Weekly journal-miner., 1917-12-12
EMBARGO WORKS HARDSH|PS IN
 MANY WAYS
RAILROADS UNABLE TO SUPPLY CARS TO THEIR PATRONS AND MANY OF LATTE FER MS IN D E R. STAND THE SITUATION.
(From Tuesdays Daily.)

HC ldCl llldl lHC OHlltu OldlCS BON- ernment is gradually eliminating all freight shipments of commodities not actually necessary for the welfare of the nation during the period of the war, is being demonstrated every day, according to General Manager w. A. Drake of the $. F. r. & ?. Co. Hardly day passes but that Mir. Drake receives a notice or several mo- tices of embargocs which have been placed by the Eastern roads on cer- tain classes of freight, the notifca- tions being accompanied by requests that the Santa Fe refuse to accept such articles for shipment.
 The excuse for most of the em- bargoes Is that the Eastern roads arc without the terminal facilities for handling the shipments, and also that the press of business occasioned by the transportation of war materials, foodstuffs and fuel IS such as to'pre- clude the possibility of handling the non-csscntial commodities. Some times the embargocs arc effective for but a part of some railroad system, and often they are revoked after a few days when the roads have found the time and means to accommodate freight of the type mentioned. How ever, says Mir. Drake, the lid is grad ually being clamped down on ship. mcnts which arc not necessary, and day after day, 1t is becoming more difficult to get cars in which to make shipments of any sort. It Is, Of course, the transcontincntal roads, such as the Santa Fc, the Southern Pacific and the larger Eastern roads which are enforcing the embargocs, as the carriers arc virtually now un. der control of the government for the transportation of war supplies. It is said that the Southern Pacific, as late as last week, had 1000 cars of merchandise tied up on the division between Yuma and Tucson, which il, was unable to move for several days, due to the priority which had been
 
 granted the routing of large ship- ments of war supplies, moving from the East to the West.
 In the matter of operating passen- ger trains, most of the roads arc hay ing hard times to maintain their schc- dulles, the passenger traffic having been rated as secondary importance to the through shipments of government supplies and the movement of troop trains. II Is no longer the custom of the roads to change passenger loco motives at the division points, but when such points arc reached, fresh crew of men IS placed on the engine and train. the engine given cursory examination, and a short time later, sent out on another lap of thc jour ncy. In this way the roads arc en- ablcd to put into use great many more engines than would ordinarily be the case. and a great deal moro freight is consequently kept moving.
 A great many of the smaller ship perS. who apparently fail to under stand the situation which the roads arc up against. set up howl when they find that they cannot get cars as readily as they could a few days ago. and good many of them, take 1t from Mir. Drake. spend lot of their time in penning cpistlcs which arc far from being complimentary to the rail road organization, and mailing them to the superintendent, in an effort 10 relieve their wounded feelings. While the Santa Fc is, and always has been, willing to oblige in the matter of aid ing the shipper, the time has arrived when the latter must come 10 real ization of the fact that the roads are no longer the master of their own dcstinics, and that the hand of Uncle Sam is reaching in and getting first choice in the matter of shipping ia and demanding that the in dividual shipper take what is left. The local division is doing its best 10 fur nish the large number of cars which ! is called for by its patrons, but it is now face to face with a situation where it is ready to confess its limita- tiors in the matter of being able to accommodate Uncle Sam and the lat tcr'S many ncphcws.