this question : "How many farmers would agree to have their crops overflowed and destroyed for six long years for $2.50 per acre per year?" Note that he has charged up just as much for souring the uncleared lands as he has charged for souring the cleared lands, and the same amount for souring the low lands as for souring the high lands. The cleared lands are charged with $10 per acre for souring and $15 for crops destroyed, and yet, Mr. Gary admits that Mr. James raised more cot- ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 15 ton during some of the years complained of than he ever raised before the railroad was built. Mr. Gary's analysis of Mr. James' damages is calculated to make one dizzy so much for destroying the plantation, so much for souring the land, so much for destroying the crops each year on every acre of cleared land owned by Mr. James and then the admission that he raised more cotton during some of those years than he did before the railroad was built. There is the further fact, which Mr. Gary does not admit, but which we all know to be true, that the James plantation is worth more money today than it was ever worth be- fore in its history. Isn't all of this enough to make one dizzy? It is true that the Railroad Company tried to avoid a trial of the James case before a jury at Charleston. The re- sult of the trial shows that the efforts which were made in this direction were fully justified. Mr. Gary undertakes to justify the $100,000 verdict in favor of Mr. James by referring to a misfortune which hap- pened to the Illinois Central System be- fore I became connected with it, when some^pf its officers conspired with out- siders to rob the Railroad Company of its revenues, in connection with the re- pairing of cars. I regret that Mr. Gary was not fair enough, since he thought it necessary to inject this affair into the controversy, to explain that as soon as the Company found out about these ir- regularities, that the officers responsible were promptly dismissed from the serv- ice and were later prosecuted. I am sorry that space forbids my going into the details of this unfortunate affair, but I think you will agree that it has noth- ing whatever to do with the merits or demerits of the James law suit the thing which is under discussion now. I quote as follows one out of the many illuminating passages in Mr. Gary's let- ter: "President Markham says that, by harassing the railroad with unjust dam- age suits the people are increasing their own burdens, as these expenses are load- ed by his Company onto the shoulders of the people in higher freight rates and increased charges." I will give $1,000 to any charitable organization in Talla- hatchie County, to be named by the edi- tors of the newspapers published in the County, if Mr. Gary will prove that I made that statement. He knows that the railroad has no power to make its own freight rates. He knows that the freight rate making power is vested en- tirely in the State Railroad Commission and the Interstate Commerce Commis- sion. What I did say was that the tak- ing of the revenues of the railroad in unjust damage suits "reduces the ability of the railroad by exactly the amount of money thus taken to provide facilites for the permanent use, convenience and safe- ty of the public." In other words, it reduces the ability of the railroad to im- prove its track, provide better depots, buy new equipment and build new lines, but it cannot affect freight rates. If Mr. Gary had wanted to be frank with you about the Charleston depot, he would have explained that although the Charleston line has never been self-sup- porting, the Railroad Company was per- fectly willing to enlarge and improve the depot at Charleston, and that the prin- cipal delay was because the people of Charleston could not agree in regard to where the depot should be located; also that this improvement was well under way, in fact, nearing completion, at the verv time Mr. Gary's letter was written and published. Mr. Garv savs he has heard many of the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley Railroad Company's employes threaten the peo- ple of Tallahatchie County since the trial of the James case. I assume he is not more correct in this statement than he was in his statement in regard to freight rates. I wish it understood that I have no quarrel with the people of Tal- lahatchie County. I do not hold them responsible for the James case, although Mr. Gary has made a mighty effort to connect them with it. Yours truly, C. H. MARKHAM. Courtesy A. E. Clift, General Manager T N assuming the duties of General Manager of the Illinois Central System, after twenty-nine years of service scattered over every part of the property, the thought which is uppermost in my mind is what we the 55,000 employes can do to make ourselves more efficient to the railroad, to the end that the railroad may render better service to the public. Such questions as keeping up the track, furnishing good equipment, speeding up the movement of freight cars and running trains on time are questions of vital importance, but to my mind there is another question which towers above them all, and that is the question of COURTESY toward the public on the part of our officers and employes. If our officers and employes are not courteous to the public, the use we have for a safe track and good equipment will be limited. The best advertisement for a railroad is the repu- tation of having courteous officials and employes. Our business is to serve. If we please those whom we serve, the demand for our service will become greater and greater. Therefore, the big question which we should study and try to master is how to handle our affairs so as to leave a good taste in the mouth of the public. I trust that every officer and employe of the Operating Department realizes to the fullest extent the importance of courteous treatment of the public. I hope that they will preach and practice COURTESY, which means the giving of polite and civil answers to all questions, cultivating the art of being agreeably accommo- dating and bearing in mind at all times that the man worth while is the man who can smile in the midst of storm, as well as sunshine. There was a time when some high railway officials did not consider it necessary to go out of their w^iy to try to please the public. That day has passed. A new era has dawned. The magic word on every successful railroad at the present time is COURTESY and the railroads which have the most courteous officials and employes are the ones which are most prosperous and which shall continue to be the most prosperous. I care not how much ability a railroad employe may have, if he lacks COUR- TESY in his deportment toward the public, he is a failure. Let COURTESY be the watchword of every official and of every employe. Let us all vie with each other in radiating COURTESY. Let us . strive to make the Illinois Central famous as the railroad which has the most courteous employes of any railroad in existence. If we succeed in doing this our future will be secure and the future of our Company will be great with promise. Do not let us forget that we are de- pendent upon the railroad and that the railroad is dependent upon us, and that one cannot exist without the other. The interests of each are so intermingled with the other that they must be regarded and treated as one, and not to do so will prove fatal to the success of both. If I were asked to state what I believed to be the most valuable trait of charac- ter in an employe of the railroad, the trait most likely to attract attention to him and result in his advancement, I should unhesitatingly say COURTESY. 16 Letter from General Manager T. J. Foley Chicago, 111., July 10, 1917. TO TRAINMEN AND ENGINEMEN : One of our conductors discussed the railway situation with a prominent farmer. The conductor knew all about the Illinois Central property and management. He impressed the farmer, who repeated the substance of what the conductor had said to a local merchant. Our Superintendent called on the merchant in the usual course of business and found him in the midst of a heated conversation with a politician. The merchant was trying to impress upon the politician that a broad policy toward the railroads benefited everybody, and that a narrow policy injured everybody. The politician left the merchant and the Superintendent together. The merchant explained that he had gotten his inspiration and his facts from the prominent farmer. The alert Superintendent made it a point to get acquainted with the prominent farmer and learned that he had formerly been very antagonistic to the railroads and had been changed completely by the interview which he had had with the conductor. The thought occurred to me that perhaps the management was to blame for not giving trainmen and enginemen something to talk about. We would like for them to do a good deal of talking, for we recognize the fact that they are both able and willing to do it. Therefore, I have concluded to give them little bits of information about our Company from time to time, and I am going to ask that each trainman and each engineman consider that he has been constituted a com- mittee of one to talk about the Illinois Central to the public. If each should talk with only two or three persons each month about the needs of the railroads, it would do a great deal of good. The Illinois Central Railroad System operates 6,150 miles of railroad, with additional tracks and sidings of 3,600 miles. These lines are located in fourteen different States. The capital stock of the Company is $109,296,000.00. There are 10,025 stockholders, 4,000 of whom are women. The par value of the average holding of stock is $10,902.00. The Company owns 1,610 locomotives, 1,560 passenger cars and 67,600 freight cars. It operates an average of 1,504 trains per day, 770 of which are passenger and 734 freight. The total number of employes averages 54,000 and their wages are approxi- mately $3,450,000.00 per month. Increases in wages granted since January 1, 1917, amount to more than $400,000.00 per month. During the year ended December 31, 1916, the Company used 4,230,427 tons of coal, which cost $4,646,450.00 or $1.10 per ton at the mines. At the present time the Company is paying an average of $1.60 per ton for coal at the mines, which is an increase of 50 cents per ton, or $2,115,213.00; compared with the cost of coal for last year. The Company purchased switch engines. in January, 1915, for $12,399.00 each, and in February, 1917, the same class of switch engine cost $26,756.00 In October, 1915, we paid $22,163.00 for locomotives of the Mikado type, and in 17 18 ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE February, 1917, we purchased the same type of locomotives at a cost of $41,660.00. We are buying some Pacific passenger engines for delivery next November at a cost of $43,000.00 each. Two years ago we bought the same class of engines at $20,627.90 each. In October, 1915, we bought refrigerator cars .at $1,279.00 each. In April, 1917, the same class of cars cost us $2,600.00 each. In 1914 )we paid $860.00 each for box cars. The same class of cars at present cost $2,450.00. For years we have paid $30.00 per ton for new steel rail. Recently we bought 2,000 tons of second-hand rail, for which we were compelled to pay $45.00 per ton. There has been an enormous advance in the price of frogs, switches, machinery, tools and, in fact, all the different kinds of material which the railroad is compelled tp have in maintaining its track and equipment. The operating revenues of the Company for the past six months have averaged $8,280,000.00 per month, divided as follows : Freight service, $6,280,- 000.00 ; passenger service, $2,000,000.00. For the same period, operating expenses averaged $5,975,000.00 per month, or 72% of the revenue received. Taxes and interest on bonded indebtedness are at the rate of $1,100,000.00 per month. Dividend requirements at 6% per annum amount to $550,000.00 per month, leaving $655,000.00 per month for additions to, and improvement of, the property. Gross earnings at the present time are the largest in the history of the Company. Fixed expenses are also the largest in the history of the Company. The Company needs larger terminals, more power, more cars and enlarged facilities generally in order to take care of the constantly expanding business. Briefly stated, the Company's condition is this : If business continues at the present rate, vast enlargement of facilities will be required. The present surplus of $655,000.00 per month, during this period of peak business, is entirely inade- quate to justify unusual commitments. On the other hand, if there is a lull in business and earnings fall off, the fixed expenses must come down. The problem is, how can they be gotten down ? In either case the outlook is not encouraging. It should be borne in mind that our condition is better than that of many railroads, but even in our case the situation is perplexing. If the railroads are not allowed to lay by stores in fat years, like all other business institutions, what is to be their lot in lean years, which are as certain to come as that night follows day? Yours truly, T. J. Foley. General Manager. ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 19 Transportation and Military Movement Address by Lieut.-Col. A. B Ladue, U. S. A. at Macon, Central of Georgia Staff Meeting It is a pleasure for me to be here this morning and to have this oppor- tunity to address you on this subject I regret that I did not have more time to prepare my address in a more consecutive form, and to get it in shape so that I could stand up and deliver it without reference to notes. Under the circumstances, as my notice was very short, I shall be obliged to refer quite frequently to my notes, and, in fact, I shall read a good part of what 1 have to say to you. The occasion of my being here was a request from the president of the Central of Georgia to General Wood that some one be sent here to address this convention on the general subject of transportation in connection with military movements. Transportation in connection with military movements, partakes, of course, of the essential elements of transportation for any purpose. It is a matter of moving men and military supplies. You are all familiar with ordinary transportation methods ; and it is simply to call your attention to some of the particular requirements that must be met in the case of military movements that are different from the ordinary commercial requirements, that I am here today. While these principles of which I shall speak apply to all military movements in time of peace and in time of war, my remarks will be addressed particularly to the requirements in connection with the move- ments of large bodies of men and large quantities of supplies under con- sideration and in contemplation. As you all know, the United States is now face to face with probably the most serious emergency, the most serious moment in all its history. We are up against the strongest military power in the world, a power against which we, single handed, are not now in readiness to make war. We might even say that but for the protection which the allied fleet and the allied army are giving us we would be helpless. We are without enough soldiers and munitions ; and except for the allied fleet and the allied army, our enemy would have been able by now to go as far into the interior of our country as he cared to go. We would not have been able to stop him. We are not prepared for that sort of thing. Let us hope that before another such emergency may come upon us we will be in shape to meet it. We were forced into this war contrary to the wishes of the people, contrary to the wishes of the administration ; but we are in it, and there is but one way out of it, and that is to go through and get out at the other end. We cannot get out of the same hole we went into. To do this we must put forth all our strength, industrial strength, military strength, agricultural strength and transportation strength. Upon all these elements our success depends ; not only our national self respect as a nation, but even our exist- ence, our national integrity. We propose to meet this situation by raising, equipping, concentrating and training an army of from one million to two million men. We must transport these men and their equipment and supplies to the points of con- centration and training, later to the points of embarkation, and then to the battlefields in Europe. This is an enormous problem, and requires the most earnest co-operation and effort of all concerned. As citizens, you are interested in the question of obtaining these men. providing their arms, munitions and supplies, and meeting the expense of the undertaking. But it is not of these subjects that I shall address you. As railroad men you are immediately concerned with transporting these 20 ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE men to their concentration camps, transporting supplies, munitions, all sorts of equipment, food, forage, and other things necessary to maintain them dur- ing the period of training, and finally transporting the trained men in large masses to the seaports where they can be embarked for Europe. To accom- plish these things successfully will require the most earnest co-operation of all who are concerned in it. The differences between commercial transportation and transportation for military purposes are largely, in fact, entirely I may say, the consequence of the fact that for the purposes of administration, supply, and handling on the battlefield, military forces are organized into bodies, each unit complete in itself for all purposes, and these smaller units organized into larger units of increasing size until you reach the army, which is the largest body which will be gathered together for any purpose. The smallest units is the company, troop or battery, which is a unit for administrative and tactical purposes. The next is the battalion or squadron the battalion for infantry, artillery and engineers, and the squadron for cavalry which is a unit for fighting and tactical purposes. The next is the regiment composed of three battalions, with the addition of machine guns, headquarters and supply companies, forming a complete administrative and tactical unit. Regiments are formed into brigades, finally into divisions. The division is the great basic unit for supply and tactical purposes. It is the smallest unit embracing all arms, and is composed of infantry, artillery engineers, signal and aero units, and hospital units in short, everything necessary to make a complete fighting force. The division is the unit with which we shall have to deal in connection with the contemplated concentration camps. These camps throughout the Country will be divisional camps. In some camps additional troops will be organized into smaller units, but of these I will not speak at present. For service in the field, divisions are united into army corps, consisting of one or more divisions, with certain auxilliary troops, and corps are combined to form armies. The composition of these various units is lafd down in tables prepared by the War Department, from which I will read : TABLES OF ORGANIZATION. INFANTRY. Officers Men Aggregate Wagons Motorcycles . Horses Mules Machine Guns Company 3 150 153 Battalion Hdq. and 4 Cos. 14 600 614 Regiment Hdq. & Hdq. Co. Machine Gun Brigade Company Hdqs. Supply Co. & 3 Regiments 3 Battalions Medical Medical and Detachments Chaplains 56 172 2002 6021 2058 6193 27 83 ...... 6 69 219 143 437 6 18 ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 21 CAVALRY. Officers Men Aggregate Wagons Motorcycles Horses Mules Machine Guns Officers Men Aggregate Guns Other Artill'y Vehicles Wagons Motorcycles Horses Mules . Officers .... Men Aggregate Wagons .. Horses .... Mules . Regiment, Infantry Regiment, Artillery Regiment, Cavalry Regiment, Engineers Battalion, Signal Division without Trains- Divisions with trains Wagon Division with trains Motor .. Regiment Hdqs. & Brigade Hdqs. Troop Headquarters Squadron Machine Gun and 3 Troop Headquarters Troop Regiments 4 Troops Supply Troop Medical 3 Squadron Detachment Medical and Chaplains Chaplains 3 14 59 181 105 420 1520 4575 108 434 1579 4756 37 113 6 108 435 1541 4635 187 569 6 18 ARTILLERY. Regiment Hdqs. and Brigade Battalion Hdqs. Co. Headquarters Headquarters Supply Co. and Battery and 2 Battalions 3 Regiments 3 Batteries Medical and Medical and Chaplains Chaplains 5 17 47 145 190 570 1294 3885 195 587 1337 4030 4 12 24 72 15 45 94 282 21 65 6 163 492 1127 3393 94 290 ENGINEERS. Regiment Headquarters Battalion and Company Headquarters 2 Battalions 3 Companies Medical and Chaplains 4 14 37 164 499 1061 168 513 1098 27 40 130 292 8 24 161 EQUIPMENT. Standard Tourist Baggage Box Plat Stock Total Sleeper Car Car Car Car Car Cars 2 46 5 lOi 9 12 86 2 31 5 14* 47 68 167 2 37 5 18 13 96 171 2 26 3 10 9 26 76 16136 14 31 35 605 76 175 296 461 1648 41 41 661 663 89 89 230 237 551 676 655 2227 520 2262 Note. The equipment required to move the division and smaller units has been worked out by the officers of the Quartermaster Corps. The figures for some of these units are given in the above table. ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE When you consider that a division must be accompanied by its ammunition, its animals, its forage, its rations, its baggage for the men, its wagons, guns and other vehicles, its various outfits for use in camp, all its supplies that make it independent and able to keep the field, you will realize what a large question of transportation is involved in supplying this division and in moving it from place to place. To move such a body you must have Pullman sleepers for the officers ; tourist sleepers for the men, if they travel by night, or day coaches if they travel by day; baggage cars, freight cars, flat cars, and cattle or stock cars; practically all kinds of equipment used by the railroad except tank cars. Smaller units require equipment in proportion. The transportation problem as presented in this department will deal with units of all sizes, up to the division. The first great problem will be moving the men and material to the various points of concentration. The troops will not be under canvas, but will be in frame buildings with tar paper roofs. It will first be necessary to place quantities of construction material on the site of the camp. The problem will be the ordinary commercial problem of moving large quantities of material. Then will come the problem of moving the men and their equipment to the camp. They will come to the concentration points in units of various sizes. Then we shall have the problem of supplying these men while in camp and finally their movement to the port of embarkation. In the figures I gave you a moment ago for a division, I assumed that the supply wagon would be drawn by animals. It is very probable that motor trucks will be used largely for this purpose. This will add a considerable number of motor trucks, but will reduce the number of animals. You must add the remounts to replace the animals used up during the period, so you will still have approxi- mately 30,000 men and 12,000 animals. Like the movement of materials to the site, the movement of supplies for the troops while in camp will be essentially the same as the commercial problem. It will be simply a question of supplying all the needs of nearly 30,000 men and perhaps 12,000 animals included in the division and its trains. As the division is the units of organization, administration and supply, all passenger and freight movements must be centralized at one receiving and distributing center, under charge of a quartermaster. Here, there must be ample side track facilities, plat- forms for handling passengers and baggage ; elevated platforms for handling freight ramps, for handling animals, with ample getaway arrangements, suitable arrangements for loading and unloading heavy guns and vehicles, and other facilities for the large and varied business that must be handled. The arrange- ment for the facilities will be a question for the quartermaster and construc- tion department. You will also need large quantities of cars of various classes for handling the freight as it comes in. The cars must be placed with considera- tion to convenience in handling the goods from the point where they leave the cars to the points where they will be required and to avoiding confusion and delay. Each class must be unloaded at the proper place. Shipping officers will facili- tate this as far as possible by segregating shipments, and by marking each car with the class that it contains. It is roughly estimated that the regular supplies for a division camp will average at from 300 to 500 tons per day, or from 20 to 30 carloads. On some days the arrivals are likely to run 40 or 50 carloads, or even more. This is for freight alone, and takes no account of troop movements. But it is not so much of this problem, important as it is, that I wish to speak. It is rather, of the movement of troops, in complete units, both during the camp and when the troops move to the point of embarkation after the training period. Here we shall have the greatest problem, the greatest danger of confusion and delay, and the greatest need for careful co-ordination and co-operation by all con- ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 23 cerned. If it were merely a question of transporting so many men, so many horses, and so many pounds of baggage and freight, the problem would not present any serious difficulty to you as railroad men. You would know exactly how to handle it. You would segregate your men in passenger trains and segre- gate your animals in stock trains. You would put your baggage in the baggage