Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1900-08-06
ON TIE Raj.


and Ohio railroad are soon to be made
happy by a distribution of service
medals. The medals are divided into
ten classes, one being given for ca III
five years of continuous employment.
The conductors on this system recently
were given stripes to indicate the
length Of time they had served the cor
poration These stripes are worn on
the left sleeve, are of gold and each one
represents five years work. When the
conductors appeared in their gaudy
spring uniforms and gold stripes the
engineers felt little hurt over the ap.
parent recognition of long service
among the conductors and neglect of
| the men in the cabs. Officers of the
would similarly reward the engineers.
| AS the latter cannot wear uniforms, or
at least a garb on which gold stripes
would look well, a substitute for the
conductors gold braid was necessary.
1t was decided after a conference
among the heas of the departments
IIthat medals would be appropriate. The
llagreement as to proper awards for the
drivers was a small matter compared
with the work of going over the rec
Ords and ascertaining the Oldest en-
gineers in service and the others who
had been connected with the company
continuously for as short period as
five years. This work has just been
finished and the officers of the com
pany are. now ready to distribute the
coveted medals General Superintend-
ent Stuart, whose office is in Chicago,
will soon begin to send out the medals
for engineers whose headquarters are
north of the Ohio river. For those
who have been in continuous service
fifty years colds medals suitably in
scribed have been prepared. This will
be the, highest form of reward. For
the drivers who have worked contin-
Lously for the Baltimore & Ohio forty
five years silver medals with strings OF
thirteen medallions to each will be
givtn. With these two exceptions the
medals are of bronze. On one side is
the inscription: Baltimore and Ohio
Railroad-Service Medal" On the re-
verse side is inscribed the service Of
the engineer. In addition to the words
on the medal there is an engraving Of
engine No. 1913, with is in service on
the Royal Blue line of this company
between New York and Washington.
On the system north of the Ohio river
there are no engineers whose service
exceeds forty years, though on the
southern lines there are any number
who have been connected with the road
fifty years ard over.
No one thing is bothering railroad
officers so much just now as proper
dining-car service. The custom of
eating aboard trains is not so ancient
as to have resolved itself into perfec-
ton, the modern dining car not being
over twenty years old. There have
been several metamorphoses of the
dining car To those who have not
studied the subject the system would
appear perfect. The cars are the finest
that skill and art can produce; the
silverware is made from special de-
signs; high-salaried chefs rule the
kitchens nd<trained porters do the
serving. But back of all this there is
the great question, 'sHow shall meals
be served?" Shall it be a la carte or
table d'hote or combination of both,
a rather difficult union. Several of the
roads operating between Chicago and
New York still adhere to the 81 table
d'hote meal, breakfast, luncheon and
dinner. West of Chicago, where there
is either less money or more progress
sion, the table d'hote meal has been
crowded out by la carte system. East
of Chicago number Of roads have got
in the a la carte band wagon and
others are now preparing for similar
change. The Pennsylvania railroad
has adhered steadfastly to the Amer
lean idea Of 81 course dinneres. officers
of this company have come to the con-
clusion that table d'hote must in a
measure give way to a la carte. The
average traveller, particularly those
pursuing long journeys, objects to pay
ing 81, the usual dinner price, for
breakfast and luncheon. They may
eat a dollars worth at the first two
meals of the day, but they want to be
in position to eat as little or as much |
as they desire and pay accordingly. |
1t is likely that the Pennsylvania COM
pany will adopt a la carte for breakfast
and luncheon and continue table !
d'hote, with it's accompanying 1, for
dinner. Officers of western roads are |
enthusiastic over the a la carte system. |
During the worlds fair the Burlington |
charged IS cents for every meal and |
81. 1t was found that |
the company was losing from $4,000 to |
$40 900 per year on this plan, and with |
a view to heading off some of this ex-
pense a la carte was adopted AS re-
suit the latter has become so popular
that fully 800 per cent. more persons
eat in the dining cars Of this road at |
an average cost of IS cents each. Now |
the dining car service on the Burling-
ton road is self-supporting, which is
more that can be said of the travelling