FUNNY
H£N
Plain Peopl*.
“Now,” said the mistress, "tell me
•boot people you have worked for.**
“I don’t believe you’d be interested
in hearing about them, ma’am," said
the newly engaged cook. . “All the
pe<H>le rve worked for owned flivvers
and led a beautiful home life. Some
how scandals and flivvers don’t go to
gether.”
' Th« Judge’s Little Joke.
**Tour h<Hior, my husband neglects
me shamefully and loses all his m<^ney
betting on horse races and playing the
market.”
“What is your husband’s profession
other than gambling?”
“He’s a high diver, your honor.”
**Ah, I see. Your diver is a plunger.”
BET MIES
>pose to Reduce Wa^es and
Return All the Savingr by
Reduction in Ch:irges.
IL TOT CFM PBQPOSAL
statement by Tliomas DeWitt Cuyier,
Chairman of the Association of
Railway Executives on th«
Situation.
Too Valuable.
“What has becobie of the clerk with
the big diamonds?”
“Had to let him go,” replied the
landlord. “He got to be too valuable.
The guests began to take offense be
cause he suspected everybody who
wanted to tnlk to him of being a
burglar or a kidnaper.”
It Was Both.
“What do 3'ou think of Uncie Peter
leaving ail his money for a grand mau
soleum over h!s remains?” said one
needy relative. ^
“Awful.” said the other; “it’s just a
willful waste.”
“Huh! I call It a wasteful will.”
A Limit Reached.
“Does yuur wife fc'ive you any sug
gestions about how to vote?”
“No,” replied Mr. Meekton, “Hen
rietta says she’s beginning to think
she’s got enough authority without try
ing to be a political boss.”
Domestic T. N. T.
“You must not let your wife get so
excited.”
“Gt)odness gracious, doctor, If I tried
to stop her from petting excited she’d
get so excited she’d raise the roof.”
Ill
niii'i
III III! I!
111III
SWEET INNOCENCE
Mrs. Youngbrlde—I’ll take ■ few
of those beets if they are live one*.
Clerk^Lives ones, ma’am?
O yes, I must have live ones. I
tieard my husband say he has no dto
for dead beats.
Did You Wake?
A wind crept home in his stockingr feet
When the hour was late and wee,
,But though he wanted to be discreet
He slipped on a squeak^ tree.
The Main Thing.
“Do you suppose your grateful con
stituents will erect a monument to
your memory after you are gone?’
“I don’t know,” said Senator Snorts-
worthy thoughtfully, “but I would be
willing to dispense with a monument
If my grateful constituents would
guarantee that when I die I’d have a
congressional funeraP’
An ApprovaK-
“Do you approve of the classics?”
*‘I do,” replied Senator Sorghum.
“The classics should be stu(lle«l, the
same as campaign platforms. Tliey
have Wieir improving influences, even
if you don’t manage to remember much
of what was In ’em.”
Headwork.
“Did you say my head was solid
ivorj’?”
“Mel)be I did,” replied Mr. Erastas
Plnkley, “but don’t you make no more
reaches like you had a razor, unless
you Wyants to get it in a museum as
carved ivory.”
Mean Allusion..
“■'"‘1. what w'ere the prehistoric
tiniof:?”
‘They were the times, ray child,
when Mi; s Primleigh and her friends
fainted f. ncefoliy away every time
lanybody i 3ded their help.”
His Stellar Role.
Young I" ing (gushingly)—And are
there anj ather stars In your com
pany?
Ham Ao*or (grandly)—Stars, denr
lady? We are all stars. But there '
,1s only one Betelgeuse.
j Curious.
7onee—I saw a lot of ladies wait.
Ing by tlie church on the sf^a front
James—Oh. what were they wait-
I Ing for?
; “To see the tied go out!”
f
! Looks and Lucre.
' Rich Wife—T got my good looks
fJrwn iny mother.
H'o b"’'«l (vho gets smnll ’vance)
Th‘‘sn your stinginess Is ev'deiitly In>
lierlted.
Following a meeting In Chicago,
October 14, 1921, of the presidanta of
nearly all the leading ra’lroads in the
country, Mr. Thomas DeWitt Cuyler,
chairman of tbs Association of iiail-
way Executives, made the following
statement:
At a meeting of the Association of
Railway Executives today it was de
termined by the railroads of the
United States to seek to bring about
I reduction in rates. And as a means
to that end to seek a reduction in the
present railroad wa:::3s w'hich have
compelled maintenance of the present
rates.