cars and your heavy freight in freight trains, and ship them all individually and separately. That, however, is not possible in military movements. Each mili- tary body is a special unit for a special purpose, and equipped for that purpose and that purpose only. It carries exactly what is necessary for that purpose and nothing more. If it is separated even for a short period of time from any part of its equipment, its efficiency suffers. The comany, for example sleeps, eats, drills and trains together as a unit, and gets all of its supplies together. If any of the men are separated from the company there is no convenient way to supply them. If the supplies are separated from the company, ttoere is no convenient way to supply its needs. The battalion is simply a fighting unit. It is composed of four companies because that is the most con- venient number for the purpose. If one company is separated from the battalion it is not as efficient as if all were together. In the same way, a regiment is divided into three battalions for fighting purposes, but the regiment is the administrative or supply unit, and if a battalion is accidentally separated from the regiment it may find itself without its supplies and medical and hospital facilities. The regiment is complete in itself, with its machine guns, mounted scouts, supply wagons and medical officers, all needed for its efficient operation ; and no part of this organization can be left behind without impairment of its efficiency and self-sufficiency. This is true of the other units. Each must "be kept together. The men must be kept together and their equipment must be kept with them. They must have their rifles and ammunition, their animals, their field kits, their supplies and their rations. The cavalry must not be separated from their horses. The artillery must not be separated from their guns. All must have wagons to carry their rations and baggage and animals to draw them and forage for their animals. You will appreciate the necessity of keeping these organizations and their equipment together when you consider that troops in the field carry their homes and all their belongings with them. When they move they must perform their own labor in loading their freight, and in unloading at the other end of the line. The organization commander is both the shipper and the consignee. He must see that the cars are placed, that the property, animals and wagons are loaded, and that the men get on board, and then at the destination he must reverse the operation. For example, consider the movement of the smallest infantry, the com- pany of three officers and 150 men. The company has no wagons regularly assigned to it, but regimental wagons supply the company. For this unit alone, a jbaggage car or two, and three or four coaches or tourist sleepers would be sufficient. This tr'ain would be essentially a passenger train. The tents and bag- gage, equipment, rations, supplies and ammunition would be loaded by the troops, and the men would then be ready to take their places. It is a matter of a few moments only. Arrangements for cooking can be made in part of the baggage car. Consider the movement of a battalion consisting of headquarters and four companies, a total of fourteen officers and six hundred men. You now intro- duce animals and wagons when a battalion is acting as a separate unit. A battalion will have its rations and forage, books and papers, kitchen outfit, am- munition and reserve supplies, horses for mounted officers, and if it is separated from the regiment, its wagons and mules, if any part of this outfit is left behind 24 ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE or goes astray, the battalion will be in difficulties, When the orders come for a move, the commander must arrange through the quartermaster for the necessary cars, for placing them for loading, and for marking on each the proposed con- tents. He must then assign the cars to the different classes of property, have the freight loaded by the troops or by details from the troops, put the horses and wagons on board, and when all is loaded he must put the troops on the cars ready to move. At the destination the process is reversed and the property taken to the camp. As a rule, one train or section will be required for a battalion, composed of day coaches or tourist sleepers for the men, baggage cars, flat cars for the wagons, box cars for the heavy freight, animals and rations, and a kitchen car if such is available. Otherwise a section of the baggage car must be partitioned off for cooking. Day coaches will be needed for the men if the journey is completed in a day, or tourist sleepers if the journey runs through the night. All this equipment should be run in one section, though to the railroad man, accustomed to the separation of traffic, this must seem a strange procedure. Take now a regiment of infantry, consisting of headquarters, three battalions of four companies each, a headquarters company of one officer and fifty-eight men, twenty-six of who are mounted, a machine gun company of four officers and seventy-four men, eleven of whom are mounted, with six machine guns and twenty-four pack mules to handle, and a supply company of two officers and thirty-seven men, eleven of whom are mounted, with twenty-seven wagons and one hundred and twelve draft mules, making a total of 56 officers, 2002 men, 27 wagons, 212 animals, and 6 machine guns, with tents, baggage, rations, am- munition, forage and other miscellaneous property and supplies. At the risk of repeating myself, I will remind you once more that this regiment is a complete unit. It is supplied as a unit. It draws its ammunition as a unit. It draws its forage and rations as a unit. It acts as a unit all the way through. It has everything that is necessary, and everything that it has must be on hand for administrative and supply purposes, and for action. The machine guns, mounts, supply wagons and ambulances must be there for efficient operation. If the food goes astray the men will have nothing to eat. If the tents go astray they will have no place to sleep. They must be provided for. The men cannot be scattered around through boarding houses. The animals cannot be obtained from livery stables, and the men cannot buy ammunition in the hardware stores. Everything they need has got to be with them. For that reason military trains must be mixed trains. They must carry the baggage, food, forage, ammunition and tentage as well as the men. As a rule, it will require from three to five or six trains or sections to carry a regiment ; one section for each battalion, and one possibly more than one for the supply and machine gun companies, animals and wagons. In the movement of the larger bodies, we have more men, more animals, and a greater quantity of baggage and provisions, and the movement becomes more complicated. Picture the situation. Here we have Ihe men in camp, which is their temporary home, with all their equipment, their ammunition, their food, their bedding, their tents, their animals and their wagons. Every- thing is complete. We are to pick this outfit up, load it tin the trains, take it to another part of the country and set it up complete, without unnecessary hard- ship, without unnecessary delay, and without losing any part of the outfit, place the outfit complete in another place ready for business. The commanding officer receives his orders for the move. He prepares his schedule of equipment required and has it placed. He has his baggage packed, his tents taken down and rolled up and makes a list of all packages that are to go, arranges for hauling the property to the loading place, loads it into the cars, or ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 25 makes arrangements to have it loaded, putting in first the articles that will be the last to be needed on arrival, and putting in last the articles that will be needed first ; gets his animals and wagons aboard ; and when all is loaded, he assembles the men and places them in the cars to which they are assigned. On arrival the process is reversed ; the men disembark, take off the animals and wagons, get off the rations which they are going to use immediately, send the tents to the camp, with details to erect them, so that by the time the men unload the rest of the property the camp is well along towards being ready for occupancy. In the other branches of the service the procedure is essentially the same. The cavalry has its horses to take care of, the artillery horses and guns. En- gineers have horses and map and tool wagons, and sometimes a bridge train, consisting of a number of heavy wagons, with pontoon boats and other material used in bridge construction. The signal organizations have their telegraph and telephone carts and their wire reel carts ; the Hospital Corps, their ambulances and equipment for field hospitals and dressing stations; the aero squadrons, their aeroplanes and motor trucks. Provision for handling all these various articles must be made. When you get to a division you will have all these various elements, and, in addition, a large number of animals and wagons, or motor trucks, comprising the division supply, ammunition, sanitary, and engineer trains. Each of these units is essentially complete to perform the functions necessary to the well being of itself and the other portions of the command to which it is attached. If the cavalry is separated from its horses it is unable to perform the func- tions of cavalry; if you separate the artillery from its guns it is useless. To illustrate, there have been cases of artillery being sent into action without any sights for its guns and under these circumstances the use of the guns is simply guess work. Cavalry has been shipped without horses, and thus could be used only as infantry. During the Spanish war the engineers took a bridge train to Cuba, but it went on another vessel and the engineers never did get it until after the war. On some occasions troops armed with one gun found themselves with ammunition for another; their own ammunition had gone astray. Instances of this sort could be multiplied, but it is hardly necessary. I think I have stated to you enough to impress upon you the reasons why in a military movement the men should go with all their equipment and baggage, and the difficulties that are likely to arise if they are separated. We realize that this introduces difficulties in railroad operation, but these difficulties, I am sure, will be met, and less harm will ultimately result than if we attempted to adopt our methods to railroad procedure. The problem of moving a large military command is essentially the same as that of moving a large circus, which, no doubt, you have had ex- perience, and it must be handled in the same way. The division is the basic unit, and it will require a large amount of equipment to handle it. It will have to move from the camp to the port as a unit, or, rather, as an aggregation of smaller units, each complete in itself. The movement will probably take the form of a number of separate and distinct battalion trains or sections, four or five battalion sections making one regiment train, several of which will make up a brigade movement, and several of the latter a division movement. Of course such a movement requires some time to accomplish, but the division will necessarily be transported as rapidly as possible, because when embarkation does occur, large bodies of men will be placed on the docks in the shortest time and shipped with the least possible delay. Each different divi- sion, with infantry, cavalry, artillery, engineers, and other units will be complete as already outlined, with men, horses, guns, ammunition, forage and rations and baggage for them. We cannot send all the wagons, or all the ammunition, or all the rations for the division in one train, because that would separate the 26 ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE articles from the men. It is necessary that each organization be held complete and intact ready for operation. I will not take the time to go into the complete arrangement necessary for handling these men at each camp. These arrangements are a matter for the construction department and the quartermaster's department. But enough has been said to show how complete these arrangements must be and how closely all parties must co-operate to insure their success. To show more fully the army side of this question, I would like to read a few extracts from the regulations of the quartermaster's department, which has charge of all transportation for the army in the rear of the field of operations. When we get to the field of operation, where there are military trains, then we run into the province of the engineers, who have charge of the construction and operation of military railroads beyond the point where the commercial rail- roads reach. The quartermaster will have charge of the transportation over the commercial railroads up to the point where the military roads take over the duty. The first regulation that I will read is one of the statutes of the United States. 3342. In time of war or threatened war preference and precedence shall, upon the demand of the President of the United States, be given over all other traffic to the transportation of troops and material of war, and carriers shall adopt every means within their control to facilitate and expedite the military traffic. And in time of peace shipments consigned to agents of the United States for its use shall be delivered by the carriers as promptly as possible and without regard to any embargo that may have been declared, and no such embargo shall apply to shipments soi consigned. (39 Stat. 604). 3342. In time of actual or threatened hostilities within the theater of opera- tions, the Corps of Engineers has charge of the construction, maintenance and repair of roads, ferries, bridges and incidental structures, and the construction, maintenance and operation of railroads under military control, including the con- struction and operation of armored trains. (A. R. 1493, 1913.) 3441. The movement of troops and their equipment over commercial rail- ways is the function of the Quartermaster Corps who plan and prepare for the move in conformity with regulations and orders from competent authority. (F. R. S. 388, 1914.) 3442. An order for the transportation of troops by rail should designate the shipping Quartermaster when there is any doubt whose duty it is to furnish transportation. In drawing up orders for the movement of troof ^ by rail, the following points should be clearly stated : (a) Date, place of entraining, destination, route to follow. (b) Hours of departure of trains, time at which troops should reach the entraining place, route that they should follow. (c) Details in regard to feeding of troops and watering and feeding of animals en route. (d) Places of assembly near entraining and detraining stations. (e) Schedule showing assignment of troops, animals, and vehicles to dif- ferent trains. Troops will not occupy railway buildings or use the railway facilities or property without authority from trie Railway staff officers. (F. S. R. 400, 1914.) 3445. Two estimates for rail transportation (Q. N. C. Form 469) will or- dinarily be required when organizations are moved by rail. The first is a pre- lininary estimate, giving the shipping quartermaster the data to enable him to order the necessary cars and have them properly placed, and the final one is an exact return of the officers, enlisted men, civilian employees, animals and vehicles. ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 27 Separate estimates are necessarily required for each train section. They should give, in each instance, the following data : (a) Organizations and headquarters. (b) The number of the train section (No. 1 being the first to depart, No. 2 the second, etc.) (c) Destination. (d) Name of train quartermaster. (e) Authority for the movement. (f) The number of officers and enlisted men, separately for each arm and corps, and omitting live stock attendants. (g) The number of Civilian employees, omitting live-stock attendants, (h) The number of live-stock attendants. (i) The number of public mules, public horses, and authorized private horses, separately for each, (j) The number of wagons, ambulances, guns, caissons, and other vehicles, separately for each. (k) The approximate total weight of organization property, household goods and checkable baggage, separately for each of the three items, should also be shown in the preliminary estimate, but not in the final one, such information being then given in the shipping lists and invoices (Pars. 3496 and 3497). 3449. In interdepartmental journeys where haste is essential, the routing and preliminary arrangements for railroad equipment will usually be made direct by the Quartermaster General. The railroads and department and post quarter- masters will be advised of his action. This action will be taken with a view to expediting the supply of equipment, and the local quartermaster will follow the matter to its conclusion and see that the equipment is furnished and placed at the desired point for loading. 3453. In expedited movements bids need not be invited. Preliminary advice should be furnished the carrier orally, or by telephone or telegraph, but in any event a letter of advice will be furnished the carrier. The following sample letter covers the general case : Office of the Quartermaster, ] Fort 1916. J- From : Quartermaster. J To: (Superintendent or Agent) Railway Co. Subject: Transportation. 1. It is requested that the Railroad Company furnish trans- portation from to VIA for approxi- mately the following Officers. Enlisted men. Pounds of freight. Animals. Vehicles. Officers to be furnished one berth each in standard sleeper; the enlisted men to be accommodated three to a section in tourist sleeper. 2. It is estimated that the following equipment will be required : Pullman sleepers section each Tourist sleepers section each Baggage cars with end doors Kitchen cars. Box cars feet long Stock cars feet long Gondola cars feet long with drop end. 28 ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE If tourist sleepers are not readily available, coaches should be substituted on the basis of one man to each double seat, and an endeavor made to secure the tourist sleepers and transfer the man thereto at a convenient place en route. (*See below.) If end door cars are not available, (readily) substitute an equal number of solid-end baggage cars. If drop end gondolas are not readily available, solid-end gondolas will not answer, but an equal number of flat cars should be supplied. 3. It is desired to get the troops under way as soon as practicable, and it is therefore requested that delivery of the equipment be expedited. It is estimated that the first train section will be ready to leave about o'clock, 19...., and will be followed as rapidly as possible by the other sections. 4. It is understood that 150 pounds of personal checkable property per capita belonging to 1 officers and men will be carried free. Sufficient space to be reserved in baggage cars free of charge for subsistence en route. The men to be allowed to take their arms and necessary hand baggage for their journey with them in the passenger cars without charge. All cars to be of standard quality and in good order and sanitary condition ; passenger cars to be properly, watered, f lighted and heated ; stock cars thoroughly cleaned and bedded with clean earth, sand preferred ; all equipment to be placed at point of embarkation in time for inspection before movement; freight cars to be placed in readiness at the most convenient points sufficient in advance of pas- senger cars to admit of the loading of freight and preparations of bills of lading prior to the embarkation of troops. 5. It is requested that this office be notified promptly as to whether or not your company will furnish the above described transportation. In case your company can furnish the transportation, information is also desired as to date and hour equipment will arrive and be ready for use. Upon receipt of this information you will be furnished instructions as to placing of cars and making up of trains. Name Place : *When the approximate time required for the journey is 24 hours or less substitute the following : If tourist sleepers are not readily available, coaches should be substituted on the basis of three men to each two double seats. fin case of long journeys or when weather is excessively warm, request should be made to have extra cans or barrels of drinking water placed on car platforms. For assistance in making up the schedule, the Quartermaster Department issues tables giving the capacity of the various classes of cars, which it is not necessary to introduce here; also detailed instructions for loading freight, artil- lery, carriages, wagons, ambulances, animals and so on. I will pass over these and continue with general regulations. 3458. Whenever organizations are moved by rail with their animals, equip- ment, and material, it is desirable that complete units be kept together in trains divided into convenient train sections. It is preferable to have trains of moder- ate size with good speed rather than long trains with low speed. If it is neces- sary to divide a train, some officers and men will accompany each section. The troops should not be separated from the animals if it can be avoided ; but if the animals are shipped in separate sections selected detachments under officers accompany them, and such sections will precede the troops. 3459. For commands of four companies of Infantry, for one field Battery, for two troops of Cavalry, or larger movements, it is always better to arrange ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 29 for special trains made up to include the freight cars carrying the command's freight. This insures the arrival together at destination of the troops and property of the command, but will retard the movement of the troops themselves, as trains carrying freight cars cannot make the same rate of speed as those com- posed wholly of passenger equipment. Under the. most favorable conditions, a single section of a troop train should not consist of more than 20 cars. Under ordinary conditions a section of a railway train will carry the fol- lowing organizations at war strength: 1 battalion of Infantry, or 2 troops of Cavalry, or 1 battery of Artillery, or 1 company of Engineers with bridge train. 3460. As far as practicable the breaking of military units should be avoided, but as the size of the trains will be left to a great extent to the railroad officials, it will not always be possible to prevent it ; and in case units are to be broken, it is essential that the commanding officers know in advance how their troops are to be carried, in order that arrangements can be made for provisioning and caring for the troops in each section. 3492. The general rule for loading property is to put in first such articles as will not be immediately needed on arrival at destination. The following order should be generally observed in loading: 1. Company property, equipment and supplies not needed in transit (in box cars, locked and sealed by railroad officers prior to departure of train) : Company property. Property of officers and men. Ammunition. Rations. Sanitary stores. Tentage. Cooking utensils. 2. Transportation (on flat cars) : Guns and Artillery Carriages. Pontoons. Wagons, etc. Ambulances. 3. Forage (in box cars). 4. Checkable baggage, rations for use en route, and arms (in baggage and kitchen cars, under guard). 5. Animals (in stock cars). 6. Men (in coaches or sleepers). By this arrangement the articles needed first will be unloaded first. The cars should be allotted, marked and loaded as prescribed. If the organization is to be shipped in two or more sections, see that the proper baggage cars accom- pany each section, so that when an organization arrives in camp its baggage will be with it. At least two men should be in each unsealed car containing baggage or rations. The following paragraphs on Entraining and Detraining Troops are taken from the Field Service Regulations of the United States Army (1914). 393. Loading and Entraining. At the proper time loading is begun and is carried on, usually by the troops, pursuant to the orders of the commander. Heavy property may be loaded by details before the arrival of the troops. Artillery and other carriages are made secure by lashings and by nailing blocks of wood to the flooring under the wheels. The arrival of troops at the station should be timed so that there will be no delay in waiting for cars. When the barrack, camp, or bivouac is not more than 30 ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE a mile from the station, troops are not required to fall in until notice has been received that the cars are at the station and have been inspected and assigned. The command is then marched to the train and the property and animals loaded. The organizations are then marched opposite their cars and entrained. 