be dumped or emptied and cleaned without the necessity of any employe going under such locomotive, on and after the first day of January, 1910, and the commission is charged with the duty of enforcing the provisions of this act. Numerous plans of inventions calculated to solve the difficulty involved in obtaining an efficient device applicable to all types of locomotives have been presented to the commission and have been referred to its block signal and train control board for examination and report. It has been the view of the commission that devices of this character come within the terms of the sundry civil act of the last session of the present Congress, being devised to promote the safety of railroad operation.

SAFETY APPLIANCES.

With the possible exception of power brakes the condition of safety appliances is steadily improving. It is not clearly understood why the maintenance of the brakes does not keep pace with progress of improvement of other details of equipment, but it is probably attributable to the following situation: The sole requirement of the present law in regard to power brakes is that no train subject to the present act shall contain less than seventy-five per cent of cars equipped with power brakes in operative condition. Cars not exceeding twenty-five per cent of the total in the train may have their brake equipment "cut out" of the connection, and no liability ensues to the carrier if the remaining brakes are sufficient to control the speed of the train. There is an imperative need for regulation governing cars that are equipped with both hand and power brakes, operating in opposition to each other. Any action of Congress looking to this end will be of great and lasting value in promoting the safety of lives, limbs, and property.

The leading court decisions of the year bearing upon the safety-appliance law are discussed at length, and the conclusion is drawn that the law is now so well established that it is confidently believed that it will result at no distant date in carrying out to the fullest extent the views of Congress in its enactment. Each decision has tended the more strongly to fortify the commission in its efforts for the enforcement of

this law. During the present year there have been transmitted to the various United States attorneys 276 cases, involving 1,117 distinct violations of the safetyappliance law. The number of violations reported during the past twelve months is only about half of the number reported during the preceding year.

THE HOURS OF SERVICE LAW.

The federal hours of service law, which was approved March 4, 1907, became effective March 4, 1908, in accordance with its terms. Just prior to March 4, 1908, a number of carriers filed formal petitions asking the commission to exercise the discretion conferred upon it to extend the effective date of the act in respect of telegraph and telephone operators, but such applications failed to establish the good cause prerequisite to the extensions desired, and the petitions were in all instances denied.

A number of questions have arisen as to the proper interpretation of the act and, with a view to explaining in so far as possible those features of the act which might be claimed to be ambiguous, the commission has issued several administrative rulings.

In order to enforce the provisions of this act the commission adopted the method of requiring railroads under oath to report every instance in which their employes had been on duty for longer periods than those prescribed by the statutes. Eleven carriers have instituted proceedings to restrain this effort of the commission to enforce the law, and the pending suits have not yet been decided.

BLOCK SIGNAL AND TRAIN CONTROL BOARD.

The annual report of this board to the commission will appear as an appendix to the commission's report. The board has devoted its time mainly to the subject of automatic stops, because that is one on which knowledge is desired, whereas block signals are well known, and in dealing with automatic stops new and untried devices have afforded the most extensive field for the reason that those which are in use are either not adapted for use on roads carrying miscellaneous traffic or have not been offered to the board for consideration. The board has examined descriptions of 371 in

ventions and alleged inventions, and has completed its report on about half of these. Very few of these proposed devices have been actually constructed, and only twelve plans, devices, or processes have been found by the board to be of sufficient merit to warrant it in giving them any encouragement. Of these four have been installed, or soon will be installed, for tests. As the

behavior of the apparatus under severe winter conditions is one of the main points on which information is desired, no satisfactory report on the apparatus actually installed can be made until next spring. This board has indorsed the commission's recommendation that legislation be enacted looking to the compulsory use of the block system.

Page 1037 of the December issue of THE RAILWAY CONDUCTOR Contained comments on a paper read by Dr. R. C. Corwin, division surgeon of the Missouri Pacific hospital at Pueblo, Colo., before the New York and New England Association of Railway Surgeons at the Academy of Medicine in New York. The comments were based on what is now known to be a garbled press association report of the Doctor's paper.

