Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1917-08-03
TERMINAL WASTE.
SAVING RAILWAY

The Now YORK state capitol and the
nlu.ocipal building in Philadelphia each
COST inc citizens SIS. coo, geo; the Penn
sylvahla state capitol cost $l3.Q 600, 900.
nio aeVefal men went to the peniten-
stary Tor 1t. These are spectacular ex-
Inpie OF public wsste; nobody defends
1nein. The Pennsylvania and Grand
.nelr approaches cost over $50, 900, 900;
.ne IGNORED names Of their builders
appear on tablets on their palatial
"aiis. Yet they are the most colossal
monuments to waste ever erected In
ms country. Tribute is levied on the
puoilc quite as much by these private
gances.
AS engineering ventures, the ap-
proaches to these W greatest ter
uainals IN the world are UNSURPASSED.
80 are the stations as examples Of
semipublic graft. The day they wero
opened to service there was no way to
get from one to the other. There is
stlll none. The experienced passenger
rom the Grand Central station knows
tnat a taxi will be held up by the traf-
nc at almost every crossing. To save
m he takes the trolley, although he
must transfer, m then be reminded
that 1t is q quarter mile from any troll
icy to his train. AS subway connec-
Slons are in prospect, the Pennsylvania
railway has added the $35, 200, 900 He'll
gate bridge and causeway to circum-
rent he New York Central. IL wa
% Washington. $500. 600, 900 worth Of
improvements" stand in the way.
1T every newspaper criticism OF the
secretaries Of val and navy could be
proved to be true, they would not
appear as unpatriotic n incom-
Petent as the presidents and direc-
tors OF these railway systems.
National necessity demands open
minds and plain speech. Washington
y recovering from unpreparedness.
confusion and graft. Is New York? Is
chicago? There have never been cabinet
officers more incapable and dilatory
than the railway executives IN Chicago.
Politics has no monopoly Of incom-
petence. Twenty-ni nine trunk lines ter
inmate in C~hicago-a perfectly flat city
with no engineering difficulties such az
New York has to face. If the railways
were organized for service instead OF
graft, they would not cross each other
at all in entering Chicago. They do
cross zach other 239 times A square
nile of Chicago's most valuable and
corresponding to the area between the
Pennsylvania and Grand Central sta
tons in New York; is given up to term
tnals-most Of it total waste from the
railways own point of view. 1t will re-
quire a complete revision of terminals
in Chicago to effect economical mob
ilization of any thing.
Over 1000 towns in the United States
have one or more superfluous railway
stations. In 1875 w the same com
pany has more than one station, no
counting uptown n suburban stations
in larger cities. The financial burden
of these useless stations, yards and per
sonnet is not less than 800, 00O, 900 an
nually. Railway men are clamorlna
for funds; the government is demand
ing transportation. Regulations are
being passed governing empty freight
cars and observation cars on passenger
trains. The first step in mobilization
is unifying terminals. or is it rathe,
| clearing the track for the railway exc
cutives? What happens to a colon
blind engineer who sees red when there
is a white light ahead?