The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-12-17

1 it of service In 10,62 instances the | excess service was caused by track de
 fects and instructions not resulting in 1852 employees exceeding the limit | of service. In 10,620 instances the
 excess service was caused by track de- | fects and Instructions not resulting in collisions or derailments; while 9,91O
 cases were due primarily to collisions. | Under the heading of engine de- ! lays" 5,507 instances of excess ser- vice were reported as attributable to miscellaneous mechanical defects, while other engine delays usually incl dent to the operation of trains, were responsible for nearly 10, 900 addition al cases.
 "As a result of the prosecutions in stituted by the commissfon,' the analysis points out, "the number of in
 stances of excess service reported dur ing the last six months, as compared with the corresponding figures for
 preceding years, has shown a marked reduction.''
 McChord, that the carriers involved
 will concede to the commissions an
 alysis of their reports such a degree of attention as will enable them, by
 apprising themselves of. the prevent able causes of excess service, to eIin-
 mate the majority of instances in
 which employees heretofore have been
 permitted or required to remain on
 duty for longer periods than sixteen consecutive hours
 Under the head of "empIoyes in train service,'' the analysis shows an aggregate of SIS instances in which employees returned to duty after six teen hours continuous service with out having had at least ten consecU- tive hours off duty, while 274 of such
 employees were returned to duty after sixteen hours of continuous service without having had eight consecutive hours off duty.
 '"The law requires that telegraph op- orators employed by railroads in train operations, shall not be on duty in eX- cess of nine consecutive hours. The total number of violations of this law shown by the analysis, was 6,588, while it is noted that in 4,544 inStan- ces telegraph operators in offices op- erated only in daytime were on duty for longer periods than thirteen hours.
 f'The total number of cases of excess service of all classes reported by the railroads for the fiscal year was 299,- 953. The report says it is not to be assumed this number comprehends all the instances in which employees of railroads were on duty during the year in excess of the statutory periods.
 ITO the lay mind that contemplates the economic aspect of an industrial situation in which during a single year nearly 100000 men should have been responsible for the operation of trains for periods in excess of those prescribed by law" says the report, these figures may appear abnormal; but when cognizance is taken of the fact that 251, LII men were employed in train service alone during the year, in addition to the vast number of tel egraphers; and of the number of trains operated in order to provide for so many men, one aI- most marvels that the volume of traf- hc could have been transported with such a small proportion of excess ser vice.
 On July 1, 1913, in various Judicial districts of the United States, 216 ca ses involving an aggregate of 2,477 separate violations of the Hours Of Service Act, were pending, while 25S counts were pending an appeal
 Up to November 1, 1913, the total penalties collected from the railroads because of violations of this law amounted to $156, ,562.14, of which $1 ,5OO had been assessed because of failure of the carriers to report speci- | dv instances of excess service.