The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-07-31
REPLY TO MAI. aARRETT.
Why the Management of the s. A. N
Road Was Criticised,


Americas, Ga, July 2S-In reply to
Mai Gabbett's unqualified assertion,
based upon information necessarily OBJ
tanned from others, that "the S. A. NJ.
Tybee express did not refuse to attach
the military mems car at Helena. None
of the officials of this road had any iufor-
nation that the car was at Helena, and
when the Tybee express passed that
station about l 80 o'clock Monday morn
ing, the military car was side-tracked
some distance from our station the lights
out and everybody asleep. No request
was made of our conductor to attach the
car, and he did not know the car was there
until he had passed Helena some miles,
| submit the following statements over
their own signatures of First Lieut.. H.
G. Davis, who was in command Of the
company, and of Acting Quartermaster
Sergeant J. r. Britton. AS to the majors
statement that 1.-THE lights were out and
everybody asleep" l could supplement
Lieut.. Davis denial with atfidavits from
each and every member of the company
then present.
Acting Quartermaster Britton's state
ment is as follows:
"When found that the S. A. M. train
was gone and our company left in Helena
| went to the depot to learn the reason
Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia operator
that he had had a telegram for theS. A. NJ
railway since s o'clock that our boys
would be on nand for the Tybee express,
but had not been able to call up the
Americas office He further stated that
he had told the S. A. M conductor of the
presence of the two coaches with the mil
itary boys on board to carry to
Americas, and that the conductor
TOD hot
to carry them. / was also informed by
the Helena yard master of the S. A. M,
that he had informed the S. A. NJ, con-
ductor of our coaches and was answered
that he had no orders to carry US in.
J. r. BRITToN,
Act Q. M. Sergt
Lieut.. Davis makes this statement: I
was present and heard the E. t., V. & G..
operator make the statements as above
reported by QuarterMaster Britton.
That the lights in our coaches were out
and all the company asleep is not true.
Fl. G. DAVIS, First Lieut..
After further expression of more feeling
than fairness, Mai Gabbett concludes by
saying;
of the S. A. M. road is doing all it can to
iniure the road is false, and nobody that
knows my record as a railroad manager
WOulQ 1OF moment Dell6Ve blHI i run q
road to in1ure it"
The News correspondent certainly has
no desire or intention to do the major any
injustice, but hardly think it fair for him
to sit back in the glare of his brilliant
railroad record and claim immunity from
criticism The official acts of one who
holds an important business trust in
which he serves the public should be as
open to criticism as one who holds polit-
l.. NJ z
the manner in which the S. A. M. is now
operated, l have simply reflected the SEN
timents and utteranCes of the good people
along its line, who are its natural friends
and supporters.
Our people believe the road is being
mismanaged. First, because they think
they see the motive. One of the receiv-
ers, Mr.. Hambleton, is trying to show in
a legal contest in the courts that the road
never had any net earnings, and to this
end it is important to prove that the road
cannot and does not earn operating ex-
penses. Second, the evidences before us
every day, viz, no passenger trains on a
road 300 miles long through Il well popu-
lated and prosperous country, no mails
regularly received or sent, the local
freights that carry mail and passengers,
often many hours behind their slow
schedules, no trains on Sunday, when the
travel would surely more than double any
other day.
No separate cars for white and colored
The schedule so arranged that the people
from Plains, Preston, Richland, Lumpkin
and points west cannot come TO Americus
and return same day.
Business men from Plains, Preston and
beyond were in Americas TO-DAY coming
from twelve to twenty-five miles through
the heat in buggies. One, the farmer
prince of Webster county, w. p. lowers,
have reliable way to get home. These
are but few of the reasons why our peo-
pie are disposed to criticise Maj Gabbett's
management of the S. A. M. road, lift only
affected the road they would not so much
complain. Their real complaint, is the
injury to all business of the city.
w. T. BURT.
a MTRPOR OF NHATA