The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1919-10-16

ton that the amount of business Of
fering is far in excess Of the trans
portation facilities of the country. This
has always been true in this country
in time of heavy business in the au.
tumn months except last year when the
matter could be and was controlled
with an iron hand with a view solely
to war necessities at the same time rail
road facilities have not expanded to the
extent required in the public interest.
Even prior to the war railroad facil-
tiles were not equal to the demands.
During the war the addition of new
facilities was greatly restricted by the
scarcity Of material and labor Since
the war it has been impossible to en-
ter upon or carry out any extensive
program for enlargement of railroad ca
pacity because of the uncertainty as
to the status of railroads. The railroad
administration was not provided with
money and therefore could not organize
or carry out any such program, the
railroad companies in view Of the un-
certainty were unwilling to provide the
money The result is that the railroad
facilities Of the country are decidedly
below what the traffic demands.
Nevertheless the maximum traffic is
being handled and this is being done
with less shortage of transportation
than manifested itself at times in the
pre-war period. Particular attention is
being paid by the railroad administra-
ton to furnishing necessary equipment
for the transportation OF coal and Of
grain.
1t was decided early in September
that in order to meet the coal require.
ments OF the country ii would be nee
| cssary for the railroads to move min
imum Of 1900 900 tons of btuminous
coal a week for the week ending Sep
/ tembcr 18Th, 1lO46,OOO tons were trans.
ported for the week ended September
20, l1,24SO 900 tons were transported and
| for the week ended September u, the
railroad administration estimated that
approximately ll,575,000 tons were
transported.
Conditions have developed which have
made il necessary to handle the wheat
situation in an emergency way This
situation has been complied by the fact
that many Of the elevators are full and
it has been impractical to move addi
tional wheat to points where the ele
vators are full because to do 50 woulC
cause large number Of railroad cars tC
be filled with grain which could not be
disposed at destination and this would
result in practically taking such cars
out Of the transportation service anC
using them for storage and depriVine
the public generally of ears which ar,
badly needed for business Of every sort
The railroad administration is follow
ing this matter very vigorously in con
sultation with the grain corporation!
and the director general will consider th'
matter personally at u meeting of in
terested railroad officers, representa-
tives Of the grain corporations and 9th
ers to be held at Chicago this week.
AS to the situation in Texas wher,
the wheat conditions are PARTICULAR!
acute because the crop is approximate
ly % million bushels larger than las
year and where there is a scarcity o
local storage facilities, arrangement
are being made through the grain cor
poration for the sending of cargo yes
sells to Galveston and arrangement
have already been made for increasing
the number of permits for carloads o
wheat into Galveston and arrangement
have already been made for increasing
the number of permits for car loads o
wheat into Galveston from SO TO 100 pc
day. Particular efforts are being mad
to move wheat which is on the groun
and is thus exposed to the weather.
$