The San Francisco call., 1899-10-06

MAY REACH THE
VICE PRESIDENCY
Whispers of Promo
ton Are in the Air.
CLAIMS FOR RECOGNITION
RECORD THAT BRINGS NO FEEL
ING OF PRIDE.
Train Service That Makes the South
ern Pacific a Byword for
Carelessness and
Delay.
;LAIMs FOR RECOGNITION
RECORD THAT BRINGS NO FEEL
ING OF PRIDE.

eral Manager Kruttschnitt of the South
ern Pacific Company, who is known To
his many admirers as The Discrimin-
ator," owing to the splendid aptitude he
exhibits for diplomacy, may succeed
George Crocker as the second vice presi-
dent of the road.
This whisper may not be confirmed
when the appointment is made by the
board of directors, yet it has enough
foundation to make 1t a safe bet that II
The Discrimination does not get the plum
1t will be because it falls 10 the portion
of H. E. Huntington, the only man VINO,
in the opinion Of the wise ones, Is llkely
to prove SucceSStuI coIpeutoE VI t44e
general manager.
Promotions generally go by merit-or
at least they are so supposed to go. Pol
icy may often advance man, but II is
seldom that a big railroad official receives
such a boost without having previously
shown some efficiency upon whlch those
having his career IN nand may pdSS Lib
claims 10 recognition.
Now, If the directors or the SoulneIn
Pacific Company have determined 10 coh5
fer the honors that go with the secoLu
vice presidency on the man VINO IS now now
their general manager, II IS quite proper
that he should not be allowed 10 moe nus
light under a bushel, but that, on tns
contrary the people OF the State shou!Q
be made acquainted with the spIeuulu
service performed by the railroad Whlle
under his active management, SO l4ltbb
they may get a fair idea of the really
excellent merits of the man Whom =.
Huntington may proUably elevate 10 In. tne
second highest dignity IN the gredI Col 5
poratloQ or Whlcn ne Is Inc Aeeu "
The following record is based on the
official reports OF the ROAD llse4L aLIu i11d "a
the statistics which have peeh colhpi@leu @
by the postal authorities since the AIsl
OF the year: 18TH. +bo+ have
To /
citc has run, excepting the trains Wh!cn
have now and then been doubled up WIN
those Of the day following because lhey
were so late that it was useless 10 SeIu
them on to their destination, 9ob trans
and of this number 3Ol nave peeh ldle,
These delays have been all the way from
a connie of hours to three-fourths OF a
day in duration and have been as com
mon on the southern route as on the
other. . -,+ +,,o
rnonth of the year, the weather, the
amount of business done or any oIhef
condition, the result has been Just me
same. Night after night, morning AFTER
morning the bulletins have been forced
TO chronicle the fact that the mails were
True. the regularity of accident on the
Southern Pacific may pIeaa as an E53I+ eH
cuse in many, very many instances. But
then that excuse, good as 1t may be. Is
hardly satisfactory; a man may KICK
upon arriving at his ONCE IN tse nloIm1 II,
ing and finding that hundreds or dollars
worth of business has slipped through ms
fingers because the adVlces he depehdeu
upon have been nearly a day late. But
the fact that his mail, when 1t does ar
rive, is sprinkled with the blood OF same
unfortunate passenger, mute eVloenC9i
to testify to the cause OF the delay Will
not cause him to eXculpate Inc carriers
with any greater alacrltY.
When asked concerning the reason OIL
this tardinesS in the delivery OF the
United States mails the Southern Pacinc
il accustomed to pass the buck up TO its
connections. It is always the Union "a
cific or some other road that is to blame.
The trains are more than hall the tme
reported as on time at Ogden, yet they
continue TO arrive in this city with the
same number Of hours to their discredlt
Moreover it does not concern the mer-
chants of this city whether the train IS
one hour or ten hours late at some dis
tant eastern point of connection. All they
want IS to be assured that the train ser
vice out of and into this city is run with
some degree of regularity and they Will
stand for the rest.
There is a penalty in this connection
and it is scaled from the price collected
for the entire run down the line in pro-
portion to the magnitude OF the delay.
This is a matter which is kept absolutely
secret between the railroad othcialS and
the postal authorities; yet II the penalty
is properly enforced it must be source
of some revenue to the Government. Is
it enforced?
ated such universal Indignation among
the people of this city that it is high time
that something was done TO correct IT.
Mr.. Huntington should either impress on
his menials the necessity of properly full
filling the obligations of their positions or
he should place men in authority who are
not only capable but conscientious enough
TO see that the matters intrusted to their
care are properly carried out. This is an
age of the survival of the fittest and If a
man has neither the executive ability nor
the energy to make good the obligations
ba assumes he should be made to give
way to some one that has.
Mr. Kruttschnitt has been quoted as
saving that he cannot properly be held
responsible for the carelessness and neg
lect of subordinates This is in connec-
ton with the avalanche Of railroad acct
dents that has fallen upon the people Of
this State The trainmen issue a circular
stating that they are neither drunkards
nor incompetents and that they compare
favorably with the employees of any other
road in the country.
Both of these statements are interesting
as well as instructive, but the trainwreck-
ing goes steadily on. Some one must be
whom to look for correction of such
criminal evil. Such state OF affairs
cannot exist without the responsibility
resting somewhere. Now the general
manager is the active head of the operat-
ing department and If he IS not personally
to blame he should see to 1t that those
who are be dismissed from their positions
and their places filed by men who will
do little better in lessening the mortal
ity Of the State and delivering the malls
and passengers with something that ap-
proaches the scheduled time which is Of
their own making
Mr. Kruttschnttt may be the proper
man for the position of second vice presi-
dent and he may not be. That is matter
that will. no doubt, eventually be settled
by Mr. Huntington. But these are the
facts Since the beginning of the year
only one mail out Of every three has
reached this city at the hour it should,
and. aside from minor accidents, there
have been no less than seventeen serious
train wrecks on the line over which Mr.
IL