The Osceola times., 1879-06-07
ABOUT SLEEPING-CARs.

ABOUT SLEEPING-CARs.
Infornsaion Poured Fsrih I'm an Inter
view with n Pullman Man.
IT. Louis Times Journal.
"What IL the nature of your principal
expense itemsf" Well, the cost of the
cars IL Of course very great, because they
are not only finished regardless of cost,
but are made much heavier and stronger
than ordinary cars. Fer instance, in
every car are two very heavy oaken
timbers, running the entire length of the
car, which are never used In ordinary
cars, and which make 1t impossible to
break Pullman car in q railway scci.
dent. Our cars may take fire and burn,
or In q collision the windows or other
glass may get smashed, but you never
heard of one being smashed up. 1t
would be impossible. 1t may seem
strange to you, but 1t is fact that never
yet has one Of our conductors been killed
on duty; that's pretty good evidence OF
the safety o our cars"
"How much do you pay conductors
and portersT Conductors get from
$50 to $86 month, and porters from $40
to e46, according to the run"
How does 1t come that such diff.
ference is made In the pay Of porters ?"
Well, the porters always make more or
less by shines and other little perquisi-
tes, according to the Importance OF the
points between which they run, and their
pay Il regulated to a certain extent by
that fact. Why, on some runs the
porters will take in as high as two or
three dollars single night. The run
from Chicago to st. Louis, for instance,
is considered one of the best"
"What are your highest and lowest
receipts from single tripsH" Con some
Of the long runs, like New York to
Chicago, as much as &75 to 800 will be
taken In, while on some roads we will
run at 4 loss every trip"
"Why do you run on such road p
Simply TO keep the business in hand
with . visw OF doing better In tht
future"
"Do you pay the reads for the privi'
lege Of running your cars" "No; they
4 Besides hauling your cars ?" "Oiten
according ~ the value Of the rum"
"Why don't t6ey build and run thei
own cars rather than make such an ar
rangement as that 2" because tn,
Pullman company owns the patents.
You have to keep your cars II
repair |" "No; the railroad companie
are given the cars In good order and ar
required to keep them 3d."
How is 1t in the case of collision
or other accident 2" "The rsilros,
company either repair or pay us an esti
mated account, decided between ou
master mechanic and theirs, and the ca
il sent to our shops to be put in order.
"Where are your shops2" Tn,
principal hops are at Detroit"
Have you any shops in England p
"No our cars for England are made il
this country, shipped abroad in section
and put together there. We charter
ship Tor our exclusive use when we senc
over load"
"Your laundry bills must be prett.
heavyf" g. should say they are. W,
pay out Thousands of dollars ever,
month for washing our linen"
docs the d. II. ffend trouble vol
anyT "Dead. heads2 Yes, though
mostly in the shape of exchange courte
sies with railways. By agreement passe
are exchanged with all the officers o
both companies where business take
them over the roads, the Pullman officer
riding free and the railway officers sleep
Ing free" -. :. 49,, =.
J that basis" Z" 1t would seem so, for Will,
one Of our men in riding, for instance, be
tween Chicago and St Louis, will rid,
ten dollars worth while the railway
.officer will only use two dollars worth
but as matter OF fact tine number o
| railway officers who have to 90 out or
| the road is 50 much greater than the
I, number OF our men who use their passe,
that the balance is largely against us
Onr dead-head business represents an
annual loss OF about $3.50, 900 a year"
"You don't have to give passes out
side of railroad men much, do you?'
Not more than we can help, but it /,
not an unusual thing for man to lose
half day waiting to see the superin
tendcnt to save two dollar. by getting 8
pass on some pretext or ether"
"What action would your company
take If Illinois or any other state should
enact legislation cutting down your
ratesf" "Thst would depend upon
circumstances. We should probably put
on . cheap grade Of cars to run through
that state, or possibly withdraw our carr
altogether"
But you are under contract with the
railroads, are you notf" Eyes; but
the contracts can be terminated under
certain conditions. The Texas legisls-
ture, for instance, has lately enacted q
law taxing our cars heavily, and as re.
suit, we shall take every sleeper out o.
the state and extend our sccommcds
tions To the hord,r only. Texas bust
ness was never very valuable, and II will
be better for us to diop the runs than tC
pay the special tax lately levied"