Waterbury evening Democrat., 1905-03-13
Frisco Systems Plan to Provide
 Homes For Its Employees.
ROCK ISLANDS NEW EQUIPMENT,
Large order Placed For Freight and Tidy Sum Melted by Santa Fe Rail- roads Sale of Chewing Gum-Huge Task For Car Paintera.

every employee of the system, iron vice president down to the section hand, says the Chicago Tribune. BJ this method Mr. Yoakum hopes to es tablish an entente cordiale" amone the employees and closer aff1liatior with the corporate interests than or any other road in America. One o1 the things which it is expected to ac complish is the elimination of strikes.
 A careful survey of the situation in France was made by Mir. Yoakum, and he studied the plans which he found to be working satisfactorily on several of the roads in that country. So pleased was he with what he saw that he de. cided to introduce the same plan ill the United States, and the first expert ments are to be made on the Texas line. It is declared that already a ma jority of them have signifled their in. tention of taking advantage of the plan.
 The idea is to sell to every employee a parcel of five or ten acres of land tributary to the railroad. supplied with water and at fair valuation, to be paid for in ten years, deferred pay ments bearing low rate of interest. One of the provisions in the contract is that in case an employee who has availed himself of this privilege dies or is killed in an accident while in the 1 service of the company the land is to be deeded in fee to his wife or family without further obligation on their part.
 It is provided further that should an employee discontinue his service with the company from any cause whatever before the completion of his contract all the money paid in by him will be re- turned, together with interest at the rate per annum that has been charged against him.
 The Rock Island system has placed large order for new equipment, says the Kansas City Times. It includes twenty new pattern passenger cars from the Pullman shops. Ten of them will be seventy foot chair cars, fur nished with sixty-four twin reclining chairs and both Pintsch gas and cleo tric lighting fixtures and electric fans for ventilation and cooling. The other ten cars are seventy foot vestibuled coaches, each with a seating capacity of eighty. The cars will have an in- terior finish of Mexican mahogany, with green or maroon upholstering.rle ,' There is also an order in for 4,000 freight cars of various kinds for the Rock Island and also fifty locomotives in addition to the sixty.ive locomotives of various types. The latter includes twenty Pacific type passenger engines and ten Atlantic type. A large part of the new passenger equipment will probably be put in service on the through trains from Chicago and St. Louis to Colorado and Fl Paso.
 The annual report of the Santa. Fe system for last year brings out the fact that the company is large dealer in chewing gum, says Topeka (Kan.) special dispatch to the St. Louis Post Dispatch.
 Some interesting statistics have been compiled showing how trifing articles count up in a year on the Santa Fe system. In the 400 stations between Chicago and the Pacific coast are slot machines containing gum. Into these machines last year were dropped 1,15O,0 900 pennies for gum, the sum az gregating $11,5OO.
 The pins used by officials and en- ployees of the Santa Fe system last year weighed 5000 pounds. To keep the depots and offices clean 26.000 brooms were used. The lead pencils used, if placed end to end. would make a line over 325 miles long.
 From what is known as the 'scrap heap" the company realized last year S1 ,250.O 900. This included almost every thing from a shingle nail to a wornout locomotive. Over 5000 was realized from the sale of waste paper alone.
 Plans have been prepared for the re- numbering of all freight cars on the Pennsylvania system, says the Chicago Inter Ocean The new numbers will range from to 999. .999. the series from to 5Oo.OO0 having been assigned to the lines east of Pittsburg and from 100000 to 999.9 9.999 to the lines west of Pittsburg. On the lines west the box cars will range from 5OO.O01 to 6OO.OOO. refrigerator from 6OOoO1 to 625.OOO. the stock from 625.O0l to 615.0OO. hop per from 615.0O1 10 1JO.OOO. the gondo- las from 75o.0O1 to 9OO.OO0. the coke from 9OO.oo1 to s25.OO0. the fiat from g25.C01 to 95O.5 LOO. the cabin from 95O.- 5O1 10 !99,OO0 and the miscellaneous cars from ?a9.OO1 to 999. .999.
 The Hooking Valley railroad recent ly placed in position a new bridge a few miles south of Upper Sandusky. O.. which will he followed by others of the same kind. says the Cincinnati En- quirer. Four feet below the main part of the structure layer of heavy steel runs the entire length of the bridge. On this steel the regulation heavy bal last roadbed Is placed and on top of this steel rails. This arrangement. it is said. does away with the heavy roar caused by trains running over bridges