The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1912-02-22

The cost Of safety on American
steam railroads. irrespective of the
saving If the wreck waste was cut
down, was put at S1.8G1. .OOO, 900 by L.
O. Melcher, vice president Of the Rocl;
Island lines, in summary he pre-.
pared shortly bcfure he and J. =. H1r-
ahan were killed In wreck on .tNc
Illinois Central. lie give the totals
Of expenditures needed as follows:
Substitution of steel equipment for
wood $500, 100000; t1 enlarge clear.
ances, S44I.O0O,000 10 equip with
block signals S2SI00O.O00: Total ST..
9G1, 600, 900.
lie added: "lf the government is
TO require the railways u make such
expenditures in the interest Of safety,
the aulNorlty which regulates the
rates and earnings OF the railways
must take that act Into consideration
How with tendency toward reduc.
tion Of earnings and its undou1ted eff
feet on the ability of the railroads TO
borrow money, can such expenditures
be made? The people at large must
thoroughly understand the situation In
which the railroads find themselves.
II is the duty of the railroads to as
sist In a candid discussion OF what
these expenditures actually mean"
The biggest item sighted by Mr.. Mel
cher was the substitution of Aeel
cars for those OF wood and the small
est was the one for signal apparatus
to insure safety and To expedite the
handling Of traffic. The result Of
compulslon in Indiana in the adoption
of block signals was related in the
first issue Of a magazine "Pupllc Ser
vice Regulation" published by the Ma
tlonal Association Of Railway COM
nissloners. Capt. Azcl Ames, signal
expert for the Interstate Commerce
Commission first Is quoted as saying:
Gentlemen, / believe today that sig
mailing has ceased to be a mechani-
cal or electrical or engineering prob
lem and has become an economic and
sociological and human one and the
quicker we realize this the better"
Indlanas experience is reported as
follows "'rhe compulsory law is pro.
nounced successful. Not only has the
block signal mileage increased. but
the systems now in operation in the
state are, in the opinion of the COM
orly We're, and during the next two
years the commission expects 10 ac-
complish great deal in the direc.,
tion of efficient block signaling"
Armour's hand in the fishing IN
dustry by control of the Booth Fish
cries Company, Chicago corporation,
ana its subsidiary holding and dlstr-
fef,.. 10, Il
fish and seafoods 10 other Offenders
against the housewives poclSetbook
When meat goes up in the retail
markets fish viii not be so apt as here
tofore 20 compete Just how great
a hold the new Booth concern has
upon the supplies OF fresh water fish
in the middle west, upon the salmon
ana hallbut catch in the catch in the
northwest and upon the great salt
water fish trade Of Glouster and Bos-
ton the public has yet to lNarn The
Armour control Is through an attor-
ney who is now helping defend the
Armour men In the governments
criminal case under the sherman law
The executive head Of the company
IS young lawyer from the office Of
the Armour representative. At the an
nual meeting recently the increase of
capital was generally reported to be
for the purpose OF capturing the '"r
wharf" fish business OF Boston but
no public reference was made To the
matter I'm the annual report and no
statement has been made conhrming
or denying the reports. Fish has
| been the poor mans reliance or food
IN days of high prices for meat aud
stlll is sold proportionately lower thea
meats. How seriously the small FISH,
| erman can compete with monopoly
II one should be created romains "a
J be seen.