A Cheer for the Railroads!
By 0. O. M INTYRE.
A 8 a younfster I associated rail
road trains with those glass
revolvers filled with colored
candles that you bought from train
butchers. And. incidentally, what has
become of the train butcher?
I remember one who la no doubt
now prominent In Wall Street. I was
at the brash age of pegtop tronsers
and mountainous toed shoes with the
big brass eyelets. Hot dog!
He sidled up to me, looked about
suspiciously and told of a “naughty
Paris book" he would sell me for 50
cents. ''It was ifi a afaled envelope
and I must not open It until I left
the train undet penalty of arrest.
I swallowed hook, line and sinker,
passed over the Hlilf dollar, tucked
the envelope under my vest and Sev
eral hours later In the dim gloom of
the barn opened it up to find a free
railroad time table. '
But those were the pirating days of
a “Public Be Damned" policy. We all
lather hated the railroads. They
killed our cows and the conductors
were surly.
As a newspader fledgling I used to
write scathing editorials about rail
roads that no one ever read and when
vacation time came got a free rail
l-ond pass from the business manager
to go almost anywhere I pleased.
Any man who could cheat a ♦all
road in those days was looked upon
with admiration. Your friends laugh
ed and applauded. It was the smart
thing to do. And I believe there was
a reason. Railroads were cold, blood
less corporations. They lacked the
humanizing touch that every business
needs, no matter how big It Is.
But lately a great change has come
over the railroads—a change that Is
so marked that gravel is becoming a
pleasure Instep of an ordeal. It Is
not so much that we have express
trains eating up space In a night that
formerly took days. It Is not so much
the vast Improvement Jn railroad
equipment. \
It Is Indeed something I would call
the human touch. Railroads have
emerged from the chrysaMs of aloof
ness and are realizing that the public
Js not to be damned but petted. It
Is a hopeful sign.
I am actuated In these statements
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■Hpj Comhusker in
Washington
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By JACK LEE.
Joe Rvons, of Lincoln, who arrived
In the city eeveral weeks ago, is now
wearing the natty uniform of the
Capitol Police, and Is on duty at the
Capitol. Joe 1* taking a law course at
one of the local law schools.
Francis P. Matthews ef the law
firm of Fraden
burg A Matthews,
Jack Im.
snd Mrs. Mat
thews were visi
tors' at Congress
man Bears' office
last week. Mr. and
Mrs. Matthews
were returning
from New York
where Mr. Mat
thews attended a
meeting of the
supreme council
of the Knights of
C 9 1 u m b u s, of
which ha la a member.
Dr. Paul Vail, dentist of Fremont,
was in the city last week taking ex
amination* held for candidate# for
commissions in the naval dental
corps.
Maj. Martin C. Shallenberger,
stationed at Fort McPherson, Ga... and
son of Congressman and Mr*. Shall
enberger. ha* received the order of
the white eagle from the Serbian gov
ernment. This Is In recognition of
services performed while Major Shall
enberger was United States military
attache In Belgrade.
Congressman A. C. Shallenberger
Is recovering from a long jllness and
has returned to his home after sever
al weeks In the hospital. While un
able to go about his regular duties he
Is recuperating rapidly. The congress
man was taken 111 while attending
the International Stock Show In Chi
cago In December and upon his ar
rival In Washington was In such a
serious condition that he was ordered
to the hospital.
Miss B. Henderson, secretary of the
Nebraska society, composed Ne
braskans In Washington, and Identi
fied with the bureau of agricultural
economics, has just returned ^from
several weeks lrr Michigan where ehe
has been conducting a land economics
survey.
Members of ths Nebraska society
are planning a reception in honor of
Governor Adam McMullen during the
Inaugural festivities In March. Moat
♦f the governors attend the Inaugural
ceremonies and Governor McMullen
will receive an Invitation to meet"Wlth
the society If he attends.
J. R. McCarl, formerly of McCook.
Neb., and now comptroller general, Is
on of the most discussed men of the
national capital. McCarl came to
Washington several years ago aa sec
retary to Senator Norrle when Norris
was a member of the house. Two or
three years ago the office of comp
troller general waa established and
M<-Carl was named to the place. His
chief duties are <o give the "once
over" to all vouchers on the United
States treasury.
Nebraska corn will be grown all
ever the United States this year aa
one of the large ears setit to Con
gressman Sears hy Wayland Magee
of Summer Hill farm, near Benning
ton. has been almost denuded of Its
golden grains. Persons passing the
door of Judge Sears' offlee stop, look
to see If anybody Is watching and If
not snip off a few grains and put
them In their pockets.
