Mountain Home maverick. [volume] (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1906-1911, 1907-03-14


newspaper articles on the wonder
full genius and ability of E. H.
Hartman as railroad man. Per-
haps few evidences of the ability
of this railroad genius, as seen out
in Nevada, might throw different
light on the subject.
/ have been obliged to stay III a
small town on the main line of the
Southern Pacific railway for the
past two months, and about the
only diversion l have had, has been
the observance of the actual work.
ing of the system directed by MIR.
Hartman.
l have talked with many engi-
neers and firemcn on the road,
with a view to ascertaining if there
was any truth in the oft repeated
tale of long hours and overwork.
have yet TO find the first man who
from twenty-four to forty-eight
hours without rest.
.'Have you ever worked over six
teen hours without rest' l asked
the fireman on one of the fastest
trains on the road.
Have l, we'll l guess, he
said. Last week | worked fifty
hours, then had four hours sleep,
and then worked seventy hours
without rest. l have been on this
present run for thirty hours
straight. +"
l asked the conductors of dozen
trains how they liked the new six
teen-hour rule of the company.
''Oh, that rule is foe show, tc
head off legislation. We are told
to.pay no attention to that. 1t is
nothing for us to work forty-eight
hours without rest
have asked men in all branches
OF the service the same questions,
and the reply is invariably the
same.
One telegraph operator on this
road recently reported to his super
Tor that the night operator was sick
and asked to have a man sent to
take his place, saying that he
would not work over sixteen hours,
in accordance with the rule of the
company. He also notified the
company that the former operator
and agent at that station was
willing to work for a fair wage.
The company refused to epmloy
this man, however, because he
asked for little more than the
regular pay, so the day operator
worked thirty-six hours without
81 a
because the company would not send
d man to relieve him. That sort of
thing is of frequent occurrence.
1t is not uncommon for entire
train crews to be so Exhausted from
lack of sleep that they have slept
soundly while their train was
running, and have passed their
block signals without stopping.
But we can not get the men, >"
you hear the railroads cry.
Why can't they get them? The
long hours of work is one reason,
but the chief reason is that they
will not pay living wage. Do you
know that the average telegrapher
on this road gets less than two dol
i"AS anu q HAL ddy iOi tWClVc
hours worke And do you know
that the lives of the travelling pub
lie depend on the ability and care
fuiness of these operators
In this state, any man, ignorant
and stupid as he may be, can earn
more than that in ten hours at or
binary labor, and yet the railroads
expect to get skilled men for that
pay.
You hear the cry scarcity of la
Dor" go up from the railroads,
and yet al one place on this road
are employed gang of Chinese
who net less than two dollars a
month for ten hours work per day.
Think of it, less than two dollars
a month, and the roads ask white
men to compete with that These
are facts that 1 know of my own
knowledge
You take up your morning paper
and read of half a dozen railroad
wrecks and there are half a dozen
more that you don't read about, be-
cause the roads suppress the news.
In the past two months this
road has averaged about wreck a
day The usual morning salutation
at this town is, HAS the daily
wreck happened YETI 30
1 have seen the track strewn with