BEDFORD WEEKLY MAIL BEDFORD, INDIANA FRIDAY, SEPT. 21, 1900 RAILROAD RACKET. It is said that John R. WALSH is planning for a coal road to cross the S. I. at Coalmont. B. W. RAMSEY is the new Engineer in charge of Engine No. 21, pulling the local on the S. I. Ry. Brakeman Sam HUNCILMAN, of the S. I., is moving his family from Greensburg to Terre Haute. J. C. CARLETON, of this city, paid the first fare from Terre Haute to Bedford over the Southern Indiana Ry. The first excursion out of Terre Haute over the Southern Indiana Ry. will be run next Sunday to Indian Springs. Scott HENRY will be Conductor on the S. I. freight train, formerly in charge of Conductor HUFFMAN. Brakemen employed on the B. & O. branch deny the report that any of their number have recently figured in an elopement episode. The Southern Indiana will make a special rate on its line to accommodate the crowds that will attend Terre Haute's trotting meeting Sept. 24 to 28. Conductor James TORPHY will have charge of the new S. I. freight run which will make the round trip each day from Westport to this city and return. Conductor James HUFFMAN will have charge of the new S. I. passenger train into Terre Haute, and Lawrence JOHNSON, of Seymour, will be extra Conductor for the same train. Conductor James TORPHY will have charge of the S. I. yard crew at Terre Haute, and Engineer Mike TORPHY will pull the throttle on the engine. It is said that Linton is one of the best towns along the S. I., so far as patronage to that road is concerned. In proportion to population, the S. I. takes more passengers to and from Linton than any other point on the line except Bedford. The roof of the new S. I. Paint Shop will be like the other building recently put up. There will be large plate glass sky lights which will let in only diffused rays of northern light, and will be arranged so that no direct sunlight can enter the building at all. The contest for the silver lanterns that has been in progress in Louisville has closed and Conductor Mike HACKETT, who represented the Monon, was third in the list. The prize for the most popular Conductor running into Louisville was won by Mr. NELSON of the Louisville and Nashville. It will keep the hotel runners hustling to keep up with the different trains after the new S. I. train service is inaugurated. The first passenger train on the west at 8:01 a.m.; East at 8:27; another train east at 10:24 a.m. Another passenger train goes west at 1:15 p.m., and also one at 6:46 p.m. A passenger train from Terre Haute is due here at 7:31 in the evening. Evansville, Ind., Sept. 13. – David J. MACKEY filed a petition in bankruptcy in the United States Court today. His liabilities are estimated at $577,765. He has no assets. Mr. MACKEY was formerly a Western railroad king, and was owner of the following roads: Evansville and Terre Haute, Evansville, Indianapolis, Peoria, Decatur and Evansville; Louisville, Evansville and St. Louis, known as the "Air Line," and the Evansville and Richmond. Five years ago Mr. MACKEY failed and his roads passed into different hands. In his petition forty-three creditors are named, all of whom live in Chicago and New York. It is said that work will begin on the Indianapolis Southern railroad in thirty days. The subsidies amount to about $500,000 and the towns of Paoli, Ferdinand, Salem, Brownstown, Grandview, Rockport, Nashville and Owensboro have guaranteed to build, free of cost to the railroad, handsome passenger and freight stations. The managers were in the East ten days ago getting the cash part settled. – Huntingburgh Independent. The officials of the Southern Indiana Railroad give it out that they will build a fine new stone hotel at Indian Springs, and that it will be completed by May 1st, 1901. It will be the finest building of the kind in Indiana, which will make strong competition for the famous resorts at West Baden and French Lick. A large force of men are now at work cleaning off the refuse timber and brush, and the main line of the railroad will be extended to the grounds, and passengers will be unloaded right at the hotel. An empty freight car was smashed to pieces and another damaged in a singular accident on the B. & O. S. W. at Vincennes Monday. When the front engine of the east-bound freight reached North Sixth street it stopped. The crew of the second engine pushing behind did not know that the front engine was stopped and kept on pushing. The force of one engine pushing against the set air brakes of the other telescoped a freight car, completely destroying it. The car that was demolished contained four tramps. They all scrambled out however in time to escape injury. In a special write up of the S. I. Ry., Editor J. D. WHITE, of the Greensburg Daily News says: "Arriving at Bedford, a beautiful