The daily banner. (Cambridge, Md.) 1897-2008, 1917-12-19
GIGANTIC TASK ASSIGNED
TO AMERICAN RAILWAYS
But Few Persons Have Amy ConCep-
tiun OF The Magnitude of The
Work Which Railroads Are Doing
Carried 901 900 Extra Cars of
Goa! s|iaom NAV To October.


Goa! S'r.om May To October
This has been called railroad
war. Americas preparation for
such war is Il greater railroad mile
age than that of the entire CONT
nent Of Europe and railroad army
OF 1.750.000 employees. Already the
railroads. modified under their War
Board at Washington have won some
important victories.
Up TO November - the number of
carloads of construction materials
and furnishings brought into the
National Army environments was
T9.1Sl. To the same date building
supplies used in the Guard camps
amounted to 80, $40 carloads; and
9,649 carloads had been shipped in
TO the Aviation camps.
\ standard box car of 100, 900
pounds capacity is forty feet and six
inches long. If all tn Gears carrying
material for these classes of camps
could be coupled together, the train
that would result would extend from
New i ork to Chicago and on out to
Evanston. Ill.
That is q long train. 1t repre-
SCENTS a great burden added on to
the task accomplished by the rail
roads i'll the record-breaking year of
1916. But the carrying of construc-
ion materials to the environments is
only 4 small part of the total in
crease in traffic for 1917.
After the camps had been built
the railroads had to move the men
into them. They have also had to
carry 10 The Atlantic seaboard from
all parts Of ihc country, the men
who have gone 10 france. Up 10
November 10Th. they had carried Il
total Of 1.%0O,O0 to camps and
ports OF embarkation.
And after the men have been
moved. The railroads have 10 carry
supplies to them. Every day $500
carloads OF food and coal are being
hauled TO the National Guard and
Army camps alone
CD to November y, a total of II :
coo carloads of freight had been
hauled for the Shipping Board. This
figure represents a part of the traf-
he involved by he building Of 400
new ships. An enormously greater
number of cars have rolled down to
Atlantic and Gulf ports loaded with
and munitions for ships al
MY built to carry TO France and
En-. land and Italy.
All modern military and CONNER
cial activity is based on coal and
oil-but especially on coal. No fig
ures reveal more clearly the extent
of the increased effort put forth in
the past half year by America gen
orally and by the railroads in par
ticular than the figures on the coal
traffic.
In the six months from May to Oc-
tober, inclusive, there were moved
10000 mere carloads of hard coal
than in the same months of 1916,
and ISL, 900 more carloads of soft
coal, Figuring an average coal car
. : I1ngth OF 5 3 feet, the total in
crease for half of 1917 over the
corresponding half of 1916 may be
represented by a solid trainload of
coal extending from New York, thru
New Orleans, to Los Angeles and on
up the Coast to Seattle, and then
East again to d point in Montana, 80
miles East of Butte.
The day is past when it was the
good citizens duty to fight the rail
roads. The railroads are doing
their best on tremendous job The
citizen can do part of his bit by
helping them in any small way that
he can.