Semaphore - July 1954

Semaphore [seal]SERVICE WITH COURTESY JULY, 1954 The Magazine of the Piedmont and Northern Railway Co. [image: children swimming in lake]

Editorial Page

A CLEAR WARNING

The disastrous fire which swept through Southern Railway's downtown freight terminal in Charlotte last month burned up over a half million dollars worth of merchandise, equipment, and real estate in less than an hour. On top of that, it completely disrupted the business operations of several firms which leased space in the building and left the railroad without an adequate place in which to carry on its freight business in Charlotte.

The fire was started, it is believed, by some chemicals which were stored in the two-block long termial. In a matter of minutes the whole building packed with merchanse, was aflame from end to end. It may have been an exciting spectacle for the thousands who watched the smoke billow high enough to be seen a hundred miles away, but it was a bleak day for the railroad.

That it could have happend to the Piedmont & Northern is a soberting thought, indeed. Our own railroad operates similar freight terminals and warehouses in all of the principal cities we serve. These terminals and warehouses, usually stacked to the rafters with valuable merchandise, are always vulnerable to fire. To disregard or treat this dnager lightly is to invite a staggering loss of life and property. The aftermath of such a fire would linger for months as the railroad struggled to replace facilities it could ill afford to lose.

The Charlotte fire should serve as a loud and clear warning to all concerned with operating and policing P & N terminals and warehouses. It should remind us to take stock of our own situation and, if necessary, redouble our effort to forestall the appalling waste of a major fire.

Fires of the sort experienced in Charlotte are everybody's loss and nobody's gain. No effort should be spared to see that our own property is as safe as possible from this danger.

[column 1]

KEEPING TRACK [illustration of a train on tracks]

PIEDMONT PRODIGY, the history of the P & N recently reprinted in booklet form, is still in demand in railroad fan circles, especially electric railroad fans. After the AAR mentioned the publication in its RAILWAY DIGEST requests copies came from all over the country. The booklet is still available at no charge and a copy may be obtained by addressing a request to the editor.

BLOOD BANKS operated by the American Red Cross have become almost as familiar as financial banks and many people donate on a regular schedule. The P & N has several one man blood banks who have given more than their share to the Charlotte blood center. The dean of the group is Paul U. Taylor of the accounting department who has donated nearly two gallons of blood over the past few years. Other gallon club members are Milton Watts of the accounting department and Floyd E. Williams and W. Al Browder of the traffic department.

THE DEMAND for the P & N's old locomotive bells has exceeded the supply and all available bells have been allocated. Most of the bells were donated to churches but one was presented to the Charlotte Model Railroad Club. The club has purchased a tract of land near Charlotte which is being developed into a railroad park. The P & N bell will be instakked in the park at some future date.

THIEVES are not necessarily lazy, it seems. Last month on enterprising thief went to a lot of trouble to remove the littke copper bonds which connect lengths of rail on a mile of P & N track near Hoskins on the N. C. Division. This tedious job of pilforing yielded the thief a few pounds of copper which he will probably have trouble disposing of and is worth, at best, a few dollars. Crime won't pay, even if he doesn't get caught.

[column 2] Semaphore

Volume 10 Number 7 JULY, 1954 Published by the Piedmont & Northern Railway Company. Address all communications to Editor, Semaphore, P. O. Box 480 Charlotte, N. C.

EDITOR THOMAS G. LUNCH Director of Industrial Development and Public Relations

CORRESPONDENTS Elizabeth N. Watt --------------------------Anderson Lennie Featherstone -----------------------Belmont Elsie K. Walker ------------------------------Charlotte Jean Wallace ----------------------------------Gastonia Harry T. Campbel -------------------------Greenville Louise DeShields --------------------------Greenville Evelyn Williams ----------------------------Greenville Sarah Yeager ---------------------------------Greenwood F. E. Furr --------------------------------------- Pinoca H. W. Kay -------------------------------------Spartanburg

IN THIS ISSUE . . . Carolina's Rich Uncles -------------------- 4 Meet Your Directors ------------------------ 6 Better TImes Ahead ------------------------ 7 The Big Wheels ------------------------------ 8 Profile-Floyd E. Williams ---------------- 10 Coal is Black Gold -------------------------- 12 Along the Line ------------------------------- 13

THIS MONTH'S COVER . . . There's nothing that can fill a lake faster than a july sun. This lake-at Paris Mountain State Park near Greenville-rises in the morning and ebbs in the evening in direct proportion to the energy of the sun. The "suntide" phenomenon is principally attributed to a squirmy, squeally variety of tadpole sometimes known as a boy. A goodly number of the creatures can be discerned in the cover picture as they go about their buisness of raising the tide.

[column 1] P & N's six - county area has 4 1/2% of the land in Carolina and 25% of the buisness.

Carolina's Rich Uncles [title spans columns 1 and 2]

[column 1] NOBODY who lives in P & N landthe central Piedmont section-has to be told that their section is growing and prospering. They can see the evidence themselves-new houses, increasing vehicular traffic, crowded school rooms, new factories and warehouses, busy shops, and other visual signs.

But sometimes statistics can tell an even more vivid story of growth. That is why the editors of the BLUEBOOK OF SOUTHERN PROGRESS expend a great deal of effort each year trying to develop a statistical picture of how the South is doing. Their analyses and conclusions concerning 1953 were published recently and have since been relegated to many a file and bookshelf to gather dust with previous issues.

Actually, the figures at first glance are about as interesting as last week's newspaper. They are just so many numbers until somebody starts making comparisons. Then and only then do the stories behind the figures emerge with startling clarity.

[column 2] [black and white photo of a city with pedestrians crossing on a crosswalk.] [captioned] Greenville is a leader in business volume

Basicly, the P & N is a 128-mile railroad serving two North Carolina counties (Mecklenburg and Gaston) and four South Carolina Counties (Spartanburg, Greenville, Anderson and Greenwood). Technically the railroad serves a fifth county in South Carolina (Abbeville), but in actuality it touches but a small portion of this county and therefore it was not included in this study.

The lion's share Thus, P & N land is a six-county area in the Piedmont section of the Carolinas. There are 98 counties in North Carolina that the railroad doesn't touch and 41 in South Carolina. The P & N's six-county area contains 3,753 square miles, which is approximately 4 1/2% of the land area of the two states.

But, with only 4 1/2%, of the area, P & N land has, in round figures:

13% of the population 22% of the total family income 23% of the manufacturing 27% of the trade 25% of the total business volume

4 SEMAPHORE

Furthermore this six-county area has a per capita income of $1,817 as compared with $1,122 for the whole of Carolina. P & N land's per capita income outstrips that of all Southern states, including the whole of Texas which has the substantial per capita income of $1,497.

In one one column of BLUEBOOK statistics does the six-county area look something close to ordinary. Its farm and rural business volume represents slightly less than 5% of the total for the two states, which is pretty much in proportion to its percentage of land area.

Since this analysis is confined to only six counties out of 146 in the two states it is necessarily a small part of the whole. But nevertheless it is ample support of the contention that the P & N serves one of the finest areas of the South. If the railroad had its choice today of any six Carolina counties it could lay its track in, it could hardly choose six better ones.

The figures speak for themselves . . .

URBAN BUSINESS VOLUME

JULY, 1954 5