The Logan Republican. [volume] (Logan, Utah) 1902-1924, 1917-11-10
HELP TO PREVENT
RAILROAD CRISIS

HELP TO PREVENT
RAILROAD CRISIS
The railroad situation in the United
States is fast becoming critical. 1t will
require the closest cooperation and the
hardest work on the part of railroad men
and shippers to prevent something like
a catastrophe.
There is an increasing shortage of
freight cars, particularly in the middle
west. The Illinois Central lost 5000 box
ears the last two weeks of September
That number of cars belonging to the
road were carried away by other lines in
to other territory. The Burlington re-
ports that it has on it's lines $500 fewer
cars than it actually owns. Reports of
the same kind come from all the roads
eentering in Chicago.
Practically every road running out of
Chicago has demand for many more
freight cars than it can furnish. They
are needed for the loading of merchan-
disc, cement, fruit, and vegetables, wheat
and oats. The cars are simply not to be
had. And just ahead is the movement of
the greatest corn crop in history.
There is an increasing shortage of coal
cars at the mines in Illinois and Indiana.
Every day the national government is in
sreasing the number of freight cars used
for strictly military purposes.
How great is this war demand upon
the resources of the railroads does not
begin to be realized by the public. It
takes more than $500 freight cars per
day to carry supplies to the sixteen can
fnnv re pf bo oofin oil
Then the government is going into ship
building on vast scale. 1t is building
steel mills, great gun factories, huge
plants for the manufacture of airplanes.
All these enterprises require constant
~ increasing number of freight cars.
We have undertaken to supply millions
of tons of fuel and food to our allies. We
are transpol ting more and more SOL
diers to France every week and every
soldier landed in Europe makes a new
and continuing demand on the railroads
Of the United States. An army of only
500 900 men will be needed-with it's nee
essary horses and mules-S,500 tons Of
food alone, every day.
nj also necessary to build great docks
and wharves at the American bases in
France, to construct hundreds of miles
Of railroads, equip them, and furnish fuel
for the locomotives. For army automo-
biles alone there will be needed 100000
barrels of gasoline each month, to say
nothing Of 35 tons of grease and oils. All
Of these things and many millions of tons
Of arms, munitions, and other supplies
must first be moved by the railroads of
the United States.
And it must always be remembered
that government demands will get the
first call on the railroads.
Troops, munitions, war materials of
every kind" Danial Willard, chairman of
the railroads war board, told me in Wash
mgton last July, twill be given the right
of way on the railroads of the United
States. Everything else must wait on the
military needs Of the government"
What is already bad condition is GER
tom to get worse. The railroads them
selves are doing magnificently. They
have increased their efficiency greatly.
They have had good o-operation-until
recently, at least-on the art of many
shippers. But greater exertions on the
part of everybody are necessary.
There must be-if disaster is to be
avoided7-greater speed in both loading
and unloading freight cars of all kinds.
There are few cars now in Chicago