Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-12-09
Demands Slowly Breaking
Down the Empires Great
Traffic Lines.
ROADS BEING PATCHED up
BY HERBET COREY.

They keep the reichstag in some sort of
order and tell the kaiser what to say
and when, and try to cover up the days
errors of the current chancellor. Ac-
cording to off-side observers linden
burg is the big name and Ludendorff
the big brain. In any case they work
beautifully as team
When the German railroads went
practically to pieces last year linden
burg and Ludendorff were the ones to
whom the railroaders appealed. 1t is
thanks to their action that the German
armies are still being provisioned on
both fronts, and that the railroads are
again in fair condition. In order to
understand the situation little past
history must be discussed.
The demands made upon the German
roads by the war are greatly in excess
of those made in peace times. Every
effort has been made to keep down rail-
road traffic, but the volume has grown
constantly. Recent figures show that
the passenger traffic alone is so per
cent greater than in peace times. OF
the total fully one-third is permission
aire" travel. Theoretically, one-tenth
OF the German army is on permission
all the time. This involves a tremen-
stated in the report to which I refer.
the inference is that hospital trains
are also classed as passenger travel.
In that case the wonder is that only a
SO per cent increase is reported.
Lines Cover OCCUPIED Territory
In addition to the strain of the war
business. the rolling stock and per-
sonnet of the German roads had to be
stretched to cover the network of lines
in the occupied territory. l have been
III a.
Of cars. engines. ETC.. taken in Belgium.
Poland. Siberia. northern France and
the like. 1t may be taken for certain,
however. that not one of the lines in
the occupied territories was over
equipped prior to the war, and that a
good share of the rolling stock was
saved upon the outbreak Of hostilities.
Train after train poured down from
northern France into the safer parts of
the country, for example, and were
said of Belgium. while the trains were
largely destroyed in Serbia and Poland
Nevertheless the German roads now
report 100000 freight cars and s,e80
engines more than they had in peace
times. This represents the total of new
construction plus captured stock. The
Increase is relatively less than is the
addition in traffic.
The net result of this sudden added
demand is that cars and engines and
L
Of engines have been in service TWEEN
ty-four hours a day for weeks on end
One of the marvels Of the war is that
they stood up under 1t.
Last winter the German roads went
to pieces Hindenburg and Ludendorfr
were called in.
A complete collapse of transportation
was threatened. Ask any railroad man
what would be the result of working a
road and rolling stock without inter-
.rSr HN. - Z
tell you that the equipment would go
to pieces. Precisely that is what hap
pened in Germany. The roadbeds were
hammered to bits, so that the clank-
clank of playing rail ends seemed loud
as the roar of the cars when a train
passed by. Flat wheels became nor
NAL Brakes lost their grip. so the
trains were hard to handle. The en-
gines steamed badly and lost their
pulling power, SO that they could not
handle as large trains as their be-
deviled engineers were ordered to pull.
Passenger Service Impossible.
Passenger trains were never on time
The fast express trains from Berlin to
the frontier averaged four hours late.
Worst of all was the freight service.
Inconveniences to passengers did not
worry headquarters. but shot-to-
pieces freight service meant that the
supplies which are the lifeblood of an
denburg and Ludendorff punished and
issued frantic general orders for a
time. Then they saw what had gone
wrong and acted with characteristic
courage and directness.
Twenty thousand skilled mechanics
were sent back from the front. The
worst of the crazy engines were Sent
to the shops. For four weeks entire
railroads were put out OF commission
or traffic was confined to single
track. AS a consequence of this actor
| the great strategic railroads are nov
! in fair condition again. The minol
roads are getting along as best they
! can.
| This rejuvenation is merely the re.
suit of patchwork. however. The basic
| condition of the German roads ant
rolling stock is worse than ever it ha:
| been.
] the occupied territories not needed fo
| war purposes, have been ruthlessly
| stripped of rolling stock. Rails have
| been torn up on entire roads. In thf:
in some semblance Of good condition
but at the expense of the net railroad
capital of, the empire. When no new
rolling stock and no new rails art
being added. and the equipment nov
| in use is merely patched together from
| trip to trip, it is fairly obvious tina
| the actual condition-what one Nigh
| call the met" condftion-of the Ger
man roads is seriously bad.
Little But War Business.
| The progressive decrease in the fac
tors of speed and safety is accom-
panied by the most rigid repression O.
/ all business which is not purely of {
Z, war nature. 1t has been frequentl,
stated that persons desiring to e,
from one town to another must nov
| get a laisser passer from the polio,
| before they can buy railroad tickets
! I have been unable to confirm this a!
| to the empire as whole.
i It was intended when the condition
of the railroads became actually
| threatening to take some such actor
as that indicated. But on examinati
the military authorities decided thai
the force of officials needed to examine
/ into civilian reasons for going from
one town to another would be too
large. Germany had neither the mer
/ nor the women to spare for it. 81
the same end-that of reducing to 6
1 minimum the passenger traffic-wa.
secured by indirection.
Today there are the fewest train.
I possible. These are immensely Ions
and very slow. There are no dining o.
sleeping cars except upon certain
trains used for military officers. A sur
| tax has been added to the original COS