An application will bo made imme
diately to the United States Railroad
Labor Board for a reduction in wages
ol train servico employes sufficient to
remove the remainder of the Increases
made by the labor board's decision of
July 20, 1920 (w’hich w^ould involve a
further reduction of approximately 10
per cent) and for a reduction in the
wages of all other classes of rail
road labor to the going rate for such
labor in several territories where the
carriers operate.
To Reduce Rates as Wages Go Down.
The foregoing action is upon the
anderstanding that concurrently with
such reduction in wagea the benefit
of the reduction thus obtained shall,
with the concurrence of the Inter
state Commerce Commission, be pass
ed on to the public in the reduction
of existing railroad rates, except in
so far as this reduction shall have
been made in the meantime. The
managements have dacided upon this
course in view of their reiilization of
the fact that the wheels of industrial
Activity have been closed down to a
point w'hich brings deprsssion and dis
tress to the entire public and that
something must be done to start them
a?ain in operation.
The situation which confronts the
railroads is extremely critical. Th<
railroads in 1920 realized a net rail
way operating income or about $62,
000,000 upon a property investment o;
jver $19,000,000,000 and even thir
imount of $62,000,000 included bad.
Tiall pay for prior years received from
"he government of approximately
>94,000,000, thus showing, when the
iperations of that year alone are con-
idered, an actual deficit before mak
ng any allow'ance for either interes’.
)r dividends.
The year ende€ in serious deprer
jion in all branches of industry and
in marked reduction of the market do-
■land for and the prices of basic com
'aodities, resulting in a very serious
ailing off in the volume of traffic,
^oads Forced to Defer Maintenance
In this situation, a policy of the
lost rigid economy and of postpon-
ng and cutting to the bone of the up
keep of the properties was adopted
)y the railroads. This uwas at the
)rice of neglecting and ror the time
leferring work which must hereafter
■nd in the near future be done and
•aid for. This is illustrated by the
act that, n of September 15, 1921
•ver 16 pc. cent, or 374,431 in num
3r, (ft the i' jight cars of the carrierE
verej in bac! order and needing re-
>airs, as aga ist''a normal of bad or
der of not nnre than 160,000 as 1?
urther illustrated by the deferred
vnd inadequate maintenance of othe:
'quipment and of roadway and struc
tures.’
Even under those conditions, anc'
with this large bill charged ui
against the future—which must soor
be provided for and paid if the car
riers are to perform successfully
their transportation duties—the re
suit of operations for the first eigh
months of this year, the latest avail
able figures, has been at a rate of net
railway operating income, before pro
viding for interest or dividend
amounting to only 2.6 per cent pe
a^num on the valuation of the car
rier properties made by the Inter
state Commerce Commission in the
recent rate case, an amount not suf
ficient to pay the interest on theii
outstanding bonds.
Roads Earning Far Below Reasonable
RiAurns.
It is manifest, from this showing
that the rate of return of 5% or C
pr- " at for the first two years after
M- ) 1, 1920, fixed in the Transpor-
ta. -u A'-it as a minimum reasonable
ret..rn upon railroad lorestment,
not been even approximated, much
lass reached; and t|iat the present
high rates accordingly are not due to
any statutory guarantee of earnings,
for there is no such guarantee.
In analyzing the expenses which
have largely brought about this sit
uation, it becomes ' evident that by
far the largest contributing cause is
the labor cost.
Today the railroads pay out to la
bor approximately 60 cents on ’ he dol
lar they receive for tr; )o • ation
service" whereas in 1976, 40 cents on
the dollar^ went to labor
On tfce fli'st day of .T « 1917,
V -U u ...
Um_
meut auw. /uy . uo u.v .
increase, laiio. cus.'u
roads \vas abvid ;{,6.^8.0oj,UUii ai>
uuaiiy, or, li’ con cat u
year instead of for tu^
during jvafch th«^ wage increa^u
were in effect, th» laoor cost, on ai
annual basis, would have
largely in excess of 13,900,000,000—
an increase, since the' governmeni
took I charge of railroad wages in clic
Adamson Act, of approximately $2,
450,000,000 annually.
in -the light of these figures, it is
manifest that the recent reduction of
v/ages authorized hy the Labor £«ard,
estimated at from 10 to 12 per cenc,
in no sense meets or solves the prob
lem of labor cost:<., and in no way
makes it possible for the railroads
to afford a reduction of their reve
nues.