401. Detraining and Unloading. The train schedule is arranged, when practicable, for arrival at destination in the morning. The troops are notified in time to prepare for detraining. The officers and guard are^the first to leave the cars. The commander meets the staff officer sent to the train, receives instruc- tions, if any, gets his bearing, and orders the troops to detain. As soon as the passenger coaches or sleeping cars are empty, the quartermaster, or a specially designated officer, accompanied by the conductor, if practicable, makes an inspec- tion of the cars and notes their condition ; the result is reported to the com- mander. The troops procure their field kits and march to camp without delay, leaving suitable details to unload and bring up the property. If the camp is distant, arms are stacked, and a part or all of the command unloads the train. The instructions to the commanders and to the quartermasters are quite in detail and quite complete, as already indicated by the extracts I have read from the quartermaster's instructions. Essentially, however, they are based on the principles to which I have already referred ; that is, the organizations must be kept intact ; and that all their property, supplies, animals, and ammunition must be kept with them. All must go together as complete units. Regiments may be divided into battalion units. Battalion units may be divided into company units, but the company must be complete. However you sub-divide them, the subdivi- sion must be complete in all respects as far down as you go. I will say again that from the largest army aggregation, which is the division, to the smallest, each one must be complete in itself. The successful handling of such a movement as this, with the large bodies of men now under consideration, will be a large question of transportation, and upon the success of the measures taken for this purpose will depend very largely the success of the movement. To make it a success will require the best effort and the most earnest co-operation of all concerned. The military authorities feel that they can count on this co-operation from all connected with the railroad service. It is the common cause of the American people. We are working in one way to perform one part of the work, and you are working in another way to perform another part of the work. We are all working for one purpose, and I am sure that we can count on you, on all your men, and on all men like you, to carry out these operations to a successful conclusion. Some regulations may seem different from what you are accustomed to, and the service may seem hard and strenuous, but we know that whatever may be the call that you will rise to it, and we are going to carry this thing through in all its details. I thank you, gentlemen. Mr. G. L. Candler : In explanation, Col. Ladue, we are gathered here, as it is our custom to do periodically, to discuss questions connected with the every day operation of the line we represent. There are representatives here from all departments of our company, and on the part of each one of them, and on the part of the management, I desire to extend to you our sincere thanks for the very interesting and very instructive address you have given. I am sure that we will profit by it. I simply want to give you the full assurance that the Central of Georgia Railway Company is going to give you the heartiest co-operation. We are too old to bear arms, most of us are, but if it is necessary we will do that. We do know that there are some things that we can do, whatever we are called upon to do, we are going to do our very best. We have here at Macon what we call ample ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 31 and modern facilities ; also, shops, car shops and yards, and if i^ is convenient while you are here, and we hope you will find it convenient, we waht y0u to visit those facilities and see what they are worth. We again thank you for the trouble you have taken in coming here to address us. I know we will all profit by it, and I hope you will find it convenient to remain with us throughout the session. Mr. L. W. Baldwin : I would like to say a word of appreciation. We have not appreciated what an enormous 'job it was, enormous piece of work, enormous undertaking, to move a division. I think some of us now fail to appreciate it, simply because the figures are so large that we have not been able to absorb them, and the task is so big that we have not figured out individually how we can per- form it. I want to say further that I am sorry that every officer and every em- ployee of the Central of Georgia did not have the same opportunity of hearing your address that we have had. I want to> repeat what Mr. Candler has said, that all of us individually and collectively are for the government, and we are, each and every one of us, anxious to do our best. The reason I am particularly sorry that all of the rest of the men could not have heard you is because I know that we have men that want to do their best. We have been discussing yesterday and today things in connection with the operation of our railroad. We spent a considerable time yesterday discussing the matter of handling freight. We were complaining at some length, collectively and individually, because we lost a box of books, but when we hear your address and hear of the loss of bridge trains, we feel that we were partially successful in losing only a box of books. We think that your address, more than any one thing, has impressed this body with the fact that we have got to fix the small things before we are called upon to perform the large things that we will be called upon to perform. I want to take this occasion to say that I feel perfectly safe in assuring you that every employee of the Central of Georgia Railway Company, individually and collectively, is prepared to do his duty, whatever it may be. THE DIVISION Q Officers Men Head- uarters 27 123 3 153 5 Infantry 3 Brigades 516 18,063 Artillery 1 Brigade 145 3,885 Cavalry Engineers Signal I Regl- 1 Bei- 1 Bat- nient raent talion 59 37 14 1,520 1,061 245 Aero Squadron 19 154 Total Troops 817 25,051 3 25,871 399 72 32 51 12 Aggregate Division & Trains (Wagon) 907 27,346 3 28,256 1,009 75 79 64 12 48 323 6,846 4,875 92 Aggregate Division & Trains (Motor) 909 27,422 3 28,334 493 75 661 106 12 48 320 6,713 2,587 92 Civilian clerks A ggregate ...... \Vagons 18,579 249 4,030 65 72 1,579 1,098 259 37 27 16 173 Guns Motor cars and trucks Motorcycles .... Aeroplanes 6 21 26 6 12 18 6 Ambulances Other carriages 282 3,393 290 24 "12 306 6,229 2,022 72 Horses 130 20 687 1,311 54 1,541 292 186 187 161 53 6 Mules Machine Guns In round numbers, 30,000 men and 12,000 animals. The division may have either the wagon trains, or the may have part wagons and part motor trains. The Right Way Magazine. motor trains, but not both. Or It UPIN19N World thinks ROADS PREPARE FOR WAR CRISIS. Transportation Chiefs Discuss Means of Overcoming Car Shortage The railroads of the United States, not broken down but literally swamped with business, will be able to meet the great crisis which will come in the fall, when crops are moved and troops are being handled only if there is the clos- est co-operation between the railroads and shippers. This was the consensus of opinion of speakers at a joint luncheon yesterday of representatives of the Chicago As- sociation of Commerce, Illinois Manu- facturers' Association, Traffic Club of Chicago, American Railway Association, commission on car service, Chicago com- mittee, central manufacturinng district and many railway officials at the Hotel LaSalle. Suggest Many Remedies The transportation men were brought together to discuss the problem of "making one freight car do the work of two." The general sentiment was that if conservation is employed the situation will be met. The remedies suggested were loading and unloading cars prompt- ly, loading and buying full car capacity loads, and the ordering only of enough cars to take care of the needs of the shipper. What the roads have already done, with the co-operation of shippers, was told by Samuel O. Dunn, editor of the Railway Age Gazette, who declared that there was no problem so vital at this time as conservation of railroad equip- ment. "Here is the situation," he said. "Sta- tistics and they don't lie show that on May 1 there was a shortage of 148,627 cars. On June 1 that had been reduced to 105,000, or by 30 per cent, and this took place in spite of an increase in business. This shortage is phenomenal. The largest previous shortage on June 1 was 8,000 cars, and that was in 1907. Tells Cause of Shortage "The transportation situation today is due to two things the inadequacy of increase in railway facilities and to a wholly unprecedented increase in traffic. To increase facilities now is impossible. The railroads cannot get more than 100,- 000 cars which they ordered because the manufacturers are simply swamped with orders of various kinds. "The roads will not be able to handle all the business offered them this fall, but there is one class of business that cannot wait, and that is w'ar business. It must move. We will all have to make sacrifices, and how big these will be from the transportation viewpoint depends upon the officers of the government, the railroads and the shippers combined. "But if the problem is to be met it must be solved by railroad men. There is an efficient committee now in charge and they must work unhampered. If the transportation system falls into the hands of politicians it will surely break down. The government must keep its hands off and co-operate to the fullest extent." Big Ton Mileage Mr. Dunn submitted figures to show that in the fiscal year 1916 the roads of the country carried 340,000,000,000-ton miles, an increase of 66,000,000,000 32 ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 33 over 1915 and of 42,000,000,000 over any previous year. In the first four months of 1916 freight earnings were $790,000,000 , while in the first four months of 1917 they were $853,000,000, an increase of 8 per cent and the largest traffic ever handled. To handle this traffic there was an increase of only forty-six locomotives and 11,000 freight cars. It was attained by increase in the train load from 637 to 703 tons and the freight car load from 24 to 26.4 tons. To indicate the burden that railroads may expect when troops begin to move and army supplies are being sent for- ward, he pointed out that war time in- creased the business of the English rail- roads over 50 per cent and those of the French 100 per cent. Have Cars Enough J. F. Porterfield, general superinten- dent of transportation of the Illinois Central Railroad, declared that there are 2,575,000 freight cars in the country and that there is no question that this will be sufficient if conservation becomes a reality. He said the Chicago switching district presents one of the biggest prob- lems of the war. "The Illinois Central has already tak- en great strides," he said. "We have increased our car miles from twenty-six to forty-four per day, an increase of 69 per cent, and our load from twenty-five to twenty-seven tons per car. Our bad orders have been reduced to 5.1 per cent, against 9.6 per cent two years ago. This saving is immeasurable. H. C. Barlow of the Chicago Associa- tion of Commerce, recently appointed a member of the division of car service of the interstate commerce commission, said that the carrying capacity must be largely increased. He said that cars should be loaded to 110 per cent of marked capacity and that the practice of the roads of taking part loads should be discontinued. He said four cars should now do the work of five. New "Rule of Three" "There are three' big things to be done," he said. "First, unload cars at once and don't wait for free time to ex- pire. Second, load promptly. Third, load to the visible carrying capacity. "Transportation facilities have not broken down. We have simply flooded them. But they will break down if we fail to help with all our might. We won out last winter by all pulling together, but now the problem portends even greater. The very safety of the country may be jeopardized if we don't pull to- gether. Let us fight Germany during the war and her alone and forget the troubles which have arisen between the railroads and shippers. F. B. Montgomery of the Interna- tional Harvester Company, presided at the luncheon, and among other speakers were D. I. Forsyth, vice-chairman of the car service commission of the Amer- ican Railway Association, and W. S. Bode, vice-president of Reid, Murdoch & Co. I. C. OFFICIALS PLAN CONSER- VATION WEEK To Reduce Damage and Expedite Freight Shipments. 150 ATTEND CONFERENCE General Superintendents, Trainmas- ters and Agents Plan Co-operative Campaign to Promote Greater Shipping Efficiency That the general superintendents, trainmasters, freight conductors and agents are responding enthusiastically to the appeal of President Wilson and Food Demonstrator Herbert Hoover for the conservation of food and the more efficient handling of freight during the period of war was patriotically manifest- ed in the deliberations of more than 150 officials of the Illinois Central Railroad, who met at the Hotel Chisca yesterday to discuss loss and damage and to plan a more systematic co-operation to bring about more efficient service. The conference was featured by the discussion of all problems relating to loss and damage to freight, both as to car load and less than car load lots. 34 ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE The loss and damage to freight throughout the nation is staggering when considered from a standpoint of outlin- ing a general campaign for conservation of foodstuffs. By the perfecting of a more efficient and systematic plan for handling foodstuffs over the railway freight lines, a great improvement could be wrought, especially at this time when all the food forces are needed by the government for our consumption as well as doing our bit toward feeding our allies. Officials were urged by the speakers who addressed the conference at both the morning and afternoon sessions to get together so as to furnish better car service, so when the company is called upon to transport foodstuffs for the gov- ernment that there will be no delays. To render any big service they were told that waste must be overcome, and the thousands of tons of foodstuffs entrust- ed to the company for shipment must be handled with a minimum of loss or dam- age. Other meetings will be held at later dates to school the employes of the com- pany in the plans discussed at the con- ference yesterday. Officials of the Y. & M. V. Railroad and other railroads have held and are planning to hold simi- lar conferences so as to effect improve- ment on all roads in the country. Dele- gates to the meeting were instructed to take the food conservation gospel home and preach it to every employe of the road in their respective jurisdictions. The conference was called by L. A. Downs, general superintendent of the southern division of the Illinois Central. All the delegates were from the south- ern division. Interest was added to the meeting by the attendance of several offi- cials from the northern division. Among the prominent superinten- dents, trainmasters, conductors and agents attending the meeting were L. A. Downs, general superintendent, New Orleans : I. L. East, loss and damage bureau. Chicago ; T. E. Hill, superinten- dent, Louisville ; J. M. Egan, superin- tendent, Fulton ; A. D. Caulfield, super- intendent. Water Valley, Miss. ; G. E. Patterson, superintendent, McComb City, Miss. ; F. T. Mooney, superintendent, New Orleans ; W. H. Bartlett, agent, Louisville; J. T. Donovan, agent, Pa- ducah ; G. E. Galloway, agent, Dyers- burg, Tenn. ; C. B. James, trainmaster, Louisville ; J. B. Thomas, trainmaster, Paducah; A. W. Ellington, trainmaster, Jackson, Tenn. ; H. B. Dezonia, train- master, Fulton ; W. H. Petty, trainmas- ter, Durant, Miss. ; E. Bodamer, train- master, Fulton ; H. P. Campbell, train- master, McComb City, Miss. ; L. Grimes, master mechanic, Jackson, Miss. ; B. Herring, agent, Memphis ; J. E. Rhodes, agent, Evansville, Ind. ; J. D. Ladd, agent, Cairo ; J. L. Morgan, agent, Jackson, Miss. ; F. B. Wilkerson, agent, Jackson, Tenn. ; J. W. Cousins, agent, New Orleans ; A. E. Ccaife, dock agent, New Orleans, and others. Memphis Commercial Appeal, July n, 1917. RAILROAD HEADQUARTERS Decision of officials of the Illinois Central railroad to locate headquarters of one of two grand divisions of all lines in the city of Waterloo will cause pride and felicitation in the mind of every resident of the community. It would be overstepping to say that the best road in the middle west has chosen the best city in the same territory for grand headquarters, but it truthfully may be said that a good road, under pro- gressive management, has selected a good town, progressive in every way, for such headquarters. Waterloo people will, of course, welcome this addition to her working forces and there will not be lacking upon the part of citizens every effort to make the larger relations with the railroad officials pleasant and profit- able. The move on the part of the railroad is one to secure greater efficiency, and in these days when economy and efficien- cy count as they never counted before in the industrial and financial fields, it is no light distinction that Waterloo was selected for headquarters without so- licitation from individuals, corporations ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 35 or commercial organizations. Waterloo was selected on merit alone. While there is opportunity here to blow Waterloo's horn, let us be content with expression of the hope that in later years officials of the Illinois Central will have cause to increasingly commend the foresight of those responsible for the move now about to be consummated. Waterloo has great cause to appreciate the Illinois Central Railroad Company, or what is now known by that title. The Dubuque & Sioux City Railroad was the first line into the village of Waterloo. Trains were running into the town in the fall of 1860, and this was after three previous attempts to secure railroad fa- cilities had failed ignominiously. Later the Dubuque & Sioux City line was ex- tended west and still later north, all branches in after years coming to be known as the Illinois Central Railroad, with a system placed among the import- ant transportation arteries of the coun- try. It was the Illinois Central, too, that gave to Waterloo her first permanent industrial plant, the shops which are to- day so large a part of the industrial fab- ric of the Factory City. The shops and it may be mentioned they are now among, if not the most important on the entire system were removed from Dubuque to Waterloo in the late fall of 1870. No one now attempts to place a definite intrinsic value on the shops, yards and property of the Illinois Cen- tral in Waterloo. This road also has been foremost in every improvement which has tended for the permanency of a better and bigger Waterloo, and a comparison of its sta- tion facilities with those of the other steam roads in this city is_only one in- dication of the Illinois Central's interest in the welfare and convenience of the public. Until the superintendent to be placed in charge of the Waterloo headquarters arrives it is impossible to give details of improvements or changes which will be made ; but there is every reason for assurance that such improvements and changes will redound, indirectly, at least, to the benefit of Waterloo and sustain- ing territory. Waterloo Evening Cour- ier and Reporter, Saturday, July 28, 1917. AN URGENT APPEAL TO ALL SHIPPERS President Taylor, of the Board of Trade, Calls Attention to the Im- portance of Prompt Loading and Unloading of Freight Cars in This Territory To the shippers of the Jackson Trade Territory : The authorities at Washington have issued an earnest appeal to the shippers throughout the country to give prac- tical assistance in the relief of freight traffic congestion by speeding up the loading and unloading of cars. This is a matter of vital importance to the business men of Jackson, and I sincerely hope that all shippers will give it their serious consideration and en- deavor to comply with the request of the federal authorities. The prompt loading and unloading of freight cars inevitably means more cars for service, and within the next few months this portion of the south will have urgent need for a maximum sup- ply of cars to move our food crops and cotton crop to market. There is a national crisis in this ques- tion, and every shipper must bring it home to himself in order that we may reach a satisfactory solution. I want to earnestly urge on the ship- pers of Jackson and surrounding terri- tory to the vital importance of unload- ing promptly all cars received, and load- ing promptlv all outgoing cars, releasing them immediately to the railroads. It is equally important that cars be loaded to the maximum capacity. In- tensive shipping will help greatly in re- lieving the car shortage, and buyers should order so as to fill a car to the maximum when possible. In many in- stances buyers can club together to make full capacity cars. This is a war measure, and the busi- 36 ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE ness organizations throughout the coun- try have been asked by the federal au- thorities to give their assistance in carrying it into effect. The Board of Trade feels sure that the patriotic busi- ness men in this part of Mississippi will give prompt co-operation, not only as a matter of patriotism, but for their own benefit. Within the next few weeks the move- ment of government troops and sup- plies will commence, and the railroads of the United States will then be put to the most severe test in their history. It is the earnest desire of the government to accomplish this work of mobilization with the least possible disturbance to general business conditions, but it can- not be accomplished unless business men throughout the country give their co-operation in the manner I have out- lined. S. J. TAYLOR, President. Jackson (Miss.} Daily News, July 16, 1917. HELPS THE RAILROADS There is nothing more creditable in the war efforts of this country, either private or public, than the course of ac- tion taken by the railroads under the leadership of Daniel Willard of the Bal- timore & Ohio, acting as chairman of the advisory committee of national defense; Fairfax Harrison of the Southern Rail- way, chairman of the railway war board, and other leading railway men. First among the basic industries, as Mr. Hyde points out, the railways pooled their issues and yielded themselves to this central management, which is working from Washington in close co-operation with the government. The value of this as an example cannot be overestimated; but the substantial results already accom- plished, as outlined by Mr. Hyde, are encouraging. This is patriotism, as practical as it is devoted. It deserves our gratitude, but it deserves more than that. It deserves co-operation, and especially, we believe, this co-operation is needed in the mat- ters of car shortage. This is perhaps the most serious factor of the problem with which these men are struggling. With the tremendous needs of war sup- ply added to the normal needs of our industry and commerce, the transport system is called upon to expand its fa- cilities to the utmost limit of their pos- sibilities. We have not nearly enough cars and we cannot create enough to meet conditions as they develop. We cannot create cars. But we can make each car do more than it ever has the consignee gets ready to unload them done before. We have a wasteful habit of keeping loaded cars on sidings while at his leisure. A large amount of time and therefore a large part of the effi- ciency of cars are thrown away by this carelessness. We must all speed up now. In Germany, we understand, only six hours are given for unloading cars. We ought to do at least as well. If it 1 is necessary there will have to be legis- lation on this subject, but we hope it will be unnecessary through the entire co- operation of shippers in keeping the cars moving. The man or concern that holds a freight car a minute longer than is nec- essary is shirking a clear and important public duty. Public spirit and even self- interest now dictates the strictest and most wholehearted co-operation with the able men in charge of transportation. If this comes about promptly through the enlightened initiative of shippers, it will go far toward removing the danger of freight congestion and food or fuel famine in this country and toward help- ing America to become a real factor in winning the war against German mili- tary autocracy. Tribune, Wednesday Morning, July 25, 1917. WHO BROUGHT THE RAIN? A Few I. C. Railroad Men Should Receive Credit As the drouth has been broken, due credit should be given as to how it came about, several railroad men being di- rectly interested. "Jack" Bevans and "Jeff" Harrell earnestly prayed for it and so it came. Thos. Moore, the con- ductor, saw the rain in sight when John Watson's celebrated spring and rain- ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 37 maker at Arcola failed to bubble, and pulled the train in the rain, while Ed Barnes, tallest of the bunch, gave the bell rope an extra pull and the blessed rain came. Grant O Lord only had to silently repeat his name and it came in torrents, and it took Billy Moales with his gentle "all aboard" voice, to have it cease. "Bill" Trafton says it rains on the "just and the unjust," and as Roseland people are classed among the just, should have had the rain, while the affable Bowles said it was more than "dew." Conductor Louizenhiser said it was "bone-dry" up in Mississippi but show- ers came at last, in time to save the gar- dens of Dick Robbins, Wes Brown, and a few others in McComb. We haven't heard from Charley Clem- ents, but the "Merry Widow" runs so swift we guess he can keep dry and out of the rain. All jokes aside, the rain was a God- send and the people in general are thank- ful for it. as it did so much good in an opportune time. The Roseland i^La.) Herald, July 73, EMBARGOES ON EXPORT TRAFFIC The following notice of federal em- bargoes on export traffic has just been telegraphed to all railroads by the car service commission of the American Railway Association : "Pursuant to the proclamation of President Wilson, dated July 9, barring certain exports except under federal li- cense, railroads are directed to place