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Show RAIL PRESIDENTS ' ; ALSO HAVE WOES Small Roads Hard Pressed by Growing Competition of Auto Lines Chicago. Nov dj. Tho trials of I railroad presidents who preside ovor Ithe destinies of the country's short , lines are coming to light in the hearings hear-ings being given here to more than ;10u short lines whose employes have' petitioned the I'nited States Railway Labor Board for Ii. creased pay. . One Texas road, built primarily to open up a route to some mineral deposit de-posit beds, has to date the champion hard luck tab according to) W W Hanger, member of the board. The president of the line explained he owned own-ed il miles of track between two terminal ter-minal cities. Ills fast passenger train Covered the distance In two hours. IXT08 t.KT BUSINESS But between the two cities is a hard j surfaced highway and enterprising) au0 owners have opened a bus line j i The highway, on a direct route, is little ; more than twenty miles long, com-I com-I pared to the tatlroad s 41. The aut" bus covers the distance In 40 minutes, one hour and twenty minutes faster than the train, and chargest he same fare. The freight outlook he described as equally bad. A company operating motor trucks, two trailers to the truck, 'hauls freltfht over the highway faster j than the road can by train, deliv ers Ithe goods at the merchant's store tloor, jand charges the same tariff as the railroad. rail-road. And on top Of his other troubles jit is now estimated that the mineral deposits which furnish the main remaining re-maining sfourcc of revenue will be e-x-j hausted within three yeaCS. COMBATS YV GE RAISE The president of an Alabama .short line whose principal source of revenue, Ik milling ore to Birmingham furnaces appeared to defend his companj against six employ es. t station agents, j who had requested more money. Their present income la J'-' 3 a month. Tho railroad president exhibited a personal knowledge of the affairs of earh of his employes One of the station sta-tion agents, he said, owned a country 1 jbtorc n few rods from the railroad ta-itlon ta-itlon and had run his leleKr.iph wlrej into the store so he could handle bin jduties as h dispatcher and ope- tQl 'while waiting on etistomers ascpnd was described as the wife of a prosperous pros-perous farmer. She had her trie-graph trie-graph line In the farm kitchen, ;)) president said. Of the six operator i I only one was located in a town, and I that was a village of 500 population. The president said his road paid no dividends and operated at a loss of $100,000 last year. j Hearing of more than 100 short line ca.se4 each of which Is being tnk-'eji tnk-'eji up separately, In expeetel Q con-I Itlnue for several weeks. I teclslons in tall eases will be handed down simul- taneously |