Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 19 December 1938 — Page 16

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| Maintenance Backlog Has Piled Up During Depres-

Point ~ Needed Repairs in | Asking Congress Aid

sion Years and Periled Safety, Advisory Committee Warns.

By NED

BROOKS

Times Special Writer | WASHINGTON, Dec. 19.—The need for prompt action:by Congress . in dealing with the plight of the railroads was. emphasized today by official figures showing a multi-billion-dollar backlog of repairs and re-

placements late in lean revenue years. a The inability of the railroads to

needs—a factor which the Interstate Commerce Comm

hich the poverty-stricken carriers have allowed to accumu-

keep pace with normal maintenance ission warns is

directly related to safety—is expected to be cited by President Roosevelt.

The President’s advisory committee of management and labor representatives is speeding completion of its report so that Mr. Roosevelt, if he desires, may incorporate the finding in his annual message. Reports of the railroads to the icc showed that maintenance expenditures on roadways and equipment have been approximately $5,-

° 600,000,000 less during the six-year

| dro

‘period from 1932 through 1937 than they were during the previous six years. , Some Blamed on Operation Drop Some of the decrease is accounted for by reduced operations and the retirement of rolling stock, but management spokesmen concede frankly that a large share of the cut is represented by maintenance of a type which cannot be deferred indefitely. : ey v Fletcher, counsel of the Association of American Railroads, told the Senate Committee on Incentive Taxation last week that the carriers would spend a billion dollars annually for the next 10 years on modernization, replacements and repairs

_ if their present tax burden could be

lightened. This spending, he estimated, would create 500,000 jobs in heavy industry. Management spokesmen say the railroads should be laying out about two million tons of steel rails annually, or approximately twice the tonnage laid in 1937. From 1923 to 1929, the average annual installation was 1,977,000 tons, but the figure d to an average of 751,000 tons

ppe | from 1930 to 1935 and ‘to 921,000 tons

in 1936. The railroads estimate that an expenditure of approximately $53,614,000 is necessary to bring the repair of freight cars up to normal requirements. Of 1,686,782 cars now owned, 234 926 are estimated to be in bad order, and 133,000 of this number should be repaired to meet present needs. ~

7875 Engines Need Repairs

Of the 43,119 locomotives owned, 7875 are in need of repairs, according to the carriers’ estimates. Of the latter .number, 3564 should be put into commission to meet present traffic, and they say this would involve an expenditure of about 2 million dollars. ¢ An additional 90 ‘million should be spent over the next five years in the purchase and installation of new treated ties, the roads estimate. ICC reports showed expenditures by the carriers of $6,705,000,000 on equipment maintenance from 1926 to 1931, as against $4,342,000,000 frond 1932 to 1937. In the same sixyear periods, expenditures for maintenance of roadways dropped from $4,661,000,000 to $2,381,000,000. Last year the roads spent $826,000,000 on equipment maintenance as compared with $1,202,000 in 1929,

“and $495,000,000 on roadway main-

tenance as compared with the 1929 figure of $855,000,000.

Safety Ratio Apparent

A safety report by the ICC points out that a-direct ratio exists between railroad accidents and deferred maintenance. From 1933 to 1937, when maintenance expendi-

(_tures were being cut, there was an

increase “in accidents attributable to the condition of track and equipment,” the report said. > | A slight improvement last year in the safety record “no doubt reflects an increase in. maintenance work aver the preceding years of lower railway revenue,” the Commission added. : The number of accidents per mile of railroad operation reached a high in 1923, dropped steadily for the next 10 years and then rose again til 1937. The interruption in: the ownward trend, the ICC said, was ‘due to the condition of tracks and

~ equipment.”

BURGLARS PUT ON LOCK | YOUNGSTOWN, O., Dec. 19 (U. P.).—Two burglars put a new padlock on the rear door of the John (Ward Clothing Co. after taking six isuits from the store to the base-

' |ment, where, apparently having lost | | hey left the clothing.

SNAILS TOO SPEEDY FOR BRITISH CAPTAIN

Natives Ignore Game Laws To Hunt: Them.

GENEVA, Dec. 19 (U. P.).—The galloping snails of Togoland are causing the British mandatory authority as much worry as Germany’s colonial ambitions, Capt. C. C. Lilley, British district commissioner for the Gold Coast, startled the League mandates commission with this revelation when the report on the administration of Togoland, formerly .a Corian) Possepsion, was being examined. | Capt. Lilley said the British authorities are very worried by the Negroes’ lack of respect for the ‘hunting laws. : “What kind of hunting?” asked a member of the commission. “Snails,” was the laconic reply. Honorable members slithered round in their chairs in surprise, while Switzerland’s urbane Prof.

Snail chasing!” “Oh, yes,” replied Capt. Lilley. “We have them that big!” And with his hands he described a sphere almost as big as a soccer football. : These fleet gastropods, it was revealed, which frolic along the woodland paths of Togoland, are highly prized for their tasty, luscious flesh. Despite the game regulations, the

whenever they feel hungry, and there is frequent trouble when the snailers corner their quarry in each other’s territory. :

IN PRISON OVER 25 CENTS WEST PLAINS, Mo., Dec. 19 (U. P.).—Renfrow Collins was sentenced to seven years in the penitentiary in Circuit Court here when he was convicted of obtaining 25 cents by fraud. He sought funds for a mythical brother-in-law. Collins had served two previous prison sentences.

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