Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-02-18
GERMAN RAILWAYS
UNEQUAL TO TASK
Transportation Problem One of
Greatest Empire Now
Is Facing.
CANALS AND RIVERS FROZEN

Press. =
BERN, Switzerland, February II. via
the most serious of
the great problems which toady occupy
the attention of the German leaders is
the food question, of almost equal i'm
portance is the situation presented by
transportation difficulties. Until the.
present winter these difficulties We're
generally as constituting a major prob
lem until the shortage of food became
more acute by reason of lack of rolling
stock. the depreciation of freight cars
and the sudden cold spell which froze
the rivers and canals, hindering or pre-
venting transportation of the most
necessary food to centers of population.
At the beginning of the war Germany
had surplus of railway carriages.
freight cars and locomotives. which had
been provided expressly against emer
gency. In consequence transportation
in the first two years of the war was
adequate for all the unusual demands
made upon il, Notwithstanding the ex-
tension of territory served. The con-
quest of Belgium resulted in the cap
ture of a comparatively large number
of Belgian freight cars, which today
Poland, Lithuania. Austria-Hungary.
Serbia and even Rumania. The factories
in which rolling stock ordinarily Is
produced and repaired. however. are
needed urgently at present for other
purposes Moreover, the shortage OF
oils has made it impossible to keep the
cars in proper condition. Such few
cars as were captured in Russia have
been found unavailable because they
are Of broader gauge. The German sur
m
month, has gradually gone to pieces
| Shortly before the correspondent left
Berlin it was described by an unusual
| ly outspoken German railway official as
| miserable"
Passenger Service Bad
From time to time passenger serv-
ice in all parts of Germany has been
reduced until at the present time the
trains, which at this season are cold
to the freezing point, are terribly
Iovercrowded, frequently late and sell
dom complete even short journeys
\ without at least one hot box. From the
beginning of the war the government
has proceeded on the basis that the
troops must be supplied with all kinds
of necessities at the expense of every
| thing else, and even the magnificent
| German trackage system Is loaded
L
troops, supplies and ammunition. NOT
only is it impossible for civilians be-
| hind the front to travel without difh-
Guilty but food supplies often are 5eo-
pardized.
| The problem has been increased by
the necessity of shifting troops fre-
quently between the western and east
ern fronts to counterfeit offensive
movements of the allies.
| Beginning with last fall the Canals
and rivers had come TO be used more
and more for the transportation OF
| foodstuffs. partly because boats have
longer life than cars Then came the
cold which froze everything but the
portatio.l on the Rhine for a time
| The arrival of spring and warmer
weather will help the situation. but not
greatly. because il will merely make
water transportation again possible.
Thorough repairs for the re-establish-
ment of railroad equipment would be
possible only by cutting down the out
put of ammunition from factories that
| in peace times were carshops. but were
| reorganized for war purposes.
True Also in Austria-Hungary.
| All that applies to Germany is doubly
| true Of Austria and especially of Hun
gary, where the gradually increasing
shortage Of cars and depreciation OF
rolling STOCK IN general are auucu "
the difficulties imposed by the tremen-
| dous stretches that are single tracked:
| for instance, from points only short
distance from Budapest all the way
4 to Pennsylvania. Whereas the Ger
| mans in the early days of the war had
| men and materials to reconstruct hum
dreds of miles of broad gauge tracks in
| Russia, the process of double tracking
| lines of communication to Rumania.
Serbia and Albania is increasingly diff
| ficult.
Austria Hungary, which Is less ready
| than Germany to resort to stringent
measures, refuses for the time being to
| consider a plan proposed by Germany
| for tightening the transportation prob
! lem by preventing prospective travellers
from using trains unnecessarily. lt
was pointed out that the train service
might be reduced still further If travel
were regulated by a card system.
The transportation problem is compll-
Gated by the employment of substitute
workers. chiefly women. who have been
introduced everywhere in Germany and
Austria. not only on railroads. but also'
on street car lines in the cities. Rough
ly, SO per cent of the women thus en-
ployed have been strong enough to en-
dure the strain, but even these women
have been much less efficient than the
men. There are constant complaints
in regard to the service. The number
of railroad accidents, such as derail-
ments. mistakes in switching and col
lisions, has increased to an alarming
extent. Notwithstanding the great re-
duction in train service.