The Big Day

It was a big day for the little Chicago Aurora & Elgin Railway Co. After 14 years in receivership, the C. A. & E. finally chuffed out last week. Debts refunded, fixed charges erased, it was all set to highball. The road had netted $51,974 in 1944, boosted that to $185,805 in 1945, counted on turning a $225,000 profit this year. With the money, it hoped to pay investors a dividend, start replacing the antiquated equipment with which it now serves 8,000 commuters from Chicago's western suburbs.

But the C.A. & E. had been out of receivership only a few brief hours when it crashed into another derail. Its motormen, switchmen and trainmen, fully aware of the road's bright new prospects, capped the big day by calling a strike. They wanted the 18 1/2-c- raise already granted to most other railroad workers. This, cried C.A. & E. President Arthur L. Schwartz, would cost $285,000, put the road right back in the red. He offered 14 1/2-c-. The offer was rejected.

Gloomily President Schwartz contemplated junking the C.A. & E. Said he: "It may be the only solution. Some of the bondholders wanted to liquidate rather than reorganize, anyway. Maybe we should have done it."

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