The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-06-01
ARRANGING TIME TABLES.
DIFFICULT TASKS OF OFFICIALS
WHO PREPARE SCHEDULES.
Many Changes Made in May.
Through Passengers and Suburban
Requirements often Are Conflict
ing Interests That Must BE Har-
mOnized.
From the Chicago Post.


From the Chicago Post
The approach, Of May, the month of
buds and leases, is as sincerely dreaded by
the officials of the leading railway lines as
by the housewives who find themselves
helpless victims of the annual moving
craze. The householder who finds him
self in the clutches of this nomadic spirit
faces a light task compared with that
which confronts the railway officials upon
whose shoulders rests the responsibility
OF arranging a new schedule for passen-
ger train service. This labor is as inc
vitable as the season of flowers with all
the roads doing a suburban passenger
business of any magnitude.
'Not,one person of a thousand" said a
prominent executive of a foremost road.
has any idea of the tabor necessitated
even by a slight change in the time table
of a big roads passenger SERVICE The av-
erage suburbanite through the columns
of his local paper, by the agent a his
station, or by the appearance OF new time
cards. is informed that an alteration in
the running time of trains is to take effect
at a near future date. He is either happy
or displeased because aof't the impending
changes, according to the extent to which
his personal convenience is subserved or
interfered with by the new arrangement of
trains But the thought does not occur
to him that the little schedule card has
cost an almost infinite amount of involved
calculation, the judicial weighing of one
interest against another and the harmo-
nizing of a hundred apparently Conflicting
matters. But that is precisely what the
card stands for, and 1t is almost impos
sible to eXaggerate the perplexing array
of obstacles which have to be brought in
to balances and adjustment in the per-
Torrance OF this task.
May Is generally selected by the roads
as the time for the installation of new pas
senger schedules for the reason that very
large number of city dwellers move their
families into the country for the summer
at this period. Then, of course, 1t marks
the start of the seasons travel In gen.
eral way. Another consideration is the fact
that the minds of the people seem alert for
changes just at this time, and they catch
the alterations of the schedules with less
difficulty when the latter are made with
periodical regularity.
1.-The first man to take up the consider
alton of a Encouragement of trains is the
division superintendent. He is constantly
in receipt of letters and petitions asking
for the installation of new trains or a
change of the time of those already run
ming. Not infrequenuy he is called to give
audience 10 delegations of prominent citi-
zens from popular residence suburbs. These
men urge their claims with great adroit-
ness and make it appear that the interest
of every other station along the line, as
well as their own, would be served by the
altera tons proposed. Neither the letters
nor the delegations are necessarily unwel-
come, for this is the way the superintend-
ent must become familiar with the chang
ing needs of the public to which his line
must look for its patronage. The most
critical passenger is not more anxious TO
have changes which will make for his con-
venience than Is the superintendent to ar
rive at a recasting of passenger schedules
which will give the greatest convenience
to each actual and possible patron of the
line. He must always keep clearly in view
the future of his road and aim to cooper
ate with the various suburbs which he
serves in sucE a manner as to invite to
them an impartial distribution of the con-
slant flood of residents who are deserving
the more crowded districts of the city for
the suburbs. go
when a last, the division superntend-
ent has arranged a tentative schedule
which represents his best judgment he sub
mits that, along with a report on the rea-
sons for the changes he has proposed to
the superior officers of his road having
general control of traffic affairs. These
usually are the general superintendent
and the freight and passenger traffic man
ayers and their assistants. These are men
who know the road from end to end and
are familiar with all it's branches and its
connections with other lines. Having be-
fore him the proposals and reports of all
the division superintendent, the general
superintendent surrounded by his cabinet
maps out the new train schedule And
his task IS quite az difficult as that of the
division superintendent, for he must guard
the interests OF the line in a broad ard
a,.aI md hot !. II,
service and its traffic relations With other
roads are not crippled in the attempt to
meet the demands of each division
Generally speaking, ; The changes In
through trains are few in comparison With
those in the local service. The latter is
constantly expanding in new directions
for the dweller in the city is becoming
more and more enamored of golf flowers
fresh air and the other attractions OF the
suburban village. The main considera-
tons in arranging the through trains is
to make the leaving time and the arrV-
ing hour for the big terminal cities as
convenient as possible.
''In seeking to accommodate local traf-
fic by through trains it frequently occurs
that the latter are hampered with too
many stops. This difficulty is overcome
by starting out a local considerably in
advance of the through train and giving
the latter clear right of way to a re-
up through passengers from intervening
stations. forwarded by the earlier local
train.
''The man who prepares the printers
CODY of a railway time table for the use
Of the trainmen dare not make a mistake.
A single error would be fatal. The logica3
result of such an error would be a great
loss of life and property. For this reason
the most extraordinary precautions are
thrown about this work, from start to nm
ish. Every figure is checked in q half
dozen different ways-in fact, in every
way that can be devised. One of the tests
applied to the figures both in the copy
and in each proof and revise is that OF
placing side by side the sheets bearing the
time of trains running toward each Other
THESE are checked with special reference
10 meeting and passing points. Only the
nlsst careful printers, compositors, and
preof-readers can be trusted with the time
table work intended for the trainmen.
THE division superintendent and his
chief train dispatcher do not trust wholly
to printed tables There are times when
il is necessary 70 have picture, so to
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