Salt Lake Tribune | 1917-03-18 | Page 32 | Says Snowstorms are Most Trouble

S1ISSI01T0IS IRE MOST TROUBLE I Vice President Sweet of Rio Grande Declares Strike Is Subordinate. Successive and Bevere snowstorms are causing the Denver & Rio Grande railroad rail-road more concern iiist now than the threatened railroad strike, according to A. E. Sweet, vice president of the company, com-pany, who is in Salt Lake on one of his periodical inspection trips. Mr. Sweet is accompanied by F. J. Easley of Denver, Den-ver, general manager of the road. The visit to Salt Lake has no bearing on the strike situation, Mr. Sweet asserted as-serted last niiibt. He insisted that he knew nothing of tho decision of the brotherhood leaders in the east until after af-ter lie had started to Salt Lake. "All the information we have on the subject has come through the press dispatches,' dis-patches,' ' he declared. 41 We are leaving our part of the problem entirely with the representatives of the railroad managers man-agers who are in conference with the brotherhood leaders. From all I have been able to learn the trainmen and en-ginemen en-ginemen are in the dark as to the plans of the national leaders, as are the railroad rail-road officials. As to what we will do in case of a strike, that remains to be seen. It is exceedingly difficult to predict what will be done until we know with just what problems we will be confronted. I really am not in a position to discuss strike possibilities because as yet we have no official information either from the representatives of the management manage-ment or from the brotherhood leaders." j On the weather, however, Mr. Sweet had much to say, especially the weather in Utah. The records of the company indicate, in-dicate, he said, that the present winter is one of the most severe in the road's history. Heavy snowstorms and deep drifts all through the mountains of Utah and Colorado have given the operating op-erating department more or less trouble trou-ble all winter, and the conditions have been of a serious nature when the storms were accompanied by low temperatures. tem-peratures. In Denver, Mr. Sweet declared, the 1 winter has been less severe than usual and the snowfall has been light as com- pared with that in Salt Lake. Mr. Sweet and Mr. Easley plan to leave today for Denver.