Evening star., 1918-01-15
FREIGHT T|E-UP| IS
h AT WORST STAGE
Hundreds of Cars Loaded
, With Government Sup
E plies Held Up.
FUEL FOR D. C. DELAYED

Worse conditions than have yet pre-
vailed. including an unprecedented
traffic congestion. the tying up of hun
dreds of cars of coal and government
supplies and freight r $ in railroad
yards. were reported by Charles
c. McChord, interstate ,mmerce COM
missioner. to Director General McAdoo.
Some of the high lights of this report
are the following:
Fifty locomotives out of service
awaiting repairs on the Philadelphia,
New York. Schuylkill and Maryland di-
visions of the Pennsylvania railroad.
where there were forty-two trains in
one day ready to move with no loco
motive available.
Government Supplies Held Up.
Sixteen carloads of automobiles for
the United States government being
held in the Philadelphia yard, and 120
more at Glen Lock and Shocks. held
there more than sixty lays in the
traffic jam.
Supplies for the United States gov
ernment filling 40 cars held for an
average of sixteen days in Philadel-
phia.
There are 1.647 cars loaded with va
rious materials consigned to the Amer
lean International Shipbuilding Cor
poration on the lines of the Philadel-
phia and Reading and the Fennsylva
MIA railways. being held. the report
states. because of the failure of the
corporation to receive and unload
promptly.
Considering Charges Against Firms.
Though no official statement has been
made on the subject, it is understood
that the director general of railways
is considering charges against firms
holding government contracts which
leave consignmentS on cars for weeks,
and even months, and then charge up
the demurrage to the government on a
cost plus basis. Supervising officials
of the various departments which let
contracts are on the lookout for such
cases, and 1t is likely that hence
forth no such demurrage bills will be
paid. and that further steps may be
taken to penalize contractors for gov
ernment work who do not receive con-
signments promptly.
reports from nearly every point,
dated from January 9 to II, show a
pillng up of loaded cars in yards. other
trains being held out because of lack
OF room or place for unloading, short
age OF both road and switching engines
and hundreds of cars with materials
that both the government and domestic
consumers are clamoring for, held up
Tor weeks by the tremendous conges-
ton The blizzard in the west has
little bearing on most of the reports
from the eastern points. it was stated.
Many Cars and Engines Out of Order
Cars as well as locomotives are out
OF order. There are 1910 of such cars
At the Conway yard at Pittsburgh, and
the inspector at that point reported,
y, 100 of the bad-order cars are on the
tracks that could be used to good ad-
vantage at the present time if the
pad-order cars could be disposed of"
AT Altoona twenty-eight crews had
been ON duty so long on January 10 1
that 1t was necessary to relieve them
70 avoid fnfraction of the sixteen-hour
law; thus leaving the roads without
services OF men to move trains east
Much Coal Caught in Congestion.
Tied up near Philadelphia are 14s
phia firm: and on the Pennsylyania
lines in the Keystone state are four
cars of hard coal for Washington. At
Pottstown. Pa. there are 296 cars for
the Eastern Steel Company. contents of
which are ore and fiuxing stone. which
have been accumulating since Noyem-
Der 26. 1917, and are being released
SLOWLY because the contents are frozen.
At the Baltimore and Ohio yards in
Pittsburgh there are 1.504 cars a total
of 700 more than the working capacity
Of the yard On January 10 there We're
1.O29 cars in the Baltimore and Ohio
yard at Philadelphia. of which eighty
three held anthracite coal for WASH
ington.
Similar reports are made from the
Philadelphia and Reading the Erie, the
Chesapeake and Ohio and other roads.