We are now in receipt of a verbatim copy of the manuscript used by Dr. Corwin in delivering the lecture referred to, which places him in a different light, and but for the length of the article we should be glad to publish it at this time.

The Doctor, in referring to physical diseases among railroad men, says that he is "unable to ascertain that there are occupational diseases peculiar to railroad men. They seem to inherit and acquire diseases as other folk in the same manner." He says of moral diseases: "Far more dangerous are those suffering from moral diseases than those afflicted with physical ills," and gives many illustrations of causes of accident which are taken from accident reports and reports of investigations of accidents, offers some recommendations as to

the treatment of physical and moral diseases and draws his conclusions as follows: "Diseases may cause negligence. Overwork may cause negligence. Negligence from either may cause accidents.

Railway employes have no special occupational diseases.

Physical diseases alarming.

Social and moral diseases more alarming. The sixteen-hour law is beneficial but not complete.

Employes meet with accidents from negligence after being on duty but a few hours. Employes should be obliged to take rest before reporting for work.

The medical department should be expanded to include social and moral diseases and prophylaxis.

The remedies are patent; not simple, but imperative."

The paper is concise, ably written, and is so entirely different from what was said in press dispatches that we have no hesitation in saying that there is nothing in Dr. Corwin's paper that should properly be considered offensive to men employed in railroad service.

On account of a large volume of Order and Auxiliary correspondence coming in, the attention of our contributors is kindly invited to the rules governing such letters which may be found under the Order heading.

C. D. Kellogg's Preferment.

It gives pleasure to announce to the many readers of THE RAILWAY CONDUCTOR that Brother C. D. Kellogg, who edited this publication from October, 1902, until January 1, 1909, has accepted the important

office of secretary of the American Railroad Employes and Investors' Association, with offices at 233 Railway Exchange, Chicago, Ill. Brother Kellogg assumed the duties of his new position January 2, and has the best wishes of THE RAILWAY CONDUCTOR and its readers for the fullest measure of success in his new field of labor.

Italy and Sicily.

The earthquake horrors in Italy and Sicily seem to be increasing from day to day. The starving and crazed inhabitants of Reggio and Messina have fought for food in the ruins of their cities, and for days and days the awful cries of the imprisoned people have been heard among the ruins of wrecked buildings.

The world has and is splendidly responding to the call for aid, but the large amount already contributed is still inadequate. Cities and towns are vieing with each other in efforts to increase the total sums contributed until the American people have attracted the attention of the whole world.

The Lemieux System.

The Toronto Globe, in its issue of December 29, 1908, had the following editorial which should be of interest to organized labor throughout the Dominion, as well as elsewhere:

A most gratifying statement which comes from Ottawa is that the advent of the Christmas season found not a single industrial dispute existing in the Dominion. Three were reported during November, but all had been settled before Christmas day. No unemployment arose from that cause, therefore. In all likelihood we will enter on the new year with none of these regrettable strifes that do so much to mar the progress of commerce and the comfort and well-being of the workers. It would be too much to expect that such idyllic conditions can continue throughout the year. It is not too much to expect, however, that the instances may be few and the consequent loss and suffering greatly minimized.

It is difficult to think of any one thing that would more greatly contribute to prosperity, comfort, and harmony. The

strike was the one weapon the workingman had to offset the self-interest of the employer in his constant struggle to keep the cost of production at as low a point as possible. The Lemieux Act introduced a more rational means of asserting the workingman's right to an equitable division of the products of labor. Workingmen here and there may be suspicious and disposed to think that it does not enable them to achieve such radical results as by the use of their old weapon. But if they will recall industrial history they will have to admit that the strike often failed in its purpose, and that all the loss and suffering were endured in vain.

A Sensible Move.

The committee on railway transportation of the New York Board of Trade and Transportation has adopted a resolution:

"That the New York Board of Trade and Transportation deprecates any action by business bodies, individual shippers, or Federal and State officials which may tend to aggravate public prejudice against railways, and urges the business men of the country to favor such freight rates as will insure the railways adequate revenues for maintaining the equipment and roadbed and handling the traffic."

