Employees in the Rutland area rode to Burlington aboard a special train hitched to the northbound train on the afternoon of April 17 to attend a party given by the Burlington members of the railroad. Howard Brown was in charge of arrangements for the 70 members of the Rutland contingent. Mrs. Mabel Williams headed the Burlington committee which put on a great party at the Olde Board.

A reorganization and streamlining of the health service of the Rutland Railway and the appointment of Dr. Harry R. Ryan, Jr. as Chief Medical Officer has been announced by Vice President Gardner A. Caverly. Dr. Ryan, a World War II veteran and a native of Rutland, will be in complete charge of the Rutland Railway's health service and medical program.
He will be assisted by nineteen doctors named "District Surgeons" and located along the more than 400 miles of the railroad.
The list of "District Surgeons" includes: Dr. M. J. Lewis, Bennington; Dr. M. D. Carey, Ludlow; Dr. A. M. Dickinson, Albany, N. Y.; Dr. Michael F. Powers, Bellows Falls; Dr. Sidney Schlesinger, Berlin, N. Y.; Dr. F. C. Thorne, Brandon; Dr. Stanton S. Eddy, Middlebury; Dr. Lawrence D. Greene, Stephentown, N. Y.; Dr. Oscar W. Wilcox, Jr., Chatham, N. Y.; Dr. D. W. Houston, Jr ., Troy, N. Y.; Dr. L. R. Goodrich, Vergennes; Dr. Lyman Allen and Dr. L. D. McSweeney, Burlington; Dr. 0 . L. Dugan, Alburg; Dr. J. E. Mcintosh, Chateaugay, N. Y.; Dr. J. W. Kissane and Dr. R. G. Perkins, Malone, N. Y.; Dr. James P. Smith, Norwood, N. Y.; and, Dr. F. E. Clark, Ogdensburg, N. Y.

By S. M. Rodgers - Readers of the Newsliner will be interested in the progress of the Safety Program on the Rutland, as Safety is something that affects all of us. Statistics are usually very dry, but when we think what the figures stand for, particularly when they .represent injuries which mean pain and suffering to us, or our fellow workers, they take on a new significance. Viewed in this light, the fact that all personal injuries on the railroad have decreased from twenty-seven in the month of January to eleven in the month of March means that fewer persons are suffering pain and possible loss of wages. It also demonstrates how well all of the employees on the railroad are getting behind the Safety Program.

The Interstate Commerce Commission has a way of classifying serious accidents as those in which the injured reason loses three days from work because o the accident, and this is the basis on which one railroad is compared with another. These kind of accidents are referred to as "Reportable." On our railroad, we had two "Reportables" in the first three months, as compared with ten in the same period last year. Such a record shows the interest that everyone has taken in making this a safe railroad to work on and will make us compare very favorably with other railroads in the country on the ground is the cause of additional accidents.

The ice harvest, when we cut ice on Lake Champlain for our summer use, resulted in a number of minor injuries due to inexperienced men scratching themselves with ice tongs, or tripping over the ice creepers that they wear to work on the ice. However, the more serious accidents happened when men were engaged in their customary jobs, particularly handling heavy material, operating hand brakes or freight cars. Tripping over obstacles on the ground is the cause of additional accidents.

On July 1, 1902, the American Railway Association put into effect the per diem system for computing payments for use on freight cars. Prior to that time, payment was on a mileage basis, with result that cars were earning only when moving.
The first rate established was 20 cents per car per day, and the rate since then has increased from time to time, until now it is set at $1.75 per day, with the probability it will be increased to $2.00, effective May 1st. Per diem must be paid for every day a car is on the line, whether moving, being unloaded or loading, in a yard or on a siding awaiting movement. 
In the year 1951 , per diem payments to other lines for the use of their cars amounted to $366,000.00.
​All concerned with car handling,-Agents, Yardmasters, Yard Foremen, Yard and Car Clerks, as well as local freight conductors, should contribute to the effort to eliminate car delays as a means of cutting down per diem expense, as every day saved means $1.75 and this could amount to a considerable sum over a period of time.
Much can be accomplished toward this end by placing all inbound loads promptly after arrival,- removing all empty cars and outbound loads promptly after release.