Thousands of Rate^ Already Reduccd.
Indeed, during the past year there
I'.ave been between four and five thou
sand individual reductions in freight
rates. On some railroads tire reduc
tions in rates have amounted to more
than the reductions in wages so far
made, and on many other railroads the
reductions in wagt^s allowed no net
return on operations, but merely pro
vided against the further accumula
tion of a deficit. ^
The point is often made that agricu-1
ture and other industries Are also
suffering the same immediate difficul
ties as the railroads, why, therefore,
do not the railroads take their medi
cine like anybody else? The ans
wer lies in several facts:
1. The railroads were not permit
ted, as were other industries, to
make charges during the years of pros*
perity, making possible the accumu
lation of a surplus to tide them over
the present extreme adversity. Ac
cording to the repbrts of the Inters
state Commerce Commission, the rate
of return in property investment of
the railroads of the United States for
the past several years has been as
follows;
Rate of returns earned by railroads
of the United States on their prop
erty investment:
Per cent
1912 4.S4
1B13 5.15
1914 4.17
1915 4.20
1916 (fiscal year) 5.90
1917 5.26
1915 3.1.*)
1919 2.45
1920 ^ 0.32
1916 (calendar year) 6.16
It will thus be noted that during
the years when other industries were
making very largo profits, when the
prices of farm products and the wages
of labor were soaring to unheard-of
heights, the earnings upon railroad
investment in the United States were
held within very narrow limits and
that they have during the past four
years progressively declined.
Roads handicapped More Than Other
Business.
2. The railroads are respohsible to
the public for providing adequate
transportation. Their charges are lim
ited by public authority, and they aro
in very large respect (notably for
labor) compelled to spend money on
a basis fixed by public authority. The
margin within which they are permit
ted to earn a return upon their in
vestment or to offer inducements to
attract new capital for extensions and
betterments is extremely limited.
However much the railroads might
d&sire, therefore, to reduce their
charges in times of depression, it Will
be perceived that the limitations sur
rounding their action do not permit
them to give effect to broad and elas
tic policies which might very prop
erly govern other lines of business not
thus restricted. -
It has been urged upon the railroads
that a reduction in rates will stimulate
traffic, and that Increased traffic will pro
tect the carriers from the loss incident
to a reduction in irates. The railroad
managements cannot disguise from them
selves that this suggestion is merely con
jectural and that an adverse result of
the experiment would be disastrous, not
orfly to the railroads, but to the public
whose supreme need is adequate trans
portation. , ,
Consequently the railroad managements
cannot feel justified in placing these In-
strumerttalities, so essential to the public
welfare, at the hazard of such an expc^-i-
ment based solely upon such conjecture.
Farmers Especially Need Lower
Rates.
It is evident, howler, that existing
transportation charges bear in many
cases a disproportionate relationship to the
prices at which commodities can be sold
in the market and ‘that existing labor
and other costs of 'transportation thus
impose upon industry and agriculture
generally a burden greater than they
should bear. This is especially true of
agriculture. The railroad managements
are feeling sensitive to and sympathetic
with the distressing situation and desire
to do everything to assist in relieviijg
it that is compatable with their duty to
furnish transportation which the public
must hsrve.
At the moment railroads in nmny cases
are paying 40 centa an hour for unskilled
labor when similar labor is working along
side the railroad and can easily be ob
tained by them at 20 cents an hour. The
railroads of the country paid in 1920 a
total of considembly over 11,300.000,000 to
unskilled labor alone. However desirable
it may be to pay this or that schedule of
wages, it is obvious that it cannot b«
paid out of the railroad earninga, unless
the industries which use the railroads arj
capable of meeting such charges.
