Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1915-02-04
Workings of Seniority.

Today j. II. Keefe, assistant gem
eral manager of the Gulf, Colorado &
Santa Fe railroad, concluded nine
days on the witness stand with an ex-
/ hibit which he said completed Car
ter's adding TO the earnings Of these
/ engineers what they earned as fire
men, as well as engineers. The work.
ings Of the seniority rule. II appeared,
| frequently forces the young engineer
to leave the throttle for the coal
/ shovel
The new exhibit corrected Carriers
to show that. in February, 1919. the
average of $50 a sfff6frtff -rarfYrff Nv
J promoted engineers, "as engineers, F"
was increased to Sos; in June from
sS7 to $10S; in october from $97 TO
SIZE and i'm February, 1914. from $67
! to S103.
Promoted Engineers.
/ Mr. Carter explained that his ex-
/ hibit was based on data supplied by
/ the railroads. Correspondence on the
| subject was read into the record from
which it appeared that Mr. Carter had
( asked for the earnings Of promoted
! engineers
Carter asked q series Of questions
/ designed to get the witness. Keefe. to
admit that the general managers had
/ taken advantage Of an oversight on
/ his part To lead him into false po-
1 sition
! 1--WE had not the most remote idea
/ as To your reason for asking for the
/ figures; we were in the dark as to
what use YOU intended to make of
! them replied Mr.. Keefe
! But wouldn't ii have been kinder
| of you, finding that ! was in error.
to have reminded me-" pursued Mr..
/ Carter.
y think it would have been pre-
sumptuous; we didn't know what you
wanted them for" replied the witness
Carter Learns Something.
II am learning something new"
( said Mr.. Carter. II knew that engi-
/ neers are denoted when business falls
\ off and work as fremen, but candid
I ly ] thought that once a fireman was
promoted his earnings as an engi-
/ neer are all that. he can earn, and that
/ he is denoted before he makes earn
ings as a fireman"
! Charles Nagel, a neutral member of
! the board, asked:
"ls it possible, Mr. Carter that with
| all your experience as a railroad man,
as head Of the firemens brotherhood,
{ that you did not know that engineers
! worked also as firemen."
Mr.. Carter repeated that his under
standing had apparently been at va
! rance with practice.
James M. Shcean, attorney for the
railroads, read from the record to
I ~ ttfla xftt haI
fully understood that he was testify
/ ing as to the earnings Of the young
I engineers. as such, and that the intro
( duction Of today's exhibit could not
! have come as a surprise to him.
II asked you" said Sheean, reading
/ from the record. III the earnings were
not too low and if they embraced the
| earnings of these same men as fire
| tnen, and you answered repeatedly
and emphatically that they were the
earning of promoted engineers as
engineers" Turning to the board the
/ attorney stated that the new exhibit
| was not an attempt to discredit Mr.
| Carter, but TO complete the picture"
so that the board might be fully in
| formed as to the earnings of these
| men,
| The payroll subject was turned in
/ sue out all uay, ana at one Time
turned on a detail in which Mr.. Keefe
| feels deep personal interest, namely,
| the pay received by firemen on oil
burning locomotives. 1t appeared
that in October, 1913. A. Richardson.
a fireman on Keefe's road, earned
| S209
THE rate now paid Of 1915 is un-
! reasonable, when il is compared with
| the $40 received by the engineer of
! the same oilburner, compared to
whose work that of the fireman is a
snap said Mr.. Keefe. 1T was the
result of the arbitration Of 1910 and
at the end of the year most of the
roads as they were privileged, de-
clined TO renew the schedule. Some
roads. including my own, still pay the
rate, but had expected to seek an adj
] justment at the present arbitration.
| However. it cannot be done, as the
arbitration includes only the demands
of the men; none of the injustices TO
the roads"