city – like Rome – built upon her seven or more hills, she is destined, not to rule the world, but to furnish to the world the finest building stone in existence. The S. I. depot at this place will ever be a monument to the thrift and enterprise of its originators and a standing advertisement of the natural product that has rendered the name of Bedford famous wherever civilization has extended. The depot is a grand and imposing structure built entirely - even to the roof – of handsome Bedford stone, richly carved and artistically arranged. The interior is so commodiously divided into various offices and waiting rooms that it not only attracts the admiration but the wonder of the passing guest. As an evidence of the thrift and prosperity of the city we noticed two representatives of that irrepressible class of individuals usually called reporters on the platform with their ever-ready note-books and pencils to inform the one half of the world what the other half is doing. After a brief but pleasant 'bird's eye view' of the city we were soon following the many intricate bends of White river, enjoying the beautiful scenery, noting the pleasing landscape and cheerful farm scenes as we swiftly glided over the velvety roadbed on bands of steel. The scenery and the attractions that charm the tourist increase instead of diminish as he passes between Bedford and Indian Springs." Since the placing in service of the big battleship engines by the Monon the engineers and firemen who crew these engines have thought they were entitled to more pay than when they run the small engines. They assert that the engines now operated weigh from 120 to 135 tons and that the labor demanded to run them is nearly double that of the type of several years back. There has been an undercurrent of talk among the engine men as to asking for an increase of between 3 and 5 per cent, over the present wages. The men in no way intimated that they intended to give the company any trouble, but decided to send a committee of engineers and firemen to Chicago to place the matter before President McDOEL, and Saturday the following enginemen appeared before the president of the road: Engineers Thomas HARDING, William STANG and Samuel BENNETT; Firemen John MUTTER, Fred KISER and Noah ALVIS. The conference with the president lasted a long time, and after the men presented their arguments the president informed the committee that the wages paid by the Monon were as large as those paid by any other road running in southern territory, and for that reason he could see no ground to grant an increase. The committee went away apparently satisfied. In speaking of the conference President McDOEL said: "There will be no increase in wages, as the Monon is now paying as much as any other road. The committee when it learned this fact was apparently satisfied that the claim was not a just one. I do not fear any trouble." For some years roads all over the continent have been using steel ties with good results, and accordingly manufacturers in this country are using for foreign roads as argument to induce American roads to try the steel ties. Some engineers believe, too, that steel does not make as good a tie as wood. With steel ties and rock ballast, they say, passengers would think that they were riding on a bed of solid cement on account of the absence of resilient properties. They also believe that difficulty would be experienced in packing the dirt about the steel ties securely enough to prevent the tracks getting out of alignment. For about six months the Huntingdon and Broad Top Mountain Railroad in Pennsylvania has been experimenting with the use of steel ties. The tie in use there resembles the "bowl" and "plate" tie largely in use in India and South America, and the company has been subjecting it to exceptionally heavy traffic. The ties were laid on October 12th, 1899. There are forty-four of them and the normal spacing is 24 inches from center to center, but the actual spacing varies from 16 to 30 inches, the ties having been put in where the wooden ties were removed. Each trough or rail bearer weights about 25 pounds, and the tie bearer 60 pounds. The rails are 70 pounders, and are laid with suspended joints spliced with four-bolt angle bars, and the track is ballasted with slag. Since the ties were laid about 1,500,000 tons of freight has passed over them, principally coal cars of 60,000 and 80,000 pounds capacity, hauled by 100-ton engines. The officials claim that the steel ties make a more durable track than wooden ties, and reduce the labor of track maintenance by 40 per cent. They also permit an increase of 33 per cent, in the length of the sections. If these deductions are correct it is difficult to see why railroads in general do not adopt the steel tie.