"I'm sorry I stepped on your train, but here's A FTER a period of starvation a man needs time to build up his system again. And so our railroads need time before the tonic effects of the recent rate increase can be shown in improved service. During the period of government control increased wages and costs for material left little over from a stationary income to buy much-needed equipment-or even to keep the existing cars and engines in order. To rebuild this equipment the railroads must secure hundreds of millions of dollars of new capital: the rate increase placed no such lump sum at their disposal. It merely gave them a chance to make a fair living, to insure reasonable dividends to their investors, and thus to attract the money of new investors. Right here is where we can help. Every dollar we place in a railroad security will have a share in buying some freight car or locomotive to bring us the goods we want when we need them. Every hour we save as shippers or receivers of freight in loading and unloading the cars will enable them to get into action again the more quickly. So by putting a shoulder to the wheel and keeping patient, we all can hasten the glad day when the 8:05 will always be on time and we can be sure of getting that furnace for the same winter we ordered it. Western Electric Company No. 20 To do its share in restoring the railroad service, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, from the Gulf clear across the Canadian border, the Western Electric Company is hurrying delivery of electrical supplies to the railroads. T -The Answer HE successive increases in eastern freight rates since 1914 of 5%, 15%, 25% and 40%, and corresponding advances in express rates, have figuratively removed New York eastward into the Atlantic Ocean some 1,500 miles, as measured by the present carrying charges to the Middle West. Slow rail service has doubled and tripled the time in transit, making longhaul distribution economically impossible and consequential interest charges excessive. While the raw materials and markets of the Mississippi Valley, Middle West and Far West have been further removed from the long-haul eastern manufacturer, they have been drawn closer to the short-haul St. Louis manufacturer. The relatively better transportation service enjoyed by St. Louis industries is a big factor in economical production and distribution. Nine-tenths of the railroad embargoes during and since the war, so costly to industry, were placed because of freight jams and blockades in the East, where there is one-third of the population of the country and only 17% of the railroad mileage. The per capita inefficiency of industrial labor has been, and is, greatest in the congested eastern sections, and is in ratio with the decrease in efficiency of transportation. A Mid-West Factory in St. Louis commands the advantages of short-haul and better service via 26 railroads at low relative charges to more than 60% of the country's buying power-and real choice between all export routes. Mississippi River service at 80% of rail rates. The central location of St. Louis is as if "made to order" for present and prospective economic conditions. The booklet "St. Louis as a Manufactur- Director New Industries Bureau St. Louis Chamber of Commerce Any brake lining is good lining Even the cheapest brake lining gives sat- Good brake lining wears well-down to the last strand. It stands up. Raybestos is good lining. It is the original asbestos lining. It's guaranteed to WEAR one year no matter how far you travel. Every thirty seconds American-LaFrance Motor Driven Fire Apparatus responds to an alarm Perhaps it is in New York, San Francisco or possibly far off Tokio. It may be at noon when crowded streets and heavy traffic make the way difficult and dangerous for less flexible trucks. Perhaps it is late at night when all is clear ahead. FRANCE Despite the conditions, a speed of the fastest Also Manufacturers of AMERICA TRUCKS passenger car is attained, notwithstanding the weight carried equals that of the sturdiest commercial truck. -and remember that American-LaFrance Motor Driven Fire Apparatus protects ninety per cent of American cities from fire loss. AMERICAN LAFRANCE FIRE ENGINE COMPANY INC. STANDARD OF THE WORLD ELMIRA, N. Y. FOUNDED 1845 |