The Washington herald., 1912-06-23
BAGGAGE SMASHING
GETS A HARD BLOW
Cumberland Valley Railroad to Use
Air Mats to Protect
Trunks.
What is baggage smashing"

1 W nat - DaSsdst SIlhbnlnb
The wires we're hot last night telling
OF the adoption by the Cumberland Val
ley Railroad Company Of a buttress mat
consisting Of coIled air hose, which viii
prevent the breaking OF trunks and suit
cases as they are handled by employees
| Of the road while en- route to the desti
nation of the passenger. The buttresI
was adopted, II was stated, because Of
the wholesale smashing OF baggage By
the men who handle the trunks on that
| line.
The managers Of the road say theil
step is one that will meet with universal
approval and they expect to revolution.
ize such work and save thousands oi
dollars by the origination OF a new form
Of conservation.
According to local baggage men, the
employees Of the Cumberland line must
be a careless aggregation of workers
in installing the buttresses will amount
to thousands OF dollars. and local experts
are certain that the breakage does not
warrant such an outlay Of money.
J. T. Marshall, assistant baggage mas
ter at the Washington Terminal, ridI-
culed such an invention-if 1t may be
called an invention.
There surely can be no cause for
such an innovation" said Mr. Marshall.
why, 1t seems inconceivsble that any
railroad cannot supervise the handling
Of baggage so closely that the breakage
Is a minor detail. In handling baggage,
just as in handling any other material,
the articles are broken at times regard
less of the way they are handled. For
the number Of trunks and suitcases we
handle in the baggage rooms of the
Union Station, the complaints We re-
ceive arc very few, and in most instances
are received from persons whose prop
erty has not been damaged to any great
extent.
81 do not believe the idea advanced by
the Cumberland line is practical It plans
TO install air hose mats at all their way
stations. and say the tTainmen must not
drop the trunks to the platforms unless
the mats are in place. This will involve
q lot Of extra work, and I doubt very
much that II will save the trunks It
will rather save the platforms
''How can breRkage occur in any we'll
organized baggage room. AS an example,
one may inspect the work Of our baggage
men. When a train comes into this sta
ton II Is met by a motor truck manned
by q crew Of three men. The trunks
are lifted from the cars to the truck,
and when they reach the baggage room
are taken on.
TT is in the baggage room they receive
the toughest handling, and then they
are just dropped q distance Of about
eighteen inches 10 a floor covered with a
heavy mat"
All tie baggage "smashers' at the
Union Station agreed with Mr.. Marshalls 5
views. They declared that it would cost
an employe his position to handle trunks
roughly, and added, startling as It may
appear, that It is easier to handle bag
gage carefully than 1t is to throw It
around with utter abandon.
Therefore, Mr.. Tourist, you may rest
easy in the future as to the welfare of
the trunks and their contents, for II
appears to be the concensus Of opinion
among railroad oficisIs that the days Of
the square-jawed. hulking, and sRlrking
baggage men are over.