Frank Woodland, was a Washington
Visitor last week and called at Sena
tor Howell’s office.
N. IC. Loomis, chief of the Union
Pacific law department and D. H
Ouyer, were ill Washington last
week, appearing In a case bMore the
United Stale* supreme court. While
In the office of Congressmen Hears,
Loomis m*t Gen. W. H. Sear* wllh
whom Loomis had hcen acquainted
when a yourg man at lAWerem-e,
Lew. \t that lime, ih* general's hul
vc/* a Lilii'.ant ted, nu>v H la whits.
t
by sortie rather personal experience*
lately. I am in no wise indebted to
railroad*. I paid my full fare jusf
as other passengers, but I did not
find myself begrudging the expendl
ture.
I was In Houston. Tex., and was
called suddenly to New York. It
was during the after the holiday rush
and all trains were loaded. M was
quite important, to me at least, fflht
I leave town the same day. I ex
plained my dilemma to Robert A.
Watson, city ticket agent of the In
ternational-Great Northern.
He wired I,. W. Baldwin, president
of the Missouri Pacific, and an hour
later they arranged to add an extra
car to the train, which, of ^ourse,
could be easily filled, I do not flatter
myself I was Important enough for
the attachment of an extra car. The
railroad ha'd merely met an individual
need with prompt serviee.
I do not believe they would have
done such a thing In the old days
save for the president of the road.
The train to St. Iatuls la called the
"Sunshine Special"—a happy name,
for indeed it waa a sunny, pleasant
trip.
Fear-Inspiring Conductors.
I used to be afraid of conductors.
I always had the feeling they would
find something wrong with my ticket,
pull the emergency brake and leave
me flat In some cornfleld.
The conductor on this train was
V. Webb, who lias been railroading
for 42 years, I talked to him about
the old days. Hn smiled and seemed
to understand. He admitted he even
felt different toward the public. "We
aim to please now more than any time
In the history of railroading,” he
said.
I had wired to W. W. Richardson,
an official of the Pennsylvania In St.
Louis, that I was In urgent need of
accommodations for a train over his
road called "The New Yorker," which
made almost direct connections with
What tha train butcher really eold me waa a railroad time table.
the "Sunshine Specie!.” At Pales
tine, Tex., came a telegram from
him saying* he was making every ef
fort. At Poplar Bluff, Mo., the train
master of the Missouri division came
aboard and informed me suitable ac
commodations had been made.
When I arrived in St. I>ouis, F. A.
Baurhens, the general passenger
agent, along with A.-^T). Bell, assist
ant passenger manager of the M. P-,
and J. F. Hart, district passenger
representative of the Pennsylvania,
met me to see what they could do to
assist. I felt very much like a prlma
donna on her first night at the Metro
politan.
I am mentioning all these officials
by name because they contributed
what the railroads of America have
long needed—service. What they did
for me they would do for any other
passenger facing the same dilemma,
I am sure,
I have found only one department
of railroad passenger -service not
keeping pace with the rest. That Is In
dining car service. There is need for
We're reapin' a great deal these
days about people who climbed from
nothin' t’ greatness, -mostly great
writers an’ great money makers, peo
ple who had th’ stuff In ’em t’ forge
ahead an’ beat down all obstacles In
ther pathway t' success. We reckon
that women traveling alone should be
Improvement there. It seems to me
served first and this Is especially
true of old ladies.
Going south I saw one timid, white
haired lady on probably her first
railroad journey, stand while several
men ahead of her were seated In the
diner. If the men were so ungallant
the steward should have taught them
a little lesson In courtesy.
Another tip to the dining ear de
partment—hot consomme should be
steaming hot and not lukewarm. And
If lumberjacks can make good rich
brown coffaa over & log flra, It can
be made In a diner kitchen.
There la one great mlsconcjptlon
about railroad travel. We hear much
of the “Pullman car story"—the
phrase means that It Is quite risque
and racy. I have knocked ahout in
every state in the union on Pullman
cars and I have yet to h»sr a story In
a Pullman car that rould not he told
at the family dinner table before
grandma and Aunt Het.
As a matter of fact men In a Pull
man smoker are on their dignity.
They want to impress their fellow
traveler. They talk of their wives,
their homes, their children and their
garden. Indeed, I saw two on a re
cent trip reading the Bible.
This concludes the sermon today on
railroads—and if it seems to be a
blurb for them X think they deserve
It. After all, we have l>een berating
them for a good many years and per
haps they would like a few kind
words. Most of us do.
