Connecticut western news., 1917-12-27


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 This has been called a railroad war. Americas preparation for such a war is greater railroad mileage than that of the entire continent of Europe, and railroad army of 1,750,000 employ ees. Already the railroads, mobilized under their War Board at Washing ton, have won some important vic tories.
 Up to November 12 the number of carloads of construction materials and furnishings brought into the National Army cantonments was 79,184. To the same date building supplies used in the Guard camps amounted to 32,- 370 carloads; and 9,649 carloads had been shipped into the Aviation camps.
 A standard box car of 100000 pounds capacity is forty feet and six inches long. If all the cars carrying material for these three classes of camps could be coupled together, the train that would result would extend from Hartford to within few miles of Chicago, III.
 That is a long train. It represents great burden added on to the task accomplished by the railroads in the record-breaking year of 1916. But the carrying of construction materials to the cantonments isa only afsmall part of the total increase 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 to the Atlantic seaboard, from all parts of the country, the men who have gone to France. Up to Novem- Der 19 they had carried total of 100000 soldiers to camps and ports of authorization.
 And after the men have been moved the railroads have to carry supplies to them. Every day 2,500 carloads of food and coal are being hauled to the National Guard and National Army camps alone.
 Up to November 12 total of 17,000 carloads of freight had been handled for the Shipping Board. This figure represents part of the traffic involv- ed by the building of 1,400 new ships. An enormously greater number of cars have rolled down to Atlantic and Gulf ports loaded with supplies and muni tions for ships already built to carry to France and England and Italy.
 All modern military and commcrc.a, activity is based on coal and oil, but especially on coal. No figures reveal more clearly the extent of the in creased effort put forth in the last half year by America generally aud by the railroads in particular than the figures on the coal traffic.
 In the six months from May to Oc- tober, inclusive, there were moved 150,000 more carloads of hard coal than in the same months of 1916, and 751, ,000 more carloads of soft coal. Figuring an average coal car at a length of B feet, the tota! increase for half of 1917 over the correspond ing half of 1916 may he represented by a solid trainload oY coal extendin" from New Haven through New Tor, to New Orleans, to Los Angeles anf on up the coast to Seattle, and then east again to a point in Montana, not many miles from Butte.
 The day is past when it was the good citizens duty to fight the rail- roads. The railroads are doing their best on a tremendous job. The citizen can do part of his bit by helping them , in any small way that he con.