The herald., 1921-01-20
FOURTEEN HOURS OF MISERY
Women and Children Passengers Suffer From
Cold and Hunger. ITO He'll With The Pub
lie" Policy Of The Grand Isle r. r.
Reaching The Point Of federation.
What Our Railroad Commission Doing Rescue The People

The Grand Isle motor car that left
Buras at noon on Friday, arrived in
Algiers Saturday morning at
O'Clock, fourteen hours late after
making it's fifty-nine miles along the
poorest road bed that could be imag-
ined by professional construction
men. The thirty or more passen-
gers, men, women and children, were
compelled to suffer the hardships OF
remaining in car without fire, with
out the comfort of toilet or drinking
water, and without the opportunity
to get something to eat, during the
fourteen hour jaunt from Buras to
Algiers.
Not only were the passengers on
the up-coming motor car greatly in
convenienced in being compelled to
tolerate the indifferences of the
company toward the passengers. but
the down coming passenger train
which left Algiers P. NJ, Friday
afternoon, did not reach it's destina-
ton with it's hunters, fishermen, and
residents along the road until early
the next morning, when it should
have arrived at Buras at 1850 on the
evening previous.
The cause of this delay was, pri-
marily a railroad track, the cross
ties of which were so rotten, so as to
be unable to support the rails, and
the derailment of a lumber car just
nineteen miles out of Algiers.
We acknowledge that all rail-
roads, good, bad and Indifferent,
have wrecks, that cars are derailed
and many other things occur caus-
ing delays to passengers, but most
railroads look first to the comfort
of their passengers and make some
effort getting their passengers to
their destination.
The wreck, or to be more specific,
the two wrecks took place on Friday
morning shortly after the freight
train left Algiers at 1880 and at a
point only nineteen miles from AL
giers. The Grand Isle officials knew
that there were two wrecks on the
road only nineteen miller from town,
and knowing that the wrecks had
not been cleared at 4 o'clock in the
evening, allowed the down-going
passengers to get on the coaches and
proceed to the wreck where they
were kept in waiting from p. m.
Friday, until one o'clock the next
morning. 1t would have been a
simple matter to transfer the pas
sengers from the motor car around
the wreck to one of the coaches OF
the afternoon train, and bring these
passengers and such other passeng-
ers as desired, who were on the down
going train to return to Algiers
where they might be comfortable and
get nights sleep, but instead OF
this, the passengers on both sides
of the wreck waited in the cold, hour
after hour until the car was finally
put on the track and they were al.
lowed to proceed on this wonderful
road.
The Grand Isle should not be
blamed so much for this miserable
condition, 1t is the fault of the pub
lie. If the people will tolerate such
service they are deserving Of the
treatment. We ask IL the Louisiana
Railroad Commission knows any
thing about the conditions and how
passengers are treated on the Grand
Isle Railroad. Where they are op.
Grating a motor car without any con
veniences for women and children or
schedule that would allow pedes
train to compete with it.
The superintendent of the con
struction crew of the Grand Isle
who was at the wreck assured the
passengers of the motor car thai
just as soon as the engine arrived
from the city which would be about
five o'clock he would have the de-
rallied car to move in about twenty
minutes, but this twenty minutes In.
creased to hours, and as the might
came on, the passengers became sc