White Pine news weekly mining review. [volume] (East Ely, Nev.) 1910-1920, 1919-08-24
Opinion and Order.

Opinion and Order.
Public Service Commission OF Ne
yada. Complainant. rs. Nevada North
ern Railway Company, Respondent.
On August tenth. the Nevada
Northern Railway discontinued its
dailf mixed freight. passenger. mail
and express train service between Ely
and Shafter. where interchange of
inter-line traffic to and from all Ne
vada points is made with the West
ern Pacific Railway and also between
Ely and cobre where similar connee-
ton and interchange is made with
the Southern Pacific company, the
distance from Ely to Shafter is ap
proximately one hundred and twenty
miles and to cobre the distance is one
hundred and forty miles. IL lieu of
said daily service. a tri-weekly train
schedule was established between the
aforesaid points. Complaint having
reached the Commission, the General
Manager of the Railway was notified
that this reduction in train service
was made without notice to and ap-
/ proyal of the Commission. and the ae-
ton was therefore in violation of the
Public Service Commission law.
which provides that twenty days no.
tice must be given and authority Sc
cured before a reduction or suspen-
j sion of service can be lawfully made.
In reply. the General Manager ex-
planned that the action vas taken be-
cause the railroad shopmen were on
strike and that the company mad
| reached the point where il could not
continue train operations exceeding
a tri-weekly schedule. and that it was
doubtful if even three trains per
week could be maintained unless re-
lief was secured through the return
Of enough snopmen 10 assist the Mas
ter Mechanic to keep engines MAIN
tanned and ready for service from
Eiy.
Further, the manager pleaded TIT
said violation of the Law in this par
ticular instance be overlooked.
Under the circumstances surround
ing the imperative necessity for the
maintenance of an Indispensable
transportation service upon which
the public of the Ely district lie de-
pendent for its freight, passenger.
mai, and express traffic. which the
railway is chartered to render. the
Commission does not understand that
it can lightly pass W. such an in
fraction of the law.
AS a hearing upon railroad and au-
tomobile transportation matters was
set to take place at Ely August thir-
teenth, the Commission proceeded
upon its own motion to investigate
the violation in question.
Representatives of the public. the
Railway and the employees, the pre-
interested parties to the controversy.
were brought in and full investiga-
tion of all matters in connection with
the suspension of service was made
! by the Commission. At the opening
of the hearing. the railroad posted
notices in Ely station that effective
Sunday, August II, all train service
would be discontinued until shopmen
could be secured for necessary main
tenance and terminal service to en-
gines and cars. ct cetera.
There was, therefore, at that time
presented for consideration, not only
aforesaid reduced train service. but
also the complete suspension of all
railroad service, without authority
from the Commission. upon legal
notice as provided by law.
4 committee of ten representative
citizens. led by Acting Governor N.
II. Chaplin, appeared at the hearing
on behalf of the public. and made
the following showing:
That the Citizens Committee had
unsuccessfully exhausted every rea-
sonable effort to bring about an I'M
derstanding between the railroad and
the employees by which train service
could be maintained. That the sitna-
tion was critical because the food
supply at Ely would be exhausted
within a week or ten days: that the
gasoline supply upon which thirty
five or forty automobile tourists
passing through Ely daily. are de-
a for c0nfinuad nro1roaa