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«Ik 1 JEFFERSONIAN *—4 bW
EDITED BY I
y THOS* E* WATSON Y >
Vol. 11. No. 42.
GEORGIA ROAD MUST REPAIR
AT ONCE.
Confirmed and strengthened by the
personal investigation of Commission
ers Hill and Hilly er, the report of
the expert railroad builder and civil
engineer as to the condition of the
road bed and rails of the Georgia
Railroad main line, was Friday morn
ing adopted by the Railroad Com
mission. The management of the
“Old Reliable” was given thirty days
in which to complete all of the re
quired repairs, and report to the
board. A synopsis of the order fol
lows:
The Georgia road is given ten days
in which to replace all spikes and
bolts missing, as indicated by the re
port.
Ten days in which to replace the
half angle plates with whole angle
plates.
Thirty days in which to replace the
rotten and decayed crossties as in
dicated by the report.
Thirty days in which to make a full
and complete report to the commis
sion covering all improvements and
repairs in the property.
In connection with the inspection
of the Georgia, it develops that the
main line of the Southern Railway be
tween Atlanta and Birmingham has
also been examined by an expert. The
property, it is understood, was not
found as it should be, and the com
mission is expected to formulate an
order for the needed improvements
immediately the report has been for
mally considered and adopted.
Commission Not Nagging.
The action of the commission in
having the Georgia Railroad and the
property of the Southern Railway in
spected by unknown and independent
experts is in conformity with the let
ter of the Candler-Overstreet railroad
law, enacted at the last session of the
legislature. The board is required by
law to have the properties of the rail
roads of the State inspected, and is
charged with the duty of seeing that
they are safe and well managed at all
times. The commission has no dis
position to nag at any of the corpora
tions ; it simply proposes to live up to
the law and to require the railroad
companies to do likewise.
The fact that the commission sent
one expert over the Birmingham-At
lanta. division of the Southern, and
that it has another now inspecting the
property of another road, is convinc
ing evidence that there is no dispo
sition to bound any particular com
pany. The Georgia Railroad came in
for its inspection just as the other
companies will receive theirs.
Report Unbelievable.
When the expert’s report on the
Georgia road was received three days
ago, as was indicated in The Journal,
the oommissieii could scarcely believe
Atlanta, Ga., Thursday, November 14, 1907.
'i XL
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This is how “Tom Watson” looks according to one of his Wisconsin
friends. He looks worse than that to some people.
the testimony furnished by him. His
report was itemized, detailed and tab
ulated, making it possible to con
firm o rrefute any allegation set out.
In view of the fact that Grant Wil
kins, of Atlanta, acting for the com
pany, inspected the property and re
ported it in good shape, coupled with
tho additional fact that Expert Jack
son, of Ohio, was employed by the
old commission and submitted a fa
forable report, the commission held
up the latest report pending a fuller
investigation.
Commissioners Hill and Hillyer
were designated by the board to con
firm or refute the expert’s report.
They visited many of the points of
weakness indicated in his report, and
their report confirms and strengthens
him. The commissioners were away
for a couple of day*.
a Atlanta, Ga., Nov. 8, 1907.
“Mr. Jacob Phinizy, President Geor
gia Railroad & Banking Co., Au
gusta, Ga.
4 ‘Dear Sir: I beg to hand you here
with copy of order this day passed
by the Georgia Railroad Commission,
which explains itself.
“While the condition of the Geor
gia Railroad is not all that it ought
to be, it is gratifying to the commis
sion to know that active work is be-
ing done in the direction of its im
provement.
‘Yours very truly,
“S. G. M’LENDON, Chairman.”
Commissioners’ Report.
“Mr. Chairman: Asked by the
commission to inspect certain portions
of the Georgia Railroad reported by
the special inspector as needing im
mediate attention, as to the safety of
the road bed and track of said road,
the undersigned members of the com
mission have done so, and beg leave
to submit the following report:
“We made personal visitation and
careful inspection of the road bed and
track of said road reported to be in
the worst condition by said inspector,
and find that wherever he has re
ported belts, angle bars, and broken
angle bars, or half angle bars, the
conditions are exactly as reported, and
show a careful and intelligent inspec
tion, except that at the point visited
we found two angle bars broken not
reported by tho inspector, which is
accounted for by the fact that they
were on the opposite side from that
on which he walked, and could not be
visible except to a person walking on
both sides of the track.
“As to the highest percentage of
rotten erossties reported by the in
spector, we desire te My that we vis-
Trice five Cents.
ited the track at that point and made
careful investigation. We do not
think that the estimate, and it was
only an estimate, is justified by ths
actual conditions. We think the per
centage of rotten crossties, which need
immediate replacement, is less than
reported. We think that 15 per cent
would cover the ties that should be
replaced at once, and while we can
not say that the road is actually dan
gerous at this point at the present
time, not only from our inspection of
the track and observing heavy and
fast trains passing over it, yet we
recommend that the commission or
der said road to have replaced at
once the missing and broken bolts,
and angle-bars, as reported by the
inspector, and that the rotten eroce
ties as indicated be replaced as here
after ordered at the various desig
nated points.
“We deem it not inappropriate to
add from interchange of views among
ourselves, that it is the fixed policy of
the commission to give thorough and,
so far as may be, effective attention
to improvements in the roadbed and
equipment of the different carriers.
The alarming increase of accidents re
sulting in very great loss of life and
injury to persons and property makes
this imperatively necessary. A very
large percentage of these accidents
is directly traceable to defects in the
tracks and roadbeds of the different
companies.
_l‘We do not understand that it was
the purpose of the commission to sin
gle out this particular road as be
lieved to have been in especially worse
condition than others in the Stat* l !.
On the contrary, from considerable
knowledge of the subject, we are led
to believe that its general condition
is far above the average. The de
fects pointed out in the report of the
inspector, end as observed by us, are
of a character easily susceptible to
immediate remedy, and indeed it
would seem from the number of cross
ties already provided, as well as an
gle plates and other materials, that
it is the purpose of this particular
company to make a large part of the
repairs needed.
“GEORGE HILLYER,
“H. W. HILL,
4 4 Commissioners. ’ *
—Atlanta Journal.
Special Election Orderd.
An election has been ordered by the
governor for December 5 to fill the
vacancies in the General Assembly
caused by the death of President
John W. Akin, of the upper house;
the death of Representative N. L.
Galloway, of Walton county, and the
resignation of W. H. Rogers, the ne
gro member of the House from Mc-
Intosh county, who resigned follow
ing the passage sf diafrsnehus.
meat bill.