Los Angeles herald., 1891-03-26
THE RAILROADS.
THE PROBABILITY THAT YUMA
WILL BE ABANDONED.
How the Southern Pacific Army De-
Esated tho United States Army-A Fed
Grafton Of Empioyees- The Great Rail
road Trust-Notss.

The Southern Pacific railroad com
pany had to defeat the United States
army in order to get their line into
Yuma. and now tits probable that the
road will abandon that place.
II is matter Of history that when the
construction train first reached nna,
the colonel commanding the hited
States post there forbade the laying oi
track across the Indian reservation nm
til permission was received from Wash
ington. 1t would take probably six
months or so to go through the neces-
sary red tape, and the railroad men
kicked, but to no purpose. At last they
decided to build the road anyway, and
defy the colonel. The latter, however,
ordered out his army, which consisted
of one private, and ordered him to load
his musket with ball cartridge.
''Now, /" said the colonel, 7'if any OF
these blankety blank blanked railrnad
men attempt to do any work boro, shoot
'em."
The private was veteran and could
be relied on to Qhay orders at any cost,
and the -~ifrOad men were for the time
nonplussed. However scheme was
arranged. 1t was announced that no
further attempts would be made to over
ride the colonels orders, and the chief
of the railroad force invited that officer
to an early dinner with him one eve
ming. The dinner was good, and cham
pagne was plenty and in couple of
hours the warrior became so full of both
that he was put to bed on q bunk in the
car where the banquet took place, and
was sidetracked some distance back on
the road.
Meanwhile the army which was on
guard, had been approached by railroad
men of the same nationality and was
rendered drink of mountain dew out
of q big black bottle. The railroad man
soon went ON his way, but left the black
bottle with the army. 1t was too much
for the latter and it soon relaxed
its grasp on its musket and
stretching out on the sand was in a
short time placidly snoring. A gang of
tracklayers made an advance, picked up
tie army, laid it to one side, and all
night long worked at building the road
bed, placing ties, and spiking rails,
while the colonel and the army slept
calmly oblivious of everything. When
they awoke the road was built across
the disputed land, and the colonel and
the army both had heads too big for
their caps.
Chief Engineer Hood passed through
Los Angeles on Tuesday on his way to
San Francisco, where he will make
report as to the advisability of moving
the line of the road, so as to evade fu-
ture danger of washouts. In case this
is done, Yuma will be left to one side
and will become a city of the past.
EMPLOYEES FEDERATION.
If the employees Of the Southern Pa
cific who are in session at San Antonio
succeed in carrying their scheme
through they will have pretty strong
grip upon the Southern Pacific. The
unite Mhish the bsfS aFs tSa Ty r
the Brotherhood of Firemen, the COM
ductors, brakemen and switchmen in
one great federation which will take in
every man from New Orleans to Los An
geles. 1t is q scheme of great magni-
tude, and the only thing that stands in
the way of its contamination is the lack
of harmony between the engineers and
firemen. If their differences can be ad-
justed the federation will become a
reality, and strike by one class will
mean q strike by the entire working
force. A strong pressure will be brought
to bear to bring the engineers and fire.
men into accord.
THE RAILROAD TRUST.
A special dispatch to the San Francis
co Chronicle Of Tuesday, says:
"The scheme to unite the great rail-
road systems of the west and northwest
under one general management, is max
ing some progress. The financial de-
partments Of the Union Pacific, Atchi-
son. Missouri Pacific, Southern Pacific,
Central Pacific and Pacific Mail Steam
ship company are preparing detailed
statements showing the condition and
earning capacity of their respective
properties. These statments are to
form the basis upon which the relative
value of each property is to be deter
mined. The plan is to form new cor
poration with capital stock large
enough to cover all the interests that
may be willing to join.
1T satisfactory apportionment OF
values can be made the stock of the sew
eral companies will be deposited in the
treasury Of central company in ex-
change for trust certificates issued by
that company. The old corporations
will be dept up and will perform their
internal functions as before, but in the
matter of getting BUSINESS and dividing
the profits there will be unity of in
terests. There will be no competitions,
and joint agencies will replace individ-
ual agencies wherever such a thing is
possible. Conferences between Jay
Gould, 9. 2. Huntington and the Atchi-
son people are Of frequent occurrence.
There is perfect agreement as to the
advisability of the proposed combina-
ton. G. P. Huntington, who has been
a very active figure in the conferences
held thus far, expects to leave for San
Francisco tomorrow to attend the annu-
al meeting of the Southern Pacific road.
He will be gone several weeks, and in
the meantime the other interests con-
cerned will continue to compare notes.
NOTES.
L. A. Towne, superintendent of mo-
tive power on the Fort Scott and Gulf
road, who has been at Pasadena for his
health, which is greatly improved, spent
yesterday at Long Beach and San Pedro,
in the Southern Pacific special car Fran.
cisco. He will go to San Francisco to-
day. Mr.. Towne is brother of Mr.. A.
N. Towne, of the Southern Pacific COM
re Nol,lo d;x;.;<,,, ,,.,,.,,~:.41-Ie.1 -