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Show I I AUTOMOBILE NEWS AUTOMOBILES AND RAILROADS H, I It in not surprising that In thos" Wf j sections of the country wher thS I. I roads are pood and renditions favor- t able the railroads have suffered In W I their passenger travel from the cont- H petition of automobiles - During the- summer of 1911 the pas- I nenger traffic manager of the Union p Pacific railroad, which crosses the K .i western plains, practically a level Bfi country, from the Missouri river In Nebraska to the Rorky mountains, n 91 region which In long spells of dry -weather Is specially Rdapted to auto mobiles, made Investigations of the ef feet of those vehWes on the passen HH ger business of the railroad BK The Investigations made up to Au- WBh (rust. 1912, by the (Tnlon Pacific show HR that the effect of the automobile upon HK the railroad passenger traffic la rap- Idly Increasing It was shown that BBH there are now upward of 25,000 auto- jH mobiles in Nebraska. 18.000 In Kan HB sas. 18,000 in Colorado, 1 500 In Wyo- HB mlng. 2.300 In Utah and 1,(00 In Idn- HB bo. That Is, there is one automobile BJPJ' for every 47 Inhabitants In Nebraska. H one for every' 90 in Kansas, one for j tvery 44 In Colorado one for every 97 B 111 Wyoming. Undoubtedly, therefore. fbe passenger earnings of the rall--ways are being, and will continue to HJK be, more or less seriously affected Moreover the effect of the automobile fflB is felt particularly in the earnings of JM branch lines, where the traffic Is pJB hardly sufficient to justify an Increase SDJa In service, and where the loss of bus- 8E Iness renders It more difficult to meet QMS the erpense of a train or two a das MB With the improvements In counts iW. roads and In the design Gf motor HBM trnckB there Is also growing up a com- KfB peimou wud me railways ror me H handling of freight for short dls- fiB tances, particularly in congested ter BBK minal districts. In n recent article In the Railway Age-Gazette It was stated that consld- BH erable transportation for short dls R, tancee Is being carried by motor bBF trucks, and some of the large depart ment stores in Chicago have for sev II eral years used tneir own auto trucks BJ for the delivery of packages In the H outlying suburban territory in prefer enoe to paying express rates Many BJ: other Instances have been notd N where short-haul freight transporta-BJ transporta-BJ Hon formerly handled bj railway baa BP been captured by the motor trucks Bft Tt was recently estimated that from HB the Ineeptlon of their manufacture ip ff to 1911 $fio,ono,0iio worth of motor B business vehicles had been sold. BJ It hss always been the case thac H every new invention which improved Hi business facilities and increased econ- I omles Intrenehed on and often seri 3H ously affected the methods preiouslv H in use, but they made new business BB and opened new fields of employment I HEf for labor, skill and intelligence B The optimistic and evidently the; 1 true view of the situation Is that both j J the automobile and 'he motor truck I H J. are agencies of transportation that j ' ' 1 make for good roads and better con I ; dltlons of living, which prill ultimate ' HQ; ' l.v be helpful to the railways as well I K as to others The railways certain!; J are vitally Interested in road Improve- Hj 1 . ment, they derive large earnings from Bfl the shipment of automobiles and If H the traveling salesman Is able to seH H more goods by their use the railways H will surely profit as a result. At th- Hp same time it Is not unlikely ttrnt the K Increased use of automobiles will have BU ! a tendency to slarkr-n the building of BH Interurban trolley lines BH There is nothing in sight, and cer- H talnly not th flying machine, that can Bj take the place of railroads, and the H (renernl extension of good country' H roads coincident with rhe settling up ft of the country will all redound to the BH benefit of the railways In the end. BH New Orleans Picavune. J |