The star-progress. (Opelousas, La.) 1917-1921, 1921-05-18
rllNFESSES HIGH
RATE CAUSES ITS
BUSINESS SLACK
pdenborn Road Asks Per
nTois mission to Annul Trains
Recause Of Increase
OropLE DON'T SHIP
NOR BUY TICKETS
poad Losing Money in OPP
NVsg Grating Number Of It's
Passenger Trains

The panacea of higher rates iOr
.ro,gbt and passengers has not
cure.all in the case OF the
,.,.ra Railway and Navigation
,.nv (Hdenborn line). and the
oorfasses as much in its appil-
- a. the state railroad commits
=, ,or authorization to cancel num-
- - u passenger trains operating oV-
] ,,s main line between New Or
,osrs and Shreveport
The Edenborn system would cancer
- ,ocal running between New Or
,a.rs and Angola and misleading Oh
- -.,nU through train between ter
.,.o,. during the night operate II
s.,-,nv the day and let it do all the
,oooI work at all stations. 1t would
40 cancel locals running between
S,..,os and Alexandria and perhaps
totwoen Alexandria and Shreveport.
: tact II the commission so autnor-
,zes. there would be only one tram
daiIy each way over the man lne
s.or, New orleaens to Shreveport
a,.tanee Of considerably over three
hundred miles.
IA al this is due to higher rates
80 company says so; and incidentally
s..sosses that the slack business IS
due to the fact that people refrain
t.or travelling or shipping unless aO-
.,,.olv compelled to do so through
.ooossitv The road has been losing
money according to its officials LOT
.ome time. A year ago, when Iiilns
i,s annual report with the state COM
rission It confessed to having lost
morav in operation OF trains, not
v,thstanding the fact that the Twelve
non4hs renorted on were the most
n,o,rerons known to all lines OF busi-
ness The road runs, as 1t states III
- literature, right through the heart
- Louisiana" following the valleys
:, ,bo Red River and the Mississippi
t,ou terminal to terminal. The coua-
NV Is thickly populated and the sou
from an agricultural viewpoint a.
rich as can be found on the American
continent The cities and towns serV'
cd such as Alexandria and Baeon
Rouge. are rapidly growing cities ana
4hora are numerous smaller places o.
considerable consequence. Oil fields
osl refineries, pine and cypress sa"
mills. sugar, cotton and rice farms
and in fact every branch OF agrlcui
.rre and industry known to the sOate
arc located on the road. Freight ton
mage ought to be heavy at all seasons
uassenker travel should be brisk. bu'
inst the reverse is the case, II we are
n belieye the swan song OF the ral
eompany's officials, and unless tne'
get relief, they insinuate, the roao l.
liable to blow up.
1t was predicted when the nlshei
rates we're fixed by the autocrats :
Washington, the interstate commerce
commission. that instead Of 0ringlns
prosperity of the railroad lines :
would bring disaster in its wake an'
this prediction seems to be about Z
be realized. Instead of sttmuiatlns
trade it has acted just the reverS'
and the rail systems are threatene'
with ruin unless rates are lowered {
nre-war levels in the general schem'
Of getting everything back to norni"i
cy.
The Edenborn line was built ana
solely owned by Williams EdenDor
multimillionaire Louisianian, an
would prove a valuable properly
conditions along tn cline were sue
that its business would be on un
same plane as it was before the grea
war.