Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-06-22
"Verboten'' Signs Removed by German
Railroads Aiding Spirit of Workers

BERL1N.-A comparison OF railroad
ing in Germany with American condi-
tions has been prepared by Charles
Laying, transportation editor of the
Railway Age, who is here on tour Of
inspection as the guest of the German
Railway Co. MIR. Laying has been over
q considerable number Of lines. He
writes:
THE 'verboten' signs are being re-
moved as rapidly as possible from all
trains. Some are still there, but the
'verboten' spirit is no longer in evil
dence among the employees. The rail-
ways devote a great deal of thought
and attention to the efficiency and
morale Of these employees. Not only is
each applicant given psyche technical
examination before entering the serv-
ice, but the railways have provided
schools, offlcered by practical railway
men, where prospective employees are
given enthusiastically thorough
training before being put to work.
Their pay, from the lowliest work.
men to the superintendents, averages
from one-fourth to one-f1fth of that
earned in similar capacities in the
United States, but the responsibility Of
the individual Is lighter in every case
tendent seldom exceeds Sc miles, as
compared with from ITO miles in the
East and as high as 900 miles on our
Western roads.
once one becomes accustomed to
eating what Is set before one, and to
the rather dismaying military precision
with which the meal is served, the din
ing cars are attractive enough and the
food good. Prices average 80 TO 40 per
cent less, but, OF course, ours serve .
much wider range of food.
the vast difference In equipment on
different trains is most noticeable, there
being about as much difference between
frst-class compartments on different
trains as there is between first and
third on the same train. In the Rhine
gold Express, for the first time on the
continent. they have adopted the Amer
lean idea of club cars, and have sue
ceeded in making the train about as
comfortable-more than that, luxuri-
ouS-aS anything we have.
Our own timetables are complicated
enough, Heaven knows, but the German
ones, as result of the network of lines
with functions every few miles, require
a slide rule and q knowledge of calculus.
Prof. Einstein probably got that way
travelling about In Germany. However,
If one retains ones reason after the
timetable session, the surprising fact
comes forth that unusually close con-
nections are made at all junction
points. 1t takes time and consultation
with eight conductors, but you do not
have to go 100 miles out of your way.
nor cool your heels at some forsaken
junction. This applies not only to the
main lines but to the branches as we'll
In going to Rothenburg we had to
change trains four times in about 80
miles, but at each junction the con-
Meeting train was waiting when we got
there and pulled out shortly afterward
The Germans have not yet solved
all their freight operation problems, but
they inherited mess after the war
that made the Augean stables a house
maids chore by comparison. The prin-
cipal delay to freight cars in Germany,
as everywhere else in the world, takes
place in the terminals. They realize
this and with what money is available
they are tackling the terminals.
AT Hamm, the east end of the Ruhr,
and at Dinsburg, the west end Of the