The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1904-01-20
Division Headquarters to Be
Moved to Emporia Soon.
Supt. Mcclellan and Office Force
Slated to Leave.
KOUNS MAY GO TOO.
System Officials Being Taken
Away from Topeka.
Something May Be Done to
Cheek the Exodus.

Announcement is made by a high Off
cial of the Santa Fe operating depart
ment that the long talked of change of
the division headquarters of Superin-
tendent Mcclellan from Topeka to En-
poria will certainly take place within a
short time. For about year this plan
has been in contemplation by Santa Fe
officials.
The Santa F'e officials claim that it
is difficult to handle the heavy freight
business which passes over the Kansas
City-Emporia cutoff without being at
one end or the other of that line. Sew
eral times the Santa Fe has been on
the point of moving the headquarters,
but has postponed action because of the
numerous difficulties which were en-
countered- According to the statement
of the Santa F'e official, these difficult
ties have been overcome, and the
transfer will be made very shortly.
The transfer of the office will take
about twenty division headquarters en-
ployeS out Of Topeka. These employees
all object seriously to the move, as
there are many of them permanently
located in Topeka.
KOUNS MAY GO TO CHICAGO.
G. w. Kouns, superintendent of
transportation for the Santa Fe to-
gether with all his office force, number
ing about twenty, will in all probability
be moved to Chicago before long.
Mr.. Kouns is a system official, and
the tendency seems to be to consolidate
the system officials in Chicago. The
Santa Fe has recently rented a lot of
new offices there, and the object seems
to be to fill these offices up with the
departments which President Ripley
wants directly under his supervision.
Aside from Mr.. Kouns, there are only
two system officials in Topeka. One is
c. H. Gaunt, superintendent of tele-
graph, and the other is P. Walsh, gen
eral baggage agent. All the other Off
| Gals left here are officials of the Santa
Fe main lines.
Following this general tendency, it is
said that the proposed transfer of the
| tariff clerks of the freight department
from Topeka to Chicago will be a more
extensive move than was anticipated.
| Some think that c. w. Cook, assistant
general freight agent here, will be ta-
ken to Chicago, along with the big end
of his office force.
Somebody seems to be getting in
his work. at Chicago, much to the dis
! advantage of Topeka and the west. The
people of Kansas have been especially
friendly toward the Santa F'e because
| it has been a distinctively Kansas road
This was its home, and this is where
its headquarters are supposed to be. By
! a gradual process of extraction, the
| Santa Fe seems to be trying to take
the main offices of the road to Chi
cago, and leave in Topeka nothing but
the officials of the lines east of AL
| buquerque, which constitute about hall
| of the Santa F'e system.
1t is about time the people of Topeka
set about the discovery of who is re-
| sponsible for these moves, and why
| they are being made. Unless Topeka
| does bestir itself, it is certain that no
body else is going to try to keep the
| Santa F'e from moving its main offices
away from here.