The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1879-06-12
ABOUT sLEEPING-CARs.
Information Poured Forth In an Inter.
view with a Pullman Man.
81 LOUIS IImes-JouTnaI,

Information Poured Forth In an Inter.
view Win n Pullman Man.
st. Louis Times-Journ
What is the nature of your principal
expense items % q Well, the cost of the
cars is 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 sre never used in ordinary
cars, and which make it impossible to
break a Pullman car in g railway scci-
dent. Our cars may take fire and burn,
OF 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 it is fact that never
yet has one of our conductors been killed
on duty that's pretty good evidence OF
the safety O. our car"
How much do you pay conductors
and porters ?'' Conductors get from
$50 to $85 month, and porters from SO
to $45, according to the run"
How does it come that such a diff
ference is made in the pay of pOrters 2"
GO Well, the porters always make more or
less by shines and other little perquisi-
ties, according to the importance or the
points between which they run, and their
pay is regulated to a certain extent by
that fact. Why, on some runs the
porters will take in as high as two or
three dollars a 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 trips F' "On some
of the long runs, like New York to
Chicago, as much as $50 to 800 will be
taken in, while on some roads we will
run at loss every trip"
Why do you run on such a road p
" Simply to keep the business In hand,
with a visw of doing better in the
future"
Do you pay the roads for the privi~
lege of running your cars ?'' mo they
pay U.S." ,,,, %, ..os4..,
according to the value of the run"
"Why don't they build and run their
own cars rather than make such an ar
rangement as that ?" " Because the
Pullman company owns the patents"
&c You have to keep your cars in
repair ?" "No; the railroad companies
required to keep them So"
- How is it in the case of a collision
or other accident ?" "The railroad
company either repair or pay US an estiN
mated account, decided between our
master mechanic and theirs, and the car
is sent to our shops to be put in order"
Where are your shops p The
principal hops ale at Detroit"
Have you any shops in England 2''
No; our cars for England are made in
this country, shipped abroad in sections
and put together there. We charter
ship for our exclusive use when we send
over load"
Your laundry bills must be pretty
heavy ?" 81 should say they are. We
pay out thousands of dollars every
month for washing our linen"
Does the D. II. ffend' trouble you
any % DeRd-heads? Yes, though
mostly in the shape of exchange courte-
sizes with railways. By agreement passes
are exchanged with all the officers Of
both companies where business takes
them over the roads, the Pullman officers
riding free and the railway officers sleep
!" You must get the best of them on
that basis" " It would seem so, for while
one of our men in riding, for instance, be-
tween Chicago and St. Louis, will ride
ten dollars worth while the railway
officer will only use two dollars worth
but as a matter of fact the number OF
railway officers who have to go out on
the road is so much greater than the
number of our men who use their passes
that the balance is largely against us.
| Onr dead>head business represents an
annual loss of abouJ $4,000 year."
- You don't have to give passes out
| side Of railroad men much, do your !"
60 Not more than we can help, but it is
not an unusual thing for a man to lose
half day waiting to see the superin-
tendent to save two dollars by getting a
pass on some pretext or ether"
What action would your company
take if Illinois or any other state should
enact legislation cutting down your
rates ?" " That would depend upon
circu Instances. We should probably put
on a cheap grade of cars to run through
that state, or possibly withdraw our cars
altogether"
E" But you are under contract with the
railroads, are you not 2" Yes; but
the contracts can be terminated under
certain conditions. The Texas legisla'
ture, for instance, has lately enacted s
law taxing our cars heavily, and as a re
suit, we shall take every sleeper out o
the state and xtend our accommOda
tions to the border only. Texas bust
ness was never very valuable, and it vii
be better for US to hop the Iuns than t.
pay the special tax lately levied"