TH - Canada Southern Railway

54 New York Central Lines Magazine for May, 192S
Published monthly by the Department of
Public Relations, Bureau of Publicity,
New York Central Lines
CHARLES C. PAULDING
Vice-President, Public Relations
466 Lexington Avenue
New York City
C.W.Y. CURRIE, Editor
Subscription price : Twenty cents the copy,
or $2.00 per year, delivered postpaid
Advertising rates furnished upon application
Member of the Kellogg Group of Railroad
Employe Publications
Distributed to the 107,000 officers and
employes of the New York Central Lines.
Devoted to the interests of the railroad
workers, their families and home communities,
and to securing the best service for
the public. Contributions are welcome.
Manuscripts and photographs will be returned
upon request.
Vol. IX. May, 1928 No. 2
Chauncey Mitchell Depew
TN the passing of its venerated
Chairman of the Board, the New
York Central Railroad suffers a loss
that is universally felt. At Chauncey
M. Depew's bier the nation and the
world bowed in tribute. Few Americans
have there been whose death has
evoked such spontaneous outpouring
of expressions of sorrow. With them
was mingled appreciation for his long
and useful life.
Mr. Depew, with his culture and
brilliant intellect, his wit and incorrigible
optimism, was regarded by the
rest of the world as embodying in himself
all that was finest in American
life.
The present generation, which knew
him only after he had attained his
unique position as patriarch and sage,
is likely to forget that behind Mr. Depew's
singular charm and wonderfully
winning personality there was a
keen, practical railroad executive.
It was during the period of nearly
thirteen years while Chauncey M.
Depew was President of the New
York Central that several of the most
important steps in the development of
this railroad system were taken.
It was in Mr. Depew's presidency
that the New York Central took over
the Beech Creek Railroad, the Rome,
Watertown & Ogdensburg Railroad,
the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern
Railroad and the Michigan Central
Railroad, as well as minor roads. It
is obvious that it was during Mr.
Depew's term of office that the foundations
were laid on which the New
York Central Lines have grown to
their present greatness.
When he assumed office in 1885, the
road had only 993 miles of line and
The Power of the Employes
/ N order to make room for a large stock of summer conundrums, the following
problems, which have been used in demonstrations but are not worn so's
you could notice it, are offered at less than half than value. Positively no
alterations, no exchanges, no refunds.
1. Suppose the 1,779,281 railroad employes should each and severally decide
to get out and drum up enough new passenger business to make good the
decrease in such business in 1927 as compared with 1926, how much would
each employe have to get, speaking in averages?
2. Having made a success of passenger solicitation, suppose these hustling
employes should elect to go on and make up the decrease in car loadings for
the first three months of 1928 as compared with the corresponding period of
1927, how many additional car loads would be required?
3. The Committee on Water Service of the American Railway Association
estimates that it takes about 500 pounds of coal to stop an average train of,
say 3,500 tons. If each freight train in 1927 had cut out a single unscheduled
stop for each hundred train-miles, how much coal would have been saved?
4. If railroad employes were divided into groups of 1,400 each, and if each
group by its concerted efforts could bring sufficient influence to bear to prevent
the opening of one new grade crossing each year, what would be the effect
on the grade crossing situation?
5. Guess what the capital expenditures of the railroads were for the eight
years ending with 1927.
6. What was the investment of the railroads per employe?
7. What was the average net income per employe?
8. What was the per cent of net income on investment per employe?
9. How does the investment in railroads compare with that in motor vehicles
and hard-surfaced roads for them to run on?
10. Which handles the greater volume of freight: the railroads of the United
States, or all the rest of the railroads in the world?
Of course, if you can answer these questions correctly it will not be necessary
for you to turn to page 100.
earned $24,429,441. The operating
ratio was 66.8. Thirteen years later,
when he laid aside his duties to become
Chairman of the Board, the road
had grown to a total of 2,650 miles of
line, on which the earnings in 1898
were $47,484,632. In spite of the fact
that the average freight rate had declined,
the operating ratio had been
reduced to 64 per cent. Passenger
cars had increased from 492 to 1,188;
freight cars from 24,744 to 42,485 and
floating equipment from 57 craft to
143. The average trainload increased
from 188 tons in 1885 to 304 tons in
1898.
In the death of this distinguished
man who adorned both his profession
and his country, the railroad loses one
of its most sagacious counselors and
the world one of its most serene and
wholesome spirits.
