The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-01-13

lette. who represents the road at Peoria.
were in the city last evening. and VIII leave
to-day Tor their respective headquarters
The consideration by Congress of the bill
to extend the time in which the law COM
pelllng railroads 10 adopt automatic car
couplers goes into effect is improbable.
Railpoad men had asked a hearing by the
House COMMITTEES or, commerce, and a dele
cation of ofhcials' called on the committee
yesterday: Their spokesman, President
Cowen, of the Baltimore & Ohio. said that
they believed the Interstate-commerce
Commission had entire jurisdiction over
the matter. and they did not desire TO make
any statement. The hearing was there
fore abandoned. Chairman Hepburn and
most OF the member OF the committee
think that the matter is one for the con-
sideration of the commission. and are dis
posed to leave il to that body.
a railroad official who keeps we'll in
formed expresses the opinion That the pres
ent year will see a clearing up OF most
of the wreckage of railroads caused by the
long period of financial trouble. which he
thinks is now apparently close TO its end.
He thinks that In a few months the re-
ceiverships of the Louisville, New Albany *
Chicago. the Louisville. Evansville az ST.
Louis. the Nandalia and the Toledo, st.
Louis & Kansas City roads Will be at an
end, and that the roads of Indiana, illi-
nois and Ohio will begin Il series OF pros
porous years. He added that through the
depressed times such economy had been en-
forced that in future the railways will be
operated on a more economical scale, and
the investor in railroad properties Will have
some return on his money.
L. W. McKenna. for years superintendent
of lines entering indianapolis. has not as
yet realized any great profit from his de-
vice FOR renewing the heads of steel rails
by a rerolling process. The machinery first
built does not do the work as economically
as was expected, and this has delayed the
success of the enterprise, but new machin-
cry has been built which ii is believed will
do the work satisfactorily. BY the rerolling
process the rail is made as good as new
witt but little loss in its weight. "A rail
which weighs eighty pounds. To the yard
viii weigh Seventy-nine pounds TO the yard
when rerolled, and is then as good as a
new rail. Only the heads of a straight rail
can be renewed to advantage. The value or
his device is shown in the fact that he was
offered $4,000 for the invention by q syn
dictate of railroad men.
a railroad official who is a strong advo-
cate of the Joint Traffic Association, in
commenting on the rumored friction be-
tween the Baltimore a Ohio and the other
trunk lines, said those who regard Ii as
a sign of weakness of the Joint Traffic AS
ISOLATION maintain that the abuse can only
be remedied by taking the rate-making
power from the railways and putting ii In
the hands of a commission whose action
i'm any alteration in rates shall be subject
to tla affirmation of a majority of the
lines interested. This matter, he said, has
already taken shape and may soon be add
vanced, and the plan. If carried out. con-
templates making violators subject to i'm
p~riSonment rather than to a mere money
fine. The project has already received the
sanction of a number of important inter-
ests. and is strongly favored by persons
who have invested money in railroads.