The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1911-08-11
Cleveland was than any other candi-
date"
From Tuesdays Daily.

DlNlSloH OHlcldlS anu eIHplOyeS VI
the Minnesota division of the North
western railway assembled in the
Northwestern hotel dining room last
Saturday noon for dinner, which was
followed by a discussion of various
matters which would naturally come
up for discussion i'm an efficiency
discussion. Mr.. Howe OF Chicago.
claim agent of the road, was also
present and gave a talk on the fela-
ton of efficiency on the loss and
damage account. 1t was the good
fortune of representative of The
Republican-Heral to be a guest of
Superintendent E. E. Nash at this
meeting, and the term good fortune"
is used not only in a mplimentary
manner, but because it actually was
treat, for it was the best let'S-get-
Observation-Disclosures kind of meet
ing that he ever attended. 1t was
not a prating of few theorists, but
practical discussion of railway mat
tiers in various branches by twenty
two railway men who are daily on
the job. That these meetings bear
fruit could be learned by the reports
made on the subject of Use and Mis-
use of the Scrap Pile. The matter
had been brought up in the previous
meeting two months ago, and in the
meantime acted upon, with the result
that reports of economy were sub
mitted Saturday. Two or three times
during the discussion, when sug-
gestion for betterment was made,
Mr.. Nash would say, That's good
suggestion. 1t will be adopted at
once" or, well do that" Mr..
Nash has a way of making the men
feel free and easy and getting from
them some valuable material; and
the utilizing promptly of the propos-
ais, as his remarks showed he would,
tends to inspire the men to do their
own work as efficiently as they know
how, and to keep a lookout for bet
ter methods continually.
The matter which came up for the
greatest amount of discussion was
the subject of the Use and Misuse
of the Scrap Pile. A sort of house
cleaning had been made, not only in
the shops here in the city, but in
other departments and along the
tracks, and discarded scrap had been
gathered up and turned over to the
storekeeper. His men sorted the
stuff into disable and scrap material,
resulting not only in a saving of a
pany, but of thousands. 1t was
brought out that quite a little ma
terial was thrown away which could
still be used, and fOremen will make
efforts to have all employees observe
carefulness in that respect.
Other matters considered were the
painting of lanterns of each depart
ment in special color, the cross
hauling of empty cart, -four stations
for -four loading, water pals at
bridges, and the saving of grain
doors, and other lumber All these
matters were illuminatingly threshed
out, better methods of car inspection.
handling of grain doors. and protec-
ton for other lumber advocated.
I Mr.. Howe, the claim agent for the
road, gave a talk and let the men
have a few pointers from the stand
point of claim adjuster. He said
the loss and damage accounts of the
railroads were growing to an extent
that threatened to become alarming.
This was not the case only with the
Northwestern, but with all of the
railroads in the country, and the OF
ficials were working to eliminate the
uses of the damage to freight. The
interstate commerce commission. he
said, would not allow an increase
i'm freight rates, passenger rates were
nd l.
tentative the railroads had was to
cut down the loss and damage
claims by better handling, better
loading, better switching and prompt
er transporting of freight.
Mr. Howe's paper gave rise 10
consideration of the various matters
touched upon, and especially the mat
ter of -four shipping, the proper kind
of cars to be used, and better sys-
tenn of inspection for flour cars.
The meeting lasted four hours and
every minute was taken up by real
live, practical talks. Every man pres
ent had something to say as better
ing the efficiency of the service with
one exception, and he summarized
the results of these get-together
meetings in the following words:
Everything mentioned here has
been so thoroughly discussed that L
can't offer anything new. But l 90
want to say word about these meet
ings. They breed spirit of good
fellowship among the men, and one
of loyalty to the company. Just to
Illustrate: The other day had &C.
casion to lift something heavy. One
of the men who has been attending
these meetings saw my efforts and
he said, Wait moment. I'll help
you.' Previous to these meetings he
had never offered to help me. | know
that the enthusiasm gained at these
gatherings for better service has
it's results i'm the work of each man.
1t may be slow progress to begin
with, but the seeds are being soWn,
the plants are growing and already
the fruit is ripening.
Any improvement in service, or
economy in the interest of efficient
service made by the companies, not
only benefits the railroad but primar-
ily the travelling and shipping public.
The next meeting will be held I'M
September.