Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1907-02-21
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agreement at chicago TO grant lHcTedSeu
wages to engineers aggregating over So
0OO, 600 a year, and affecting over 10000
men on all lines west of Chicago.
Railroads are becoming keenly alive to
the disadvantage of Photographic evil
dence of disasters. The wide publication
of pictures of CHASTITY scrap heaps of To-
comotives and cars is much more effective
than columns of print in arousing public
sentiment to the increasing railway death
roll and it is now a general rule on all
roads to remove the wreckage as rapidly
as possible.
The grand jury which has been inves-
tigating the accident on the Pennsylvania
railroad near Atlantic City made a pre-
sentiment, generating the aged bridge
tender Daniel Stuart, who was held by
the coroner's jury, and censuring the rail
road management for faulty construction
o. the bridge. They say that there were
no signals at either end of the bridge to
show that the rails were connected.
Commerce Commissioner Lane, in his
report to the President upon the western
car shortage says he found no evidence
sustaining the charge that the railroads
were party to a conspiracy to maintain
the price of coal, but that such an agree
ment had been entered by the coal deal
ers. One of the chief reasons for the
shortage of cars was the overwhelming
grain crop in the Northwest, and that
but 80 per cent of the crop had been
shipped.
Beginning with New Years day it be-
came unlawful for interstate railroads to
issue free passes, for manufacturers of
food products or drugs to use deceptive
labels or to manufacture and sell dena-
tured alcohol without payment of internal
revenue tax. 1t was understood that a
reasonable time would be allowed for the
interests affected to adjust themselves to
the new conditions, but the government
had its agents ready to watch for the
first infraction.
Again it is said that trainmen and en-
gineers are oyerworked and that there is
a pernicious system on all the big rail-
roads of making trouble for the safe
engineer who fails to make the time re-
quired by schedule. There can be no
doubt that many lines have failed to fully
or properly adopt the various safety de-
y
railroading Then there are a lot of
wretchedly constructed cars running
about the. country that are death traps
even in minor assidents.
Nearly three hundred and eighty mill
ion dollars was expended last year upon
the railroads of the United States in ex-
pansion and Improvement One railroad
company alone is at work on improve
ments which will cost two hundred mill
ion dollars when completed Not many
years ago the total annual revenue of
the government were less than the amount
expended on railroad improvement last
year. 1t does not look as if the capital
lists think that flying machines will take
the place of freight and passenger cars
in the near future.
The railroads spent fully -hree- quar- ters
of a billion dollars during 1906 in the
effort to take care of the traffic which has
nearly overwhelmed them. OF this vast
sum. according to the Railway Age, fully
S35O, 100000 was expended for new equip
ment and power. The year broke sll rec
ords for new cars. the total. according to
the Age. being 313,4O0, and according to
the railroad DdZelte, -to-OtO. IN loco
motive building the year was not quite
equal to 1905 In 1906 there were about
$3.50 locomotives built. which is about
623 less than the previous year. The car
building was divided between the freight
and passenger as follows: Freight. 310,-
600: passenger. 3.40O. OF the freight
cars. 142, 112. or 46 per cent. were con-
structed of steel underframes: end the
Pullman company has about completed its
first ali steel car and is going 10 adopt
steel as its future standard The balance
of the expenditures referred to was for
building 5000 miles of railroad
The method of financing the heavy car
and equipment expenditures of the Penn
syIvania railroad has been disclosed by
the fling of leases by two trust COM
panies for tie use of 1857 freight cars
during a term of ten years at valuation
of 100000 The leased cars are CON
trolled and managed by the Pennsylvania
directors. 4 yearly rental of one-tenth
the cost of the cars is to be paid
james McCrea was chosen as presi-
dent of the Pennsylvania railroad tbs
office vacated by the death of 4. J. Cas-
satt. McCrea announced that he would
promote the same policy of development
conducted by Cassatt. and that he would
uake no change in the Office force.