Mountain Home maverick. [volume] (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1906-1911, 1907-03-14
LIFE IS CHEAP
BY Operator Whose Name and Place of Duty Must be
Withheld to Avoid Blacklist.

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seen whole days pass without
train being able to get through on
account of wrecks.
Last night, for example, while
sitting in my room, came the call,
''Tt ain in the ditch; come help the
injured"
I walked a mile through the snow
to where | found a whole train
filled with people, lying in q hay
field hundred feet from the track.
Cars were smashed on their sides,
in every conceivable position, yet
but few we're injured, one killed.
How the two hundred passengers
escaped alive, God alone knows.
| watched the wrecking crews
work for twelve hours to clear the
track, while trains, filled with pas
sengers, drew up on both sides. At
last the track was cleared and the
first train to pass went off the
track within a mile.
You may smile when you read
this. II would be laughable were it
not so serious. And this is the
wonderful system of the genius
Hartman. l asked the foreman of
the wrecking crew how long he
had been working.
Three days and nights steady, -
was the answer. l asked the engi-
neer how long he had been on
duty.
Forty hours. l have forgotten
what sleep is" he said.
l walked back to town on the
track and noticed that most of the
track spikes were pulled out of the
ties from one to two inches. No
tie had more than Que spike on. each
side of the rail. Many of the ties
were rotten. A large percentage of
the fisb-plates connecting the rails
had but two bolts, some only one,
where there should have been four.
What is the natter Why the
roadmaster is allowed but four men
on this section where there were
formerly eighteen. And spikes and
bolts cost money.
Three hours before this wreck
mentioned, the night operator at
this station let a train go by with
out giving the proper orders, and
only kind Providence prevented
wreck. This operator is a variety
actor who happens to know teleg
raphy, and was without money and
work.
So the two and half dollar job
looked good to him, and the South
ern Pacific placed him in charge of
the lives of travellers, although the
man knew nothing of train work.
And we, poor American fools,
trust our lives to such service.
Said one train man to me: 'If
the public knew what we trainmen
do, of the way the roads are run,
they would never get on a train.
l always ride in a Pullman when
not on duty
1 have travelled for twenty years
across this continent, without fear
of accident, but the observations of
the last sixty days have made me
fear for my life when 1 get on a
train.
All this, friends, is report from
your genius Hartman. 1t is called
economy, successful operation of
railroads.
In one respect only is it success
full, and that is, IN paying ten per
cent dividend on Union Pacific
vatered stock. 1t is successful
from Wall Street standpoint only,
and not even that, if you look at it
twice. The dividend was paid, it
is true, but these wrecks are cost
replaced, old WORKOUT cars and
track built some day and then the
dividend won't be paid.
But in the meantime human be-
ings are slaughtered, property de-
stroyed, transportation delayed, men
enough money to live on. And
why? Because the genius, Mr. Har-
riman, must show his power and
have money to gamble with. Do
we call a higbwayman genius
when he beats us on the head and
any brighter because the club he
uses is stuffed with dollars?
And you American people, do you
call it successful operation of rail-
roads, when you can not get coal
to keep you warm, when your grain