telegraphic embargo, effective immedi- ately, against all shipments of coal, coke, feed, grain, flour and meal therefrom, fodder, meat and fats, fuel oils, kero- sene, gasoline, pig iron, steel, billets, ship plates, structural shapes, scrap iron and steel ferro-manganese, fertilizers, arms, ammunition, explosives, consigned, re- consigned, to be reconsigned or intended for export, except when bill of lading is presented with federal license number furnished or authorized by export coun- cil at Washington, and according to an- nouncement of Department of Com- merce, together with permit number au- thorized by the port delivery road. ^"Arrangements have been made under which all shipments consigned to points in Canada can go forward as hereto- fore, special licenses covering same having been issued through the customs service. "It is suggested that port lines pro- tect against accumulations at ports by placing such embargo as may be nec- essary against cars in transit. All port lines should immediately inaugurate per- mit system covering all export traffic." Chicago Examiner, July 14, MAKING THE FREIGHT CARS WORK The railroad war board estimated that by heavier loading of cars and quicker repairs of all rolling stock, it was pos- sible to increase the efficiency of the rail- ways by an amount equal to the addition of 779,000 freight cars. The roads show that in the month of April, they have already effected a saving on these lines equal to an increase of 126,000 cars, and are going hopefully forward with the programme. Most of the gain made thus far has been through the heavier loading of cars, and there is room for much greater economy in this direction. The cutting out of delays in yards is another. Speed- ing up on the road is still another. The Illinois Central has made an astounding increase in the mileage of its average freight car. A few years ago, that car moved only twenty-three miles per day. Now, it is moving forty miles. Plans have been worked out whereby coal shipments are pooled, trade names of special brands of coal discarded, and a saving of 133,000 cars made possible in this one item. Chicago Journal, July 16, 1917. Public Meeting Traffic and Transportation Bureau, New Orleans Association of Commerce New Orleans Committee Commission on Car Service with Shippers and Receivers of Cars. July 2, 1917 \/f EETING was called to order with Mr. Samuel W. Weis, chairman Traffic and Transportation Bureau, New Orleans Association of Commerce, pre- siding, who addressed the meeting as follows : "The question of car service is one of vital importance to all of us, now that we are heart and soul in this war. It must be apparent that unless we can get the greatest possible efficiency out of our railroads to carry ammu- nitions and food supplies to the ports to be shipped not only to the allies, but to take care of our own men, that our efforts to assist the allies will be a failure. Then there is another phase of it, the question of moving domestic supplies. "The Association of Commerce, through the Traffic and Transportation Bureau, realizing the importance of this matter, issued not long ago a circular, copies of which have been distributed, calling attention of all shippers of New Orleans to this matter. We have mailed out quite a few of these cir- culars, perhaps we have not reached all interests, but we hope we have. Mr. L. A. Downs, chairman, New Orleans Committee, Commission on Car Service is here to talk to you on this subject, and after he tells you what he wants to say the matter will be thrown open for general discussion, and if we can evolve any additional plans that will educate the shipping public in New Orleans toward the economic use of cars then this meeting will have served its purpose ; if we can do nothing more, however, we can discuss it and exchange our views and educate ourselves on it. I thank you." Mr. Downs then took the floor and spoke as follows: "Gentlemen, I will preface my remarks with the statement this com- mittee is not a committee of the railroads, it is a committee appointed by the Council on National Defense through the American Railway Associa- tion, having as its branch the transportation end of the United States Government. There have been out on this committee, railroad men on ac- count of their experience in operating, as it would hardly do to pick men who have not had experience in railroading for a committee of this kind, therefore, the committee of which I have the honor to be chairman, rep- resents the people of the United States Government, if you may permit, and not the railroads. I desire to emphasize this that you shippers and receivers of cars may understand you have as much interest in this committee as the railroads, that this is an impartial tribunal, created solely for the purpose of assisting in the uplifting of the transportation facilities of these United States, to make them durable enough to stand the strains of the extraordinary demands of war conditions, and as such, expects and will exact large measures of co- operation from railroads and shippers and receivers. "The chief purpose of this committee is to assist in making the present freight car supply meet the abnormal demand, and it feels confident the shippers and receivers of New Orleans will respond as heartily to the sug- gestions it offers to attain this end as they did to the other requests of their government to buy war bonds and subscribe to the Red Cross. The traffic of the United States has increased by leaps and bounds dur- ing the past several years. A few years ago the balance of trade in favor 39 40 ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE of the United States was something like 263,000,000.00; last year it was 3,180,000,000.00. Now that the United States no longer is a neutral, but a combatant, its railroads will not only be expected to transport the importa- tions and exportations constituting the balance of trade, which it is reason- able to suppose will increase in a greater ratio, but they must also stand up under the enormous increases in traffic which will be created by the move- ment of United States troops and supplies and establishment of training camps, transportation far more intensive than the ordinary. If, before these United States were embroiled, the railroads were unable to meet the demands of transportation, if they then failed as so many have said, superhuman efforts are now necessary that these arteries of the nation's life may be able to perform their functions. The most powerful factor in achieving this is the freight car, and the conservation of it is the principle object of this committee and similar com- mittees installed at all strategic commercial points throughout the United States by the Council on National Defense through the American Railway Association. The railroads of the United States own 2,500,000 freight cars. The car shortage as of May 1st was 150,000 cars, which is less than one tehth of one per cent. The average tonnage capacity of these 2,500,000 cars, is forty tons, eighty thousand pounds, the average weight now loaded in these 2,500,000 cars by the shippers of the United States, including the railroads, is seventeen tons, thirty-four thousand pounds, in other words, of the tonnage capacity of these 2,500,000 cars the shippers utilize only forty-three per cent, wasting fifty-seven per cent. Therefore, is it not as clear as the noon-day sun that the first step to- wards the elimination of the apparent car shortage is intensified loading. If by comprehensive co-operation between railroads and shippers there is gained a general increase of ten per cent more tonnage in cars we will have added to the car stock 250,000 cars, almost twice as many cars as the shortage of May 1st. The second step is quicker loading and unloading. The present aver- age is four days per car consumed by shippers and consignees in loading and unloading. If by comprehensive co-operation between shippers and receivers and railroads this average loading and unloading detention can be reduced fifty percent you readily see what an addition will be made to the car supply. Bringing the question right home, I do not believe it is asking too much of our good New Orleans people, in fact it is a modest request, to subscribe 10,000 cars annually to the common stock. I feel certain there will be an over-sub- scription, just the same as there has been to the war bonds and the Red Cross. This allotment is made merely for the purpose of giving you something to sur- pass. There are loaded in New Orleans annually about 100,000 cars, exclusive of bananas and merchandise and imports, close to 9,000 cars per month. The commodities are principally Sugar, Alcohol, Lard Compound, Petroleum Products, Cotton Seed Products, Bags and Bagging, Fertilizer, Molasses, Ma- hogany Lumber, Coffee, Rice, Cypress Lumber, and to enable you to see clearly the little exertion required to save 10,000 cars annually in this loading, I call marked attention to the present average tonnage capacity per car utilized in the loading of these commodities : Percent. Sugar 56.54 Coffee 55.75 Alcohol in barrels .. ....40.72 ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 41 Lard Compound 37.26 Petroleum Products 39.96 Cotton Seed Products 42.20 Bags and Bagging 47.28 Fertilizer ....,.., 72.63 Molasses 53.40 Mahogany Lumber 53.57 Rice 64.44 Cypress Lumber 57.73 An average of about fifty percent of the tonnage capacity per car. In passing I must favorably comment on the average on fertilizer. This aver- age on fertilizer is made possible by the splendid judgment displayed by one shipper, who loaded on one railroad an average of 86 percent and on another 106 percent. It is realized that this loading in a great measure is controlled by trade units and railroad minima, for which neither the railroads nor the shippers nor the receivers are to blame. We think it is properly chargeable to custom, but this is not the time for traditions; what we would like to do is to disregard these minima and by appeals to the patriotism of our countrymen cause them to cast away trade units, in order that we will be untrammelled in making every car of the 2,500,000 in the United States do a car's work and not, as at present, less than half a car for the country at large and half a car for New Orleans. We know what can be done if everybody fixes their minds on intensified load- ing, as we have demonstrated this with our car conservation work with the American Sugar Refinery. We began here as all the railroads are represented at that plant by a joint agent. The results have been beyond our expectations, due principally to the whole-hearted co-operation of the refinery management. In the beginning the average car capacity tonnage utilized was 56 percent and we have raised it to 85 percent, notwithstanding the light minima of 30,000 pounds and the small trade unit of 100 barrels and 400 sacks. As before stated, the second step in car conservation is quicker loading and unloading. There are no difficulties in the way of accomplishing this. Let us make up our minds to speed up a little all around. If more warehouse room is required, get it ; if more tracks are needed, construct them ; if labor is insufficient, put on more labor ; if teams are too few, add to them. And, gentlemen, in making these suggestions we are not unmindful of the shortcomings of the railroads. We want you to feel that this Committee is not discriminative ; it is after the railroads for their shortcomings in the actual handling of cars just as much as it is after the individual who loads and unloads the cars. The circular issued by the Association of Commerce, a copy of which has been distributed among those present, describes fully what we are after. The enthu- siasm in the subject indicated by the attendance assures me that there will be that comprehensive co-operation which spells success." There then ensued a full and free discussion among the various shippers, some of the remarks being enumerated below : Mr. W. W. Ingalls, traffic manager, Penick & Ford, stated his company in- tended printing in an attractive form a little slip showing what they have accom- plished in the way of heavier loading of cars, an embodying in same some of the ideas in Mr. Weis' circular, sending same out with each of their invoices and bills of lading. Mr. Weis -said: "It seems to me we all could get together, railroads and ship- pers, and if railroads find right here in New Orleans that any shippers are either unnecessarily delaying cars or not loading them out to average good capacity, 42 ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE that it be brought to the attention of this Bureau and we will act in an advisory way by going to these shippers and saying to them that they are doing an un- patriotic thing in delaying cars or not giving them the proper load, and we will also expect the railroads to do their share and increase their car mileage as much as they can." Mr. Downs, in answer to Mr. Weis, explained that his committee was not a railroad committee, but a committee on national defense and if there was any- thing connected with the railroads that could be suggested his committee would go after it. i> { Mr. Benedict of the Dunbar Molasses Company stated he represented an in- dustry located on the Public Belt Railroad, and it was his thought it would be a great help to the railroads if they would go back to the "Pick Up" arrangement, explaining that while some of the railroads do pick up for one another, others have lost a good deal of business by refusing to pick up cars. Mr. Downs in answer to this, stated for the information of Mr. Benedict and the others present, that the railroads again had inaugurated the Pick Up ar- rangement and were now picking up for one another. Mr. Benedict then suggested as a car saver the double loading of shipment. Mr. Downs then asked him if there was any railroad in New Orleans that re- fused to double load. He replied the Southern Railway. Mr. Downs then asked if there was a representative of the Southern Railway present and Mr. W. S. Bender, secretary to Mr. T. F. Steele, General Executive Agent, Southern Railway, stated that they had issued instructions to all of their agents to double load wherever practicable. Mr. Samuel T. DeMilt, President, New Orleans Steamship Association, gave a very interesting talk as follows : "Mr. Chairman, regardless of good records or bad records in the past with respect to transportation companies or shippers, I believe it is absolutely necessary that we lend our best efforts toward improving this situation. If every shipper or consignee will do his part I do not think there will be any fault to find with the railroads, because it is absolutely essential that they use all their efforts toward obtaining heavier loading. As a steamship man I represent two lines out of New Orleans and receive a great many carloads of staple goods, such as Rice, Flour, Fertilizer and Lumber. I will undertake to point out to every shipper that we do business with the necessity, for their own good as well as our own, ,of loading every car they send to us to its utmost capacity, for these reasons which I think I can make plain to you : There is hardly a steamer which we dispatch from this port which does not shut out anywhere from five to fifteen carloads of freight, because on the last day or two of loading the cars come rolling in so fast it is a physical impossibility for the railroads to deliver them with the facilities we have. For example, we have a siding that will hold twelve cars loaded. On the average these cars contain about twenty five to thirty tons, say 50,000 to 60,000 pounds, and almost every one of them have a capacity from 80,000 to 100,000 pounds, shippers could, therefore, increase the efficiency of that one track fully 50% by loading their cars heavier, and it is not because they have not freight enough to pack to fill the cars, but because of an old custom they do not load them to about more than one half of their capacity. A 50% increase in the efficiency of that one track would cause much better movement, no delays and no shut outs. I feel that practically every other steamship line in New Orleans is in the same situation that we are. They would all like to get their cargoes in fewer cars, because they know with fewer cars they will have less switching service. So that I think that every one of us here and all those who can be communicated ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 43 with ought to make it their business to urge upon our friends in the interior, who I believe are not as alive to the situation as we are at the port, to load their cars to their utmost capacity. We have very few flour shippers who do not have at least from four to six or ten carloads for each steamer, and when I say carload they usually load 50,000 pounds and could just as well load 80,000 or 90,000 pounds in the same car and increase the efficiency here at New Orleans. All of these loaded cars while above the minimum weight as shown in tariff create an enormous amount of extra switching on account of tHe Public Belt Railroad, and extra train service, so my suggestion is .that we carry out individually, for each steamship man to take up with every man he is doing business with, this important question at once and urge upon him the necessity, not only for the purpose of helping his own business along, but from patriotic motives, or any other motives that we can bring to bear upon it, of having these cars loaded more heavily. It can be done just as well as not and I am sure our railroad friends will do everything they can to assist us in that direction." Mr. Roy Terrell, Vice President, Gulf Coast Lines, suggested that the Traffic & Transportation Bureau of the Association of Commerce circularize the steamship agents along the lines as outlined by Mr. De Milt, whereupon the Secretary was instructed accordingly. Mr. B. M. Flippin, Assistant Traffic Manager, Missouri Pacific Railway, stated the greatest obstacle in the way of heavier loading is the trade unit, take for instance cotton, why not increase this to 75 bales. Mr. Weis, in reply to Mr. Flippin, said : "I will say, in reply to that proposition, which is one that has given us consider- able concern, that we had a great deal of trouble in shipping cotton to the Eastern Mills this spring, because of an arbitrary regulation that the Eastern roads put into practice that they would not accept a car with less than 60 bales cotton in it. If the difficulty in changing the trade unit to anything not divisible by 100 is this: If I sell cotton for future delivery, say 500 bales; this is the month of July and I am offering October delivery cotton. I have not got that cotton, it is not grown, still I may sell it to the mill and buy futures for it. Now, with a 75 bale unit I could not protect myself, and whatever you work out, in order not to stop that hedging business, you must make the trade unit the multiple of a 100. I think it advisable for the cotton men to get together on this." The meeting adjourned. Samuel W. Weis, Chairman, Traf. & Transp. Bureau. L. A. Downs, Chairman, New Orleans Committee Commission on Car Service THE AMERICAN RAILWAY ASSOCIATION SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON NATIONAL DEFENSE Washington, D. C. Executive Committee. Fairfax Harrison, President Southern Railways Co., Chairman. Howard Elliott, Pres., N. Y. H. & H. Samuel Rea, Pres. Penn. R. R. J. Kruttschnitt, Ch. Exec. Comm. S. P. Co. Hale Holden, Pres., C., B. & Q. Ex-officio. E. E. Clark, Interstate Commerce Commission, Daniel Willard, Pres. B. & O. R. R. GENERAL COMMITTEE Central Department R. H. Aishton, Pres. C. & N. W., Chairman. E. E. Calvin, Pres. U. P. R. R. Hale Holden, Pres., C., B. & Q. R. R. C. H. Markham, Pres. I. C. R. R. G. L. Peck, V-Pres. Penn. Lines West. G. T. Slade, V-Pres. N. P. Ry. Western Department Wm. Sproule, Pres. S. P. Co., Chairman. Southern Department W. B. Scott, Pres. S. P. Co., Chairman. B. F. Bush, Recv. Mo. Pac. Ry. J. D. Farrell, Pres. O. W. R. & N. Co. C. E. Schaff, Recv. M. K. & T. Ry. R. S. Lovett, Ch. Exec. Comm. U. P. R. R. J. Kruttschnitt, Ch. Exec. Comm., S. P. Co. E. P. Ripley, A., T. & S. F. Ry. Headquarters Third Engineers N. A. U. S. Chicago, 111., July 7, 1917. CIRCULAR: The following report of the Athletic Meet of this Regiment, held July 4th, is published for the information of those interested : First Event This event was programmed as a preliminary tug-of-war, the idea being to have an intermediate tug-of-war between the winners of the preliminary and a 'final between the winners of the intermediate. Due to the necessity for curtailing the program, and also to the fact that thq Headquarters De- tachment did not enter a team, and the further fact that Companies A, B and C of the 1st Batallion were the winners of the preliminaries, the Judges called off the intermediate and final tug-of-war, presenting the cup to the 1st Batallion, allowing 6 points to each winning company. 44 45 46 ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE Result First Event Co. A vs. Co. D Winner, Co. A 6 points Co. B vs. Co. E Winner, Co. B 6 points Co. C vs. Co. F , Winner, Co. C 6 points Cup to 1st Battalion. Second Event . 50 yard dash. Two men from each company. First Co. D King 6 3/5 seconds 5 points Second Co. D Scully 6 4/5 seconds 3 points Third Co. A Easily 7 seconds 1 point Third Event 100 yard dash. Two men from each company. First Co. C Hanson 13 seconds 5 points Second Co. D Tetreau 13 1/5 seconds 3 points Third Co. D Downing 13 3/5 seconds 1 point Fourth Event 200 yard relay race. Four man from each company. First Co. B 28 3/5 seconds 10 points Second Co. C 5 points Third Co. A 3 points Fifth Event Special cup to winning company. Competitive drill in squad movement under Non-commissioned officer. One platoon, three squads, from each company. (Extended order drill called off, due to lack of time.) First Co. D (C. M. & St. P.) 10 points Second Co. C (C. G. W.) 5 points Third Co. A (I. C.) 3 points Sixth Event Intermediate tug-of-war. (Called off by judges, due to lack of time.) Seventh Event Shoe race. (Called off by judges, due to lack of time.) Eighth Event Potato race. One man from each company. Each contestant was provided with a bucket and ten potatoes. Bucket placed at start and finish line, potatoes spaced one yard apart, nearest one ten yards from starting line. Only one potato handled at a time. First Co. D Whitt 1 minute 13 3/5 seconds 5 points Second Co. F Harton 3 points Third Co. A Easily 1 point Ninth Event Sack race. 50 yards. One man from each company. First , Co. F Sparling 18 seconds 5 points Second Co. A Mensdorf 3 points Third Co. B Guyer 1 point Tenth Event Surprise race. 50 yards. Two men from each company. Each team was provided with a wheel barrow and two live frogs as pas- sengers. The engineer of the wheelbarrow was permitted to go ahead at a walk as long as his passengers were in the wheelbarrow, but was obliged to stop when they left until returned by the conductor. ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 47 First Co. C Jonas and Mealy 5 points Second Co. D Downing and Mahan 3 points Third Co. E Gunderson and Fisher 1 point Eleventh Event Tent pitching contest. Special cup. One platoon, three squads from each company, under Non-commissioned officer. Contestants were judged on time and appearance. TIME First Co. C 5 points Second Co. B 3 points Third Co. D 1 point APPEARANCE First Co. C 5 points Second Co. B 3 points Third Co. A 1 point Winner special cup, Co. C. Twelfth Event Final tug-of-war. (Called off.) i Thirteenth Event Company drill, Manual of Arms. Eight squads from each Company under non-commissioned officer. Special cup. This was the most interesting event of the program, as it more nearly represented the full strength of each Company. The Companies were so evenly matched that it was only after considerable deliberation that the judges decided as follows: First Co. A, Cup and 20 points Second Co. E, 10 points Third Co. B, 5 points Tabulation of Points by Companies Event Co. A Co. B Co. C Co. D Co. E Co. F 1. Tug-of-war 666 2. 50 yard dash 1 8 3. 100 yard dash 5 4 4. 