The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-12-17
How They Will Push and Pull
Themselves Along on
TricycleS.
ALAS! THE POOR PUBLIC.
There Is No Way to Make the South.
ern Pacific Properly Patrol Their
Line of Tracks.

Only person who IS constantly thrown
into contact with the rolling department
can understand the struggle for existence
through which the recently discharged en-
ployes of the Southern Pacific are going.
The company let out 5S1 men within the
past ten days, and batch to complete the
thousand will be listed and executed be-
tween now and New Years day.
In no one case has the dismissal come in
the nature of discharge, but simply as a
lav-off'' on account of the lack of business.
The men who are still to lose their posi-
tons will be notified that their services
will not be required "until affairs pick up
in few months
This being the case the men on the out
side consider themselves as railroad men
still. and hold themselves in readiness to
resume work when called upon.
In the meantime the Southern Pacific
people are engaging men to take the place
of those who. have been let out and in a
short while they will have two gangs of
men at their service instead OF one, as they
had a year and half ago. when they
found themselves with strike on their
hands.
The shopmen who have gone out as per
order and who see their places filled by
green men are chafng under the hardship
and will soon bring the matter to the at
tention of the American Railway Union.
This move on the part of General Mana
ger julius Kruttschnitt in behalf of the
Southern Pacific system WIS made, pre-
sumabiy, for the sake of economy. The
wholesale discharge of men up to date rep
resents n saving of nearly $1,000 a day to
the COMPANY. but why is it." the dis
charged men ask, "other men are put in
our places if it is purely on account of
economy that we were let out?'
As a matter OF fact, where half thou
sand men have been thrown out of en-
ployment, one-third that number have
been engaged to take their places. Man.
ager kruttschnitt. in doing this, saves two
thirds of the regular wages and gives him
self contingent of workmen to tall back
on in the event OF trouble on his lines.
This policy is something entirely new on
this coast, and it was certainly uneX
pected. Among the So men let out more
than half were employees for the past ten
or twenty years. With that improvident
spirit usually accompanying a knowledge
OF security in Office, these men allowed
themselves to be left destitute and with
large families on their hands when the ak
fell.
There is another important change being
made. Mr.. Kruttschnitt has called off the
patrolled the lines.
1t was the custom for the track walkers
TO patrol a distance of about eight miles.
Now, the sectiOn-nands must do this work
themselves, covering q distance of forty
miles, every fourth section along the road
taking up the task on the first run. The
next run is made by the second, fifth,
ninth and thirteenth section, and so on
until all the sections have a turn at the
run. In this manner, the inspectors never
get familiarized with the track and their
work must necessarily be slipShod, to the
great discomfort of the travelling public
who stop to think of the additional risk
they take going over the Southern Pacific
lines.
These new track-walkers cannot possibly
cover forty miles each day inspecting the
road without some mode of locomotion
other than their legs, and SO they have
been furnished with tricycle. cars. On
these they pump themselves quickly over
their forty miles, going at speed which
allows of but little inspection of the track.
The Government of the United States
has established law requiring the rail-
roads to put brakeman to every two cars
on freight and passenger trains. The rail-
roads do not comply with that law. To
compel them to do it would necessite hun
dreds of Government inspectors TO be ap-
pointed. To compel the railroads TO prop
erly patrol their tracks it would first be
necessary to enact law to that effect and
then to appoint deputies to compel the
railroad men to do the work. In other
words the Government deputies them
selves would be the track walkers.
In the meantime the public take more
than the usual chances of accident when
travelling over the lines of the Southern
Pacific Railroad of Kentucky.