New Britain herald., 1928-05-16
RAILROAD CHIEFS
 ENTERTAINED HERE
Officials of the Reading Guests
 Of (. Of (. Traffic Bureau

Reading railway day was ob- served by the members of the traf- fic bureau Of the New Britain Chamber Of Commerce yesterday, when officials of the Reading rail- way and Reading Coal and Iron Go. were entertained at dinner at the shuttle Meadow club.
 The visiting railroad men, ac- companied by officials of the New York, New Haven and Hartford railroad arrived in this city Monday evening and were guests Of Presi- dent George T. kimball and officials Of the American Hardware corpora ton at dinner at the Pennington country club.
 At noon yesterday, traffic man. agers. merchants, members of the Chamber of Commerce and others met with the visitors at the club for dinner. The program was opened by NJ. o. Baker of the Trumbull Elec- tric Co.,. who is chairman Of the traffic bureau. Mr. Baker turned the meeting over to W. l.. Atwood. President of the Chamber Of Con- Inerce and president Of the New Britain 1rest Co. A brief welcome was given the visitors by President himbali, of the American Hardware Corp.
 The principal address was fcliy- ured by Vice resident F.. D. Hil- eary Of the Read.ng railroad. AIr. Hilleary spoke Of the impressions he had received upon his first visit 10 New Britain. He said he was thoroughly impressed with the beau ty of the city, the beauty of its parks. the culture. and splendid workmanship of the homes and in- lustrial conditions.
 He said that q person looking over the country from the point of view of 8 railroad man finds the whole situation in q transitional state. We do not have the same conditions to face in dealing with the public, We had 10 years ago." he said.
 He said organized traffic bureaus and other similar organizations have helped theTailroads in improving conditions and making them more satisfactory.
 Problems Confronting Railroads
 Among the new problems now confronting the railroads are Gulf transportation, Panama Canal ship ments and shipping on the North Atlantic Coast, he said. He spoke of the erection of four million dollar grain elevator at the Port Richmond station on the Reading in Philadel- phia. which. he said, was the largest of its kind on the Atlantic coast. He said the company recently construc- ted modern coal dump at the same place which has helped New Eng land shipments considerably. He has stood at this dump and seen 4J battleship carloads of coal dumped into the hold Of an ocean liner in GO minutes.
 The Reading official told his hearers frankly that he was very much opposed to the passing of freight rates on mileage scale, al though certain railroad men and members of the Interstate commerce commission do not agree with him.
 The Reading has 5000 miles of tracks in Eastern Pennsylvania and Southern New Jersey, he informed been a good money maker. due mostly to its freight traffic on lines east of Buffalo and Pittsburg. The reason for this success, he said, was due to the results of long study of freight rates and the effort to give the shippers the best the road has.
 The Reading was born in 1888, as a combination of two old canals. Robert Morris. one of the men who helped finance the Americans dur ing the Revolutionary war was on" of the early incorporators The road now has 79 connections with other railroads.
 Coal Labor Troubles Again
 For years the Reading road when it was known as The Philadelphia and Reading Railway Co.,, and later as the Reading was dependent large ly on anthracite coal shipments, &C., ,ording 70 the vice president. Be cause of the frequency of labor dis ti.rbances in the anthracite regions, efforts were made to free the road from dependency on this commod- fly. until today the Reading depends upon anthracite coal for less than 20 per cent of it's returns.
 He spoke Of the facilities the road has developed for handling coal or both kinds at Philadelphia and at Port Reading. near New York The Reading road does not originate q single pound of bituujuous coal, but II handles two tons of this coal now 10 one ton of anthracite.
 ''The Reading is in as good phy- sical condition, has as good motive power and 3s good rquipmont as any railroad in the United States"