200 yard relay race 3 10 5 5. Squad drill 3 5 10 8. Potato race 1 53 9. Sack race 31 5 10. Surprise race 531 11. Tent pitching 1 6 10 1 13. Manual of arms 20 5 10 38 28 36 31 11 8 Distribution of Cups First prize on points Company A Second prize on points , Company C Special cup, Tug-of-war First Battalion Special cup, Squad Drill : Company D. Special cup Manual of Arms Company A Special cup, Tent Pitching Company C By order of Colonel Langfitt. R. D. BLACK, Major Corps of Engrs., Adjt. 48 ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE RAILROAD TELEGRAPHERS IN RESERVE SIGNAL CORPS, CENTRAL DEPART- MENT. Reference was made in the May and June issues to request made on railroads in the Central Department to furnish 300 telegraph operators for service in the Re- serve Signal Corps under the command of Lieut. Col. L. D. Wildman. The cam- paign to secure these operators is being handled by Special Committee of the American Railway Association under the chairmanship of Mr. W. L. Park, vice- president of the Illinois Central Rail- road. It is encouraging to report that up to the present time 161 railroad oper- ators have enlisted in this service. The remaining 139 to complete the full quota of 300 will doubtless be enlisted within a short time. In the meantime consider- ably more than 300 written applications from railway telegraphers have been re- ceived, but the actual enlistment of the whole quota has not proceeded as rapidly as was hoped. The enlistment of the re- maining number will have to be secured very soon. DEPARTURE OF CHICAGO OPERATING REGIMENT, 13TH RESERVE ENGINEERS, FOR EUROPE. Selected companies of the Chicago Operating Regiment, 13th Reserve En- gineers, formerly known as 3rd Reserve Engineers, recently entrained at Chicago for an eastern port en route to some point in France. The companies made an excellent appearance in good march- ing order on Michigan Avenue, Chicago, on the way to the train and were pre- ceded by the Illinois Central band. Our best wishes go with these good men and true whose future service we shall fol- low with the deepest interest, particu- larly the Illinois Central Company "A." POSTMASTER GENERAL'S OR- DER NO. 510 Unwrapped and Unaddressed Maga- zines Prepaid One Cent for Soldiers and Sailors of the United States Ex- peditionary Forces in Europe. Office of the Postmaster General, Washington, July 16, 1917 Order No. 510: The classification of articles mailable tinder Section 8 of the Act of August 24, 1912, authorizing the establishment of the parcel post service, is extended so as to include unwrapped and unad- dressed copies of magazines intended for soldiers and sailors of the United States Expeditionary Forces in Europe when mailed by others than the publishers, the postage thereon to be prepaid at the rate of one cent a copy regardless of weight. Magazines to be accepted for mailing under this order must have printed in the upper right hand corner of the front cover the following: Notice to Reader When you finish reading this maga- zine place a 1-cent stamp on this notice, hand same to any postal employe and it will be placed in the hands of our sol- diers and sailors at the front. No wrap- ping; no address. A. S. Burleson, Postmaster General. Postmasters will be given appropriate instructions from time to time as to the manner of forwarding such magazines. A. S. Burleson, Postmaster General. Interesting Letters From an Ex-Illinois Central Employe Who is Now a Lieutenant in the American Flying Battalion in France Note: Young Bamrick is a son of R. P. Bamrick, now yardmaster of this company at Burnside. He is 22 years of age and during vacation periods worked for the general storekeeper and shop superintendent at Burnside. Later was employed in the Chicago postoffice. He also attended the De La Salle Institute and was for five years a member of the Naval Reserves. Editor. "Somewhere in France," June 11, 1917. Dear Mother and Father: How is everything at "9616?" I suppose you thought I forgot the address, but such is not the case. We left Norfolk, Va., on May 27th and I think I sent you mail on that date. We have been at sea since that date. We arrived in France, Friday, June 8th, in the morning. It was a very tiring voyage, as most of the trip we had to stand to watch for subs. Four hours on and four hours off. On last Saturday tejvening and all night we were in one of these "storms at sea" you read about in books. But it was just to be expected. When we passed thru the Gulf Stream we saw schools of porpoise and flying fish. France is a wonderful place. When we arrived in our "port of destination" many people were there, and were stunned to see our ship as it has very funny hoisting rig. They never saw that kind here before. Much enthusiasm was displayed at the arrival of the Americans. The speed in un- loading cargo had them awe stricken. I never was so glad at being an American. We were talking to a French merchant, through his daughter who translated French to American (not English.) He said that it is the belief of the French that the Americans are so fast that the English or French will never catch up to them. On Sunday we left our port of destination to "here"' via train (carriages here). All along the line when the natives heard we were "Americ" they were glad. When they found out how many are to come here they feel happy and say in French "Good- bye Germans." We have good eats here. Wine with dinner and supper, also French coffee every meal. When we arrived at the depot here, the people had stayed up to see us. They carry big bunches of roses for us and cry out, "Vivi, la America." They have good motors here, so we feel very safe in the game. Harry is not with us yet, but will expect him soon. Reports are that a summer hotel not in use on account of the war is being put in commission for the "Yank Birds." Can't say much as this comes under the cynical eye and conscienceless brush of a stone hearted censor. Love to all. Ed- Care P. M. New York, N. Y. First Aeronautic Detachment U. S. Navy. Please send silk American Flag small one. "Somehere in France," June 12, 1917. Dear Little Sister: Am in the land of the Frenchmen. Beautiful scenery, soldiers and sailors every- where. Very patriotic people. Long trip over the ocean. Glad we are here, as the people are glad to see us. Trying to learn the French language. How and where is Aunt Sophia? I sent her mail to Bloomington. Isn't this funny writing paper? Write me when you get time. Ellen, where is Bill? How is the new garden? Just finished eating. We have two meals a day now, breakfast and dinner at 10:30 a. m., supper 4:30 p. m. All towns close at 9:30 p. m. here on account of the war. Ed. J. Bamrick, U. S. N. First Aeronautic Detachment, Care P. M. New York, N. Y. "Somewhere in France," June 17, 1917. My Dear Parents: It being Sunday, there is not much for us to do, but to eat. The people pass their time in dancing and drinking this "dopey" wine. The wine here is sour, the same as they drink with meals. It has a deteriorating effect upon the teeth, due to so much acid, so our physicians advised that it be discontinued. We get no more with 49 50 ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE our meals now. Much coffee. All the water used to drink and cleaning teeth is boiled from 8 p. m. until 5:00 a. m. to kill germs. We had "movies" last night after our lesson in French, but "yours truly" retired instead of holding out thru the "cinema," as they call it here. The French Comedy is just one degree more humorous than the English Comedy. Nearly all are sent out by the Pathe-Frere Co. Everything is closed all over France at 9:30 p. m., but Sun- day is the same as a week day except for church. There is a standard hour for the evening meal in the cities and large towns. All the hotels have service at 7 p. m. Certain days meat is pro- hibited. The best meal in France costs 80 or 90 cents in American money. I suppose there will be much confusion when they start fitting out the "dear ones" in khaki. See that they caught many ducklings over the North and South American borders. We received much news via wireless en route over the sea up to the day before we entered port of destination. We caught Arlington Heights, Va., news such as diplomatic, baseball scores, "U"-boat activities along the over-seas routes, and other interesting items. Arlington sends to Frisco on the West Coast, Paris, Berlin and London. Owing to the earth's shape, round, our arch of receiving would not be in line to the higher points and higher powered land stations. Saw the Arlington Station on our way up from Pensacola to Baltimore. We received a "short'' about John Philip Sousa joining the U. S. Navy, and starting a large band at the Great Lakes Station. Do not send candy or gum or other so-called "luxuries," as they seldom arrive at their destination. I was wondering the other day whether James Malooly and "Chuck" Sheridan reg- istered. I do not know whether I told you or not, but one of the De La Salle fellows named Fitzgerald is now shoveling coal on the U. S, S. Kansas. Tell Bill that Leo Jacques of St. Bernards (in his class) is in the U. S. Marine Corps, at Port Royal, South Carolina, so was the information furnished. When I get the opportunity, I will send you my picture in the flying "togs." It may be some time, though, but intentions are good. Things are very cheap here, such as leather puttees, watches, etc. Before I return I hope to have several souvenirs of some value for the relations at 9616. But why look so far ahead, as we do not know when we will return. This is a fine country, so why worry, so long as the mail reaches us, what? Hope Bob is v/ith you yet. Must bring this crazy note to a close, as we have to eat again. Wish all a lot of luck. How is the real estate business, the garden, etc.? Will send home a French sailor's hat to Ellen and one to Dorothy. If I cannot mail them, will keep them to add to collection. Tell Dad not to forget to send me his waist measure, as I am ready to start a hand-made belt for him (made in the trenches, not). Ha! Ha! Well, good night and much love to you all (Southerner.) I suppose you will receive this letter about a month from date of writing. When you write, let me know what length of time it takes to reach you. Same address. Your Son, Ed. ED. J. BAMRICK THE AMERICAN ARMY AND NAVY Y. M. C. A. OF FRANCE Address of Sender. Public Correspondence "Somewhere in France," June 20, 1917. Dear Brother Bill: Get the heading of this paper. We have a Y. M. C. A. and dance hall and "Salle De Vines" (wine house) in connection with our barracks. This place was a hotel, built in 1572, A. D., but when you look for anything you think it was 1572, ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 51 B. C. However, we received orders today to make a move. It is one ot the largest Aero bases in France, so expect to get a chance to show ability to the higher men of the flying game. Have done extensive traveling since our arrival on these shores. Guess we will never be settled down, as they have a very speedy programme set up for us, and believe me, give us eats and gasoline and we will carry it out. There are thirteen men and one chief boatswain's mate, i. e. Timothy O'Donnell (German) in our barracks. Came last night .after being torpedoed at sea. They were some sight, all sorts of stray parts of uniforms. They will leave to return to the U. S. when we leave here, which is a matter of hours now. We are located here in a small fishing village, very quaint. Their main industry is sardines. Before the war they were very well off financially, but the subs bother the fishermen's ships now, and not so many of them take the chances. What are you doing now? Still with the I. C. ? If so, I hope you contribute to the home, as I cannot for a few months. I intended to make an allotment to mother and father, but we jumped the states with- out due notice. It cannot be made out in detached service such as ours. Sending any "dough" by mail out of here is sort of risky. If you can roll me a stray iron man now and then will see what I can get you worth while, as very useful articles run cheap here. Can get a swell watch easy, leather goods, pens, etc., about halt the price at home. Have not received any mail since we left the U. S. and it seems a year ago when the mail stopped coming. The French think the Americans are so fast in their moves that either England or France will never be able to catch up to us. They were overjoyed to see arrive when we landed in our "port of destination." Since then we have been jumping overland from place to place. There was a wedding of one of the village belles here, and the festivities last for a week. They had a dance in our barracks this evening. She married a French aviation officer. Some Jane, believe me. We have "movies" here every other night by the Y. M. C. A. outfit that travels with our outfit to look after our personal wants. We are to be split up in the next move, and they are detailing a fellow, Mr. James of Chicago, (a Northwestern University man) to travel with us. He is a fine fellow, about twenty- four years of age. Pretty wise head. He is teaching us French, as he had that while at Northwestern. He is our movie man, teacher, private secretary, swims with us, and 'does everything except to take "jumps heavenward." Guess he will follow up in that soon, also. The "Y" pays his expenses, but he keeps himself. No salary. The Americans are looked upon as the saviors of France, as the "Yanks" are to get after the lost land of Alsace-Loraine. They know the "Star Spangled Banner" in "Americ," so we are learning the "Marseillaise" in French. Write me, sure. Your Brother, Edw. J. Bamrick, U. S. Navy, First Aeronautic Detachment, U. S. N. Care P. M. New York, N. Y. "Somewhere in France," June 23, 1917. My Dear Parents: Here we are in our new home for some time we hope. It is one of the largest aero-stations in France for land machines. Most wonderful place, an exquisite place and location for the purpose. Their land machines, like their water planes, are lighter, more powerful and more efficient than the American planes. These people eliminate all red tape, such as daily examination of the heart, etc. We are not rushed here. The flying day starts at 4:30 a. m. after bread and coffee, from 4:30 till 9 a. m. on field and in air. At 10:30 dinner is served. Special service for the French and Ameri- can pilots. Very good repast. After this we are supposed to sleep and take our ease until 430 p. m. when we eat. After this meal, which is as good as dinner, the flving is resumed until it is too dark. Then we retire again until the next 4:00 a. m. This is the programme for the seven days of the week. Am going to purchase a small steamer trunk, and keep all my flying clothes therein. These people are be- hind in railroads, but certainly not in the way of the air and automobile. Their gasoline motors are wonderful. Dad should come over here and laugh at the trans- portation. Your "aeronut" son had a night's sleep en route in the rack for suit cases in the "luxurious" coaches of the government controlled railroads of France. We travel special second class, a cross between first and second, but I am not growling as it was very good sleep and an odd experience. We learn all the fancy flying "stunts" we do not know here, such as loop-the-loop, side turns, and all that. Not dangerous, as no one has been killed here in instruction in the last four months. Harry was here a day ahead of us, and we have our beds next to each other. Please call up his mother as she may be glad to know. Am getting several odd souvenirs here, such as different match safes and alcohol cigar lighters. Will not send home, as they would hardly get there. Will leave in my trunk. Nothing will happen me. so please don't worry. My greatest discomfort is the thought that mother and dad 2 ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE will worry over my safety. Very safe in these machines. Intend to make this my life's work if everything comes out well. Our Y. M. C. A. man, Mr. James of Chicago, has not arrived yet, but expect him in about a week. I think I told you of him in my letters of previous date. This is a very exclusive school here, for gentlemen, and believe me, these fellows are most courteous. They cannot do too much for us. The men here, all young men, are representatives of the aristocratic families of France. Most of them studied English in college, and speak with great perfectness, even more so than we do. All our laundry is done for us free; cleaning, etc., is done by servants. All the menial work is done by Algerians, sort of the Hindu type. It is very cool here in the morning and evening, but very warm in the day. This country set their time one and one-half hours ahead of the universal standard time. This makes the day (light) very long. Harry and I are going to arrange with Mr. Chevalier, Lieut., U. S. N., our officer, to be kept together in the same detail. "Chevey" is some flyer himself, and gives us much consideration. Hope to hear from you very much and often. Have to have my afternoon sleep now, so will say good-bye and good luck. Your affectionate son, Ed. First Aeronautic Detachment U. S. Navy. Classification, Production and Distribution of Coal By Burton J. Rowe, Coal Traffic Manpger CCIENTISTS inform us that coal is ^ the mineral which has resulted after the lapse of thousands of thou- sands of years, from the accumulations of vegetable matter, caused by the steady shedding of leaves and the up- rooting and destruction of forests that existed in the early ages. The ac- cumulations probably formed in the first place, beds of peat, the beds as the result of an ever increasing pres- sure of accumulating strata above them, have been compressed and, hav- ing been acted upon by the internal heat of the earth, have in the course of time produced the article known as' coal. The chemical changes which have taken place in the beds of vegetation of the carboniferous epoch, and which have transformed it into coal, are but imperfectly understood. All that is known is that in some cases one kind of coal is formed, and, presumably under other conditions, other kinds of coal have resulted. The coals thus formed have been classified the U. S. Geological Survey as follows : Anthracite, semi-anthra- cite, semi-bituminous, bituminous and lignite. Anthracite coal is generally well known and ordinarily defined as hard coal, having a high fuel ratio, (fixed carbon divided by volatile matter) ; found principally in eastern Pennsyl- vania, but smaller areas are known in some of the western states. Semi-anthracite coal has a ^uel ratio of about 65% of anthracite. There is only a small amount of this coal in the United States. Semi-bituminous coal is of great commercial importance, but is not widely distributed. Its fuel ratio is about 50 per cent of anthracite. It is an excellent steam coal, and some of it can be utilized in the manufacture of coke. The centers of production are the Pocahontas and New River fields of Virginia and West Virginia, the Georges Creek field of Maryland, the Windber field of Pennsylvania, and the western end of the Arkansas field in the ' vicinity of Fort Smith. Small areas of this coal have been found in Washington and Colorado. Bituminous coal is the most im- portant grade in the country, and, roughly speaking, includes coals east of the Rocky Mountains. This grade furnishes most of the coking coal of the country, and it is largely sold for steam raising and domestic use. Sub-bituminous coal: This term has been adopted by the U. S. Geologica* Survey for what has generally been called "black lignite." The latter term is misleading, for the reason that the coal is not lignitic in the sense of being 53 54 ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE woody, and the use of the term seems to imply that the coal is little better than the ordinary lignite, whereas many of the coals of this class closely approach the lowest grade of bitumi- nous coal. It is generally distinguish- able from lignite by its color and free- dom from apparent woody texture and from bituminous coal by the slacking it undergoes when exposed to the weather. It is found mainly in the western fields of Colorado, New Mexi- co, Wyoming, Montana, and in many of the districts of Washintgon and Oregon. Lignite is the name that has been applied to a form of unfinished coal, and as used by the U. S. Geological Survey is restricted to the coals that are brown and generally woody. It is not. true coal but is intermediate in formation between peat and sub- bituminous. It is abundant in the north, in eastern Montana and the Da- kotas ; in the south it is present in all of the gulf states, but has been de- veloped commercially only in Texas. The production of these coals in the United States and the rank of the pro- ducing states during the year 1915, during which coal was produced and marketed under approximately normal conditions, is as follows : Production 1915 Pennsylvania Net tons. anthracite 90,821,507 bituminous 147,983,294 West Virginia 71,707,626 Illinois -... 57,589,197 Kentucky 20,382,763 Ohio 18,843,115 Indiana 16,641,132 Alabama 15,593,422 Colorado 8,170,559 Virginia 7,959,535 Iowa 7,451,022 Kansas 6,860,988 Wyoming 6,475,293 Tennessee 5,943,258 Maryland 4,133,547 Oklahoma 3,988,613 Missouri 3,935,980 New Mexico 3,877,689 Utah 3,103,036 Washington 3,064,820 Montana 2,805,173 Texas 2,323,773 Arkansas 1,836,540 Michigan 1,283,030 North Dakota 506,685 Georgia ; 166,498 Oregon 51,558 California, Idaho and Nevada 13,974 South Dakota 11,850 513,525,477 There are many grades of bitumi- nous coal, the grade being determined by sulphur, moisture, volatile and fixed carbon content. The high vola- tile coals of Pennsylvania and West Virginia are very desirable for gas- making purposes ; for coking purposes and are used extensively by malleable iron foundries, and the so-called smokeless coals of the eastern states are much sought for in large cities, where smoke ordinances are in effect. Thus, notwithstanding there might be an abundance of coal within easy reach, the special purposes to which certain grades of coals are particularly adapted necessitates consumers reach- ing out great distances for fuel sup- plies, and thus gives wider range to the distribution than one would ordinarily suppose. This is aptly illustrated by reports of the U. S. Geological Survey, taking the State of Illinois as typical. Distribution of Coal Produced in Illinois in 1915 Used in Illinois Net tons Consumed at mines.... 1,533,069 Sold to local trade at the mines 470,114 Shipped to points in Illinois 22,778,530 Total 26,781,713=45% Shipped to other states Arkansas 128,950 Indiana 825,601 Iowa 3,053,413 Kansas 414,467 Kentucky 6,807 Louisiana 67,338 Michigan 83,256 ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 55 Minnesota 1,334,330 Mississippi 96,577 Missouri 4,391,722 Nebraska 938,905 North Dakota 106,674 Ohio 3,036 South Dakota 319,370 Tennessee 68,559 Texas 20,648 Wisconsin 1,260,188 Total 13,119,841=22% Used by steam rail- roads 18,928,022=33 % Sources of Supply of Bituminous Coal in Illinois in 1915, Exclusive of Railroad Fuel. From : Net tons Illinois 26,781,713=67% Indiana 4,044,528 Iowa 17,700 Kentucky 864,047 Maryland 20,783 Ohio 287,561=33% Pennsylvania 1,677,186 Virginia 120,300 West Virginia 5,079,032 1,084,000 Total 39,976,850 The state of Illinois, as shown in the preceding tables, although third in point of production of coal in the United States, consumes, setting aside the 33% used by steam roalroads which is consumed both within and without the state, but 45% of its pro- duction, and imports 33% of its con- sumption from mines outside the state. These data respecting production and consumption in 1915 are not representative of the situation at the present time when large supplies of fuel must be had for multifarious pur- poses. The increased demand at home for Pennsylvania and West Virginia coals has created an acute situation in the Northwest which has heretofore drawn its fuel supply largely from eastern coal fields. The question of fueling the far Northwest the coming winter is causing the Committee on Coal Production of the Council of Na- tional Defense no little concern. One state alone, Minnesota, while using 1,334,330 tons of coal from Illinois mines in 1915, used approximately 4,000,000 tons from Pennsylvania and West Virginia, shipped by rail to Lake Erie ports, thence by vessel to docks at the head of the lakes during the season of navigation. The increased demand has long since exhausted the stocks of coal on the docks, which, at this writing, have not been replaced owing to the lateness of the opening of navigation in 1917, scarcity of ship- ping on the great lakes, and lack of inclination on the part of ship owners to engage in the carrying of coal. To speed up the transportation to and stocking up of coals in the North- west, the Council of National Defense, through its Committee on Coal Pro- duction, has co-ordinated with the producers and shippers of coal to that territory via rail and lake, so that all coals arriving at Lake Erie ports des- tined to the Northwest are consol- idated on arrival, to the end that a full cargo may be available when a vessel calls, thereby avoiding delay awaiting cargo as in the past; and in other ways has increased the efficiency and ex- pedited the movement. Other forces^ however, have been at work, so that in addition to the opening of naviga- tion in the spring of 1917 being three weeks later than usual, due to heavy ice in the northern lakes, which result- ed in but 81 per cent of a normal May and June tonnage by lake, the net re- sult is that instead of having 4,000,000 to 5,000,000 tons of coal on hand, the docks are practically bare. A member of the Committee on Coal Production informed me that notwith- standing the strenuous efforts being made to move fuel to the Northwest, that section of the country must look to mines in Illinois and Indiana to sup- ply 6,000,000 to 8,000,000 tons of coal that ordinarily came from the east. This is not the only expansion of trade enjoyed by mines in the middle 56 ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE western states. It is a matter of com- mon knowledge that industrial activ- ity has been greatly stimulated. Plants that were running on one shift in 1915 are now working two, and in many cases three shifts, and factories that were idle then are running full time now, resulting in enormously in- creasing the demand for fuel, so that there is little doubt that the mines in Illinois are now producing and mar- keting coal at the rate of 65,000 ; 000 tons per annum, instead of the 57,500,- 000 tons of two years ago. A Letter From P. D. Armour April 1, 1895. My Dear Ogden and Phil: Mr. Earling, superintendent of the C., M. & St. P. Railway, rode home with me from Carey's funeral yesterday, and in the course of conversation related a little incident to illustrate why railroads don't succeed better. It struck me very forcibly, and I think the meat of it will apply to the packing business. He said that while he was in Minne- apolis last week he stepped into a little cigar store near the depot and bought a couple of cigars. As he was lighting one he asked the man whether he was doing a good business. He said, yes ; he had all the Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad trade, and that was a very large volume indeed; in fact, it was practically all the business he