Omaha daily bee., 1910-03-27

/ fancy required particular kind OF pench
Il was forthcoming Now the clerks get
their pencils one at time and have to be
careful Of them. A still greater economy
saving Of from 5000 to $4,000 a year on
a good sized road-is now effected by
every one using the same kind and grade
Pens are also dealt out just as carefully
-one or two at a time. instead Of by the
box-and these, too. have been standard
ized. and their cost cut In half. The pins
the big railroads are using now are made
Of steel. instead Of brass, and cost but one
quarter OF what they used to.
| Vast quantities OF letter-heads are used
by big railroad, for there Is lot Of cor
respondenoe passing to and fro continually.
/ The day of the engraved letterhead and OF
| bond paper has practically passed since
these economies have been instituted. That
kind Of stationery is still supplied to some
| Of the high executives but they restrict its
use TO letters addressed to people outside
| the company.
The cheapest serviceable paper is what is
used in company correspondence. Most
roads are also vigorously urging the cur
failing of letter writing, and urging the
asking Of as many questions as possible
verbally.
This is to eliminate the writing Of let
| ters to the man at the next desk lin order
to get record OF it," as used to be the
custom. A hundred thousand dollars
year Is a moderate estimate Of the saving
in this item alone, aside from the time
taken in debating, reading, and signing
letters.
Clipping the Station Agent.
Station agents used to have generous sup
plies OF stationery. enough to last them
two or three years in some cases. Now
there are several men who travel over each
road checking up and shipping back any
surplus stock. A thirty days supply is now
the maximum allowed on some roads.
On a big system, made up Of a number
OF different lines, there has been vigorous
movement to standardize all supplies and
to bulk the purchases. Take the item Of
way-bills. for example. Such a system
uses perhaps 100000 600 way-bils year
They are now printed paper of uni
form quality and ordered through one pur-
chasing agent. thus saving from $4,000 to
$4,000 a year over what they cost when
each line used different form and had
them printed separately. BY standsrdizng
railroad tickets and mileage books, one
eastern trunk line is now saving over
100000 a year in its printing bills
As an example of how much can be saved
in the supplies furnished to general offices
alone, 1t will be only necessary to cite the
case of the Pennsylvania. In 1907. that
roads general office expenses were 1896 1877.
= Economy and care cut this about S135, 900
, during 1905
Ninety per cent OF the operating mate
> rial and supplies that railroad purchases
finally reaches the scrap bins That means
that material originally costing $3.50 900, 900,
when 1t is more or less worn out, is
=, "scrapped." That Is where one of the
! greatest wastes. or the greatest economies
of a railroad lies Lately nothing has been
, more closely watched.
d Reducing the Scrap Heap.
Into the scrap-heap, at last, goes every
Y bit of metal from lanterns to locomotives.
$ One of the big eastern trunk lines re-
9 celves about t3,0O0,OO0 a year from the sale
e OF this scrap metal In the old days 1t was
Y customary to offer 1t to buyers as so many
tons Of miscellaneous scrap"
8 The dealers bought and sorted it them.
10 selves, frequently realizing enormous prof.
y its from so doing. They speculated on the
= quantity of each kind of the various ma
g. terials each lot would contain. Now the
Is speculative element is eliminated, for the
Y railroads do their own sorting.
8 1t will surprise most people to learn tina
l. there are nlnety-eight different kinds o.
g scrap, according to the classification th'
railroads adopted in 1908. and each klnt
II takes a different price. 1t is in the rigid
, ness of inspection, however, that the rail
II roads have been saving money Of late.
Before the scrap is offered for sale nov
d 1t is inspected by no less than four differ
Z ent mechanical experts. Everything tina
% a.. L.. - .9& hxy fr{p
IL or in some other way, is picked out.
Twisted and bent rods are straightenet
, so that they can be used again. II the!
'r are broken, they are cut up into bolts
Even the old bolts themselves are re
threaded.
IN Nothing that can be used over again b.
le repairing. without decreasing its efficienc
. or taking up too much time. is allowed L
D go into the scrap to be sold. The result /
10 that while the amount OF scrap dspose
of is less in tonnage, 1t brings In the as
ie gregate, more than 1t did, owing to ii
N being so carefully sorted into the man
10 different classes.
OF Further. the material reclaimed, OWN
to the rigid inspection, and used owe
again, on a big road runs into an enormou
Oh value-how much OF saving none OF tn
e roads have been able to figure accurately
ls owing to the lack of any standard OF price
"a for secondhand material. but on a lSrg
vi system it must be several millions a yea
From BroOna to locomotives.
~ Even bridge-stringers and cross-ties al
turned to account after their original use
a fulness has passed. The former are no
:. used for crossing panks and all kinds
!, repairing purposes. and the latter are sol
:, for firewood.
Another pairing down in expense Is bein
- made by standardizing everything froi
on lead-pencils to locomotives. Standards
w ing, which means using the same type
No pattern Of each article throughout the eI
he tire system, is not new thing, by ar
M means; but 1t has never been carried
such an extent as It has during the la
two years.
49, Take it In the unoonsdered item OF too
;. for cleaning cars stations and office
=. The Santa Fe system recently announc,
re that II uses annually about $500 broom
~ 5000 hand mops 5000 scrubbing -brushe
civ and 10000 boxes Of soap.
.. The brooms, mops and scrubbing- brush
m, are each of the same type and kind I
nd over the line, and the soap is all of Of
Is quality. This is true OF nearly every 9th
a.. large railroad in the United States