Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1882-02-23
Profitable to the Officials, But Not
to the Stakeholder.
How the Thing is Worked.
Old Cars That are Repaired and
Charged to the Construction
4 Account as New.

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the public knew little of, or in fac
had heard about-additional inquire
were %propounded by the scribe.
Where are you from?" was the frs
question.
From Chicago, and in the emplo,
Of 9 railway company. I am hunting
their cars. l travel most of the time
and | tell you it is a considerabl
trouble to find the cars"
How do cars get lost2'
"Very easily. If they were onl,
found as readily as they are
LOST AND STOLEN
railway companies would be relieved
Of heavy expense and great annoy
ance."
DO | understand you to say tina.
cars are stolen as well as lost?"
Precisely so. Railway companie.
steal from each other, or rather rings
ofdishonest officials do. To them il
is quite profitable, but the stockhold-
ers always loose, whether the cars are
stolen from or for their company."
but how do they get lost2"
"Well I'll tell you. 1t is in this
way. Suppose, for instance, that the
Pennsylvania railroad ships a car
load offreight from this city to Den
YER. 1t goes, dulymanifested, straight
through to its destination. There is
no return manifest for the car. After
it has been unloaded it is started back
to Philadelphia in a train of which
probably it is the only empty car.
Perhaps there is a shipper at a station
somewhere in a near division who wants
a car. Not wishing to disappoint him
the superintendent telegraphs the SON
ductor to drop off an empty car for the
shippers use. Very likely this is on
ly the beginning Of a period Of local
or division service for the car that
may last weeks or months, or until
found by a 'spotter' OF tracer Of the
Pennsylvania road and reported. Per-
haps the car has been kept so long
the Pennsylvania road would send in
a bill for the length Of time it was re-
tanned, as it would have a right to do.
The car Is then liable to be stolen.
The Superintendent
MAY NOT BE VERY sCRUPULoUs.
1t is to his interest to keep the ex-
pense of his division down. Ifany.
thing should be wrong with the car.
as is not unlikely, it would be ordered
for repairs to the shops, from which it
would return so changed and altered
as to be absolutely unrecognizable,
unless it contained a private mark of
the company by which it was built. y
1T is simply incredible that such
downright robbery as this is practiced
by the educated and intelligent men
who fill the high positions in the rail-
way corporations Of the country"
Incredible it may seem, but | as
sure you it is the fact, nevertheless.
1t is one Of the methods by which
railway officials amass fortunes. AS l
said before, a ring is necessary for its
! successful manipulation. The car is
brought from the shops and again put
on the road. 1t is charged to the con.
struction account of the company as a
new car, and the Superintendent, the
master builder, the master mechanic,
and whoever else belongs TO the ring,
pocket the proceeds arising from
the sale of the stolen car to their own
corporation. This is
AN EASY SCHEME
to carry out, and l know Of more than
one instance of car stealing"
But don't the mechanics In the
shops know the cars are stolen, and
isn't the theft liable to become known
through them?"
mo. For aught they know or can
find out to the contrary the cars have
been bought from some other road and
sent to the shops for the necessary
change in appearance. Why, l have
even known cars TO be stolen from
some of the narrow gauge roads in
Colorado and changed to broad. or
compromise, or standard guage. As
was once suggested to me, It is cheap
er to put four new axles on a r
gauge al than to build or buy a new
one."
"You seem tobe prettyfamiliar with
these practices?"
u have to be in order to be servica.
ble."
IF the railway companies know
them to exist why don't they take
measures to stop them2 It would an.
parently be an easy matter to do 60
by
HOLDING COMPANIES RESPONSIBLE
for the safe return of cars delivered to
their road"
1.-THE railways of the country arc SO
numerous, their business SO vast, and
the interchanges of cars so large that
it would require a system Of such com.
plexity as to nccessitate great add.
tional labor in the way Of bookkeep-
ing. Indeed, | don't think a practica.
bic system to insure the perfect safety
Of cars has ever yet been devised.
Cars travel from one end Of the con.
tinent to the other; from Maine To
California, Texas and through all the
South. They pass over so many dif.
ferent roads, through so many differ
ent hands, and get into such out-of.
the way places that often the tempta-
ton to keep them is irresistible. /
don't want you to understand me AZ
saying that the stealing Of cars is prac-
ticed systematically and uniformly.
but | do aver that it is not infrequent.
ly done, especially in case where there
is little or no danger of discovery
Before the reporter could obtain
any further enlightenment on the sub.
ject, the spotter OF cars boarded the
train and continued his travel 10 New
York.