The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1917-11-28
RAILROADS Face GREATEST
TASK IN. THEIR HISTORY

|
the greatest transportation problem
in their history.
The war has created demands that
have increased the railroads burden
virtually over night by millions of
tons of freight.
What Increased Railroad Service
Means.
Some conception of what this in
crease means may be CLEANED from
the fact that the additional service
which is being demanded of the rail
roads this year, is equivalent to car
rying 120 billion tons of freigth one
mile. This increase alone is more
than the combined freight traffic for
one year of Great Britain, France,
Austria, Russia and Germany.
Moreover, the railroads will have to
handle it with facilities that, frankly
speaking, are inadequate. Cars, loco
motives, terminals ard all the other
equipment and track space that is
needed to handle the increased freight
traffic that war almost simultan-
eously produces, cannot be built over
night.
To make the situation more diff
cult, practically all the steel which
can be spared for the construction of
locomotives and cars has been appro-
priatcd for use abroad either by the
United States or by our Allies. AS
result, the railroads of the United
States must face their task with
practically no increase in equipment.
Despite conditions, the railroad
army is not pessimistc 1t is, on the
contrary, still on tip toe for it's fight
to control the tremendous traffic that
has. been so suddenly thrust upon it.
But all railroad men now recognize
that to keep pace with the ever in
creasing transportation demands of
the country, the railroads will not
only have to increase their own eff
forts, but they must count upon the
shippers, the consignees and the pub
lie as whole to increase the co-ope-
ration which they have so generously
given the railroads since the United
States entered the war.
Some Examples of Intensive Loading
Perhaps the best way to show the
value of the shippers cooperation is
to cite a few concrete examples of
what has been accomplished by in
tensive loading.
For example, the shippers along the
Burlington Railroad during the first
nine months of this year saved the
use of 59,387 freight cars by loading
the cars more heavily than in pre-
vious years.
The Anaconda Mining Company,
from October 1st to 18th inclusive,
forwarded from Anaconda, Montana,
9,423,900 pounds of copper in cars
whose capacity was $4,000 pounds,
thereby using almost ten per cent
more than the marked capacity of
the cars.
Cotton Shippers Saving Cars.
Cotton, which was formerly moved
III units of so bales, now moves only
in units of IS and rs. AS there are
eighteen million bales to be moved by
rail each season, the increase in the
trade unit in this one commodity
alone has produced saving of any
where from $4,000 to 125,OOO cars.
Sugar, on which the carload mini
mum from the South was formerly
only $4,000 pounds per car now moves
on 10000 pounds carload minimum,
and it is the same with other COM
modities.
In the handling of less than car
load freight for the month of July,
this year, seventy-scven of the lead
ing railroads increased their load per
car nearly 20 per cent over July last
year, thereby saving the use of
114,109 cars.
Great Opportunities Still Left.
These are real accomplishments,
but the opportunity for others to do
likewise still exists.
During the entire period of the war,
food, munitions and material must be
kept moving steadily to the sea-
boards. Lumber must be kept NOV
/ ing to the ship yards. Men must be
kept moving to the cantonments,
aviation fields and other training
camps, and all of these movements,
in so far as is possible, must be
made without serious interference
with the regular commercial traffic