had. Then Earling asked him where he bought his cigars, and he replied, "In New York." He then asked how he shipped them, and he answered, "Via the Burlington Road." "You get all your patronage from the St. Paul, and yet you give all your pat- ronage to the Burlington, a road that you have never had a bit of trade from." "Oh, well," said the cigar matt, "I never thought anything about that. / have never been asked by any of the St. Paul people to ship them via their road." Mr. Earling said that fundamental principle was the same all through the railroad business the men about the road did simply what they were told to do and what they thought was their duty, but they were not inventive in their heads nor tried to help the rail- road. They never looked so far ahead as to see that by boosting the railroad for which they worked they also helped themselves. Of all the great number of employes who supported that tobacco store, not one had ever asked the cigar man to send his business over the St. Paul Railroad. Of course, they were not the commer- cial men, exactly, of the road, but they thought nothing concerned them except their special duties and whatever was doled out to them. Consequently, that was why railroads in a great measure fell short of giving the results to the stockholders that they might give, and, naturally, that meant they did not pay the men what they mieht pay them. Now, I think this holds good all through Armour & Company to a great extent. If every man about Armour & Com- pany would pay a little attention to sup- porting and helping the house, it would go a very long way toward the success of the house ; and no one connected with Armour & Company could go out of his way and show that he took an interest in their success but what the house would soon find it out. It would be a very simple matter for any of our boys, on going into a store, if they didn't see our goods, to ask why, and if they could not find out, it would be easy enough to report it to the commercial part of the house. Sincerely yours, PHILIP D. ARMOUR. Car Repair Shed at Nonconnah Yards, Memphis, Tennessee By O. W. Melin, Assistant Engineer, Building Department The ^Illinois .Central Railroad com- pleted last year at Nonconnah Yards, four miles south of Memphis, Tennessee, a car repair shed of sufficient size to take care of all car repair work done at that point, with the exception of light repairs requiring one day or less per car. The structure is entirely fireproof and covers over four and one-half acres, being 1,140 feet long and 176 feet wide. Eight tracks are covered, five of which were already in place and being used for car repair purposes without being covered. On a basis of fifty feet to a car, the capacity is twenty-two cars to a track or one hundred and seventy-six cars for the entire shed compared with a capacity of twenty-four cars each for the two old sheds. The old car repair sheds which were in the old car repair yard were of frame construction and covered four tracks each, the one shed being seventy-two feet by three hundred feet, and the other, seventy-six feet by three hundred feet. The building consists of a series of columns supporting a saw-tooth roof, with the teeth transverse to the struc- ture in rows thirty feet apart. There are five columns in each row, placed forty- four feet center to center, with the tracks arranged in pairs between each pair of columns. The roof trusses are triangular in shape, conforming to the saw-tooth and are spaced longitudinally between columns with two intermediate trusses in each transverse space of forty- four feet. The intermediate trusses are supported by transverse trusses placed in the plane of the steep side of the saw- tooth. Knee braces are proivded for all transverse trusses and for the inside longtitudinal trusses in the planes of the columns. Structural steel girts are provided below the trusses on the two longitudinal outside rows of columns for the support of the corrugated siding. Expansion joints are provided at three different points in the length of the building. The steel columns are sup- ported on concrete piers varying from four and one-half to five feet in depth. The roof is covered with federal cement tile supported on steel purlins placed four feet center to center and carried on the trusses. The gutters are filled with cinder concrete which with the gutter tiles is covered with a 5 ply- composition roofing. The steep side of the saw-tooth is eleven feet one inch high, seven feet of which is covered with "United Steel Sash" glazed with one-fourth inch ribbed wire glass. By using panes two feet wide and seven feet high horizon- tal mullions are avoided. The sides of the building from a dis- tance fourteen feet above the track and the ends above the clearance line are covered with No. 20 black corrugated iron. An air connection was installed in each column of the outside and middle rows, giving many more outlets than is usual, reducing the expense for labor, expense of maintenance, and the cost 57 58 ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE of additional length of hose necessary, if the spacing were greater. The ground area covered additional to that formerly used for a car repair yard required sixteen thousand cubic yards of grading, which was entirely excavation. The material was removed by an American ditcher, loaded on cars, and disposed of on the Y. & M. V. R. R. with a portion being used for widening of fills and for flood protection work in the Memphis terminals. dollies rolling on skidways placed eight feet center to center. Two of these der- ricks were used, being placed in the line of the longitudinal row of columns and forty-four feet from the center line of the building. The erection was started at one end of the structure with the der- ricks backing away as the work pro- gressed. The maximum reach of forty- four feet was easily accomplished with the sixty-foot boom. The car repair work was interrupted only at that por- The excavation for the concrete piers supporting the columns was done by hand. The concrete mixing plant was located adjacent to the building and the concrete wheeled to the individual piers. There were one hundred and ninety-five piers which required four hundred and seventy-eight cubic yards of concrete. The structural steel was erected with- out interfering with the car repair work by means of platform derricks having sixty-foot booms and mounted on timber tion in the length of the building where the erection was in progress, as a clear space was necessary for the swinging of the boom. The transverse and two in- termediate trusses of each bay were as- sembled on the ground and erected as a unit. The erection of the tile, glass and roof- ing did not interfere whatever with the car repair work. The fifty-two cars of roofing tile, four cars of glass, five cars of composition roofing and seven cars of ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 59 cinder concrete material were hoisted by the use of a three-legged tripod on the roof purlins, a single hoist and two mules. Approxima tely two thousand feet of sewer was necessary to provide the necessary drainage. Work was started on November 20, 1915, and completed May 23, 1916, the concrete foundations being built in ninety-nine days, steel erected in sixty days, and the tile roof placed in fifty-three days. The operation of the car repair yard was so efficient during the construction of this structure that there was a reduction in the number of bad-order cars on hand instead of an in- crease as would naturally be expected. The speed in the .con- struction was due largely to the co-operation of the local officials of the Transportation, M a i n t e- nance and Mechanical De- partments. The track work, grading, pile driving, pipe laying, other than sewer work, moving buildings and mis- cellaneous work, was done by a B. and B. gang, as- signed to this work. The structural steel was fabricated by the Ameri- can Bridge Company and erected by Kelly Atkinson Company of Chicago, the foundations and sewers were placed by E. H. Walsh Sons of Memphis, Tenn., and the placing of the composition roofing, sheet metal work and paint- ing was done by Nohsey & Schwab of Memphis, Tennessee. CLEANINGS from me QAIMS DEPARTMENT JntQTQSting - Jyews of- 'Doings - of - Jn - and - Out - of* Court A GOOD LAW, BUT IT DOES NOT GO FAR ENOUGH The recent session of the Indiana leg- islature passed the following law for the safety of school children : "In order to provide for the safety of school children it shall be unlawful for any person or persons driving any township wagon or conveyance, as is herein provided for, and used for the purpose of carrying children to and from school, to permit such wagon or conveyance to cross or enter upon the track or tracks of any steam or electric railroad, upon approaching 1 thereto, without having first brought such wag- on or conveyance to a full stop, and hav- ing some responsible occupant of such wagon or conveyance get out, walk ahead to such track or tracks and de- clare the same to be clear after having looked in both directions for approach- ing trains or cars." The law is a good one, but it is too bad the legislature did not consider it necessary to provide for the safety of adults, especially those who drive and ride in automobiles. A good many peo- ple do not seem to realize (and this is particularly true with legislators) that 10 per cent of all deaths are due to ac- cidents and that every time the second hand on a watch makes a revolution, there are nineteen persons injured in the United States, and that there are more persons killed and injured annu- ally in the United States than were killed or injured in the Civil War. DAMAGES RECOVERED FOR INJURIES SUSTAINED IN A DERAILMENT WHICH PROOF INDICATED DID NOT OCCUR It is so common a thing when a train accident occurs for passengers not in any way injured to present claims, that it has become the subject of many widely circulated jokes, but for a person to create from his imagination a derail- ment as the basis for a personal damage suit, is more rare. However, this is 60 ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 61 what appears to be the case in the suit of Ed McGraw, colored, filed in the Cir- cuit Court of Coahoma County for $2,530 and tried at the May term of court at Friars Point, Miss. The plaintiff, in his declaration, al- leged that he was in charge of a car of cattle and household goods from Yazoo City to Clarksdale, Miss., on January 13, 1915, having a ticket for his trans- portation; that the railroad track near Albin, Miss., was in such a dilapidated and wrecked state that it caused a de- railment of the train he was on, serious- ly injuring him. He testified to these facts and was supported by a negro living near Albin, who stated that he saw the car off the track. But this negro's testimony was so vague and un- certain as to be wholely worthless. It was also proven by a brother of one of the lawyers of the plaintiff, who farms near Albin, that about the time of the accident he noticed a number of new ties had been put in the track at about the place where the accident is said to have occurred, although he did not claim to know anything about the alleged acci- dent. The entire train crew testified posi- tively that no derailment occurred but that a car was set out at Albin; that there was no rough handling or trouble of any kind and that they never heard of any injury to the plaintiff. The records of the company failed to show any such occurrence or delay in handling the train, and the section foreman on that section, whose duty it would have been to have assisted in clearing up any wreck occurring and in repairing the damage to the track, if any, was introduced with his books, which showed where his gang worked every day that month and that no work whatever was done at that point. It also appeared that the plaintiff first went to a colored physician three days after the accident and later to the company surgeon at Clarksdale, and that neither could find any external evidence of an injury. However, he produced on the trial another doctor, not previously heard of, who testified that he found some evidence of a bruise on his back. The case was principally fought on the proposition that no derailment occurred and the court instructed the jury that they could not return a verdict unless they believed one occurred as claimed by the plaintiff, but notwithstanding this and the proof, a verdict was rendered for $500. WOULD STOP ACCIDENTS At the meeting of the City Council Monday night, Traveling Engineer J. M. Hoskins and Agent Joe Murphy of the Y. & M. V. Railroad Company, pre- sented before this august body, a move- ment that will solve the safety-first prop- osition for the city, the public and the railroad company. Mr. Hoskins asked the Council to adopt an ordinance requiring automo- biles, auto trucks, motorcycles and other motor-driven vehicles, running upon the streets of the city, to come to a full stop not less than ten feet from the tracks before proceeding across same, pro- hibiting their stopping upon a cross- ing or approaching within ten feet of the track, except when crossing, and providing a punishment for all viola- tions thereof. After some discussion upon the part of all aldermen, Alderman Hollings- worth made a motion that the City At- torney be instructed to draw up an ordinance in reference to this matter and present it at the next meeting of the Council for its passage. The mo- tion was seconded by Alderman Stout and carried. Already the towns of Jackson, Mc- Comb City, Brookhaven, Canton and other places have adopted similar ordi- nances and they have been in force for some time in some of these towns and in every case, the ordinance has proven satisfactory and, in most instances, ac- cording to Mr. Hoskins, very popular. The towns of Hazlehurst and Crystal Springs are now making preparations for the passage of this ordinance. These steps are taken by the railroad company in an effort to prevent acci- 62 ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE dents and come under the head of their Safety-First, Stop, Look and Listen campaign. There is no doubt about the value of such an ordinance in the matter of safe- ty, and it is very likely that the City Council will, after the ordinance has been given a thorough test, be commend- ed for the passage of the same. The Yazoo Sentinel, July 11, 1917. REMARKABLE RECOVERY OF A MAN WHO ONCE STATED, UNDER OATH, THAT HE WAS RUINED FOR LIFE During the month of December, 1912, Mr. D. B. Phillips, a carpenter of Gre- nada, Mississippi, having a job of work to perform a few miles north of town, decided to use the railroad tracks as the best and shortest route between the two points. Carrying a lot of tools and sup- plies, he set out on his journey perfectly oblivious of the fact that the track upon which he was walking was owned by the Railroad Company, and maintained sole- ly for the purpose of running trains thereon. After reaching a point about a mile from town, Mr. Phillips entered upon a long trestle without taking the precau- tion necessary for his own protection by looking both ways for a train. He had gotten about half way across when the engineer of a train following blew his whistle and rang his bell as a warning, at the same time putting on brakes as a safety measure. The train was yet a long distance away, and going slowly, but when Phillips heard the whistle he "joined the birds," to use a slang expres- sion. He simply jumped off into space, landing about 15 or 20 feet below in soft earth The train which had by this time stopped before reaching the end of the trestle, pulled on up and the slightly injured trespasser was taken aboard and carried back to town where he was given careful and free treatment by the railroad surgeon for several weeks, or until a lawyer joined the circle ; then the company surgeon was dismissed. In the beginning, the claim agent pro- posed to pay Mr. Phillips an amount of money sufficient to cover any loss of time and expenses, regardless of the facts which showed clearly that the Railroad Company was not to blame, but Mr. Phillips was skeptical. He very soon entered into a contract with a lawyer and suit for $10,000 was filed. He charged all sorts of wrongs were perpetrated upon him; also that he had sustained an injury to his back which would remain with him the bal- ance of his life. It was necessary, too, during the time the case was pending, for him to use crutches, or a cane, but when the jury brought in a verdict for the railroad the articles used for as- sisting locomotion were consigned to the scrap heap. Mr. Phillips had to "come across" with the costs of trial which amounted to something in the neighborhood of $200. He is now an older, but wiser man. But the funny part of this story, or the climax to the whole thing, is shown in the following advertisement which appeared in the Grenada Sentinel of June 15 (1917) issue: "D. B. Phillips, bridge contractor, 503 Second street, Grenada, says : 'I had a good deal of trouble with my back, and if I sat down, I couldn't get up without support. I also had pains in my left side. Doctors told me my kidneys caused the suffering, but their treatment didn't give me relief. ***** removed the lameness and soreness in my back and over my kidneys, and the pains in my side went away. I have since remained free from these troubles.' " GREEK HAD THE "DAMAGE SUIT DISEASE" Nick Photinos and his partner run a bakery in South Omaha. On January 25, 1916, his partner drove their deliv- ery wagon helter skelter past the cross- ing flagman, who was trying to stop him, and into the front, end of the morning passenger train as it was crossing Thir- teenth street. The horse was killed and the wagon damaged. Under the circumstances it was hardly to be expected that Nick would register any complaint with the railroad but he did. It was explained to him that the accident was due to the fault of the ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 63 driver, but Nick had heard of folks who had maintained big damage suits against the railroad, and he wanted one. Rather than incur the expense neces- sary to litigation, an offer was made by the railroad to pay the value of the horse and the damage to the wagon, but *this did not tempt Nick from his vision of big gain. On the recent trial of the suit at Omaha, the driver did all he could for his partner by testifying that he stopped, looked and listened before crossing the track; but the jury evidently thought differently, and Nick's dream of gold faded into a verdict for the railroad. A LEAK IN THE FOOD SUPPLY Superintendent Dubbs, of the Y. & M. V. R. R., calls attention to the fact that for the past several months the com- pany has experienced a good deal of trouble at Rolling Fork and in this ter- ritory on account of striking stock on its waylands. Owners of stock should co- operate in every way possible to keep the stock off the waylands as their presence there constitutes an extra hazard to travel, and also entails a large expen- diture for the stock which is struck. The committee on national defense, as well as the president, have called at- tention to the necessity of conserving our food supply. When hogs, cattle, etc., are struck by trains it results in a total loss of that much food. Keep your "thoroughbreds" off the waylands. Deer Creek Pilot, July 13, 1917. MULE COLT ON THE WING The following telegram, signed by G. B. James, and dated Louisville, July 13, was addressed to Superintendent T. E. Hill, Roadmaster P. Glynn and Claim Agent J. K. Johnson: "This wire from Conductor Arnult, Extra 1781 North, today: 'Mule colt fol- lowed train out of Central City ; last time seen was two miles north of Central City running 15 to 20 miles per hour.' Super- visor Prtiitt was instructed to catch him." NARROW ESCAPE The Panama limited train came so near running over a man Tuesday morn- ing at the crossing near the Presbyterian church the engineerman seemed to al- most blow the whistle off the iron boss. The man was walking between the tracks and trying to dodge the fast train almost stepped in front of a fast freight train going north and darted back across the track barely missing the "Panama." People should never walk on the railroad tracks. Wesson (Miss.) Enterprise, July 6, 1917. NEW KIND OF SUIT Suit has just been filed in the Police Court of Corydon, Ky., to recover $5.00 damages on account of one turkey al- leged to have been killed June 1, 1916, and $5.00 for one goat alleged to have been killed March 25, 1917. Both of these accidents occurred near Cory- don, Ky. All of the locomotive engi- neers running through Corydon have been interrogated and not one of them has any record or recollection of having collided either with a turkey or with a goat. The question which naturally arises is, what kind o'f a fence would a Railroad Company have to provide in order to exclude goats and turkeys from its tracks. If a locomotive engineer saw a turkey on the track ahead of him would he be expected to stop his train? TOO DEAD TO BE REVIVED An attempt was made to revive the damage suit industry at the June term of the Lincoln County (Miss.) Circuit Court. There was a heavy docket, and what promised to be a rich harvest for the damage suit lawyers turned out to be a great failure. Lincoln County, which was once the worst place in Mis- sissippi to try cases against the railroad, has become one of the best places. The people have awakened to the situation. The following is quoted from the Semi- Weekly Leader of June 30 : "The fact stands out prominently that every plaintiff that tried a case before 64 ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE a jury at this court term lost his case." A great many of the cases were non- suited and some were compromised at reasonable figures figures which the rail- roads involved would have cheerfully paid before the suits were instituted if they had had the opportunity. It looks like the damage suit industry corpse in Lincoln County should be buried. It ap- pears to be too dead to be revived. JURY THINKS DEMAND TOO HIGH, BUT GIVES $12 In 1915, Mrs. L. M. Raines, a pas- senger on train No. 15, Memphis to Friars Point, Miss., December 30, 1914, brought suit in the Circuit Court of Coa- homa County for $1,500 on account of worry, inconvenience, fright, etc. On the night in question there was a freight wreck between Coahoma and Lu- la, which made it necessary to detour train No. 15 via the Lake Cormorant District and Tutwiler to Clarksdale, and, as Lula the point where change is made for Friars Point, plaintiff's destination, and other places on the Riverside Dis- trict was between the place of the wreck and Clarksdale, it was necessary to carry Riverside District passengers to Clarksdale and have them remain there for the night. Mrs. Raines' most serious complaint was that she was dumped into a strange town, among strangers, without funds and without knowledge of the location of hotels, etc. Investigation developed that there was also on the train, as a passenger, a young man who worked in the same store with Mrs. Raines' hus- band at Friars Point, and that this young man took her to the home of one of her friends at Clarksdale, where she spent the night. She was so little concerned about the delay in reaching Friars Point that she remained in Clarksdale all of the following day and night, and attended a dance there the second night. The case was tried in 1915, resulting in a jury verdict for $750. The railroad asked for a new trial, which the trial judge granted after holding the matter under advisement for several months. The second trial was had in June, 1917, resulting in a verdict for $12 dam- ages for the plaintiff. This illustrates how eagerly any un- usual occurrence in connection with a railroad trip is sometimes seized upon and made the basis for a damage suit. In truth, this lady was probably very glad of the opportunity to visit Clarks- dale and her friends there, and to enjoy the dance the following night. Of course, if the occasion could be made to yield a few hundred dollars damages, so much the better. She is so disappointed over the result that it is understood an ap- peal will be taken to the Supreme Court. The judge who tried the case stated from the bench that -he did not think she sustained any damage whatever, but as the railroad had contracted to carry her to Friars Point and did not do so. he would give an instruction for nominal damages. The tax payers of Coahoma County have had to stand the expense of two trials of this complaint, and presumably the Supreme Court will have to devote sufficient time to read the evidence and briefs and hear the arguments. MR. PELLEY DISCUSSES AN UN- REASONABLE LAW (From the Greenwood (Miss.