The Tucumcari news and Tucumcari times. [volume] (Tucumcari, N.M.) 1907-1921, 1916-04-06
JOSEPH ISRAEL WAS
ELECTED MAYOR BY
A SMALL MAJORITY

lUhl Ntll NOuiS lOI uuy y pay
thousands work less than that and
even less than eight hours for days
pay.
This condition has some very in
teresting results. First, without re-
gard to hours or distance, every man
in train service is guaranteed "A full
days pay no matter how little SER
vice he performs. He can't work for
less than day. He may work only
few hours or less than 100 miles, but
il this constitutes his days work, he
still gets his pay for ten hours. II IL
takes more than ten hours to cover
100 mile or less he is paid overtime
for everything in excess of ten hours.
If he makes $50 miles in ten hours
he is paid for $50 miles, or equivalent
to Is hours on the hourly basis.
"lf, for example, his train made
only forty miles in ten hours, his full
days pay would he allowed the same
ms if he had made 100 miles. II 100
miles were run in four hours, the full
days pay would be allowed though he
worked only four hours.
Taken all in all, the man in railway
train service cannot be said to work
an hour day, or 10 hour day, ex.
cept in those instances where il takes
that number of hours actually TO com
plctc the run. That is VIII Y laymen
fall into error in trying to compare
railway labor conditions with general
labor conditions"
The above is very misleading in
rs much IA it does not give the actual
per cent that the train and enginemen
get. To he accurate they receive about
% per cent, the balance of the As per
cent goes to all of the other employees
who are paid in accordance TO the
skill required.
One thing in particular we would
like 10 ask in as much as the salaries
Of the railroad men from section hand
up to but not including railway off,
cials have been thoroughly sifted out.
ts il is well known by railroad men
if the public could he let in the light
and just for one moment see what
the officials get or it costs the railway
companies per month TO maintain
them. First the official gets stipu-
lated salary which runs as follows:
for Train Master sl25 up and exepnses
while away from home? No fixed
amount is set for expenses, il is just
what is put in. The Division Superin-
tendent gets from S225.00 up and "A
private car in which he is conveyed
over his jurisdiction at an expense of
some extra coal for the fireman 10
handle. but this is business? Why
the necessity Of this eXtravagant bus
mess? Again the companies cite the
country bank presidents salary in
comparison with the engineer and
conductors salary, but they do not
say that the bank president has regu-
lar hours. which is not necessary 10
| enumerate here. But the engineer
land conductor are not human, it seems,
! for they can get out Of bed at one
or two o'clock in the morning and be
Il hundred miles from home before
the bank president has had his oat
meal and hot cakes, and again the
| bank president has taken an awful
Chance(?) of meeting man on the
main line OF finding piece of rail
rone(?) or track spreading(?) OF
a thousand and one things that the
daily papers carry a. front page head
liners,
Just afew OF the stunts that are
necessary 10 become an engineer OF
conductor: An apprenticeship in the
round house 20 make one familiar
with the different appurtances on the
engine, this period may last for sew
eral years, next the student takes
trips on the road which he does no
get any pay for, hut must pay fol
his keep just the same. Then he Il
put on the fireman's extra board, o.
starvation list, as il Is called; some
times he might make expenses an {
again he may not. This period las
from three months 10 ten years, de
pending on the location, Then reg
ular turn on IA freight, getting out al
times of the day or night and al
kinds of weather. During his perio'
as fireman he will probably handl
as much or more than 10000 tons o
coal over the deck of ru n'"' loco
motive. Many times during this per
iod of apprenticeship he has numerou
close shaves, for on n locomotive on
, has to be on the alert continually I
! keep from getting thrown off. The
; the promotion comes and one has I
. answer from seven hundred to siXtee
! hundred questions on paper, as we
: as numerous questions in an oral cs
: animation. Then the extra engineer
}, board for period of probably 10
n years or more, then the regular frcigt
r turn for several years, finally the coy
n eted passenger turn, which does M
:, come to many, for this promotion
{ what is known as waiting for dea
I mems shoes.
e The conductor has "a beginning q