The Anaconda standard., 1899-07-10
ARE BREATHING EASIER
All Danger From High Water
Is Past.
DAMAGE HAS BEEN LIGHT
Passenger Business Of the Northern Pa
c.hc Continues Hsavy--The White
Card Is Making a Better
Showing.

water is past for another year and the
railway people are breathing easier than
they did for a month. During the past
four or five weeks the breath of the track
and bridge department men has come in
short pants and 1t was not till about five
days ago that their respiration became
normal. There have been few seasons in
the history of the Northern Pacific when
the amount of water that has run from
the mountains has been as great as this
year. and there have been few seasons
when the damage from water has been
less than it was this year. For weeks the
water hovered about the danger line,
sometimes getting an inch or two above
and then dropping to a few inches below,
but all the time keeping so close to the
washout point that none of the officers
felt easy.
The high water season was late and long
the entire length of the line and the cond
tions mentioned above prevailed from one
end of the road to the other. In some
places there were slight washouts, but
the delay to train service and the dam
age to track and bridges has been very
slight. One of the general officers of the
road, in speaking of this matter the other
day, said:
1--WE have had considerable anxiety all
the spring, but the damage to the line
from water has been much less than usu-
al and we have been very fortunate in
preventing any serious delays. We have
now reached the time of year when our
service will probably not be affected by
water and it should be regular till win
ter ..'-
The passenger business of the Northern
Pacific continues to be so heavy as to
surprise those who thought that the dou-
Bile service WAS more than the road could
stand. The, westbound business. espe-
cially is big and the trains that pass
through here have all the passengers that
they can handle. Half the time for the
past week the westbound overland ..as
come in in two sections and nearly every
day 1t has been run in two sections as
far as the Montana division and there
consolidated for the west end run. This
makes it hard for the western divisions,
but they are accustomed to getting the
worst of it and have used themselves to
making the best they can of conditions
as they find them. when the two sections
are run clear through the train has gem
orally been able to make the fast time
called for by the white card, but it, Is
out of the question to do this with a sin
gle section of 10 or Is coaches 1t is not in
the power of the engines or the roadbed
to get seyen.Cara time out of 12-car
train. .y
The white card" is making a better
showing in westbound business than any
nf III - a,.ar5 h,,,-. 1A,1
The train from the East has been on time
three times since this Irard went into ef-
feet and has not been more than two
hours late at any time On the eastbound
business however the white card has
not been so successful No. has been an
hour late several times. while during the
regime of the bright-qolored cards it was
never late. But, on an average, the white
card is away ahead of any of the pre-
vious experiments that the road has been
trying this year in cards.
II is still persistently rumored that the
road is so encouraged by the success of
this card that another experiment will be
tried soon that will change the entire
arrangement and will give back the dou-
bile service that was removed when the
green card was published. The increase
in business is so great. even thus early in
lilt sedSol. tidl II 10 thOuSut ny IdhNdN
men that it will not be possible to haze
the traffic when the summer travel sets in
in its full strength. The present travel
is the advance guard of the vacatonists,
and the full force of the summerers will
not be felt for a couple of weeks yet.
When it does come 1t is not easy to see
how the road can handle the business with
its present arrangement of trains.
;t,,tt tal iS n,nl n
good showing these days. 1t is still the
best .rain that the Northern Pacific has
on its cards and it's business is as big as
its service is rapid and satisfactory The
berry shipments have been heavy for the
past three or four days and it is worth a
trip to the depot these mornings to see
the big lot of strawberries that are
brought down from the Bitter Root for
shipment to the large cities of the state
The crop this year is of good quality and
is in greater demand than it has ever
been before. according to the statements
o! the local dealers. The supply will NOT
be as great this year as 1t has been and
this fact has made buyers eager to get
their supplies booked before the crop is
exhausted.
One new passenger engine and several
new freight engines are expected for the
Rocky Mountain division in a short time
These engines will be the finest that there
are i'm the West. The freight power will
be such that all of the changes of engines
and the setting out of cars that have
heretofore been necessary on the west end
will be avoided. The engines will be OF
the class X, or mastodon type with some
minor changes from the engines of this
class which are now in use. The record
that the class X engines have made on
the west end is very satisfactory. For a
time these engines were regarded with
disfavor, but as the engine men have be-
come accustomed to them they have done
splendid work from the operating depart
ments standpoint. The old-time train
men. when they look at the lines of 40
big box cars that are trailed by these en-
gines. recall the days when 10 cars made
up train. From their standpoint the