The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1909-02-15
HOW A RAILROAD
KEEPS HOUSE
The Enormous Sums That Are Spent
Every Year for the Train Serv-
ice on the Big Lines.

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 depots and
booking Offices where we set our trans
portation. So one would imagine that
most of what a railway company needs
TO buy is its rolling stock, the rails ana
ties for its track, the fuel and water Tor
its engines But such are only few OF
the necessities of a great modern sys-
TEN such as those which cross the
United States. Indeed, the money ex-
pended on articles which would not oe-
cur to US is so large that il seems al
most beyond belief.
The fact is, that such a railroad must
provide a multitude of things, especial
ty where it operates cars where travel
ers cannot only sleep. but have their
meals as in d hotel SO the company
may employ a purchasing agent, who
might better be called the general
housekeeper." He buys necessities for
the cars and for Gepots. and il is part
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.
To give an idea of the Importance of
railroad housekeeping" as il might be
called, We will take one of the larger
companies of the United States whose
trains run over several thousand miles
Of track. During one year the general
housekeeper" purchased and distributed
$4,000 broOms to keep the stations ard
offices OF the company clean; 10000
boxes Of soap. $4,000 scrubbing brushes,
and similar number of hand mops also
figure in the expenditure The house
keepers of the individual stations and
Offices represent a formidable army.
Upward of 10000 Of these are employed.
At many of the small stations the agent
is his own hOusekeeper, ticket agent,
teleerapher. and general freight agent;
but at the largest stations scTubbers
and cleaners are employed by the year.
The 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 distrib
uted to the employees weighed over 5000
pounds. Forty thousand pens were also
used, ana fifty barrels Of ink. There
were enough lead pencils used to reach
from Chicago TO New York and half
way back again il they were placed end
TO end. The care Of the linen of / single
trunk line is an important task. No
hotel or series Of hotels offers a COM
parison. The napkins and table linen
for the dining service of this railway
mount up to thousands of pounds. and
the towels and bed linen for the Sleep
ing 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 of linen are
purchased annually. On this line more
money is spent on the table and bed
linen than on such apparently impor-
tant articles as car brackets for hats
and coats or cushion seats for passen-
gers. Yet SO careful is the system that
every napkin, towel, tablecloth, sheet
! or pillowcase must be accounted 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 supply
/ them with all the necessary provisions
and articles of diet to suit the most
| fastidious the general housekeepeT pur-
/ chases wholesale quantities all along
| the line. This railroad system will want
/ inward Of $4,000 barrels of flour year
| for the dining car service. 10000 pairs
| of poultry. 10000 quarters of beef and
tons of fruit. pastry, coffee and vegeta-
bies
The equipment of depots with slot
machines, literature and restaurants has
/ greatly increased the labors of the
housekeeping department. In some in
stances the concessions are sold to pri-
vate companies: but on this railway
the rights to sell articles along the
route are retained by the tTanspOrta-
ton company. In one year $4,000 was
taken in the penny slot machines
for chewing gum. This meant that
I. coo 600 and more American pennies
/ were dropped into the machines. The
supply Of literature By the RAILROAD
| company is enormous. Upward Of 5.0et
train boys hawk the periodicals
through the cars as licensed sellers, and
half as many more sold books and mag
asines at the different stations. Over
| 81 900 900 was obtained last year
/ through this source. The distribution
OF literature over the whole route Is q
matter Of exact business routine, which
is managed entirely by a single head
Candies. fruits. sandwiches and othei
similar cdibles for the delectation Of
travellers are important items This
( line annually sells over its route 5e0.00l
pounds OF candy. nearly twice as many
sandwiches and upward OF 500 tons Of
fruit This does not include what Il
sold N the waiting rooms anu rs
taurants Of the stations. Here pr0babi!
as much more sweets are disposed Of e
hungry passengers 4 million bottles
Of drinks is the annual bill. or rathel
the amount that thirsty passengers dis
pose OF while waiting for trains. The
restaurants on the line VIII use upwarf
of fifty carloads of provisions in tn
course Of d year.
II we added to the general housekeeD
ing economics Of railroad the items
/ which pertain more distinctly to tn
gardening or landscape department, W.
should find more interesting statistics
Every railroad has its landscape gar
dening department today. and tens o
/ thousands Of plants. trees and shrub
are planted and cultivated every season
The company We have cited actual.
/ sets out nearly Loco. 600 bedding piant
around the stations. and another raise
. cut flowers. SO that every Office and i'm
, portant depot Is supplied with fresh CT
: flowers every DAY through the summe
r season. Ten thousand bouquets ar
r weekly distributed for table decoration
on the dining cars. It costs money L
support this department, but the ind
rect results are apparent in the approx
{ al and increased travel Of patrons
| But the amount Of money which III
arH Is. 80 - -