The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1917-08-29
RUSSIANS USED
CARE IN BUILDING
THEIR RAILROADS
Tracks Kept Up BY Labor of
Peasant Women, Ameri-
can Experts Find.

MOSCOW, Aug. 20. - Correspond
ence Of The Associated Press. John
+ Stevens and his associates on the
American Railway Commission now
visiting Russia for the purpose of as
sisting the administration OF the Rus
sian railways in increasing their eff.
ficiency have discovered many ways
in which transportation may be speed
ed up on all Russian lines without ad-
ditional equipment.
The commission has advised the
United States government to supply
Russia with $500 more locomotives
and 10000 more freight cars as soon
as possible. However, it will be con-
siderable time before this rolling stock
can be manufactured and shipped to
Russia. The shortage of bottoms on
both the Atlantic and the Pacific will
delay the delivery Of the new rolling
stock and additional shops must be
erected at Vladivostok before such
great quantities of locomotives and
cars can be put together speedily.
Must Get Along.
Meantime Russia must make the
most of its available rolling stock and
locomotive power and the American
engineers are busily engaged assist
ing the Russian railway officials in a
study of the immediate problems.
The Russian roadbeds are in excel
lent condition. Virtually all the lines
were we'll built originally and the
tracks have been kept up, chiefly
through the work of peasant women,
in spite of the shortage of labor Great
ed by the heavy draft the war has
made upon the male population.
After travelling the full length of the
Trans-Siberian line and inspecting
many of the important lines in Central
and Southern European Russia the
American engineers have found that
Russian railway men are working at
great disadvantage in not having up-to-
date equipment for coaling, watering
and cleaning locomotives.
Larger Pipes VIII Help.
At nearly all stations in both Eur
opean and Asiatic Russia. engines are
watered by means Of eight-inch pipes.
From twelve to twenty minutes is re-
CURED for work which is accomplish
ed In the United States in four or five
minutes. BY the installation of twelve
inch supply pipes this delay can be
eliminated.
BY the Russian methods twenty-four
hours is required to clean locomo-
tive, coal it and get up steam again.
Coal shutes are lacking and the fuel
is transferred from piles to the tender
by means of steam shovels. Work that
could be done in five minutes with
modern coaling apparatus requires
much time.
Then the Russian engine houses
lack the hot water equipment neces-
sary for the washing out of boiler en-
gines as soon as the locomotive comes
off its run. Engines are allowed to
cool before they are washed. Then
the boilers are washed with cold wa
ter Steam must then be raised In a
stone cold boiler before the locomo-
tive is ready to go on its run.
With modern coaling apparatus and
facilities for supplying abundant hot
water to cleanse boilers, the American
railways coal and clean an engine in
four hours, a saving of twenty hours
over the Russian system.
Oil Used as Fuel
Oil is used as fuel for locomotives
ir Southern Russia but, in Siberia and
Northern European Russia, coal and
wood are the fuel. The facilities for
loading wood are also bad and plans
are under way for improvements In
the system. Water is supplied to pas
senger cars by means of buckets at
most railway stations. Few stations
have the hose necessary for watering
cars in hurry. These have not been
required because engines took water
so slowly and labor was so abundant
that it was possible to supply the cars
with water by hand while the locomo-
tive wa being cared for
But now even the labor or women
must be economical as much as posi-
BILE. Women are required In the fields
to replace men. They are the baggage
handlers at most stations and are even
firing locomotives. Wages necessarily
have risen with the increased cost OF
living and every possible labor-saving
device must be used.
Because Of the lack Of skilled labor,
the inadequacy of repair shops and the
scarcity of metals and other supplies |
many locomotives on the Russian rail- |
ways are out OF repair. The American |
railway engineers have advised an i'm |
mediate extension Of repair shops and
the employment Of foreign mechanics, |
Il necessary. to restore these locomo- |
lives to service Immediately.