The railroads, and through them the
people generally are also hampered in their
efforts to economize by a schedule of
working rules and conditions ■ now in
force as a heritage from the period of
Federal control and upheld by the rail
road labor board. These conditions are
expensive, uneconomic and unnecessary
from the point of " lew of railroad <^>era-
tion and extremely burdensome upon the
public which pays the bill. The schedule
of wages and of working conditions pre
vents the railroads from dealing equita
bly with their labor and costs in accord
ance with rapidly changing conoitlons and
the great variety of local consiuerations
which ought to control wages in differ
ent parts of the country. The railroads
are seeking to have these rules and
working conditions abrogated.
The reilroads will seek a reduction in
wages now proposftci by fimt requesting
*he sanction of the rai.road labor board.
The rai!«».cls will proceed wt^ all pos-
3ibl3 ?is‘>atch. and as soon aji the raflroad
labor board shall have given its assvnt
to the reduction in wages thr general re
daction in ratet) will be put Inta effect.
'Three
VIRGINIA
, BURLEV
WotaMes toiikISH
The three greatest
cigarette &bacoos;
Uoi(fi]^Mni>NESS-
MEUX^hOSS-AROMA
one-eleven
cigarettes
20fbr]5^
Beware
of
Cheap
Glasses
Self-selccted store glasses or
glassy furnished by incompetent
per4fns,is FALSE ECONOMY.
Value your eyes at their true
worth. Have them examined by
us and wear the glasses required.
“YOU KNOW US”
|liyKmMLCMMMO0kl»1
Gofcoalrfa Diy Qansrisi
wsfk bettsr flfed last
dry bsMs^
la dio^ caBwcSSfcvt*
bafa*«cc.
~-for ignition <m Am Ford
I while ttarting.Pntan end
> to cdd wwtthsr **hsUw?’
Tie wmrtd’t mmt fmmm dry
hutery, tatd wktn g>rvmf of
mdMdmmt etlU m miitd.
JUaofsci C% Mn/*
at mo tKtrm dmmf
No.6
Loi UMOI^
iCNlTOf^
c t; I ^
'■ 'U ''
When
Company Comes
—what new airs of busy impor«
tance the old dooibell puts on!
Take home a Columbia "Bell
Ringer” Dry Battery and give your
doorbell a chance. A single package
of double power—solid as a brick—
no connectors to fuss with. For all
bells, buzzers, alarms, heat regulators,
etc. One Columbia “Bell Ringer’*
works better and lasts longer &an
the wired'up group of ordinary cdls.
Sold by electricians, auto accessory shops
and garages, hardware and general stores.
You cannot mistake die'package.
Colmiibia
Ihy Batteries
w — Aev iMMt loaaer
^
Optometrist
78 Patton Ave.
Asheville
Philip’s Bal(8nf
When in need of Fresh Bread
Cakes, Pies, Rolls, and all other
Fresh Baked Pastry try us.
Bread one day old is new sold
fo^r nine cents a loaf.
It is our intention to deliver
Bakery goods as soon as we are
established in our new building.
Pliilip’s Bakery
CITY MARKET
S. F. ALLISON, Proprietor.
Try pur delicious Pork Sausage
Pork Chops, Steak and
Juicy Roasts
Fruits and Vegetables
Two Phones; Nos. 47 and 51
Residence No. 124
CITY MARKET
PleM Pressins Glab
F. L. DURBY, Manager
Brevard, C.
PRESSING
DYEING
DRY CLEANING
ALTERING
Orders Taken for Tailor-Made
Suits
Rear Smith's Barber Shop
Phone 143
Pressing 1 Suit 50c; 4Suits 11.50
Work called for and delivered
promptly
Let Us Priat
Yoor Sale Bills
COAL
AND WOOD
The very best Lump Coal can be
had by ordering from Siniard
Transfer Co.
Good Oak Wood $2.50 Load.
Leave orders at Deaver's Feed Store or Phone U8
Siniard Transfer Company
Yard Near Gotto ) Mill Phone 118
or
SAPOLIO
Finds countless uses in die
kitchen. It cleans cutlery,
k^es, tins, porcelain, china,
earthenware, lijioleum, oil
cloth, rehigeraton, tile, marble,
shelves and floors. See tbit
the name \SAPOLIO is on
eveiy packail'e.
ENOCH MORGANS SONS CO.
Sole JW5ewefi*feiwi*
NewYoric U.&A. ^
mMSS POTS AND FANS
"LOOK UKC NEW
mrnmmmmmmlM
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