The semi-weekly messenger., 1908-03-03
Will Force Railroads ID Close
.E-9.JCa 8ola- aa--.-s .f-
s'H a'- manY Stations
Officials of Railroads From AL Parts
of the Country Present n; Hearing
ALI Assert That Time is Inop-
portune for Putting Law i'm Force
Rearing Will lie Concluded Today.

hearlnS w LII ftc S0AC2Aucd Aolay.
Washington. February G.-Operat-
ing oHicialS OF railways from ali parts
of the country today were III attend
ance upon the hearing given by the
interstate commerce commission OF
applications for an extension Of the
time of the going into effect OF the
nine hour law .rI
Thirty-seyen :1.I.sLication were re-
ceiseu ASKING fof the extension Two
OF them already have been denied,
those OF the Georgia Southern and
Florida Railway and the St. Joseph
and Grand Island Railway, because. in
the opinion Of the commission, the
petitions did not show what. in the
terms of. the act, would constitute
good cause for granting the relief
requested. The applications of the
other thirty-fve lines are being
heard as one case. All Of them assert
that they had found it impossible to
procure the services of couBetent op-
era tors in suefrI numbers as will en-
able them 0 To- comply with the nprovi-
sions Of the rlaw, andl1hat - even If
they9 could a the enforced employment
of so many addition al -Elen would be
a. financial hardship. b Nearly all Of
J the petitions also indicate that. in
the ycircumstances.9if the law is en-
forced, the comp antes will be obliged
to close many small stations On their
lines. Gs-CrL. 2a9T2rCS o. iGtTCt5
q Following are among the roads
: which have fled applications for ex-
tension OF the law Southern Railway,
Seaboard Air, Line, YazOo and Mis-
sissippi,r Baltimore and Ohio, Central
of Georgia, Norfolk and Western,
Nashville, Chattanooga and StGLouis,
d and Louisville and Nashville
O. With the exception Of 1.-THE New
, York Central lines, none Of the great
eastern roads have made application
for extension. -a-
In the course Of the hearing two i'm.
portant systems, the Chicago, Burling-
ton and Quincy and the Southern Rail-
9way; Indicated by Statements and evil
dence that while ii might be possible
to procure the necessarily additional la
d bor required; 1t would involve a great
fnanciaf hardship upon the railroads.
General Manager Aekert,. Of the South
aerni Railway, frankly stated that his
system could not bear the burden of
the additional expense and that II the
law was enforced il would mean SIM
ply that curtaiIment OF operating ex-
penses, in every, diEeetion lwoulds have
to be made, threwingi r1ap Y SoutSf en-
= rH 3. Pefham, aopesident of the or
der iofa Railway photographers, in a
statement, declared that there was no
Il ta4lestio ioR ! about the abilltyhafi the
tFailWaFs, ito obtain theI nacessaryEnum-
lheR9,of operators Reqairsd ft1nder the
law, that he had knowledge of thou
Ttat1dsa of operators ihd an PARTS Of
'the country who are now out of en-
fpl6yfhen mt and who Wpnfd be willing
to accept positions on, the, rail Dads r
ao1C.c II, 5Ackert,q vice president # and
general manager of the Southern Rail-
ways testified that, as to 800 fstations
this system "A sked the commission for
II eliefj He said that thed decrease in
fbusiness onE the Southern Railway
since the first Of October had been
Tremendous, resulting in part in the
taking, or OF passenger, trains alone
to the amount of 5000 miles a. day
He explained that it would be- neces-
saEy5 under the law for the Southern
to ofemploy 220 operators additional to
those now in the. employ of the. COM
pany?9 He said that for six or eight
months the Southern had been en-
deavoring to obtain a list of compe-
tent. operators and to that end had
supported schools at Moorsville. N. c.,
and DanviIle, Va He did not think it
would be possible for the company
to get sufficient number of compe-
tent. efficient and reliable operators
to meet gthe requirements t7as
Are you earning your hxed charg-
?'' inquired Specitl Counsel Moore
~ =, We are not replied MIR. Ack-
ert JI5"Je -z'rt.5 11;.., '..,,r5 11o,,,o
Are. you reducing operating ex-
tpense2"d ad5 oetG y lGcggaT-
.ot~ We are, +" responded Mr. eAckert,
every day. If we are compelled to
employ additional operators we will be
obliged TO reduce expenses in other
fines We cannot comply with this
law and at the same time meet our
other obligations We cannot increase
our expenses and keep out OF the hands
of the ebondholdeFs of the sroad. We
are struggling ito prevenfIa acatastro-
pheJ Our fixed charges are I'm excess
Of 81 Loco 600 per snnurn. fweudfd not
earn half nof~our fxhd leffarees in De-
esnber9!y IN the frst pseye1;f DAYS of ]
1Febr1hahr5y We We vent of, .sss .hpOfp day.
and the decrease sti11 contipEeS,'' bog
, o;ffYeuf ares virtually. asking VS. sus-
sestad Chairman knapp. 81 o ar,ply tho
law aen dnes thini aofr your stafinus and
aJ1srfspdteE itg asE1o two thirds OF !
tAefffg'hnE 1srasu1b Tuoy ot o. III" -
l @sva1afe asFfng2 tfiath the time he |
ggtfPPEgsaike ars2Esa 1gGs 81 fBdss "upptil
III s54n a}sS 3ss2ssa #sF.s is ssn ssh
Enares iteopsressc has, iAeieIated as. r. |
one-third Of the stations and you ask |
us to legisiate as to the other two