} Com- monwealth, August i, 1917}. Memphis, July 13, 1917. Editor The Commonwealth, Greenwood, Miss. Dear Sir: My attention has been called to an item appearing in your issue of May 26, headed "Negro Killed in Cold Blood," which item further statejs that Allen Brackett had been placed in jail for mur- der of Joe Poe, whose body with a crushed skull was found on the Y. & M. V. Railroad track at Rising Sun on the morning of May 25. It appears that upon investigation a clue was found which led to the arrest of Allen Brackett and his confession that he and Poe's wife committed the murder and placed the body on the rail- road track. This discovery has probably ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 65 saved the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley Railroad Company a tidy sum of money. Some years ago the Mississippi legisla- ture enacted Section 1985 reading, "In all actions against railroad companies, for damage done to persons or proper- ty, proof of injury inflicted by the run- ning of locomotives or cars of said com- pany shall be prima facie evidence of the want of reasonable skill and care on the part of the servants of the company in reference to such injury. This sec- tion shall also apply to passengers and employes of railroad companies." Had a suit been filed for the death of Joe Poe, all that the plaintiff would have had to have shown was that he was found on the railroad tracks and had in- juries such as would probably haVe been inflicted by being struck, or run over, by a train, and this, under the above sec- . tion, would have been "Prima facie evi- dence of the want of reasonable skill and care on the part of the servants of the company," and unless the railroad could have shown, by eye witnesses, just how he met his death, a judgment would no doubt have been rendered against it, as has been done in numerous cases. During the past year the railroad had to nay a $15,000 verdict affirmed by the Supreme Court, where a white man was found dead on the track on my division, and it was impossible to show how the accident occurred, but it was shown that he was last seen the evening before in a very intoxicated condition walking along the railroad track. He might have been lying on the track in such a posi- tion that the engineer could not have seen him. Besides, the law does not re- quire that the engineer maintain a con- stant lookout, and his duties are such that he cannot do so. He might momen- tarily have been doing something else about the engine ; or this man might have attempted to catch on to a car of a passing train and been thrown. Still, while these were probably the facts, as of course no one believes that an engi- neer would wilfully run over a human being, the company had to pay $15,000 because it could not prove by eye wit- nesses just how this intoxicated person, at a place where he had no right to 'be, met his death. It is certainly well known that great numbers of trespassers are constantly beating their way over the country on railroad trains and a great many of them are killed by falling off such trains under circumstances which preclude the possibility of any member of the train crew knowing anything about it. Is it reasonable or just to give advan- tage by law to the families of such per- sons who themselves were violating the law in stealing rides on trains, or in trespassing on the track at the time they met their death ? Ought not the bur- den at least rest upon their representa- tives to show how the accident occurred and that it was through the want of skill and care on the part of the em- ployes of the railroad, rather than con- clude that this was the case because the facts are not known ? ? It would be just as fair, where a ne- gro was found dead some morning on a plantation, to hold the owner responsi- ble because he was unable to show just how the death occurred. What would the people of the State say about a stat- ute that affected its planters in that way? If unfair to them, is it not unfair to the railroads? I have often heard attorneys who specialize in damage suits against rail- roads say that they thought this a very unjust statute, and that it ought to be repealed. I do not believe there is any fair-minded man who would seriously undertake to defend it. If this is true, why was it enacted, and why is it per- mitted to remain a law and the weapon by which the railroads of the State are compelled to pay out many thousands of dollars annually, which could certain- ly be expended in other directions much more to the benefit of their patrons? Yours truly, J. J. PELLEY, Superintendent. SAFETY FIRST MINUTES OF SAFETY MEETING HELD IN THE OFFICE OF MR. G. E. PATTERSON, SUPERINTENDENT AT 9:30 A. M. SATURDAY, JUNE 23, 1917, McCOMB, MISSISSIPPI. Present : Mr. G. E. Patterson, Superintendent. Mr. H. P. Campbell, Train Master. Mr. J. L. Beven, Train Master. Mr. T. Quigley, Road Master. Mr. C. M. Starks, Master Mechanic. Mr. J. D. Harrell, Traveling Engineer. Mr. J. M. Hoskins, Traveling Engineer. Mr. J. E. Schneider, Chief Dispatcher. Mr. L. L. King, Division Storekeeper. Mr. H. G. Mackey, Division Claim Agent. Mr. J. J. Carruth, Division Claim Clerk. Mr. J. L. Morgan, Agent, Jackson, Miss. Mr. Wm. McCubbin, Chief Clerk, Secy. The meeting was called to order by Superintendent Patterson at 9 :30 a. m. Reports from the General Manager in reference to have increase in claims on account of personal injuries, also report for month of May from General Chairman of Safety Committee covering personal injuries, were fully discussed and a general discussion of local conditions followed. Personal Injuries. It was recommended that, at each freight house, a chairman and special committee be appointed to investigate and render full report to the Agent of all personal injury accidents. This committee to be instructed that, ns soon as a personal injury accident occurs, they should immediately secure the facts and render report to agent or head of department. A similar system is in effect at all shops and roundhouses on this Division and it is thought that extending it to important agencies will be of valuable assistance in determining the facts and applying preventive measures. Supervision and Observation. Those present were fully impressed with the importance of what strict supervision, observation and co-operation means, and what good results can be obtained when the entire staff on a division works together in that direction. Wires on Flat Cars. Attention was directed to flat cars, moving over the road with wires at- tached to sides of cars, lying on the top of cars or hanging over sides 66 ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 67 creating hazard of accident. We are refusing to accept cars, in such condi- tion, from our connections and are having agents call on our patrons who unload cars, and have them promise to remove all wires at the time cars are unloaded. Agents at all points have been instructed not to offer cars for movement until such wires have been removed. Motor Cars. We feel that some standard type of motor car frame and seat arrangement should be adopted. We recommend that seats be so placed over wheels that the men will ride with their feet out beyond rail which gives them a better chance to get off in emergency. Road Crossings. At some points it is a practice for the crossing flagman to leave crossing unprotected during the noon hour, in order to go to his meals. This practice should be strictly prohibited. Station Platforms. Some standard should be adopted for station platform, especially those built between tracks, which are usually partly planked and the balance made of gravel. We feel that some standard should be adopted so that when such platforms are rebuilt they will be made standard. Speed Restrictions. Some restrictions should be placed on speed of motor cars; also, motor cars should be provided with a whistle or a hand horn to give warning signals approaching crossings, etc. Physical Examination Road Department Employes. While no specific cases were mentioned, attention was directed to possible laxity in the physical examination of men employed for service, other than that connected with the movement of trains. The protection, which the examination of applicants insures the Company, will be lost if such ex- amination is not a thorough one. The question comes up in connection with present labor situation. There is not now a choice of labor; therefore, more than ordinary precaution should be taken to prevent physically unlit applicants getting into the service. Blue Flags. While we have not had any accidents on this division recently on account of car men not properly protecting themselves with blue flags when working under cars, every one present was cautioned to see that this rule is complied with in all cases and to impress the importance of the matter continually on subordinates. It was also recommended that in outside yards blue metal flags be used instead of cloth as cloth flags usually hang down against the staff and cannot always be readily observed. It was the consensus of opinion that the patented metal flag with rail attachment and lock clasps is a good thing. 'epartmeni Freight Claims By B. D. Bristol, Freight Claim Agent Literally speaking, the Freight Claim Agent is responsible for the prompt and proper payment of every freight claim that should be paid and for the proper disposal of all others, yet there are a great many other per- sons indirectly responsible in deter- mining what action may be deemed proper. Close supervision will go a long way toward claim prevention, but once a claim has been bred, nothing but facts can be reckoned with. The burden of proof is upon the carrier to free itself from negligence, and un- less the facts with which to do this are forthcoming the company's inter- ests cannot be successfully defended. We have issued what is known as Freight Claim Agent's Circular J-34, which, when carefully observed, ren- ders a vast service. This circular re- quires the agent to verify all bills and invoices, and to furnish along with Form 292 any and all other available data that will in any way aid in ar- riving at a proper solution of the prob- lem at issue, and yet there are claims reaching this department every day, over the agent's signature, without one word as to the merits or demerits of the case. Every freight claim should have the close scrutiny of the agent before it leaves the local office ; it is a part of the agent's work that can- not be neglected without risk. The same is as equally true of claim cor- respondence. One of the very impor- tant duties of a local agent is giving careful and conscientious attention to all matters appertaining to freight claims. Sometimes an agent is dilatory and seems not to realize the responsibility in him vested. A freight claim which he knows to be excessive will be re- ceived and forwarded to this depart- ment with Form 292 and all the nec- essary documents to support it, but without a word of comment, leaving the adjustment entirely with the Freight Claim Agent. The Investiga- tor to whom the claim is assigned re- calls just such another circumstance and after a great deal of corres- pondence, without satisfactory results, a Traveling Claim Agent is sent out on the case and the claim is amended, with- drawn or declined, and incidentally it is learned that the agent was familiar with all the facts and circumstances in the first place, but involuntarily withheld them. No one not familiar with General Office routine, can conceive of the enor- mous amount of mail matter that comes into and goes out of the Freight Claim Office every day. No less than 13,000 communications are received in this of- fice every week and there are a great many more sent out. A substantial saving in the time taken to adjust claims and the expenses attending the investi- gation can lie made by minimizing on correspondence and preventing dupli- cates through tracing for replies, etc. Es- pecial care should be exercised to see that all papers are securely attached and that correct claim n Ambers and file ref- erences are shown upon all communica- tions, that they may be passed to the proper person with the least possible confusion. Unless these matters are handled with efficiency and dispatch there can be but one result things will not move along as they should, files will become burdened and claimants dissat- 08 ILLINOIS CENTRAL MA.CA7.1XE istied. Such conditions breed criticism and help to pave the. way for adverse railroad legislation. Too many are content to reply to im- portant communications in part and by pencil notations, or by answering direct questions only, often withholding im- portant facts because in some instances the Investigator, in attempting to be brief, has failed to bring them out prom- inently with his queries. This is not as it should be ; we are all serving the same company and for the same purpose, whether in one department or another, and it is our duty to guard the company's interests as we would our own. If any one withholds from the Freight Claim Agent facts which, if supplied, would enable him to successfully decline a claim, or have reduced a claim that should not be paid in full, or make prompt settlement, he is surely guilty of negligence ; the fact that he may not have been asked the leading question that might have brought out the addi- tional data, should not exempt him. In a number of states in which this company operates there are laws which allo\v only sixty days in which to adjust claims on intrastate shipments and each failure to conform to the law lays us li- able to a penalty of $25.00. Super- intendents should see to it that all uncter their jurisdiction understand these laws and that they are reminded of them from time to time, or as often as the occasion may require. Failure to furnish all the facts or to reply to important communications promptly often involves the company in lawsuits, necessitating the transporting of employes, as witnesses, from one sec- tion of the road to another, at times im- pairing the service by taking men of heavy responsibilities away from their work when their services are most need- ed, possibly for several days at a time, as in the case of court delays or by the postponement of the case from one term of court to another. Even if the case is followed to a successful conclusion and judgment finally rendered in favor of the company, lawsuits are a burden and should be guarded against. In some instances they are looked upon as a mat- ter of necessity, but with a full and con- cise statement of all the facts at the out- set, many suits could be averted. There is no one thing that tends to bring on lawsuits more than the withholding or suppression of facts; it is just as im- portant that we know what the plaintiff will be able to prove as if is to know our own side of the argument. The Freight Claim Account is a large one and one which it would please the company to abolish entirely, and while this may be beyond hope of realization, it is conceded by all alike that it can be reduced in more ways than one. Space will not permit of details, but suffice it to say that anything done along the line of prevention will materially assist in reducing the Freight Claim Account, and to this end the co-operation of every one is solicited, that all may be brought to realize the importance of these mat- ters and that we may be assured that a few words addressed to the proper one will bring out all the available facts and circumstances at the earliest possible mo- ment, to be used profitably in preventing similar cases and to enable speedy and satisfactory disposition of the case at issue. TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT Psychological Influence By P. E. Odell The one great question that has a vital bearing on railway transportation today is "How can we best handle our Employes to secure the maximum of Efficiency ?" Men will not work for money; they merely go through motions, but they will work for men and it seems to me that some railway officials have overlooked the value of a study of psychology in its bearings upon railway service. The result to be attained is simply one of charging a mental attitude from one of latent antagonism to a sympathetic one, a sort of demonstration that the managerial attitude is not wholly selfish but rather co-operative towards em- ployes, and may be concretely expressed as "The Management desires to co-oper- ate with you, its Employes, for mutual good whatever effort you may put forth for the benefit of the service we are glad to recognize and to meet you half way in making that effort perma- nently successful." The present epoch is one of those criti- cal moments in which the thought of mankind is undergoing a process of transformation and it is already clear that on whatever lines the future is or- ganized we will have to count with a new power, with the last surviving power of modern times, the power of the masses. Professional students of psychology have lived apart from the masses ; have always ignored them ; have always asso- ciated crowds with crimes, but there are heroic virtuous crowds and to lead them one must be possessed of an instructive knowledge of their character. The history of the Illinois Central changed over night not many years ago and I firmly believe that psychology played a strong part in the reform that took place at that time, system concerted action and co-operation supplanted chaos because the chiefs were men who knew What and When. Personality is, of course, an essen- tial qualification of the official who comes in personal contact with employes. Great power is given by affirmation, repetition and contagion, by the circumstances that they acquire in time that mysterious force known as prestige whatever has been a ruling power in the world, has in the main enforced its authority by means of that irresistible force expressed by the word prestige, and it is the main- spring of all authority. There are two kinds, acquired or artificial (which is the most common), and personal pres- tige the latter is a faculty independent of all authority and the possessor is enabled to exercise a magnetic fascina- tion on those around him. He forces the acceptance of his ideas and senti- ments and is obeyed. I firmly believe that Psychological In- fluence plays a strong part in the solu- tion of our problems co-operation and faith in the work will take the place of antagonism and as the palms of the masses have been crossed with gold, Dame Fortune decrees : That "there aint goin' to be no such animal" as the Iron Hand on either arm of the indus- trial world. Little Talks with iiaonbler ''Service Noies T of Inieiesf. Book Shop Philosophy ""THE Rambler had been away on an * extended trip East, so that I had not seen him for two weeks or more, hence I was so glad on his return to see him pass my door with grips in hand, that I fol- lowed him into his office to welcome him back, and in a general way to learn how things were with him. As I stood at his desk, not intending to remain long enough to sit down, Snap Shot Bill came rushing in with a letter in his hand, which he gave the Rambler, apologizing as he did so for breaking in before, as he expressed it, the Rambler got his breath, but excusing himself for so do- ing on the grounds that the letter called for immediate action, as otherwise the granting of the request made therein, if granted at all, would have to be post- poned for a month. The Rambler glanced through the letter hurriedly, smiling as he did so at what proved to be its uniqueness, and then tossed it over for me to read, saying to Bill as he did so, "I fail to see why this is not a matter that you could have attended to your- self without referring it to me. You know," he added pleasantly, "that he who is afraid to- assume responsibility in the railroad business gets along but slowly, to say the least." "Well," said Bill respectfully, but not at all abashed, "I was going to answer it in the nega- tive, but I thought perhaps you would like to know what 'Zip' says as to the prospects of increased business at Station." "Prospects and realization are two different things, you know, Bill," replied the Rambler good naturedly, "and I have a way of knowing when prospects materialize into reality. So I guess that letter could have waited; but tell me," he continued with a half quiz- zical look at Bill, "why if you had not brought that letter to me would you have settled the request it makes in the nega- tive?" The relations between the Rambler and Snap Shot Bill, while at times strict- ly formal, were also in a measure those of personal friendliness, and I could see that the Rambler, while apparently questioning Bill in what might be called an official way, was primarily in the mood ^of giving him a little friendly training. 71 72 ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE "Because," replied Bill in answer to the Rambler's question, "to show - Station in the Official Guide as is asked is not in line with the general policy adopted in the selection of the limited number of stations that we can show in that publication." "That's what I thought," was the answer, ''and theoreti- cally you are correct. But don't forget, Bill, that sometimes occasions arise where to be bound by hard and fast theory is worse than a little yielding. In other words, in addition to being una- fraid of taking responsibility, don't be afraid to change custom or policy when by such change more is to be accom- plished in the long run than by adhering to some little pet hobby which may have been the very best thing at the time it was adopted, but which does not neces- sarily always remain so. Lef s take this case of. 'Zip's' request. He asks that a station be added to a list in the Official Guide, which station, at the time the list was made, as it now reads, was not of sufficient importance to be included in view of the fact that a limited selec- tion had to be made for want of space. It now seems, however, that 'Zip/ who is on the ground and ought to know even better than we can at this stage, thinks it should be shown and gives his reasons therefor. However, we can't add it for want of space unless we eliminate some- thing that we already carry. But per- haps, Bill, if you look carefully into the matter you may find that some station now in the table involved has become less important than it seemed to be at the time it was listed; or that in view of what 'Zip' tells in his quaint way, his station may now be, or is about to be- come, of more consequence than some other that we carry ever was. Check up and see if you cannot find some station already in the list that, based on popula- tion, whether it is a telegraph station or on the number of trains that stop there per day, can be cut out without being missed. If so. then cut it out and let in the one 'Zip' asks to be shown. But I still think you should have thought of all this yourself," he concluded kindly, as he thus practically dismissed Bill. The letter was from one of our outside representatives who rejoiced, for cause entirely unknown, in the nickname of "Zip," and who in writing letters to small fry like Snap Shot Bill, between himself and whom there was some per- sonal friendship, delighted in indulging in unique phraseology and spelling; and to which letters the signing of his nick- name thereto was also a delight. His letter follows, in which connection it is needless to say that "Zip" took liberties with the name of the town from which he wrote, and that his superscription was intended for Snap Shot Bill and not for any of his superior officers: Boozeburgh, Julia 191.7. Dear, jolly ole Sir: While in - - t'other day, I was asked by a ticket agent "where - was located." I gave him the desired inflamation. He told me that it did not show in the Official Guide; upon investigation I found that he was kee-reck. For your information will state that - is now taking on some importance. As how? Well, the furnace at that point is being gotten into shape and they expect to "blow in" very soon, and likely there will be quite a lot of travel to on that account, and it occurred to me that it might be a good thing to show the sta- tion in the Guide and in the schedules, if it may be done without too much troub. Of course I understand that there are many small stations that are not included in the lists in the Official, and also the reasons for not showing them. With our limited supply of fold- ers we cannot always keep all of the agencies supplied, but we endeavor to keep the important ones supplied and we do not think it necessary to increase the expenditure for folders to cover our field. All of which I am handlin' to yuh, yourselluf. With the very kindest regards an' many of them, Yours Sincerely, Zip. "Don't go yet," said the Rambler to me, as I started to follow Bill after hav- ing finished reading, "I am not going to ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 73 tackle this mail until after lunch; and listen now, while I think of it. I saw Tyro on the way over from the station, and he wanted me to be sure and tell you to take a bite with him this evening. I told him I would have you telephone. Lucky you came in, so that I was re- minded of his message." "I'll do it now," was my response, and picking up the telephone from the Ram- bler's desk I arranged on the spot with Tyro for the meeting he desired. "By the way," I said, as I hung up, "where did you happen to run across Tyro at this time of the day? It's generally his sleeping time, I believe." "Oh," was the laughing response, "you know he is an old book collector, and I don't think he ever sleeps when it occurs to him to chase down some vol- ume that he thinks he wants. At any rate, such was undoubtedly the cause of my unexpectedly running into him this morning on my way from the train. You see, I had been away some time and had come to the point where I didn't want to swell my already considerable expense account by coming over from the sta- tion in a taxi. Hence I walked. But as it is so confoundedly hot this morning, I took my time about it, and in doing so tried to forget the sweltering tempera- ture by taking in all the sights that were of interest in passing. So, when going by the old second-hand book shop on the cross street, on glancing in at the door who should I see but Tyro standing on a low step ladder and just reaching out to pull a book from the well-filled shelves. I stepped in and hailed him, and as there was no one else in the shop and he seemed very much at home there, we had quite a little chat together; for, to tell you the truth, the coolness of that somwhat dim shop was a relief from the hot pavements under foot and the burn- ing sun overhead, and I felt that I was entitled to a little rest by the way. I naturally asked Tyro what forgotten gem in the book line he was looking for, and he laughingly replied that as I would never guess he might as well tell me at once that it was an old school reading book that he wanted, and he wanted it mighty bad. 