(('npyrlfht, IKS >
ther's no comunlty In this country
that can’t boast o’ two or more suc
cessful men an' women that emerged
from nothin'. Faulkner Sap Is a sam
ple o' what ample Intestines ’ll do
fer a feller. In th’ first place his
parents named him fer an uncle that
didn't have a cent. He wauz an ugly.
freckled child an' shunned at school.
A barnyard odor hung about him till
he reached hts teens, an' he breathed
entirely through his mouth till he
was 18. wheh his nose cleared ujf.
His pink, habit-formin' years wui
spent In milkin' an’ plowin'. At 19
he accepted a livery stable Job. but
wux soon thrown out o' employment"
by the advent o' pop lar priced autos.
He devoted th’ follerin’ five years t'
colorin' a meerschaum pipe. Then fol
lered a correspondence course In vui
canixfln,’ but he never practiced. His
friends urged him t’ take up th'
saxophone, but he rebelled feelin’ that
somethin’ higher an' better watted be
yond. Hard as he struggled he
eouldn' git no publicity, except when
he wux hit by a train, or held fer
vagrancy. Filled with th’ enthusiasm
o’ youth an’ sorely In need o’ clothes
an' shoes he accepted a position In
a brick yard. Fer a while It wux
feared he would not work th' week
out, but lie rallied an' stayed two
weeks. His unfalterln’ belief In a
Just,world never deserted him. He
somehow knew that tryln' meant suc
ceedin’, an he never flickered. Th'
fact that his ole friends were clean
in’ up on th’ saxophone never turned
Ms head. Faulkner Sap wux playin'
a waitin’ game. In his travels he’d
picked up a solution that made his
hair stay put, an’ his freckles had
almost entirely faded out. He could
also close his mouth. These Improve
ments, he felt, were meant t’ help
him, an' he reflected that they wuz
th' only boosts he’d ever had. One
mornln' in Ottumwa, Iowa, after
washln’ up in th‘ depot, he started
out t' look th' field o' opportunity
over. In passin’ a restnrlnt a card
bearin', ‘'Counter Man Wanted,"
caught his eye. He applied fer th’
place an' got It. He had not held
th’ position long until need of a pie
compass dawned on him. We don’t
know whether or not any of our read
ers ever noticed th' name "Sap" on
a pie compass or not. but it ■ there.
To Faulkner Sap, now rich beyond
his fondest dreams, belongs th' dis
tinction of inventin' th' first an’ only
pie compass, a little instrument which
makes it possible t' cut a standardized
pie in six pieces, without any single
piece varyin**-from th’ others one
thousandth of an inch.
Jersey cows and sleeping porches
have cured more tuberculosis than
has man made medicine._
133 Cars in One Train.
Fall* City. J«n- »'* freight
train on thla division of th* Missouri
Pacific Thursday comprised 135 cats,
the longest train ever handled on thUl
division, and as far as known, a Tec- (
ord breaker for the state on the S0K*-''
from Atchison to Kansas City. The
total weight of the train was ■*...«<>
tons and the total length with engine
and caboose was 5,940 feet._
MOTHER! Fletcher’s Castoria is a pleasant, harmless sub
stitute for Castor Oil, Paregoric, Teething Drops anti Soothing
Syrups, prepared for Infants in arms and Children all ages.
It has been in use for more than 30 years to safely relieve
Constipation Wind Colic To Sweeten Stomach
Flatulence Diarrhea Regulate Ho vela
Aids in the assimilation of Food,promoting Cheerfulness,Rest and
Natural Sleep'without Opiates ^ ,--—
Tn avoid imitation! always look fm the signature of 1*
|*itiyrn dnn tiiiiiN mi r,.. li nm'kayr. J’liyiitun» everywhere recommend ij,
«■ +
/
^ ' —-:-s
For Sale
SALVAGE GRAIN
t
i
Attention
Feed Dealers and Feeders
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^—i^———^
/
We have purchased all salvage from the /"a '*
I fire of the large Central Granaries Ter- ^ O
minal Elevator which burned at Lincoln .
a few days ago. There was around
230,000 Bushels
of grain in the elevator at the time of
fire. Part of this grain was damaged
by fire and water while a large part
of it is in good condition. We will -
start loading this - grain into cars on
Monday, Jan. 26th
and will offer any and all of it for sale
to the public. . If you are interested in
buying any of this grain come to the
site of the fire at 5th and “J” streets,
Lincoln, Nebraska, where our salesmen
will be glad to show you the grain and
quote prices. :: :: :: :: :: :: :: ::
V • ' v !
Updike Grain Corporation
5th and “J” Streets Phone B-1395
LINCOLN, NEBRASKA'
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