THE RAILWAYS

Hokitika Guardian, 4 August 1930, Page 2

THE RAILWAYS

SOME SUGGESTED ECONOMIES. ' r* THE SMALL ITEMS THAT COUNTS. AUCKLAND. July 31. In view of the visit of the Railway Commission to Auckland a “Star” representative made inquiries regarding the possible elimination of waste in various directions . throughout the service. It was learned .that thousands of pounds could be saved in one district alone. Men in both divisions of the service were not slow to give the information sought. Under the heading “Stores” the total amount expended in connection with the purchase of stores and material for the Railway Department for the year ended March 31, 1929, was £2,487,365. This was an increase of £371,112 over the expenditure in the previous period. Railwaymen do not deny that there is a great deal of waste going on, the greater amount of which could be eliminated. It was contended that in the stationary account alone some thousands of pounds could easily be saved. Then again, there is much waste of material with respect ’to maintenance requirements. In many other ways, it was pointed out, savings. could be affected, even down to such comparatively small items as ambulance supplies and cleaning dusters,

EXPENSIVE STORES. It. is the custom of the stores branch of the railways to charge various departments a percentage over the cost price of goods supplied. In come cases as much as 100 per cent has been known to be charged. Some station masters have been known to go outside the stores and repairs branches of the. Department, and place orders with local firms who, in tiie main, have supplied goods at much cheaper rates than obtaiii; within the service. It has been contended that large sums of money could be saved in that respect alone. ‘ Correspondence has been responsible for an enormous waste of paper, and it is claimed that here, too, much saving could be brought about. Some scores of tons of good paper are used for correspondence when memo forms would serve the purpose. On inspecting the files at any railway office one can see hundreds upon hundreds of letters writen on foolscap paper when the correspondence could easily be conducted ■ with paper of much smaller size. In the sum of £33,233 expended on stationery in the year 1929, railway. officials contend that some hundreds, if not thousands, of pounds could have been saved on correspondence alone.

Some thousands of hooks, and wages sheets are printed annually, which could be eliminated if a different system were instituted. It was learned that hundreds of certain forms of consignment notes were printed in a hiirry some two years ago, and have never been used. There are stacks of these at country stations which are taking up space which could be utilised for other and better purposes.

The number of returns has increased so enoripously of recent years that it takes whole staffs to keep them up-to- : date. • “What use they are goodness j only knows,” said an official, when dis- j cussing the subject of elimination of waste. AMBULANCE SUPPLIES. Although the Bail way Department’s suggestions and inventions committee has had many proposals put before it for the saving of \yaste in stores, the majority Pave been rejected, as they have not been deemed practicable. One such proposal referred to proposed savings as far as ambulance supplies were concerned. Under the regulations each guard’s van is supposed to have a, fully-equipped ambulance cabinet placed in it. This case is full of emergency outfits such as iodine, cotton wool, sal volatile, chloroform, ether, bandages, splints, surgical instruments, etc. The box or cabinet is officially sealed, and definite instruct tions state that it jnust not be opened unless the occasion is an urgent I one. Sometimes a guard ■or a member of the engine crew received a slight cut. lodine is needed and the cabinet is opened. The seal having been broken j the box is open to anybody and every- . body until it is returned to the first', aid depot for examination and re- . placement. It has been known for . these cabinets to remain away from 1 their terminal station for some time, 1 and when the cabinet reaches its “home” station pounds’ worth of gear has been missing. As much as £lO worth of first aid material has been removed from the cabinet under

the circumstances described. With the hundreds of cabinets in the vans on the New Zealand railways the loss in that direction can be imagined.

In order to save the cabinet being opened for verv minor hurts a porter designed a neat little first aid box containing a piece of cotton wool gauze, iodine and a few other necessary articles suitable for dressing small wounds. This box cuold easly ,be placed in the guard’s pocket or hag. The suggestions and inventions committee rejected the suggestion, and thus first aid material is still being wasted. OTHER LARGE, LOSSES. | In addition to waste in other directions there are large losses in the , maintenance branch. Here is one in- I

stance. Some thousands of fishplates have beep stacked for years out in the open in varied depots. These have become pitted with rust, and periodically they are thrown away wheAi overhauled. Again, if a bolt is removed, in 99 cases out of 100 it is not replaced if it is possible to get a new one, even though the old one may be in good condition. For ordinary usage about 75 per cent of water is required to be added to raw mixtures of disinfectants, hut it has often been discovered that this formula is not adhered to. Members are apt to use disinfectant in an undiluted state. Were those stores issued •ready for use, one gallon, mixed correctly, would represent 75 or 100 gallons of mixture. It is obvious that a great saving would be effected. Waste occurs also in the improper mixing of gloy. In respect to dusters, waste occurs through their not being used for the purpose supplied. Instead of being washed when they are dirty they are discarded. The above are only a few items in the use of which, after being carefully considered, a great saving could be effected. It means closer supervision of stores in nse. In the end, however, it is the small things that count where large quantities are used. An English railway, in an economy campaign some time ago, pointed out that if each member saved one foolscap memo per day it meant the savings of hundreds of pounds in a year.