The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1907-06-25

Mr.. Loyal answered les
SECOND DAY
ITO the Federal Courts II YOU 6ecl0e
against US from the railroads. anu
ITO the State Courts for indictments
for not obeytng the statutes OF Noflh
Carolina" from the advocates OF the
law IL the situation reached ~ me
hearing ebSIt the eight hour Law IN
the matter OF the petitions OF the
Southern. the Atlantic Coast Line ano
TIE seaboard Air Line Railways for an
extension OF time 70 March !. lsoo'
and the i OF certain railway
te~leRraphers from the provisions Of the
law which sets out the time curing
which train dispatchers and telegraph
operators may work.
And more than this developed from
the hearing before the corporation
Commission yesterday when II was
learned that the law ratified BY the
Legislature of North Carolina on the
fifth dav OF March, 1907, and MADE d
law from that date had been held VI
in its operations until the nrst day q
July by an order OF the C~orporauoH
Commission made shortly after the
legislature adjourned. 1t liz under
stood that some time after the Leg
islature adjourned the railroads ana
the teleeraDh operators found that tne
law had been passed. was really IN
operation on paper, but not praclci4-
" SO. and that with both railroads n
telegraph operators perhaps violating
It's provisions that the Corporation
Commission passed an order over the
Legislative enactment, extending the
time TO the first Of July, l9O1, ana
that now the railroads are urging that
the time b. extended to the fourth
of March. 1908, when the national Ia"
is set to go into effect.
There were witnesses on the stand
Yesterday, the railroad officials who
said that twelve hours work is the
very thing for railway telegraph OPP
orators at almost every station and
block tower in North Carolina. with
light hours for train d~ispatchers, while
on the other hand the telegraph OPP
orators themselves urged that eight
hours be made the limit Of work, that
the safety Of the public demanded it,
and that with twelve hours of labor tor
seven DAYS In the week all the yeat
round that there was danger 81 rail
way disasters.
As Opposite as the Poles.
While testimony was offered from
either side. yet the prime matter Of
the day was the construction placed
on the law by the opposing
For the railways it was argued that
the law for eight hours only applied
TO train dispatchers and did not touch
telegraph operators at stations and
block towers, and also that the law
was a nullfty in that il was passed
Just one day after a National law on
the same subject had been passed, and
that the North Carolina law was in
restriction Of interstate commerce., IT
being announced tina if the decision
OF the Commission was against he
railroads that the Interstate Com
merce Commission would be invoked.
this taking the matter into h Fed
eral Courts
Corporation Commission Without
Power.
On the other hand the counse for
the t~elegraphers agrued that nowhere
In the law was the Corporation Com
mission given power to extend the
time, or to ALLOW the railroads to work
any of its telegraph operators who
had to do with the direction of the
movement of trains, more than eight
hours; that the only power the Com
mission has Is to permit an individual
operator to contract with the railroad
to work not exceeding twelve hours
when the Commission is convinced
that the public safety will not be en-
dangered by such permission, and that
in this case the responsibility for any
wrecks or disasters that might occur
will be at the door of the Commits
sion for a mistake in judgment which
may be made.
These are in brief the contentious
which came yesterday, the hearing Of
the petition for the Southern Railway
being closed and a beginning MADE
on the petition of the Atlantic Coast
Line which will be concluded Monday,
as will the Seaboard Air Line petition,
the Commission saying the case must
be closed by Monday night, as it is
to go to Asheville in the railway rate
matter before Judge Pritchard. the
hearing will begin again at IL O'Clock
on Monday morning.
Drinking and Tramp" Operators.
The first of the witnesses in the
case to be mi in behalf Of the
telegraphers contention for the eight
hour law was Mr.. j. T. Witherspoon
of Greensboro, a Southern Railway
telegraph operator, h had been an
operator for seven years. Mr.. Wlther-
spoons testimony was as to the multi
plicity of duties of a block tower OPP
orator, of the better condition in which
ar operator would be placed mentally
and physically by eight hours service
in place of twelve out of tW~enty-fOur
and of the strain and tax Of twelve
hours service, seven days a week the
year round. On cross examination by
Mr.. Pou he said hat the rules of the
Order OF Railway Photographers al
lowed operators the privilege of
teaching relatives. others to get per-
mission from the order. that the order
tried to increase its membership as
non-members got its benefits. There
was much questioning by Mr.. Pou as
to whether certain operators at
Danville were drunk when a wreck oc-
Cured but Mr.. Witherspoon only knew
that they were drinking men. If
twenty more telegraph operators are
wanted could supply them next week,
had access to list of ~eighty-five want
ing work. Mr.. Pou here referred to a
class Of operators as tramp opera
tors, but Mr.. Witherspoon said these
were floating operators, usually expert
men who wanted to go from place to
place to see the country.
o Much Work and Too Little Pay.
On mis- redirect examination by Mr..
Justice he said that it was the custom
of the railroad to move men from
place to place and cause them to be
floaters. AS to men leaving the SER
vice he said it was caused by too long
hours. too hard work.. too small pay
and Sunday work; that with an eight
hour system and fair wages the rail
roads could get plenty of operators.
The Order of Railway Telegraphers
used no force or threats to get men to
join, no punishment, but simply for
their own interest. Had not heard of
the southern Railway ADVERTISING