The Savannah morning news., 1902-05-26
CROWDS AT UNION STATION.
CONSTANT STREAM OF VISITORS
VIEWED THE BUILDING.


Although Great Crowds Went to the
station Last Thursday, at the
Opening, and on Saturday Night,
Yesterday Disclosed That There
Were n Great Many Who Were Still
Eager to See It-Plant System DE.
pot Observation-Disclosures of Trains
Cut Down ut the Central Depot.
President MackaII Sent Checks to
the First Train Crews to Enter the
New station.
The Savannah Union Station has not
ceased to be a place of interest for
the people Though the building was
thronged last Thursday, when the pub
lie opening was held, and though many
visited it might before last, when it
was opened for the first time for traffic,
it seemed yesterday that a small pro-
portion of the people had taken advan-
tage of these opportunities. All day
long there were crowds in the station.
They began appearing early in the
morning, and they kept coming until
late-at night. Curiosity prompted their
visits, and they as have all who have
yet inspected the building, expressed
themselves as deeply pleased with all
they saw.
business, too, was done at the sta
ton. Yesterday was the first day of
trains. Those of the Plant System. the
Seaboard Air Line and the Southern
Railway all ran into the station, and
there was not a hitch or disturbance.
Station Master Mathews has his force
we'll in hand and it is evident that he
is one who knows his business thGec
oughly.
Evidence that there was business at
the station might have been gained
from the number of hacks and street
vehicles. No stands have yet been pre-
scribed by city ordinance, but this will
be done by Council at once. In the
meantime the hackmen take their
stands wherever they see fit, and there
is too general a spreading out. They
are, on all sides. The old stands at the
old Plant System station on Liberty
street, east, were deserted, the with
drawaH of the trains leaving the drivers
no incentive to continue a lookout for
business in that neighborhood. This
was not true of the CentraPs pas
senger depot, though the withdrawal
of the Seaboards trains naturally left
less business, and therefore, fewer
hackmen to seek what there was.
Those in the vicinity of the Plant
System depot noted the change one day
had wrought. Saturday there was the
| scene of hustle and activity with the
arrival and departure of every train
| that had been observed for years. But
a day later, and there was a Sunday
! peace, calm and stiffness about the de-
pot that remained unbroken. The
shouts of wrangling jehus, the cry OF
the red-hot man. the call of newsboys,
| the putting of locomotives and the great
| conglomeration of noises that mark a
| busy railway station. were all lacking.
| Not even the voice of the red-hot man
! was heard, and that was conclusive
and sorrowful proof to those who had
delighted in and profited from their
proximity to the depot that it's glory
had departed and the tide of travel
moved to the West Side. There every
thing that had been missed on the
East Side was to be found, just as
great metamorphosis having been
wrought in one place as in the other.
1t was matter of luck that made a
crew the first to bring a train of each
| of the three lines into the depot 1t
was good luck, however, for there was
| even more in it than the mere satisfac-
| ton that the members of the train
crews might feel in such a distinction
and the pride with which, when they
| have grown old, they may tell how
they were the first to pull a Plant, a
Seaboard or a Southern train into the
station. President w. w. Mackwell of
AI1C l. 1T
saw to it that the men enjoying this
distinction might have something be-
| sides. He sent to each and every
member of such train crews his per-
| sonal check, an exhibition of gener-
| osity and thoughtfulness that won
| him the esteem and admiration of all
| the trainInen.