The evening herald. (Klamath Falls, Or.) 1906-1942, 1919-02-10

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10. 1919
THE SOUTHERN PACIFIC


ath Falls must turn its attention to
the Southern Pacific Company, the
service it is giving this territory. the
rates it is charging and the robbery
IL has practiced ever since its en-
trance into this city. and its apparent
determination to continue practices
that have had throttle hold upon
the development of the vast resources
of this great Inland Empire. The
time was when The Herald advocat-
ed policy of tolerance toward TINS
railroad company. for it recosnlLeu
the fact that in the beginning /: was
necessary for it to place its charges
, ,,,tIe higher than would ordinar l.
be the cas- pending the development
os ,u,lustri.s that would create sui
fcient business to pay fair re'uFh
., tho investment that had been
made This necessity no longer eE-
lists We are told that the business
of klamath Falls is the largest in the
state of Oregon, outside of the city
of Portland. and if the same figures
for the past years could be secured, 1t
would undoubtedly be found that
similar showing has been made for
several years. But whether 1t mas
or NOT the fact now remains tnat
klamath Falls is today the second
commercial city of the state OF ore-
aon. and as such it is going to de-
mapd from the Southern Pacihc coih-
Many and its officials that considera-
tion its importance deserves.
The first demand this city is going
to make is the reduction of the pas
senger rate from four to three cents
mile. For nearly ten years the
Southern Pacific company has been
robbing the travelling public out OF
S5 cents on every ticket sold between
this city and Weed, on the pretense
that this line is still under construc-
,ion This excuse may have nad
some foundation for the first year OF
two. but everyone knows that 1t mas
been downright fraud for the past
eight years. This thievery has filched
from the pockets of the travelling
public over 81 600 900, or nearly half
of the original cost of construction Of
this piece of line
And what sort Of service does this
company furnish? 1t is a disgrace
It is but little better than that which
we used to get on the old POkagama
line, when the people rode in box
ear, with a lantern for light. Night
after night we have the spectacle OF
seeing the conductor collect his tick
cts by the use of lantern, while the
passengers sit III the gloom OF
lightless car. No attempt has been
made by the officials to correct this
abuse, though II has been the rule for
many months. We have a schedule
that it but little better than that for
the freight trains-one that calls for
four hours between this city and
Weed! This on branch that is the
best revenue producer of any eighty
five miles of railroad in the West.
One passenger train a day is allotted
to this city, necessitating long waits
at Weed for travellers to and from the
south. where the accommodations are
so inadequate and disgraceful as to
compel the patrons to seek comfort
and conveniences in the hotels of the
town:
What has been said of the passen-
ger charges and service is also true
of the freight, Charge all the traffic
will bear has been the relentless die
tum of the powers that be, and how
effectively they have enforced that
doctrine is evidenced by the fact that
the charge from Sacramento and San
Francisco to Doris for some classes
of freight is little more than half of
what II Is to klamath Falls. And
yet we furnish greater revenue to
this company than any other city in
the state outside OF Portland.
AS to the division officials, they
are about as efficient and considerate
as the service and charges. The SUI
perintendent is little better than a
manikin, who would, from
the manner in which he supervises