Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1897-12-09

the pork outlet, the full-breasted ca
pom, have charms for US, and our adj
pose tissue disdaius a diet of wind
seasoned with faith. We therefore long
for the realization of the promises of
1896. which have not been made good
to us. We sigh for the fieshpots which
were to come raining down upon the
just and the unjust alike. E., the
Anarchist as we'll as the worshipper at
the Hannaian shrine-aud our brother
should bear with US in our Impotence.
But he doesn't. AS per this:
"Has the prosperity wheel slipped cog?"
t'Shippers are complaining of scarcity of
cars these days."
Both these paragraphs appeared in
| last weeks issue of the IrOnton REGIS
TER. The scIntillating wit in the ques-
ton is greatly befogged in the effective
reply to it contained In the second par
agraph.
This is sarcasm, and sarcasm always
knocks US out. But to the following
perhaps few CALCULATIONS may not be
inappropriate nor uninstructive:
To pick up a paper nowadays that
does not contain an allusion to the diff
| fculty shippers are having in securing
| freight cars is a rare thing, indeed.
! This is decided contrast to the con-
dition that prevailed so generally for
period of four years, ending with
! 1896, when the railroad switchyards
were crowded with miles upon miles
OF empty freight cars for which there
was no call. The present activity of
the railroads indicates that the pro-
ductive classes are busy and the coun-
try is enjoying a commercial revival.
Under the wise law which guarantees
the home market to the home producer,
this revival is bound to continue and
increase until we are again enjoying a
full measure of prosperity.
Since our brother has quoted from
the REGISTER-rightly giving full Gre
dence to the item concerning the re-
cent scarcity of cars-we ask that he
accept the following as being equally
reliable. We turn to our files and re-
produce the items with their dates of
issue:
Nov. is, 1S93.-There never was
time when the Iron Mountain railroad
was doing the business that it is at
present. In fact, there is just more
freight than can be handled and the
yards at Piedmont are blocked every
day. On Wednesday of last week there
| 81
and $50 more cars moved than on the
same day last year; at the same time
there were 175 cars in Piedmont yards
| that could not be reached at all. This
is gratifying state of affairs and we
trust it may continue.
Nov 80. 1S93-Forty-three trains
passed over the road from seven
o'clock Sunday morning until the same
hour Monday. This is said to be the
greatest number of trains that ever
passed over the Iron Mountain road
in a single day since its construction.
Nov. 8, 1894.-Another pusher crew
was put to work last Sunday, making
| four in all. The railroad is doing
big business. and it requires all the
| help possible to get the trains over the
| tlIOuuldlIo "lOlOuL uGliN OFSE luElN
six trains passed over the road Sunday
the biggest business ever recorded.
Nov. Z, 1895.-Three crews have
been put on the pushers on account OF
the great number OF trains passing over
| the road.
| Nov. &c, 1S96.-The railroad seems
to be doing u very fair business these
days.
Dec. II. 1896. -Freight traffic on the
| Iron Mountain seems to be heavy these
days.
If busy railroad is determinate ev-
idence of prosperity now, it is equally
conclusive that prosperity was bless
ing the land full-handed iu 1893-4-5-6.
Is our contemporary willing to assert
that those were prosperous years?
We give this much space to per-
haps not all-absorbing question for the
reason that every Republican paper
along the line of this railroad this year
greets the usual fall increase of trans
portation as indubitable proof of the
arrival of the good times that are to
be anchored henceforth and forever in
this land because of the Dingley bill
and the gold standard, to say nothing
of the virtuous. God-fearing rule of
Mark Hanna, Bob Ingersoll, Matt.
Quay, ct id onarae genus. The record
above given does not consist with the
premises and conclusions of our iaunty-
hearted, optimistic contemporaries:
but that doesn't signify. Their faith
will not only move mountains; it builds
them daily out of airy nothingness,
and crowns them with a golden glory
whose beauty is exceeded only by its
intangibility.
70