Adventurers
EWSPAPER accounts today are
N preserving in picturesque detail
the stories of the adventurers of the
air who are making transportation
history by their daring attempts to
fly great distances—and heroes these
tales are making of each one of these
men.
A hundred, seventy-five, even forty
years ago, were not the early|railroaders
almost as courageous? Infinitesimal
in comparison were the printed
accounts of their adventures and
achievements. Perhaps few individuals
made as daring moves in railroading-as
the trans-ocean fliers have
made in their field—yet did they know
any more about what was ahead of
them? Many were the dangers, countless
were the hardships of the developmental
years of railroading.
Only those who lived the experiences
can tell us of them in their full detail
today. We revere our veterans,
living and dead, who dared, endured
and loved the early days of railroading,
working diligently, bravely, toward
the safe and comfortable systems
that we have today; looking forward
to even greater luxuries and improvements
tomorrow.
Vacation Travel
IT^ESPITE the fact that the New
^-^ York Central is one of the few
railroads which are maintaining or
increasing long-haul passenger business
at present, additional business
through Traffic Tips is still most desirable.
The coming vacation season will increase
travel over all the country, but
the usual summer gains are by no
means enough to satisfy the New
York Central. The Traffic Department
of this road is seeking new passenger
business to exceed that of any
preceding season.
And what is to be one of the sources
of this new patronage? The Traffic
Tip cards, which are enclosed in every
Magazine and which may also be obtained
from department heads or from
the Traffic Department itself.
Every employe who induces even
one person to use the New York Central
for his vacation trip this summer
is increasing the earnings of his Company
and making his own job more
secure.
New York Central Lines Magazine for May, 1928 55
H . G . Stevenson B i t t e n b y R a d i o B u g >— He's
G e t t i n g Stations f r o m A M O v e r the W o r l d
'TTHERE really seems to be nothing
•"- that can be done about it. The
radio-bug starting only a few years
ago as a local menace has now become
a matter of national concern. Where
formerly its victims were confined to
those parts of the United States visited
by the hoof-and-mouth disease,
addicts now may be found throughout
the breadth of the country. Yearly
new victims are added, for the bug is
a promiscuous crittur, going here and
there, biting right and left and leaving
in its wake disrupted homes, widows
and orphans.
Winter seems to be the most susceptible
time of the year. A person
may dress ever so warmly, observe
a rigid diet and yet fall a victim to
the ravages of this dreadful and ubiquitous
creature. Even your own
friends may deliberately contaminate
you. It might be said here that the
disease is readily contagious, caught
by the merest contact or conversation,
and absolutely fatal after donning
ear phones once or twice.
The first symptom is a chronic state
of trance on the part of the victim,
medically known as thatdumblook. He
then loses appetite, spends his evenings
and sometimes nights at the
home of similar addicts. Finally,
nothing will satisfy him but a radio
set, and his moral disintegration is
complete. His evenings, once spent
at playing bridge, reading the sports
section, or other elevating pursuits,
are now given over entirely to this
new addiction.
He becomes seclusive, retires to his
radio corner for hours at a time, resents
interruption, especially from
children. Fathers have been known
to kill their offspring, or even their
wives who in the interest of cleanliness
have attempted to "tidy" the
radio set or adjust the wires so that
they look more presentable.
The condition of the radio bug victim
is never static. His conversation
is always rambling with frequent allusions
to "DX," a sort of hallucinary
Nirvana all radio addicts hope some
day to attain, before or after death.
On the subject of conversation, it
might be added that these victims,
while apparently lucid on everyday
topics, become absolutely unintelligible
when discussing their own peculiar
malady.
Take the case of H. G. Stevenson,
243 Belmont Avenue, Oneida, N. Y.
Mr. Stevenson has been for twentysix
years an operator and telegraph
leverman for the New York Central
at various points on the Mohawk Division.
At present he is stationed at
tower SS-YO, Oneida. During working
hours, he is staid, dignified and
thoroughly capable. But after 11
P.M. when he comes home from his
last shift, he is a changed man.
He sits for hours at night bent over
his dials, tuning in and tuning out,
making notations in his log book of
stations received. His family, who
still love him, tried first to isolate the
By Dr. G. E. Woggleson
germ of his radio idea about ten years
ago, and failing in that, decided it
was best to isolate the victim. The
plan works to the
satisfaction of
everybody^ so that
now he has a
room in the rear
of the house
where he may
work undisturbed
and undisturbing.
It was for the
purpose of studying
some special
symptoms of this
case that the writer
made a visit to
the home of Mr.
