Los Angeles herald., 1890-06-02
Small Accident on the Re-
dOndO Branch Line.
Three Passenger Cars Get Off
the Track.
Strikers and NOn-Strikers Among
Railway Conductors.
Result of the Recent Action of the Order
The Purchase of the St. Louis and
San Francisco Line.

California road yesterday morning. No
one was injured and very little damage
was done, but the road was blocked for
the rest of the day.
The first train in the morning leaves
Los Angeles at 9:05. 1t was well filled
with passengers. As it was running be-
tween Burwell and the beach about four
miles this side of Redondo, one of the
trucks of the tender jumped the track.
The combination car which was attached
to the tender and the two coaches which
made up the rest of the train bumped
together and their trucks left the track.
The train was running at moderate
rate of speed and 1t came to sudden
halt. The passengers were little
shaken up but no one was injured.
They left the train and walked to Re-
dondo, but when the time came to return
the track was still obstructed. The Redon-
do Beach Railway Company thereupon
came handsomely to the rescue and
honored the tickets of the Southern
California line. The passengers all re-
turned to the city by the Redondo Beach
line none the worse in any way for the
accident.
The overland on the Santa Fe was ten
hours late yesterday, delayed by the ac-
cident to the freight train on the At
lantic and Pacific at Albuquerque.
The recent action of the Order of Rail
way Conductors in deciding by vote of
21O to 65 to repeal the clause in the con-
stitution prohibiting strikes is likely to
have some effect on the growth of the
Brotherhood of Railway Conductors, the
organization which was founded in this
held its first annual convention here
last fall. The Brotherhood had
its origin in the fact that the
order was unable by the terms of its con-
stitution to go into strikes. 1t enrolled
in its membership at the start most OF
the conductors who were running on the
coast lines. Its growth throughout the
east was rapid, and there was lively
probability that in short time it would
have taken away a large percentage of
the members of the older order.
This sudden change OF front on the
part of the order is likely to result either
in the stopping of its growth, or in the
consolidation of the two organizations.
1t is not improbable that the latter will
be the final outcome, although as the
founders of the brotherhood are very en-
thusiastic over the success of their
scheme, they may not favor going back
into the old order.
A large number of the representatives
who voted against the motion to repeal
the prohibition of strikes left the con-
vention, and the bodies which they rep
resented declare their intention of with
drawing from the order. In case they
do so, there will be third organization
started on the old principle of mo
strikes"
A recent number of the Railway Age
gives the following interesting comment
on the consolidation of the Santa Fe and
the st. Louis and San Francisco:
The most important consolidation OF
railway interests which has taken place
in long time is that just effected in the
purchase by the Atchison, Topeka and
Santa Fe Railroad Company of the abso-
lutte control of the St. Louis and San
Francisco railroad. The two companies
have long been equal partners in the
Atlantic and Pacific road, running from
a junction with the Atchison, Topeka
and Santa Fe near Albuquerque, N. M.
west to Mojave, CAL, 927 miles, but the
joint ownership has not been harmon
ious. The St. Louis and San Francisco
people claimed that the Atchison com.
pany was receiving the larger share Of
the benefits of the arrangement, and the
former had for some time threatened to
build an extension from its terminus at
Sapulpa, 1. t., west to Albuquerque and
thus secure direct connection with the
Atlantic and Pacific independent of the
Santa Fe, over whose track the traffic OF
the St. Louis and San Francisco to and
from the Pacific coast is now carried on
between Burton, Kan, and Albuquerque,
N. NJ, a distance of 700 miles. The
constructionof the threatened extension
to Albuquerque would cut off a large
amount of business from the Atchison,
and would involve the building of some
900 miles of road through an unpeopled
and for the most part an unprOmising
country, and as the purchase by the
Atchison Company of the st. Louis and
the construction of that line, it has
saved the unnecessary expenditure of a
vast amount OF money.
The st. Louis and San Francisco Com
pany now operates l AL miles of road.
The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe
Company owns, operates and controls
7,119 miles, and the consolidation of the
two companies gives the enormous mile
age of $500 miles, making by far the
greatest railway system that has
yet been known. The purchase
brings the Atchison company into st.
Louis and makes that city the terminus
of one arm of great transcontinental
line. A branch of the Atchison's line
from Chicago already reaches to within
about 140 miles of st. Louis, and il
seems quite likely that this gap will now
be filed, when the Atchison will have
quite direct line from Chicago to St
Louis and thence, by means of the st
Louis and San Francisco's line to Paris
Texas, will secure a considerably more
direct route to a connection with thu
Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe line than i
now has by way of Kansas City and th'
Southern Kansas line. Other advantage
to the Atchison Company from this pur
chase are evident by study of the maj
and there is no reason now apparen
why the consolidation should be advers
to the interests of the public. At tn,
same time there is natural fear of sucl
gigantic aggregations of capital ant
power, and every move of this kind will
doubtless be met by greater watchful
ness and more stringent legislation OF
the part of the people.