The San Francisco call., 1908-08-11
Gossip of Rai|waymen

'San Quentin yawned the ex-car
breaker as he stretched himself on
sunny bench. saint such half bad
place after all.'
How do you make that out?" asked
the candidate for state prison.
ST was just thinking that I'd rath-
er be in a padded cell with my own
sweet and beautiful thoughts than hear
them railroad guys talk.
Talk, Gee, they can talk like an
electric light. Seems nice and fine
when you are listening to them burn
ing words, telling OF how to keep
straight; and is it worth while to lose
the friendship of people by being a
thief and being sent to jail, but then
what comes of it-nothin', nary a
nickel
"Oh, the railroad men are right
there with the talk to save you from
the burning pit. I was so touched
with the sermon that I nearly joined a
band of never do wrong again fellows
and would never touch nothing that
didn't belong to me.
TT made me feel good to be with
big businessmen who could be so full
of good talk that they could step right
| into the pulpit and convert even a
| brakey or manager from using cuss
words.
'-And then out comes. feeling as If
I were born again, ana picks up a
paper and learns that the railroad
chaps are a robbing the public and
swearing all kinds of things to keep
out of jail.
Blessed if I don't think now that
I'm more honest than the railroad
bosses. I only robbed a railroad, while
they are robbing everybody. And then
| to think of that sermon / heardi It's
enough to give man the willies when
| he thinks how these railroad chaps
even can impose on a poor guy like
me-
A. E. Roome on the first of the
present month was appointed superin-
| signals of the Pacific electric railway,
with headquarters in Los Angeles.
Roome was formerly head of the South
ern Pacific telegraph department.
According to the reports of the en-
gineering department of the Western
Pacific, the line in Nevada is 90 miles
Holmes reports that the slips at Oak
land should be completed by next
month.
Decreases in idle cars, rejecting
| heavier traffic, are to be noticed in the
southern seaboard states and in Ken
| lucky, Tennessee and Mississippi, In
Ohio and in the middle west, also on
the Pacific coast and in Montana, wy
oming and Nebraska. There is a
| slight increase in idle cars In New
! England, the northern seaboard states.
in Iowa, Illinois, wisconsin, Minnesota,
the two Dakotas, Kansas and adjacent
states in the south and in Canada.
w. G. Barnwell, general freight
agent of the Santa Fe, with headquar-
ters in Los Angeles. was In the city
yesterday on his way to Lake Tahoe,
where he will be the guest of w. A.
Bissell.
Phil K. Gordon of the Washington
Sunset route has returned from Port
land and says that the two bridges
across the Columbia and Willamette
rivers being built by Hill for his north
bank road Will be opened for traffic
/ August Is. Portland expects to reap
many benefits by this new line, as ii
will give her direct and short connec-
tion with the two Hill lines at Spo-
kane.
Julius Kruttschnitt, director OF
maintenance and operation of the Har-
riman lines, is making an inspection
Of the properties in Oregon and Wash
ington. He will return to San Fran
cisco before leaving for the east.
J. C. Stubbs is expected to leave to-
night for Chicago.
E. E. Calvin, vice president and gen.
era1 manager of the Southern Pacific
has returned from accompanying E. H
Hartman to the terminus or the Cali
fornia and Northeastern
The Southern Pacific carried 1854
persons from San Jose to Santa Cruz
last Sunday.
]. H. Griffin, district freight agent Of
the Canadian Pacific, has left for Port
land, where he will meet K. r. Mac
Innes. freight traffic manager; W. B
Lanigan, assistant freight traffic man.
ager, and w. r. Haldane, the new gen.
eral freight agent at Vancouver, who
succeeds B. w. Greer, who resigned
August 1.
c. F. Runyon Of the Mill Valley ant
Mount Tamalpais road has returned
from Los Angeles after a stay of II
days in that country trying to impress.
on the minds of the Los Angeleno.
that the only crooked railroad in tn,
world was under his own particula,
| care