Stevenson. From
t h e fir
H. G. Stevenson st glint in
his eye when he
took my hand until his farewell, I
recognized Mr. Stevenson's case as
absolutely flagrant. From the trembling
uncertainties of an amateur,
this man has become outspoken, even
unashamed of his radio activities.
While we were sitting talking, Mr.
Stevenson's son came over and listened
in.
"Are you going to study the radio,
like your dad?" he was asked politely.
"No," was his direct answer. He
appeared to be a fine, upstanding
youngster.
For the sake of other physicians
who may be interested in this case, I
am reporting certain answers that Mr.
Stevenson readily gave without any
embarrassment:
"I have a Hartley circuit transmitter,
UX 210 tube, 675 volts, chemically
rectified AC on plate. My vertical
antenna is thirty-five feet with
the counterpoise horizontal eight feet
from ground; it is thirty-five feet
long, same as the antenna.
"I started transmitting with this
set in October, and through February
25 I have worked, that is talked back
and forth, with 256 stations. The
farthest I have worked is Mt. Everett,
Washington. It was done on a good
night with no QRM. Oh, QRM is interference.
"Another time, I got Lang, Canada,
about 650 miles above Winnipeg. The
operator said that it was very cold,
although we were having warm
weather here. When there was ice on
the ground here, 4 AEP, a station
below Tampa, Fla., told me that the
operator was finding it very warm
there. 'You ought to be here where
you can skate,' I told him.
" 'Who wants to skate when I can
sit by the open window in my pajamas!'
was his answer.
"O, yes, I have had practical use for
my set. One night I was working
San Antonio, when the operator there
asked me if I knew Dr. Robert
Crockett of Oneida. When I told him
that I did, he replied that he was Dr.
Crockett's son-in-law and asked if I
would take a message from their
daughter. I took the message and
here is a card of thanks from Dr. and
Mrs. Crockett. •
"On the night of the New England
flood, November 4, about 9:30, I received
a QRR, which is the railroad
signal of distress, similar to SOS at
sea. The message said: 'Get in touch
with train dispatcher at White River
Junction. Tell him to hold all trains
on account of bad washout ahead.
Central Vermont Railroad is temporarily
closed.'
"I tried to reach the train dispatcher
as instructed, through Utica, but
learned that the wires were down and
White River Junction was isolated.
We even tried to work through Montreal
and Rotterdam, but everything
was washed out. Still, some good
may have come from our efforts.
"The next morning, about 10 o'clock
came another QRR from Pittsfield,
Mass., with instructions to hold No. 34
on account of a bad washout on the
Boston & Albany. The train was already
overdue, so that I was sure it
had already been stopped.
"Here are some letters acknowledging
my station. This is a pretty good
one (Note: the letter is reproduced
accurately for whatever scientific
value it may have) :
" 'HI HI OM:—Hope you remember
working me. Guess it was November
7 at ABT 9:20 A.M. Central Standard
Time. That rite?
" 'Your signals come in very nice
up here OM. What are you using?
My QRN factory here is two 50-Watt
tubes in a Hartley CKT, QSB: RAG;
plate voltage 1,200 volts A.C.; filament
voltage 11 D.C.; plate current
200 mils; output 2.5 amps; antenna
is 30 feet long, counterpoise 27 feet.
Doing good work wid it too, but not
quite satisfied with the QSB it puts
out, so think I will change it over to
CC before long.
'"Well OM will QRT FR MW.
Hoping we clash AGN some time before
long; always ready to QRS OM.
" 'Best regards ES DX ES luck,
" 'W. A. Dusky, Fort Brady, Sault
Ste. Marie, Mich.
" 'P. S. Don't forget to send me
your card OM—TNX.'
"All right, if you want to I'll show
you some of the work my set does
receiving. Oh, yes, if any New York
Central employe wants advice about
building a set, I'll be glad to help him.
My whole set was home-made.
"I have here a Schull tuner with
Lorenz coils for stations from 15
meters to 300. For longer distance
I use an Anthony regenerator honeycomb
tuner, ranging from 300 to 15,-
000 meters. I have been able to hear
the larger transatlantic stations with
this set, FL in Paris and POZ in Germany.
I'll let you listen in now."
Very carefully, Mr. Stevenson
clapped a pair of ear phones over my
ears and a pair over his, then proceeded
to tune in. Presently, we heard
a series of bell-like buzzes.
"I think that is Manchester, England,"
he announced in a low voice.
"A message for or from Manchester?"
"Uh, huh,—shhhh!" said Mr. Stevenson.