Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-07-26
Ehrtttttg. Glrat

:
| right for the men who man the en-
| gines and the trains on the rail-
roads," said a Pennsylvania depot
hand this morning. himself a bene-
ficiary of the eight-hour law, but
I'm hanged If see where the off,
cials come out on it"
Take that man Markham" he
continued, referring to the Federal
regional director, THE boys on
night turn say he got here after IL
o'clock last evening and to my per-
sonal knowledge he worked for an
hour after that. They say he does
that right tlong. And his orders
! were to have everything in ship
shape so that he could start out
on the job of inspection early this
morning. Seven o'clock was the
word, and seven o'clock it was. That
man believes in running his own of
| fairs on schedule just as he wants
us to get the trains over the road
on time. They tell me eighteen in
stead of eight hours is his program.
don't see now he keeps it up"
Nor is this overstating the case.
Mr. Markham has had one of the
biggest jobs in the country thrust
upon him and he is giving much
time and trouble to solving the many
difficult problems with which he
comes in contact. He has found
ready cooperation on the part of
the railroad men at the division in
tersections, all of whom are work
ing overtime in an effort to break
traffic records and thereby help
Uncle Sam w1D the war.
A man of this type is w. r. Dene-
hey, who has been for many years
chief clerk to the division superin-
tendent of the Pennsylvania railroad
at this point. Mr.. Denehey knows
no eight-hour day. His vast knowl-
edge of the local railroad situation
for there is nobody who knows
more about it than he, at least so
far as the Pennsylvania is concern
ed-stands the Federal authorities
in good stead at this time. Another
of the same type is Ed. D. Hilleary,
divisional freight agent for the Read
ing at this point, who has been
brought up in the railroad business
and is as conversant with freight
conditions and possibilities in this
territory as any man in the service.
He is a hardworker and knows no
regular hours. Day and night are
! all the same with him. Even older
in the service and just as energetic
i is w. R. Rose, division freight agent
Even before the railroads were taken
over by the government the Fed
eral authorities at Washington had
T pressed them into the service of
scanning the Central Pennsylvania
> field for suitable locations for army
depots and they unquestionably saw
| ed the government many errors in
this respect. Another Harrisburger
with a lot on his hands just now is
| Norris S. Longaker district passen-
| ger agent for the Pennsylvania rail-
road, Who has spent much of his
time familiarizing the local ticket
agents throughout his territory with
S the new rulings as to fares and
1 transportation in general. and keep
, ing them from misinterpreting the
: maze of instructions that have come
e out in the past few months. This
g list of devoted and efficient railroad
: employees might be increased by doz-
S ems. Those noted are merely exam
e Piles of the patriotism and devotion
1 to duty of the many. And in con-
sidering this 1t is also well to re-
member that these men have been
working entirely in the dark as 10
their own future. They know not
-, what minute the administration at
J | Washington may decide to overturn
old conditions and transfer them
> to other points or order them into
y other lines of work. 1t is pretty hard
to keep up morale under such cir
) cumstances, but the railroad men
from top to bottom are doing 1t in
splendid fashion.
Speaking of railroad changes, E.
!, Clarke Cowden, who is official audi
tor and inspector for the owners of
5, the Northern Central railroad lines
held in lease by the Pennsylvania
| he ~ n
| from an inspection of the lines be-
| tween Williamsport and Harrisburg.
In the yards at Millersburg he saw
for the first time in his, life Amer
ican-born women working as track
hands with pick and shovel-and
earning from $50 to $62 month for
work that men used to perform for
$40 to $45. Several of the young
| women, he was told, are high school
graduates, attracted by the high
wages And they stick to their hard
Jobs, too. Blisters and tired backs
mean nothing to them. Only two of
them have quit since the first was
hired. Next week, the supervisor
says, he intends to put a gang of
them, assisted by experienced men,
to work laying ties. All along the
lines women may be seen at crossings
serving as watchmen and others are
: working at stations and as engine
cleaners in the shops, but few in
this vicinity have tried work on the
r tracks, which is the hardest form of
= service on the railroads.
:, |
= That the Red Cross does active
work in other lines than the COM
forting of the suffering soldiers,
: was demonstrated last night when
: a company of soldiers came into the
Q Public Library headquarters of the
: organization and asked for some
rags. Here's my handkerchief"
said a woman, giving a soldier her
dainty piece of silk. mo, lady, we
want rags!" said the warrior. I'VE
are in charge of fifty army trucks
and they must be cleaned. Harris
burg is the final inspection point be-
fore we reach our destination.
Your handkerchief won't help very
much" Canteen workers and mem-
, bers of the Motor Messenger Ser
vice scurried through the city, corr
/: Wandering rags, and, then some
more rags until finally the soldiers
| were satisfied