The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1921-10-22
BY SANFORD FARRELL.
(Formerly of Topeka State journal, now
New York Globe.)

| formerly of Topeka State Journal, now OF
New York Globe.)
The first national railroad strike was
undertaken last year in England,
which has an area approximatng that
of the state of Illinois. The serious
ness of that strike is we'll known, but
| it did not approach the crisis that is
bound to come if the 100000 organ
lied employees of American railroads
walk out.
There is a radical contrast between
the situation in England and that
which is confronting the American
people now. Tens of thousands of
British army trucks were hastily mus
tered into the service Of the govern
ment to fight the strike. England has
a network of rock roads and supplies
were sent by truck from all parts OF
the country to London, Birmingham,
Manchester, and other great centers of
population And even with this ad-
vantage. the lean wolf Of famine
stalked at every door when the differ
ences finally were adjusted and the
railroad men went back to their jobs.
The meat consumed in New York
comes from Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma,
New Mexico, Colorado, and other cat
tie stare of the west The lamb and
mutton, except that imported from
New Zealand, Australia, and the Ar
gentine, come from the vast sheep re-
gions of Wyoming and Montana. Can
you imagine shipping live sheep and
cattle by truck from the ranches to
the packing houses in Chicago, Kansas
City, and Omaha, and then by truck
or limousine to New York and Bos-
ton? The roads in the United States
have been improved a lot within the
last decade, but even our national
highways are not perfect. and the dis
tances to be overcome are great.
Shipment of Coal.
Next to food, the most important
Without the many thousands of tons
of coal consumed in New York daily,
even in warm weather. the city can
not have light, nor subways, nor fer
ries, nor gas, nor even water. The
supply of coal in bins in New York
is far from ineXhaustible. That was
shown in the coal strike in 1919.
Two million men and women COM
mute into the city every day over the
line of the Lond Island railroad, the
New Haven. the New York Central,
Pennsylvania, Central of New Jersey,
West Shore, Lackawanna and Erie
systems. Others depend on the Staten
Island Rapid Transit company, owned
by the Baltimore & Ohio railroad, and
operated by union men. OF course the
municipality will exert every effort to
maintain its ferry service, the subway,
elevated, and surface lines, bring milk
and other perishable foodstuffs into the
city by boat and truck, keep the water
system alive and do other almost SUI
perhuman tasks without the assistance
of the steam railroads
Co-operated With Roads.
The five great railroad unions, the
Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen,
the Brotherhood of Locomotive Fire
men and Enginemen, the Order of
Railway Conductors, the Brotherhood
of Locomotive Engineers, and the
Switchmens Union of North America,
for years have been regarded as the
the country. They are also among the
strikes in 1919, and again in 1920, the
brotherhoods co-operated with the
railroads in ending the difficulty.
Roads and Traffic.
Traffic on fourteen railroads will be
paralyzed October 80 if the strike is
not averted. The Importance of these
roads must not be underestimated. The
lines, the territories which they serve,
and the kinds of freight to be affected
follow:
Chicago and Northwestern - Operating
north and west from Chicago thru the rich
agricultural states of Illinois, Iowa, Wis
consin, and Minnesota. The connecting line
Texas and Pacific-Operating extensive
~ in Texas and the largest oil carrier in
the world. A comparatively small line
which has made money with the develop
ment of the Texas oil fields.
Kansas City SOuthern-Operating south