'I doubt, how- ever,' he said rather despondently, 'whether I'll find it here, as it was never common to this section of the country, and my only hope is that it 'drifted out here at some time in the past from the East, where it was the universal school reading book of my father's time. I never used it in my school days, it hav- ing been superseded by something thought at the time to be more modern; but there was a copy of it drifting about the old home in my youth, and there were three pieces of poetry in it that at one time I knew by heart. I have often wondered what became of that book when the old home was broken up, but certain it is that it is gone as far as I am concerned and has been gone for years. With it, too, went the memory of how those three poems went, but a short time since the sum and substance of them returned to mind and has been haunting me ever since. One of them in particular I could use in an illustra- tive way in my business. The story an- other tells is too well known and too often referred to to make it very vital to my happiness; but still I would like to read it again in the way it was origin- ally put. The third, however, I am hun- gry for on account of its jingle. It was called, I think, The Wind on a Frolic, and began something in this way : The wind one morning sprang up from sleep Saying, now for a frolic, now for a leap, Now for a madcap, galloping chase ; I'll make a commotion in every place. " 'Then it went on to tell of the mis- chief that the wind did during the day, tearing down signs and overturning old women's gingerbread stalls as it swept through a town, whirling the country lad about and leaving him standing in a puddle in the lane, and so on through various sections of the country out to the sea, where it periled the mariner's bark, until, the day being done and the wind tired out, the latter went to sleep on a lonely rock projecting out from the ocean. There was a jingle about that rhyme that haunts me yet,' continued ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE Tyro, 'and I would give at least six bits to just lay my hands on that wind poem once more. The one referred to as be- ing well known illustrated the advisabil- ity of looking on both sides of a ques- tion, and was the tale of the two knights who met at a road crossing and viewed from opposite points of view a shield set up thereon. One claimed that it was of silver and the other that it was of gold. You of course remember the story, how they got to fighting about it, only to find in the end that both were right, the shield being of silver on one side and gold on the other. I don't need the book for any facts in the case as to the two knights and the shield, but it would be rather a satisfaction to be able to read it again in the language of my boyhood days. But the real gem that I want, and which I can use in my writing, was called, if I remember cor- rectly, The Returned Travelers, and was in three verses. The first toid of two travelers, who, returning at the same time to their native village, were asked what they had seen. The second verse was the first traveler's answer, he tell- ing, in effect, of the green fields, blue skies and glistening seas that had come under his observation. The third verse was the second traveler's answer, and was word for word the same as the second. You see, these two verses were purely a trick of inflection in the reading and illustrated how different tempera- ments saw the same thing. One of the travelers went through his list as he had gone through his travels, in a bored sort of way, implying by his tone and manner that he had seen nothing but green fields, blue skies and glistening seas, and that they were hardly worth while. To the other, however, these same things had been of interest. He had seen beauties in the fields, skies and seas, and made that fact manifest by the enthusiasm with which he enumerated them as most in- teresting sights of travel !' "Well," laughed the Rambler, as look- ing at his watch he clearly intimated that it was time for him to go to lunch, "I left Tyro still digging on one of those upper shelves for that old reading book. T hope he found it." I met Tyro as agreed when the time came. I think I have said on a previous occasion that Tyro was more my friend than he was the Rambler's. Between him and the latter was more or less of a casual friendship, while mine was one of regular standing from boyhood. Hence it was quite a common thing for me, being free to come and go as in- clination dictated, to take a meal with Tyro in the small hours of the night when his day's work ended. On such oc- casions we frequently protracted our sit- tings at the table, and on this evening we made it unusually long. This for the rea- son that Tyro had something particular that he wanted to talk with me about, and for which he had sent for me, and par- tially because at one stage our conversa- tion turned on the Rambler. I had said to Tyro incidentally that I hoped he had found the reading book that he had been looking for that forenoon, to which he replied in the negative, and with the added remark that the Rambler had evi- dently been telling tales. "How much, I wonder, did he tell you of what we talked about in that Book Shop?" "Not so very much," I replied, "except that he told me what you said about the three poems you wanted to find." "Didn't tell you what he said, I suppose?" said Tyro. I shook my head in the negative as I answered, "No doubt he found some application of those poems to pas- senger traffic. Tell me, what did he say?" "Well," Tyro began, "you know the weather was hot and there is no doubt but that the Rambler is growing fat, hence he seemed to be suffering a little from the heat. In consequence, I don't think he got along as well as usual in his comparisons, but he did make a try at it. He passed over the wind poem with the simple remark that it was like some people, especially some of his com- petitors in passenger traffic, to stir up a fuss every now and then, and then go themselves into quiescence, as did the wind on its rock in midocean, leaving the victims to struggle with the demorali- zation caused thereby. "It is easy to see that he compared the ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE knights and shield story to the modern method of employes and managers get- ting together and discussing things. In other words, thrashing out both sides of a question, as against the old some- times habit of arbitrary dictation on one side and sullen obstinacy on the other. "But the tale of the two travelers seemed to appeal to him the strongest. 'Just like modern travelers,' he said. 'Some see good or find interest in some or all things that come under their ob- servation and others can find neither in anything. In the first you have the ani- mated, reasonably satisfied traveler to deal with and in the other the chronic grouch and kicker. We passenger men and those affiliated with us in the moving of our passenger trains know them all. Perhaps I may add/ he continued re- flectively, 'an intermediate type, namely the philosophical. Those who, while not wholly satisfied, good-naturedly make the best of things, and who become neither grouches nor kickers when they cannot be enthusiasts. All three of these classes I perhaps saw illustrated on my recent trip. For example : " 'One of the stages of my journey was on what might be called a relatively short run of about six hours. It was into a region thick with summer resorts to which travel was so heavy that trains from twelve to fourteen cars every few hours apart during the day were sent out from the metropolis. The train on which I traveled carried no dining car, but did have six parlor cars up to a cer- tain junction point, about one hundred miles distant, from which they continued on in varying directions. In some of these parlor cars, at least the one in which I rode and the one accompanying it over the branch on which was my des- tination, were buffets from which was our only chance for lunch. One buffet man handled the lunch feature in the two cars, and by the time we had reached the junction referred to he had evidently finished with all who desired his services in our car and had disappeared, it af- terwards developed, into the second car to serve the passengers there. At the junction, however, a gentleman boarded the car I was in and told the porter that he desired a lunch. The porter, who had nothing to do with the buffet, told him nicely enough that the buffet man would serve him as quickly as possible, going at the same time into the other car, presumably to advise the buffet man there that he had a customer in his car. Of course, I did not see for myself, but the supposition was, based on what I knew had happened in our car, that the buffet man was still as busy as a boy with snakes serving in that second car. This the man did not, or would not, un- derstand. He sat from the beginning on the edge of which might otherwise have been a comfortable chair for him, and with gradually increasing sullen looks grew impatient that he was not approached to have his order taken. He held up the car porter several times, speaking by no means pleasantly to him, and finally hunted up the parlor car con- ductor and scolded him roundly for the treatment he claimed he was receiving. He even threatened to report the matter, mixing with the threat some covert abuse which even the generally mild-mannered, courteous and heavily service-stripe-be- decked conductor resented. In time, however, he got his meal ; but it did not allay his grouch, for an hour afterward I overheard him in subdued tone but vicious manner threatening the car por- ter, who, as far as I can see, had been helpless in the matter. Now of course I do not know,' the Rambler continued, 'whether the exhibition of meanness dis- played by that man and he was mean about it was natural to him or whether it just happened to be an unusual out- break, but if I am any judge of human nature he was a fellow that in his trav- els, like the bored one in the poem, saw but little of interest round and about him.' " Tyro laughed lightly to himself as he recalled the Rambler's actions at that stage of his talk. "He had been sitting, you know," said Tyro, "upon the corner of a table piled with books, swinging his legs as he talked, while I was perched on a little step ladder opposite. But on finishing about the grouch he, on looking 76 ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE at his watch, jumped down from the table, saying as he began picking up his grips, 'Guess I'll be going now, Tyro. Don't want to walk too fast because it's so beastly hot, so I'll just take plenty of time to get along slowly to the office.' But I would not have it that way, for between the mopping of the perspiration from his face and the evident effort he was having in fitting some illustration to that poem, he amused me to an un- usual degree. So I motioned him to back up onto his seat as I said 'Not so fast, Rambler; you have given me new words to but one verse of my poem. Now finish the other. Besides, you have only illustrated one of your three types of travelers. Come now, be fair and finish up.' " 'Oh, well,' he good-naturedly retort- ed, as he sprang up again to the edge of the table and, looking 'round to see if the proprietor of the book store was about, took out a cigar and lighted it, 'I have an easy one for the last verse. That is, for your enthusiastic traveler who thought his journey ings were worth while for the green fields, bright skies and shining seas alone. And it was right under my nose, too,' he added, as he noted with satisfaction that his cigar had started right. 'You know my last stretch was for a thousand miles. I had a lower berth in the sleeping car, and reaching the train immediately on its being announced as being made up, I had no difficulty in securing what right- fully belonged to me, namely, the seat facing the direction in which the train was going, and for which seat I had paid good money by virtue of my hold- ing the lower berth. Good money !' he repeated impressively, as though I had challenged his statement, 'for you know I was not traveling on our own line. The train made a local city stop about a mile from the terminal and at that point a delicate appearing young man came into the car, and on reaching my section quietly asked its number, and on being told, remarked that he was to be my seatmate to a point which would make us companions of the day until shortly after the evening dinner time : he on making the inquiry passing me incidentally his Pullman ticket, which was a seat ticket reading for my section. I thought he looked a bit disappointed at having to ride backward, and with some little curiosity watched him try first one position and then another in which to get comfortable. He finally settled by cuddling his back up against the outside wing of the seat, and with his knees drawn up and feet against the side of the car under the ^indow, began to ride practically sideways. When the outlying station was passed and the train was well . on the way, the porter, as is usual on long runs, began to dis- tribute pillows for those who later in the day might desire to nap. He dropped one in the unoccupied portion of my seat, and not caring to use it myself at the time, I passed it over to the young man. He received it gratefully and put it up against his back, remarking as he- did so, in rather a quiet way, but not at all, I am sure, intended as a hint to me, that he was in doubt how he was going to get along riding backwards and the pillow might help. Now it makes not a particle of difference to me/ the Rambler added as an aside, 'which way I ride, but I had something like twenty- five consecutive hours to spend on that train and the young man had but ten hours. Hence, while I made a mental resolve that later I would give him a chance to ride my way, I would not be in a hurry to establish what might be construed into a future claim on my seat by offering to change with him then. From his unusual position the young man was looking directly out of the win- dow all the time, and he soon began to show interest in what he saw in passing and to talk to me about it. Shortly we became quite companionable and after lunch in the dining car, when I felt in- clined to a little nap, I had some difficul- ty in persuading him to let me occupy his seat in which to stretch out while he rode forward. He claimed that he had not felt the difference as he had ex- pected, but I am sure that for the re- maining six hours of our being together, during which he rode in my seat, he ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE 77 was really more comfortable in mind or head, as the case might have been with him, for, as I think I said, he did not look to me particularly rugged. But what I am coming to is this. Notwith- standing his anticipated discomfort at first, he never complained. On the con- trary, he was enthusiastic as to the coun- try through which he passed, made many an interesting comment on what he saw and asked me many questions. His in- terest did not die out as long as we were together. In other words, while possibly uncomfortable through physical incapac- ity, he saw green fields, blue skies and shining seas with the enthusiasm of the returned traveler in the reading book.' "I had him going for fair," laughed Tyro, as he sipped from the fresh glass of water that the waiter brought him and ignored the accompanying finger bowl and check, which latter might have been a gentle hint on the waiter's part for his fee, that he would not have to watch for our departure any longer. "So," Tyro resumed, "I prodded the Rambler on when he again showed signs of departure by saying 'Now, how about the philosophical traveler? Come, now, you have been preaching a sermon which is incomplete without its "lastly." ' 'Well,' was the response, 'I will have to make it short, but here it is, beauti- fully illustrated on that same train, in my car and in the opposite section from me. At our first stop after leaving the city, some fifty miles out, two gentlemen whom it afterwards developed were seat passengers, got into the Pullman and seated themselves in the seat facing the direction of the train ; making them- selves comfortable in doing so by taking off their coats and hats and throwing them on the opposite seat and placing their feet on the edge of the latter. They were only going, it proved later, to a point that would be reached at about eight o'clock that evening, and they had boarded the train at about eleven a. m. At the next stop, however, a gentle- man came in with a ticket for the lower berth in that section reading through to the destination of the train. The Pull- man conductor, on looking at the man's ticket and at the two occupants of his seat, told the former to sit in the section in front until things got straightened out. As the seat facing forward was vacant in the section to which he. was assigned, he made no objection and rode for a couple of hours or so in some one else's section. Then a third party ap- peared at one of the stops holding a tick- et for the lower in the seat of which he was riding, so that he then demanded of the porter his own seat. The porter went to the two usurping seat passeng- ers and on making his errand known they demurred at first at making any change. Finally, however, one of them said rather crossly, "Oh, let him have it," and they moved over into the seat that caused them to ride backwards. Then the rightful holder moved over into his seat and sat facing the other two. From my seat opposite I was much amused at the situation. For about fif- teen or twenty minutes it was decidedly tense, all three aiming to be decent and gentlemanly, but not feeling that way, and embarrassingly having to stare at each other. Good nature finally pre- vailed, however. Some one of them, I did not notice which, broke the ice and soon they were chatting together. An hour later, on the train laying over at a junction point for about twenty minutes. I saw all three of them cross the street and go into a thirst parlor to get a drink together.' "He told this," explained Tyro, "in such a breezy, funny way that I was de- lighted, and was for holding him still longer, but he rebelled. 'Nothing do- ing!' he exclaimed. _'I could tell you of two more cases of the same nature that occurred on that same car, but I won't. Hope vou'll find your old book,' and he was off." "I wonder if that man Rambler," I remarked, as Tyro paid the check and we started to depart, "has any secret list, tariffs or time schedules so arranged that, as with a string of beads, he says his prayers by them at night. He seems to fit passenger traffic in some fashion or other into everything. Service Notes of Interest ft will be recalled that some months ago the Rambler had a story in this magazine illustrating the desirability of agents mak- ing an effort to sell upper berths in sleep- ing cars as well as the lowers. The fol- lowing extracts from an article on the same subject in the Northwestern Monthly Bulletin but emphasize what the Rambler attempted to convey in story form: "First: A saving of 20 per cent in the cost is effected. ''Second: The ventilation in i:pper berths, as a general rule, is better and the tem- perature more even. "Third: Individual and double curtains which the Pullman Company is now intro- ducing increases the sense of privacy and security. "Fourth: Improved ladders is another new introduction by the Pullman Company which adds greatly to the convenience in getting to and from the upper berths. "Fifth: The noise arising from the movement of cars is less noticeable in the upper berths on account of the greater dis- tance from the wheels and rails. "Sixth: The occupants of upper berths are less likely to be disturbed by people moving up and down the aisle than those in the lower berths. "Seventh: Clothes hangers, mirrors and electric light fixtures are provided in up- per berths in modern sleeping cars, as well as lower berths, and the springs and mat- tresses are equally comfortable. "It is too bad, but nevertheless the truth, that quite frequently ticket sellers, and other solicitors of passenger traffic, dis- courage the purchase of upper berths by the manner in which they answer the in- quiries of passengers. The way they say 'Only uppers left,' or the manner in which they refer as a general proposition to the upper kerth question, is more calculated to discourage the purchase than otherwise. "It is up to us to inspire the passengers with the belief that the upper berths have their advantages as well as the lower berths, and when a passenger steps up to the counter and asks for a sleeping car ticket, don't start out with an apologetic air and say there are no lowers left, but reach for your diagram and say, 'I can give you a nice upper, in the center of the car, Num- ber Six,' or whatever the number may be. in exactly the same tone that you would use if you were selling Lower Six if the passenger says something about a lower it can be explained that there are none left, and then if objection is made to accent- ing an upper, you can point out briefly some of the advantages of the upper berths. "As you know, there is a pressing need, particularly in the railroad field, of prac- ticing the most rigid economy in operation, and a good way to help reduce the over- head expenses is to sell not only the lower berths in our sleepers, but the uppers as well." Following are several interesting points made by Warren H. Fogg in an extensive article entitled "Giving Correct Informa- tion" that appeared in the July number of "The Right Way Magazine," published by the Central of Georgia. ' The old saying that 'No news is better than bad news' contains a principle aptly applicable to the general question of giving information. That is to say, it is better far to furnish no information at all than to give your passenger that, which in street parlance would be rightly called a 'Bum steer.' "Naturally, the Passenger Department of a railroad cannot know everything, nor can any ticket agent or soliciting representa- tive speak with authority about many fea- tures of the service of connecting lines, but, he knows, perhaps better than anyone else, the procedure to secure such informa- tion with the least delay and if it is with- in the bounds of reasonableness and pro- priety he should do so. "No reasonable passenger will object to a clerk not knowing the answer to his question, if the clerk shows a disposition to find out from some one who does know. "I have found that the chief requisite for giving correct information, the very first step to take is to find out just what the passenger wishes to know; this is not as simple as it sounds,, for more than half the time the passenger does not know him- self. "I have found it a great help in con- trolling the sale of many tickets and gain- ing the confidence of the passenger, to answer all of the passenger's questions carefully and correctly, then volunteer addi- tional information that tne passenger should know." The following convention announcements for August, September, and October, 1917, should be carefully gone over by agents and kept in mind with the end in view of obtaining business therefor in cases where applicable to their territory: Inland Daily Press Assn., Chicago, August 14, 1917. 78 ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAGAZINE American Assn. of Title Men, Chicago, August 15-17, 1917. National Fraternal Congress, Chicago, Au- gust 21, 1917. American Power Boat Co., Minneapolis, Minn., Aug. 23-27, 1917. Nat'l Meeting American Home Economic Association", Minneapolis, Minn., Aug. 22, 1917. Nat'l Retail Jewelers Assn., St. Louis, Au- gust 27, 1917. Kappa Delta Sorority, Birmingham, Ala., Aug. 27, 1917. Interstate Trap Shooters Assn. (Grand Amer. Handicap), Chicago, Aug. 20-24, 1917. American Federation of Catholic Societies, Kansas City, Mp., Aug. 26, 1917. Nat'l Federation Post Office Clerks, Mem- phis, Tenn., Sept. 3, 1917. Internat'l Assn. Prevention of Smoke, Co- lumbus, O., Sept. 25-7, 1917. Ak-Sar-Ben, Omaha, Neb., Sept. 26, 1917. United Nat'l Postal Clerks, Fort Worth, Tex., Sept. 1917. Nat'l Council Congregational Churches, Co- lumbus, O., Oct. 10-17, 1917. National Dairy Assn., Columbus, O., Oct. 17-27, 1917. Amer. Refrigerator Assn., St. Louis, Mo., Oct. 1917, The Canadian Northern Railway an- nounces that an interchange of passenger traffic has now been completed for jthe handling of Pacific Coast business, either going or returning, via connecting lines through Vancouver, Winnipeg or Duluth gateways, and that only one coupon, read- ing- Canadian Northern, is required between these points. It respectfully invites attention to the fact that this is an entirely new route through a most attractive and picturesque section of the Canadian Rockies. Mt. P-obson (13,087 ft.) the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies,' Mt. Resplendent, Mt. Cavell (dedicated to the memory of the martyred nurse. Miss Edith Cavell), Mt. Mary Vaux and many other peaks are lo- cated on this tourist route through the Yellowhead Pass. A few weeks after the line was placed in operation, the longest passenger train, it is alleged, ever hauled across the mountains* by a single locomo- tive, consisting of fifteen standard sleeping cars, with a total weight of 1,119 tons, was successfully run from Toronto to Van- couver. The transcontinental eauipment of the line consists of a thoroughly modern tvpe of electric-lighted compartment- library-observation cars, standard sleeping cars, tourist sleeping cars, dining cars, and first and second class coaches, all specially co