Las Vegas daily optic. [volume] (Las Vegas, N.M.) 1880-1908, 1904-12-30
Powerful Rivals.

- ~ ~ wa s'N' ~
come a rival OF the Southern Pacific
railway for traffic between the PORT
OF Galveston, Texas, on the Gulf OF
Mexico. and Los Angeles and San
Francisco on the Pacific ocean.
II Is stated upon what seems - be
the best of authority that the Santa
F will build a connecting link ct
about 500 miles next year which will
give that road practically as direct a
route from Galveston to Los Angeles
and San Francisco as that already In
existence In the shape of the South
ern Pacific railroad
The authority for this announce
ment comes from n OF the highest
officials OF the Santa Fe railway, and
up to date It has not been a matter
of common knowledge among the les
ser officials OF the road.
The Topeka State Journal has
learned from this source that the
Santa Fe Railroad company Intends
to use $1,000, 900 of the money to be
obtained from the proposed $50,oOO,'
900 bond issue which Is to be authoriz'
ed at a special meeting to be held
in Topeka on January cath. for the
purpose Of building the proposed cut
Off across the staked plains OF Texas
which will place the Santa Fe In a
position to compete with the South.
ern Pacific railroad for the through
traffic from the Gulf of Mexico to the
Pacific coast. With the building OF
this proposed connecting link the
Santa Fe will be In a position to prac'
tically control the fruit market of
California.
Heretofore the Santa Fe and the
Southern Pacific have had a pooling
arrangement for handling the east
bound shipments Of fruit from Cali.
fornia but a recent decision of the
courts has declared this pooling ar
rangement illegal. Consequently the
proposed connecting link becomes
more of a necessity than heretofore.
No More Celiuloid.
Hereafter any passenger conductor
Or brakeman of the Atchison, Topeka
& Santa Fe railroad caught wearing
a celluloid collar will be severely
dealt with by officials Of the road.
and If he should commit this awful
offense more than once, his Job would
be endangered. +. A. Austin, train
master of the Santa Fe at Topeka,
has decided that such practices lower
the standing Of the trainmen and
gives the road a bad reputation. He
will see that they are stopped, He
has just sent out notices to all the
trainmen, as follows:
my attention has recently been
called TO the fact that some of our
passenger trainmen are wearing rub
Der and %celIuloid collares. This Is a
practice that the management will
not permit. and you will be governed
accordingly"
The Santa Fe has been issuing
other rules recently with a view to
having the mems appearance as neat
as possible, while on passenger duty,
and each one Is required 10 have at
least two uniforms a year, and the
company reserves the right at any
time to tell a man whether or not
his clothes look we'll enough 10 wear
on duty.
But the new rule relating to collars
has caused mournful looks on some
of the men, who have found 1t very
convenient In the past to walk to the
wash room and make their rubber or
celluloid collars clean and ready to
wear again, while they are now fore.
ed to carry extra collars on the "trip
with them and pay larger laundry
bills each week.