Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1917-12-25

X too seriously wrong in Germany Hindenburg
- and Ludendorff called in. They are the
First Aid Twins. They fix everything, from hun
ger strikes to shell shortages. They keep the recn-
stag in sort of order and tell the kaiser what
to say and when and try to cover up the days
of the current chancellor. According to OIL
side observers Hindenburg is the big name and Luz
dendorff the big brain. In any case they work
beautifully a team
When the German railroads went practically to
pieces last year Hindenburg and Ludendorff were
the ones to whom the railroaders appealed. 1t is
thanks to their action that the German armies are
still being prOvsioned both fronts, and that the
railroads are again in fair condition. In order to
understand the situation little past history must
be discussed.
The demands made upon the German roads
by the war are greatly in excess of those made in
peace times. Every effort has been made to keep
down railroad traffic, but the volume has grown
constantly! Recent figures show that the passen-
ger traffic alone is so per cent greater than in
peace times. Of the total fully one-third is per
missionare' travel. Theoretically, Onetenth of the
German army is on permission all the time This
involves a tremendous to-and-fro traffic Although
not stated in the report to which refer the infer
ence is that hospital trains also cassed pas
senger travel In that the wonder is that only
a so per cent increase is reported.
In addition to the strain of the war business,
the rolling stock and personnel of the German
roads had to be stretched to the network Of
lines in the occupied territory 1 have been unable
to find statistics of the number of cars, engines,
etc. taken in Belgium, Poland, Siberia, northern
France and the like. 1t may be taken for certain,
however, that not of the lines in the occupied
territories occupied prior to the war, and
that a good share of the rolling stock was saved
upon the outbreak of hostilites Train after train
poured down from northern France into the safer
parts of the country, for example, and were never
taken back The may be said of Belgium,
while the trains were largely destroyed in Serbia
and Poland.
Nevertheless the German roads now report AGO.
600 freight cars and 5000 engines more than they
had in peace times. This represents the total of
new construction plus captured stock The increase
is relatively less than is the addition in trafhc.
The net result of this sudden added demand
is that and engines and men have worked
overtime 1t is good rule, 1 believe, that rail
road engine shall be ''rested" one day in seven.
The German engines and cars have had no rest
whatever. There no opportunity to give them
even the necessary repairs They were merely
tinkered into running condition and sent upon the
road again Thousands of these engines have been
in service twenty-fOur hours day for weeks on
end. One of the marvels of the war is that they
stood up under it.
Last winter the German roads went to pieces.
Hindenburg and LudeDdorff were called in.
A complete collapse of transportation was
threatened Ask any railroad what would
be the result of working a road and rolling stock
without intermission for some months, and he will
tell you that the equipment would go to pieces.
Precisely that is what happened in Germany The
roadbeds were hammered to bits, that the cank-
clank of playing rail-ends seemed loud as the roar
of the. when train passed by. Flat wheels
became normal Brakes lost their grip, so the
trains were hard to handle. The engines steamed
badly, and lost their pulling power, that they
could not handle large trains their bedevilled
engineers were ordered to pull.
PASSENGER SERVICE IMPOSSIBLE.
Passenger trains never time. The fast
express trains from Berlin to the frontier averaged
four hours late. Local trains on steamboat
schedules, that they were not expected until
they reached station Worst of all was. the
freight service. Inconvenience to passengers did
not worry headquarters, but shot-tOpieces freight
service meant that the supplies which the
life blood of an army might not get up in time.
Hindenburg and Ludenderff punished and issued