The Appeal., 1909-01-02
EXPENSE IS GREAT
FOR NECESSITIES oFsEA MODERN
RALRoAD. 81

RAILROADS.
Rolling Stock and Such Other Vita
Items Are But the Beginning Of
the Demands Made on Com.
pany's Treasury.
When we think of railway we gen
orally think of the locomotives and
cars which make up the trains, the
track on which they move and the de-
pots and booking Offices where we
get our transportation, says Chambers
journal. So one would Imagine that
most of what a railway company
needs to buy is it's rolling stock, the
rails and ties for it's Il. cks, the fuel
and water for its engines. But such
are only few of the necessities Of q
great modern system such as those
which cross the United States. In
deed, the money expended on articles
which would not occur to us is so
large that it seems beyond belief.
The fact is that such a railroad
must provide multitude of things,
especially where it operates cars
where travellers can rot only sleep
but have their meals as in a hotel. So
the company may employ a purchasing
agent, who might bette. be called the
general housekeeper." II He buys ne
cessities for the cars and for depots;
and it is T srt of his business to see
how much money he can save for the
company by selling material which is
no longer of any value TO It.
10 give an idea Of The Importance
of railroad housekeeping as it
might be called, we will take one 81
the larger companies of the United
States whose trains run over several
thousand miles of track. During one
year the general housekeeper" pur-
chased and distributed !526, 900 brooms
te keep the stations and Offices of the
company clean; 10000 boxes Of SOAP
10000 scrubbing brushes and a sims
lar number of hand mons also figure il
the expenditure. The housekeepers O.
the individual stations and offices rep
resent formidable army. Upward O.
10000 OF these are employed. At many
OF the small stations tie agent is his
own housekeeper, tic1et taker, teleg.
rapher and general freight agent. but
at the larger stations 5scrubbers and
cleaners are employed sby the year.
Fhe employees and officials OF a big
railway must have pens, ink, paper
and even pins. The Quantity Of pins
bought by the general housekeeper
and distributed to }Ehe employers
weighed OVER 8, ,o0a ounas 40 ,ooe
pens were also used, and so barrels
OF ink. There were enough lead pen
ellis used to reach from Chicago to
New York and half way back again if
they were placed end to end.
The care of the linen of a single
trunk line is an important task. No
hotel or series of hotels offers a. com.
parIson. The napkins and table lin.
en- for the dining service of this rail.
way mount up to thousands of pounds,
and the towels and bed linen for the
sleeping cars represent nearly as
many more. The annual laundry of the
sleeping and dining car service
amounts to an expenditure of $4,000,
although it is nearly all done by steam
machinery. To keep up the supply of
linen upward of 10000 separate pieces
are purchased annually. On this line
more money is spent on the table and
ped linen than on such apparently i'm
portant articles as car brackets for
hats and coats or cushion seats for
passengers. Yet so careful is the svs.
tenn that every napkin, towel, table.
cloth, sheet or pillowcase must be &C.
counted for, and not one can be lost
without some adequate explanation.
So numerous are the dining cars and
cafe cars on this railway that to sun.
ply them with all the necessary pro.
visions and articles of diet to suit the
most fastidious the general house.
keeper purchases wholesale quantities
all along the line. This railroad sys.
TEN will want upward of $4,000 barrels
OF Hour a year for the dining-car sery.
Ice, 10000 pairs of poultry, 10, 900 quar-.
ters Of beef and tons of fruit. pastry
coffee and vegetables.
But the amount of money which this
railway housekeeper gets from the
sale of what is called waste material
(that which is Of no further use to the
company, is astonishing. Again re-.
ferring to this American line. from
waste paper alone in one year It re.
allied a profit Of $4,000. Pens. shin.
giles and nails proved of important
value. The total sum of the "scrau
heap of old machinery reached the
enormous figure of $1,25O,O0O. OF
course the greater part of this waste
came from the worn-out locomotives
and cars which are sent to- the scrap
heap after they have ceased to be OF
further use to the company. But on
the small household items men.
toned upward of 100000 was re.
allied. Everything is saved, and
everything is economically disposed
of: Even the ashes are sold O,
utilized for improving the roadbed.