The Tucumcari news and Tucumcari times. [volume] (Tucumcari, N.M.) 1907-1921, 1916-09-07

4 important citieSD at AN average Of
4 100 miles apart. II takes ten hours
! for freight train to cover this dis
tance, and hence the requirements Of
ten hours work. or 100 miles"
: But the brothcrhOOds reply that, If
| the trains were somewhat reduced in
length. shey could easily make l2ls
miles an hour, and the distance of 100
miles could he covered in eight hours.
| In this way the working day Of the
crews could be cut down to the normal
and proper length of eight hours. or
course. shorter trains mean more loco
motives, and, for this and other rea-
sons, the cost of transportation to the
! railroads would be appreciably aug
mented.
While the locomotive has been grow
ing to gigantic size, the freight car
has gained pondingly in dimen-
siOns. II has become huge. Today it
is one-fourth bigger than il was only
"A dozen years ago, and at the present
time it has an average capacity Of 40
tons. The growth of the freight car
and the lengthenng of the train have
greatly added to the labor and hazards
of the crews.
The average pay of locomotive
engineer is S5.23 day. That of fire.
man is S3.26. A conductor gets $3.50.
These seem very fair wages. But it
should be remembered that such men
are trained experts. To become a
conductor or an engineer requires IA
long and arduouS technical education.
High character. unexceptional habits,
industry, and special aptitude are in
diSpensable requisites.
It's long road to the top. The fire
man is very apt to lose his life be-
fore he gets there, But he has bet
ter prospect of promotion than the
brakeman. because there are four or
five brakemen TO every fireman. The
average engineer is able to work only
II or II years; when that time has
elapsed he has either been killed, dis
abled by accident, or worn out by
nerve strain.
The railroads have said that TO meet
the demands of the brotherhoods it
would cost them 100000 a year. Pos
Sibly the money might be well invested
The best evidence of the value of the
service given by the employees is af-
forded by the fact that during the last
year only 2G5 passengers were killed
and l5,l2l injured on the railways of
this country. During the same ~
months 50Si2 of the workers were in.
jured, and 1923 lost their lives.
Each year one in every ten train
men in the United States (the term,
as here used, including engineers, fire
men. conductors and brakemen) is in
| jured and one in l35 is killed. On the
other hand, only one passenger is kill
ed for every 2,000,000 carried, and one
hurt for every 100000. The average
passenger travels over 100000 miles
before he is injured, and he journeys
80, ,000.0 900 miles before losing his life.
State legislatures are called upon
to protect men against such rulers ~
| Ripley. II transportation companies
have been unduly and unjustly regu-
lated-if rates have been reduced be
| low what is reasonable and restric-
tions imposed that are burd"nSome
and discriminatory, the men like Mr..
Ripley have themselves TO blame. Dis
regard of the rights and interests Of
the public has been at the foundation
of more than nine-tenths Cf the anti
railroad legislation.
If the strike had been pulled off IL
is thought this country would have
suffered more hGrdships than at any
time in its history, Many lives would
have paid the penalty. President Will
son observed his motto, Safety First"
and thus prevented much agony and
blood-shed. Let peace reign supreme.
While others fight and kill their fell
low men, America abounds with peace,
tranquility and brotherly love.