Mr. Moore, the chairman of the committee, says: "We propose that the business men of New York make a concerted request to members of congress and of the legislature to promote the return of prosperity by supporting moderation in the restriction of railways. By concerted action they can do much to hasten the return of full employment and trade by promoting a restoration of railway activity and expenditure. We do not advocate a relaxation of government authority. Regulation has come to stay. We believe that it is as good for the railways as it is for the public. What we urge is that laws which compel increased expenditures by railways should be carefully scrutinized with reference to whether the railways possess the resources to meet them, and that freight rates should be considered in the same spirit as that in which shippers fix prices for their own goods."

P. R. R. Inaugurates Merit System.

The Pennsylvania Railroad has broken a long-standing precedent in promoting John S. Considine of Columbia, Pa., to become assistant supervisor. Mr. Considine had previously been track foreman which may be considered the highest rank of noncommissioned officers on the road. An ordinary laborer could eventually become a track foreman, but it has not been the policy of the company to promote track foremen to a higher rank.

The Pennsylvania Railroad has employed graduates of technical institutions both in its maintenance of way and mechanical departments, to be trained for promotion to the important positions. A graduate civil engineer was employed as a rodman, and was considered in direct line for positions of assistant supervisor, supervisor, assistant engineer, superintendent, general superintendent, general manager, or vice-president. In like manner, mechanical engineers were given a special course of training for the motive power department. Outside of these two lines of promotion it had been impossible to rise beyond certain limits in the operating department.

Realizing that many employes who have not had the advantages of a college education, apply themselves so diligently to their work that they acquire a proficiency which should be recognized, the management has

been carefully observing the work of all grades of men in the service with a view to promoting those who showed exceptional ability, no matter what their start with the company had been.

The actual effect of the new policy is to open to every man in the service the privilege of promotion to any place for which he may be fitted.

Safety Appliance Law Effective in
Panama Canal Zone.

Secretary Moseley of the Interstate Commerce Commission, who is always watchful of matters pertaining to the Safety Appliance Acts, has called to the attention of President Roosevelt the fact that the railroad equipment used in the Canal Zone, and in government reservations, navy yards and arsenals, does not fully comply with the laws requiring automatic couplers, air brakes, handholds, etc., for the protection of employes. President Roosevelt has accordingly issued an executive order requiring the application not only of these laws but also the rules referring to running boards, sill steps, roof handholds, etc., "for the protection of trainmen on freight trains," established by the Master Car Builders Association, and that the proper appliances be kept in good, working order. The measure is all right and will increase the safety of men engaged in this work.

My name is labor! And though some despise
Me, I am proud of what I am, or of what

I have achieved. 'Twas God who raised me up,
And gave to me my mighty part upon
The stage of life, the same eternal God
Who, not ashamed of work, was occupied
Age after age in fashioning the earth,
The universe and all that therein is!
Behold the cities of the world. 'Twas I
Who laid their strong foundations and who reared
Their massive walls. You gaze with wond'ring awe
Upon the pyramids and quite forget

That I cut those huge stones and lifted them.
Seest that august cathedral where, forsooth,
A carpenter is worshipped? My own hand
Its arches, buttresses and soaring spire
Produced; yes, and the organ whose rich tones
Do make the place indeed the gate of heaven.
"There go the ships." My handiwork they are.
I laid their keels and formed their ribs and sent

Them forth upon the deep; and who but me
Constructed those fleet trains which glide across
The land upon those tracks of steel which I
Have placed? And who but me hath wrought and
strung

The wires 'long which electric currents fly
With varied messages from man to man?
You speak of poets, painters, sculptors, yet
I make the pens, the brushes and the blades
With which they do their work, e'en as I make
The swords which warriors wield, the telescopes
Which wrest long cherished secrets from the stars
And all the instruments of surgery.

I cannot tell it all, nor is there need.
This is enough, perchance, to make you think.
Despise me if you will! I proudly stand
Before the world and point to what I am,
To what I have achieved from age to age,
And find a keen amusement in your sneers.

