Sometimes there is no freight train to arrive here for two days at a time. Whose fault this is The Record doesn’t know, but it must be the “Big Guns” who own the road.
Not a freight train has arrived here on time in two months. Thousands of dollars have been lost to the merchants and farmers of this section through the criminal neglect of those who are at the head of this greedy octopus, better known as the Southern Railway, which has Georgia in its power as strongly as ever a boa constrictor of South Africa encircled its victim.
How long? Oh Lord! How long, will this thing last?
Hasn’t Georgia’s Railroad Commission some power to do something for the people of Georgia in this matter? If they haven’t they might as well close up shop and go home and try and find some calling more suitable to their respective talents, provided the members of that representative (?) body have any.
The depot agent at this place is as painstaking and gentlemanly as any railroad official in Georgia, but is helpless. He is worked to death for want of sufficient help. He is doing the work of two men.
From the section boss to the highest official on the line in question—the Elberton Air Line—that’s the road we’re talking about—the pay is less by one third than it should be and not half enough help is employed in any of the departments.
If the crew on the freight train that runs on this road were animals, we could indict the authorities for cruelty to animals, but as they are only human beings there is no law to cover the case. More’s the pity. There’s something wrong with the law when it allows a greedy corporation to work its men to death.
Why not put on two freight trains per day, having them to leave Elberton and Toccoa early in the morning and returning in the afternoon? The Record believes this would solve the problem and stop the congestion of freight on this line, at least.
The people of this section are broad minded and generous, and only want what is due them from any standpoint, but propose to get what is coming to them if it is gettable.
As we said in the beginning, we tried to keep still about this matter, but our hammer has begun to knock and we propose to keep it up until something is done.