Jasper County Democrat, Volume 19, Number 45, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 September 1916 — AUXILIARY TRANSPORTATION. [ARTICLE]

AUXILIARY TRANSPORTATION.

Should a railroad strike occur next Monday, the immediate effects on the business of the country would be deplorable, but perhaps not disastrous. The railroad managers have planned to operate, with the aid of skilled mechanics, emergency trains for the movement of milk and perishable food products. In the large centers of population the railroads would meet with the most stubborn labor opposition, and the movement of emergency trains would be made more difficult. But a stoppage of steam road transportation wrould be attended by less loss and suffering than would have been the case a few years ago. When the last attempt was made to tie up the railroads, the country was dependent upon the steam lines, and the demoralization of traffic caused a disturbance of all business. In the last few years the electric railway has become a competitor of the steam road. In the heaviest populated portion of the country—that I is, east of the Mississippi and north ( of the Ohio and Potomac rivers—- . there is in operation a vast network lof electric roads. It is possible to make a continuous journey by interurban from St. Louis to Buffalo. Practically ‘all the great cities in ! this territory are provided with in- | terurban systems, which radiate to , the nearby towns. Lines, such as i those operated through Indiana and , Illinois, while now utilized mostly for passenger traffic, could carry supplies of food into cities. The automobile truck, operated on ■a good road, should also be regarded as an important auxiliary. Overland transportation of freight is growing in volume. Trucks are built to carry ten to twenty tons. These are used by city firms to reach . nearby towns, and by dairymen and agriculturists to carry produce to commission houses. While the motor truck and interurban can not compete with or take the place of the steam road, they stand between the public and cessation of traffic. Their service would he a great aid in

tiding the country over a crisis. Wholesale food distributors in some of the great eastern cities aye preparing to turn to the auxiliaries, in case a steam tieup should develop. —j‘lndianapolis News. ( ’