Willmar tribune., 1915-01-27

two changes; the Chicago. Milwaukee
and St. Paul transferred it's terminal
three times; the Chicago, Peoria and
st. Louis, once; the Chicago Rock Is
land and Pacific Railroad, twice; the
Colorado and Southern Railroad,
once; the Great Northern Railroad,
twice; the Illinois Central Railroad,
once; the Louisville and Arkansas
Railroad: "This railroad company has
changed it's terminals so often that
engineers and firemen are continually
kept on the move;" the Minneapolis
and St. Louis Railroad, once; the
$500" Railroad: The frequently men,
toned oscillation Of terminals be-
tween Chippewa Falls and Stevens
Point, then to AbbotsfOrd and finally
back again to where the first termi-
nails we're located, one of the interest
ing stories in Western railroad his
tory; Missouri Pacific, twice; Mis-
souri, and North Arkansas Railroad,
ont }; the M. K. & T., five times; the
Northern Pacific, three times; the St.
Louis and San Francisco Railroad,
five times; the Southern Pacific Rail-
road, three times; the Union Pacific
Railway-various instances given in
the exhibit show that this company is
the only one in the West which ever
made restitution to the men for loss
es sustained by moving terminals and
causing employees to abandon their
homes; Wabash Railroad Company,
four times.
Besides the uprooting of home ties,
the abandonment of residences, in
many instances just completed and
paid for, the testimony disclosed that
engineers and firemen had often been
compelled to transfer their families
to lonely and desolate spots where
there we're no conveniences or i'm
provements. Moreover, it was shown
that not infrequently officials of rail-
roads, industriously lining their own
| pockets at the expense of the work
ingmen, had obtained options or had
actually bought the so-called town
/ lots in these new terminal settle
| ments. For instance, in regard to
| the Atchison road the exhibit says,
'"The lots in Calwa sold for the same
price as lots within the city limits of
Fresno and it is persistently rumored
that local officials of the company
bought up this land before the change
| was made.'
Another instance Of this nature in
! which the same company figured was
related with respect to moving the
freight terminal from Stockton to Riv-
| erbank. Riverbank was a new town
| site with no houses for sale or rent so
| the men were compelled to buy lots
| and build as there was no other way
| to get a home. The exhibit adds
"Supt J. w. Walker and Gen. Agt
Hobart had bought up all this land
| before the terminal was changed and
| through the Guy Rush Real Estate
| Co., sold it to the men,
The exhibit abounded with instan.
ces of engineers and firemen virtually
losing the savings of lifetime, of be-
ing unable successfully to obtain re-
vi 1IOln L11c COu1pdu1co UcCduoc
of terminal changes and of the men
| and their families undergoing hard
ships and inconvenience.
! Just before direct testimony ended
Grand Chief Stone referred again to
surprise tests, reading letter from
C. c. McChord, member of the In.
terstate Commerce Commission, stat
ing that that body had no authority
whatever to lay down rules for rail
road companies which would result
in surprise or efficiency tests. This
was in direct contradiction of state
ments made last month by w. l.
Park, Vice President Of the Illinois
Central Railroad, one of the arbitra
tors, who read a long extract from ar
old Interstate Commerce report lead
ing the board to believe that the Com
mission actually was responsible fol
these tests.