The Washington times., 1922-08-15
RAIL TRAFFIC
IN CHAOS, SAYS
UNION LEADER
Declares Ten Years Will Be Re-
quired to .Straighten
Out Tangle.
BY A. CLOYD GILL.

BY A. CLOYD GILL.
Painting q picture Of deplorable
conditions In railroad yards and
shops where the strike has been
most effective, railroad men who
are here attending conferences
predict that ten years will be ne
quired to completely bring order
out Of chaos.
Food Il Spoiled.
Here are some OF the striking eM
amples Of what the rail strike has
done to the country:
Thousands OF pounds Of meat. in
cars stranded because there are no
locomotives to move them. are being
buried by railroad section hands In
centers where the people are on the
verge OF famine.
In some sections householders un'
able to get provisions at the gro
ceries, are forced to take a market
basket and go a long distance away
on passenger trairs to get food.
Food and merchandise Is being
dumped on loading platforms and
into warehouses without regard fo-
order, and merchants are forced to
pick over the lot and do the best
they can to dig out goods they need
for their stores.
Hundreds OF cars of foodstuffs are
being hauled up and down certain
railroads and spoiling, because there
are no clerks to unload II and no
clerks to properly prepare way bills.
One train Of cars on an important
line carried no way bills at all and
m n
three times In one day.
The railroads are paying out NIL.
lions of dollars daily in claims for
goods lost or spoiled in transit. Some
Of these claims are being paid right
on the spot" SO as to prevent q bad
situation growing worse.
c. q O. Hard Hit.
The Chesa peake and Ohio railroad.
the country's biggest coal carrying
road. Is one Of the hardest hit,
according to II. J. Osborn. general
chairman of the Brotherhood of
Railway Clerks on that system.
Osborn, who came to Washington
for a conference with high union
officials. has just completed a tour
Of that system.
Because OF the inability OF the rail.
roads to operate freight trains,
Osborn reported, not more than so
per cent of the members Of the Big
Four brotherhoods are at work and
within another week, not more than
25 per cent Of them will have trains
to make runs or.
One conductor reported that his
name was on the call board for a
week and he Is still No. 3 on the list.
There are locomotives on the
Chesapeake and Ohio system at the
present time, II is stated, that have
been patched with hay wire, but are
almost incapable Of making a run.
One Of these engines last week stall.
ed on a hill while attempting to pull
q passenger train. A second passen.
ger train which hove in from the
rear had to put II UP the incline.
A novel strike was pulled last
week At Russell, KY. One hundred
strtkebreakers staged their own
strike. They lived In luxury for
two weeks believing that the rail
road was paying the bill. On pay
day they not only~received no pay,
but some Of them were in debt to
the railroad. They struck for a re.
fund and also demanded overtime
for Sunday work.
Engineers on the Chesa peake and
Ohio usual follow the pool system
in distributing runs. One engineer
reports that his pool usually meant
$218 per month for him. Since July
20. the engineers in the pool have
been able to make only three days
work.
Rolling Stock Unsafe.
Unioh leaders coming mere from
all parts OF the country declare
that the trainmen and engineers
are tusging at the leash and are
eager to Join the striking forces
Of shopmen and clerks. The rolling
stock. they say, IL unsafe and they
assert they are in jeopardy every
time they 60 out on a run.
Hundreds OF thousands of dollars
daily are being paid out by the rail.
roads for rent Of cars they are
unable to move off their lines back
to the townins line. At one sniall
station on the Chesapeake and Ohio
the company 10 paying S176 a day
on cars that cannot be moved be-
cause Of lack Of motive power.
Packing house people, it Is stated.
hTS HtahAHB tuch OWH uchNctlcu
from the cars. They send their
men to the yards where they pick
out their cars and handle the dis
tribution. This Is done In normal
times by the railroad clerks.
In some railroad offices where
green men are now employed, cases
are cited where from five to seven
men are rquird to handle a small
job that in normal times Is done
by single experienced clerk.
Non.union coal mines continue to
have great difficulty in operating,
due to car shortage. In the big
Logan fields, some OF the mines have
worked two days in the past two
weeks, while others have been forced
to close down.
Coal Trains Halted.
In the Cabin Creek district q string
OF 162 cars originally intended for
the Cincinnati division is loaded with
coal but cannot be moved. There are
no clerks to prepare way bills and no
engines to move them.
The big railroad yards at Russell
KY, the largest In the world devoted
to one system, In virtually closed