-The Union Label.

Through trains of the Georgia & Florida Ry. are now operated between Hazlehurst and Madison.

The Southern Pacific R. R. of Mexico has been extended from Culiacan southward to Quila.

Some time in the new year veteran employes of the Texas & Pacific are to hold a reunion in Ft. Worth.

The Mexican Pacific R. R. is now operated by the Mexican Central Railway as its Manzanillo extension.

The Washington & Vandemere Railroad has been extended from Aurora, N. C., southward to Vandemere, N. C., a distance of 12 miles.

The line formerly known as the Kentucky Valley Railroad is now operated as a branch of the Louisville division of the Illinois Central Railroad..

The Lapwai Branch of the Idaho division of the Northern Pacific Ry. has been extended from Vollmer, Idaho, southward to Grangeville, Idaho, a distance of 32 miles.

The Bogue Chitto Branch of the New Orleans Great Northern R. R. has been extended from Franklinton, La., northward to Tylertown, Miss., a distance of 20 miles.

The Lufkin division of the St. Louis South-western Ry. of Texas has been extended from Broaddus, Texas, southward to White City, Texas, a distance of 10 miles.

Train service is in operation on the Lake Superior division of the Grand Trunk Pacific Ry. from Westfort, Ont., westward to Lake Superior Junction, a distance of 188.7 miles.

Under a change in the operating department of the Frisco, all trainmasters will hereafter be on the roster as assistant superintendent, their former titles being abolished.

The Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh began operating trains on January 8 through the new double-track tunnel at Empire, Pa., and over the new double-track line between Carmen, Pa., and Brockawayville.

The Greenbush Line of the Northern division of the Great Northern Ry. has been extended from Greenbush, Minn., northward to Warroad, Minn., a distance of 44 miles. The Fernie Line of the Kalispell division has been extended from Fernie, B. C., eastward to Michel, B. C., a distance of 21 miles.

The Duluth-Superior Line, on the Minnesota division of the Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie Ry. has been opened for business between Brooten, Minn., and Onamia, Minn., a distance of 87 miles.

The line on the Oregon division of the Oregon R. R. & Navigation Co., formerly running from La Grande to Elgin, Ore., has been extended from the latter point eastward to Joseph, Ore., a distance of 63 miles.

The track of the Kansas City, Mexico & Orient Ry. between Chillicothe and Crowell having been laid, this line is completed between Wichita, Kan., and Sweetwater, Tex., a distance of 432 miles, and through train service was established January 1, 1909.

The extension of the Wisconsin Central Ry. from Ladysmith, Wis., northwest to Superior, Wis., a distance of 108.5 miles, was opened for operation January 4, 1909; the line from Owen, Wis., via Ladysmith to Superior, being then known as the Fifth District.

A new branch of the Cumberland Valley division of the Louisville & Nashville R. R. has been opened for business, extending from Orby, Ky., southward to Chenoa, a distance of 12 miles. A new branch of the same division has been opened for business, extending from Pennington, Va., to Pocket, a distance of 2 miles.

The track of the Cananea, Yaqui River & Pacific R. R. between Del Rio and Zorilla, a distance of 37 miles, having been completed, train service between Del Rio and Nogales, via Zorilla, has been established. Under the title of the Aguas Calientes Branch, the line formerly running from Corral to Cumaripa has been extended northward to Aguas Calientes.

The line of the Southern Pacific Co. from Sentous, Cal., westward, formerly operated by this company as part of the Santa Monica Branch of the Los Angeles division, including stations known as the Palms, Soldier's Home, Santa Monica, is now operated by the Los Angeles Pacific Railway. The Southern Pacific Company is not now operating trains between Los Angeles, Winthrop, University, Cienega and Sentous of the former Santa Monica Branch.

The Stamford & Northern has been incorporated in Texas by the Colorado & Southern to build from Stamford, Texas, northwest to Plainview, about 155 miles. Contracts for a portion of the line are reported to have been let. This line will connect with the Wichita Valley division