The Phantom Section Hands of the Northern Pacific
A roadmaster at Cle Elum is arrested for padding six railroad crews with fictitious workers—until a foreman’s conscience, and the auditors, caught up with him.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
TACOMA, May 6.—[Special.]—Roadmaster Joe Hamhill, who has charge of ten sections of road on the Cascade Division of the Northern Pacific, was arrested today and placed under $1,000 bonds at Cle Elum. He is charged with carrying “straw” men on six of his sections and having instructed the foremen of the section gangs to carry the men. This sort of thing went on for some time, when one of the section bosses, who thought more of his position than he did of Roadmaster Hamhill, made a confession. Other confessions were then made by other bosses. About this time it was reported that Hamhill was preparing to make his escape and the company nabbed him. Hamhill has only been in the employ of the company for about six months and his stealings could not possibly amount to a large sum, as it was difficult to carry more than one fictitious name on any one section time roll. Before the first confession was made the auditing department of the company had suspected that something was wrong in checking up.
“He is charged with carrying “straw” men on six of his sections and having instructed the foremen of the section gangs to carry the men.”
Payroll padding with “ghost” workers is an old railroad and construction racket, and the Hamhill case shows the company’s own foremen and auditors as the counterweight. The episode also reminds us that the Cascade corridor was built by section gangs whose labor was dangerous, mobile, and easy to falsify on paper.
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