Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1914-02-26
SOME RAILROADS LAWS
,of Interest 70 the Public, and Of Which tie Public Knows
ID al. MN. w Little or Nothing 81 ANU ss ss

OASaWhich, IT least 80! minutes before
tle scheduled time, of the arrival. 81
hKffsi1, y musts tbc placed the slaet
whether such train Is on time, ana
TX late, how late, which bulletin must
Ba changed At intervals Of one hour
until the arrival of such delayed
train. But passenger trains Q more lle
than Is, minutes late shall be deemed
on time SO far as the bulletin is con.
cerned. Any failure of a station
agent to properly post his bulletin,
II, reported to the railroad commq1ss
sion,, will secure a prompt remedy.
Every railroad company must pro.
vide and maintain In all its freight
and ticket. Offices In all towns, cities
and villages in this state, where q 70
cal telephone exchange is operated,
and where such service is available,
reasonable and .aequate telephone
connections for the use and benefit
Of; its patrons. Should any company,
upon. proper application Of its pat
ErOns at any town, city or village fol.
such, telephone connection, refuse or
neglect to put g phone in It's depot
an. application to-. the. railroad com
missioners will bring prompt relief
upon 3 showing that o bona fide ex-
change exists lin said town.
III ~--- = ~ ~ J.
Should any railroad company, upon
proper complaint, refuse or" neglect
TOT provide suitable and lawful toilet
ut. any station, q writ:
ten complaint to the board of rail-
road commissioners at Bismarck will
cause an investigation, and If the al.
legations in the complaint are found;
to be, true, the offending company
will be compelled to grant thess.relief
prayed for. It is a fact; however
that the railroad companies recognize
the j~ustness of the sanitary laws Of
this state and are ready and willing
to observe them and to correct the
evils complained Of.
1t is unlawful for any person to
walk or drive}along the tracks Of any
railroad company In this state, but
this law does not apply to railroad
yards within a city or town: or to.
crossings. The railroad tracks are
not highways-for people or animals:
One of the serious, problems con.
fronting grain shippers in the rush
season of the year Is car shortage,
and the railroad commission. is kept
busy during the fall and early winter
months In: helping relieve. the situa-,
ton. There seems to be, q general
misunderstanding. Is to the law re-,
Gafding the distribution of grain, cars.
Here is the. law; cut 1t out and paste,
It on the. wall Of your office, to- be
looked over when the next rush
comes: when, any. railroad com.
,pany doing business. in. this state
shall be unable, from any reasonable.
cause, to furnish cars at any railway.
station or sidetrack in accordance
with the demands made by all: per.
sons demanding cars at such station
or side track for the shipment of,
freight in carload lots, such cars as.
are furnished shall be divided daily,
equally, among the applicants lin the
of their application until each
shall have received one car, when
the remainder shall be divided rat.
ably among the several shippers In
the proboftIon that the carload lots
OF freight offered by each bear to
the entire number Of carload lots Of
freight offered 1t such station or side!
track on that day; provided, that ev.
cry application made in good faith
on an earlier day shall be filled be.
fore supplying. any to any applicant
Of q succeeding day. When elevat.
Ors become blocked. or threaten to
owners Or managers
-shoud' telegraph the railroad commits.
Ytpn of the condition Don't write; it
Is too slow. The commission Will at
once wire the superintendent of the
railway company, and 1t is seldom
prompt relief. has not been granted.
4 In any case In court where the
railroad commission has made! com.
plant, that t sS:Orders against q pub
lie service corporation are not being
obeyed, such case is given precedence
over any other civil action and is
heard or tried first. The theory Of
this is that the orders are issued in
the public interest and that that in
iterest is paramount to every other.
This is a view which Is now very
much in evidence In legislatures and
courts. Property interests used to.
be the first consideration,
At the present time there is no.
law on the statute books giving the
railroad commission or any other
state officers supervision over rail.
roads other than, those operated by:
steam" n view Of the rapid, in.
crease In the number of,common car
::rlers operated by electricity it would