Twin city review. [volume] (Champaign, Ill.) 19??-1929, 1922-09-22
Address by Chas. w. Maier
Special Representative Of President Rrothehcod Of Locomotive
firemen sad nEinemen.


~. iu then direction ISS miles ana So
il gues- some longer. Same shorter
New then. you Say Ne set paid Tor
overtime after eight hours. that's
Vhat sou nave been ted; That Is What
yen tell me fhcN have told iva.
wish i we're So. Nothing WOULD he
better. ] am sares because if we have
overtime after eight hours Ne would
have an 1S4 mile speed base Is
against i2as. and ! viii give you an
example: 4 train crew ia freight
train service on = l99=mile division Is
cur Ter sixteen hours, hos much ever
time docs thai crew receive % You
say, An time after eight hours
sly Ne Emphatically ~. We
never had such law; We never asked
Ger such = laN-the S-houf basic aay
is not thar kind of Law. The law
is 5 hours OF less. lee miles or less.
constitute a days work, hui when 100
miles Is exceeded we 80 en- speed
hase 81 not less than i2ie miles an
hour on an average, and there is a
whole lot of difference between the
two.
Nov then, how much does a train
crew get On l9a-mle division ii out
sixteen hours They gel iaa miles
and minutes overtime. 4eu say they
get overtime after hours That
would make these men get : hours
S. minutes; that viii give ynu some
idea 81 what YOU say eur men receive
and they do not yet IL. And | want "a
say, If there Is railroad man In this
audience and the public still insists
that you get overtime. make Out an
overtime slip aud pass il over % the
enc who says that, and tell him 60
come across and pay il. The company
don't pay Il, there is no such law.
Then he will say, I never understood
it that way OF course you didn't
YOU dent want 70 understand IL that
way. Take the travelling men--95 per
cent Of the commercial men travelling
from town TO town tell the merchants
that the reason why the price of their
goods is high is because Of the high
railroad rates, and the freight rates
are high because the railroad men are
eating up the treasury"
Cost of Living Still Soaring.
listen my friends, living advanced
before wages advanced in the United
States. Before one cry for higher
wages was heard the cost of living
had scared high. You read In the
press every day that the cost of liv-
ing has gone down; ! have not found
ii yet. How has il come down. Since
before arranged 10 attend this
meeting | travelled 10000 miles over
twenty-seven states, and | have been
in 400 Division points in those twenty
seven states, and | have not found one
single place where rent, light, heat,
water, meats, taxes and doctor bills
have come dowp--and those are the
very essential things of life. They
are higher today than they were in
1918, and ! defy successful eontradie.
ton. (Applause.l
The public believes that the COM
pany pays the expenses of the train
service man when he is away from
home; they pay their own expenses.
Ii costs every engineer, every fireman,
every brakeman away from home at
least $3.50 a day TO live unless he
denies himself sufficient food !. 10
strengthen his body and proper
place to sleep. Now then, ] am going
to give you an example.
About six weeks ago, in the central
part of the United States, | went into
place where railroad men--the train
service men, eat. took up the bill
of fare, and il said "Plain steak, doc;
sirloin L bone steak, 20 cents, porter.
house, 1926 No fireman can
buy pofterhouse steak. | ordered al
40 cent plain steak and trimmings
The waitress was gone a little while
and then she came back and placed
the supposed meat (laughter) in front
of me--one- third Of pound of round
steak at the rate of $l.2O a pound
for that's all plain steak is--a cut OIL
the roSnd. | put the folk and knife
into it. | couldn't cut IL. called
the lady over and said 10 her, II
ordered steak, but you have made a
mistake in serving me; this isn't
steak. ii Is leather. Ii makes me
laugh" you are very good natured,
she said. most men swear ! told
her it was like rubber betting. And
she said she would get me sharper
knife to cut il with. You know, any
housewife could buy that round steak
and have it cut about three-quarters
or one inch in thickness and cook il
so that It would be palatable, and at
least tender enough TO be cut with an
ordinary knife, but the train service
man away from home pays 40 cents
for the kind of steak got and with
the trimmings the meal at the lowest
figure will cost him 60 cents and then
he can't eat the steak
Continued Next Week.