The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-12-19

CINE only to find that it was z. dead, y
then several hours more for a train
crew too tired out to go on duty, and
eleven hours in all from time of load
| ing and starting, and not thirty miles
covered. This he said was experience
all too common and is what a man
must expect who puts his money into
the livestock business in the northwest
and depends upon the railroads to get
the cattle to market for him. AS to
other shipments, he told Of one car that
came from the west coast in six months
and Of another that took year. Delays
were common, but these were exception
| al cases. roe zs>a 1T s y
A General Decentralization.
!" Now, personally. I have been treat
ed splendidly, andAI don It want to be
put down as a. chronic kicker, but Il
realize these things and now see them
from the standpoint Of shipper In
my relations with the roads, I have
tried tosget away from the attitude Of
say anything Of sshis Generalization {
have been spea king of to any Of the
head officers, because they'd get 'hot'
| right off. Yet there are some fine men
among railroad officials. The Northern
Pacific has fine men in its traffic de-
partment, in its i legal department
! lhere Mr.. Bum smiled and bowed)
land in all it's departments. But for
some, reason or other there is de-
moralization.
II have contempt for dead men
wherever you find 'em. Unless some
one speaks out, we I'll never get any
thing better. The roads must first keep
/ up their capacity and engine power.
This talk Of car shortage is rot. There
/ is none. The trouble is the roads
aren't moving the cars they've got.
no shortage" f%<
Mr.. Phelan,' inquired Mr.. Harlan,
how long do you consider it has been
since this Decentralization Of which
you speak, began9'
y Well, il commenced about three
years ago. answered Phelan. III tell
you, somebody goes to sleep. Some
thing goes wrong. And it is
all emptied into the misnomer
ct !, q supposed car shortage. Elk
ecqtiXe officer seems to be more in
terested in using a blue, pencil and cut
ting down list of supplies to save
money, than in keeping them up for nee
essary repairs .
/ MOI Close to the People.
IF James J. Hill would pay half the
attention to men; on his railroad that he
does to hogs on his model farm, there
would be noe shortage on his line.
/ Gan audible litter went around the
1Ecourtroom.) The trouble is, the weak
ness of one road finds reflection in. 9th
4er; lines. For instance, one road, the
Great Northern, finds it can get along
by cutting down its supplies for re.
pairs materially, and the Northern Pa
cifc seeks to save money in the same
new way. -
/ IF there were established a certain
! standard for operation and like sex-
penses, do you think that would tend
toward solution Of the diffculty?'
asked Mr.. Harlan.
IS You re correct replied Phelan.
But. the trouble then would be, the
4 fellow down on Wall street who discov-
cred the increased expenditure would
prepare stuffed club to knock it out
: to get more dividends. Once let the
edict go out that fast trains are more
1 expensive than slow, and subordinates
who are operating with slow, thick
! brains, who can't see any additional
benefit, will call for the. slow trains -
rs Mr.. .Phelan devoted some time to the
4 attention that, railroad officials are Civ
ing to cultivating the high tonnage
/ per mile
Ton Mile a Fiction.
/. This tonnage per mile game, said
Phelan, is more or less Of a. fiction.
In fact, it is false as hell when you
come down to it. They'll run 1000
ton train, and then after it an engine
engine and caboose at all in making the
average; it is a, most ridiculous thing.
4 Now, don It put me on record as against
an engine pulling all it can. But what
I IN against is the evil of putting out
an engine not in repair to pull a maxi
mum tonnage. Putting in locomotive
in frst-class repair with maximum ton
mage, is good thing for the railroad
stakeholder for the shipper, and for
all concerned. The present system I'M
der which the ordinary little engine is
put out to pull a l,800-ton train, is
nothing short Of idiocy.o
The witness described case which
j came under his observation, where a
q little engine had been used for big
( E1oad, and as result Of numerous Jerk
ings, several couplings had been pulled
out, the train laid up, and the train
IcreW finally went to sleep on the oper-
.ator's floor. Phelan said that the sight
i to him was just as good as grand OPP
i era. a&ssf1e concluded his testimony Wild
"a statement that where empties are
/ lying at some point waiting for crew
! to take them west, and one comes along
east bound, that these empties should
be loaded with freight waiting to go
I east, and time. thus saved and congested
\ freight moved. SO The railroads should
always have men on the ground to
know what to do, and, what is more
men who will doSit, = he said.
n Mr.. Marble read a statement by J.
4, w. Midgeley Of Chicago, a recognized
railroad authority, who wrote in re-
cent report that the trouble was not
4 lack of cars, but a need Of better meth
Eods in handling the present car sup
'slply. Did Mr.. Phelan agree with this
/ statements He replied that he did.
I, AT MINNESOTA TRANSFER
i Superintendent Dooley Tells About the
{. Work with Cars.