The star-progress. (Opelousas, La.) 1917-1921, 1921-04-27
9ELOUSAS JOINS
: RIG PROTEST ON
T.P. PROPOSAL
a,l Not Stand Idly By and
VIZ Watch tstc Other Places
Fight Railroad
urARING BEFORE THE
SEESITiTI EMISSION TUESDAY
o..oIlation of Trains By
0Sl1[v romnanv Will Not Be
Easily Secured

n was held before the state
commission yesterday on the
.. ..rasst Of the Texas and Pacific rail-
~ 70 annul some ten or dozen
'" .or trains operating over the
..v,e branch lines in Louis
~ among the number being two
~, - running over the opelousas
s ,a,Ion between Melville and Crow
IA, proposition OF the company
damned some time ago and SC
!. j tbe company is concerned is
s...d On the complaint that it is los
norev nv keeping these trains
..-vice This argument might ap-
4 j the Eunice-Bunkie branch ov-
.Aicb there is a double daily sery-
..nM a much shorter line than the
orslonsss division and between the
Il terminals there is only one place
!, sny consequence, Vile Platte;
~.o,oss on the OpeIousas branch
Ao+s are Rayne, Branch, Church
p,ut and Port Barre, not to say any
Mnr about Opelousas, Crowley anc
uolville Ever since the old Opelou-
4, cnlf and Northeastern was abb
,orbsd by and became part Of the
Tovas and Pacific there has been
,oor service on this important
Arsneh When the road was con-
,neted. in 1905, new passenger
smipment was bought and under the
,ble direction of Superintendent
Flanders and Passenger Agent Jord-
an the territory served by the line
suioyed service as good as any on
,nv other branch line in the state.
But after the big system gobbled
No the "o'gee" then things began to
change. It never was treated with
me same degree of favoritism as was
shown the Eunice branch, for only
one train day wobbled over the road
and back in the afternoon. The good
smiptment was shunted over to the
main line and was never seen here
sgain Little attempt was made to
ssep track and roadbed in shape and
bings became so bad that people
simply quit using the road unless they
had TO- and they avoided the had
to" as much as possible.
The Texas and Pacific has long
boasted of its freight service; and
that it hauled more freight than any
road operating through this part OF
the south. II this be so, then it must
have secured this magnificent freight
patronage from the people
served by it. The branch lines
have fed their contribution of freight
tonnage to the main line, otherwise
the branch lines would never have
been built Therefore, the main line
ewes something to the branches in the
natter Of decent service, and If the
company doesn't recognize that factr
but wishes to hog everything out OF
the country without giving anything
ID return, then it is up to the rail
road commission to give it an awaken
ing Jolt so that it will thoroughly
understand just where it is "at."
We suppose the T. and P. is losing
money in operating the famous bob
tailed limited over the Opelousas
branch; but how could it expect other
wise with the service it offers pat
rons and the further fact that on
this two-car "flying-special" it has an
engineer, fireman, conductor, brake
nan, baggage agent and-shades ol
Jay Gould!-a ticket auditor! These
tmctiOnaries are getting princely sal
aries, from the front end OF the
ancient locomotive to the rear end Of
TIE dilapidated piece of junk that
bears the misnomer of passenger
coach. Three men-an engineer, fire
nan, and conductors all that this
palatial limited requires for opera
ton, for If the conductor ever does
anything but look wise, we have never
seen it, and the Lord knows we know
Fhat the "o'Gee" is when it comes tC
aayel-that is excruciating travel
eanping along over a mud1bed ane
gack Of rotten ties and twisted rails
Then the brakeman spends hi:
spare time-and there is a lot Of tina
sitting on the velvet" cushions ant
&aen the sway-back locomotive toot'
le iong-drawn station whistle h'
nsea slowly and yells, in undisting
lsaable railroad lingo, the high-sound
ag title Of the metropolis just ahead
'nen, when the train draws wearil!
y me platform and emits snort o.
.susL the aforesaid brakeman tender
aus Passengers to alight and he OF
ss'nlng rush to get on. For this awfu
aessical strain he is paid the 1-i1ce
sum Of over two hundred -ollar