The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1872-06-14
TIE L. K II. II. II.

tne rOau, IN tne COLUMBIAN, anu
furnishes the Republican with what he
facetiously calls "few facts" He adj
mits that the accommodations given
the people on the occasion of Barnum's
show in Danville was not first.class, but
explains that Barnum had engaged all
the decent cars, and that "the Company
gave the people the best that could be
procured at the time" "The best"
the Company had for passengers, pay
ing full fare, was lot of dirt cars with
rough hemlock boards for seats. In the
same breath with this admission Mr..
Holmes says that there is "no road in
the state which affords better accom-
nodations for passenger travel or for
freight business" Does Mr.. Holmes
mean seriously to say that there is a rail
road in the State doing q business of
over four dollars year which could be
bankrupted of passenger cars by the ad.
vent of a circus and compelled to trans
port ladies and gentlemen on dirt cars?
Because if he does he will excuse the
sensible portion of this community, not
deriving their income from the l.. & b.
II. r.. from believing him. Mr.. Holmes
further asserts that this Co. uses the
same rates for freight as the other roads
In the State. Let us see: From Shick-
shinny to Bloomsburg, % miles, the
freight on coal amounts to II cents per
ton per mile as appears by the books of
the Iron Company at this place. The
| Reading II. r.. charge from to .! cents
per mile, as we are informed bya ship
| per over that road. The l.. e b. r.. II.
chargeSl l0pert ton for rail road iron from
Danvillc to Bloomsburg-a distance of
about ten miles-being in the DeghbOr-
hood of eleven cents per mile. A gen
tlemen in town recently had lot of
salt in car at Rupert which he wished
the Co. to bring to Bloomsbury; they
asked him 50 for so doing, and he was
Obliged to hire teams to haul it. for
which he paid S3 The distance is a
trifle over mile and three-quarters.
Again lot of marble was shipped
here from Philadelphia, the charges on
which to Northumberland were 50 for
16l miles, but from Northumberland
here, 2l miles, the charges were IS
Again lot of glass ware was sent
from Pittsburg to Philadelphia, thence
returned to Northumberland total
distance of SIG miles, over the Pennsyl-
vania II. r., and the charges were 81 76
but from Northumberland to Blooms.
burg, 81 miles, the price charged was
81 6S-60 per cent of the amount for jl6
miles. Had the same rates prevailed
to Pittsburg the charges would have
amounted to something over $1O0!!
There are yet other cases in our possess
sion which we might enumerate, but
it is needless. The instances are suffi-
cient to corroborate fully the charge
made in the COLUMBIAN that "the
freights are simply Outrageous" And
yet at these excessive rates, the ears
are often furnished grudgingly or not
at all and the Iron Company have alb
solutely lost sales of iron from want Of
cars in which to ship. Mr.. Drinker of
the Bloomsbury Iron Co. testified in
his examination before the Committee
on the Judiciary General of the Senate
in relation to the Anthracite Coal diff.
culties, (Report of Committee p. 20S)
that "We send our pig iron to Rupert
in summer by canal and in winter haul
it in wagons; we find it cheaper than
sending it over the Lackawanna and
Bloomsbury railroad company the rail-
road company charges 40 cents per ton
from Bloomsbury to Rupert; the dis
tance is about two miles"-by the Cas-.
scheduel it is II es.-There'sc cheap
ness!
A very good idea of the manner in
which the Co. do business may be de-
rived from the testimony of David II.
Bound, the former Supt. OF the road,
before this same Senate Committee. We
submit it; the point under discussion
was the switching and changes at Dan
vile over private road.
''By Mr.. Hall. @. Does your charter
allow you to do that ?"
A. 81 don't know anything about
that"
Q. "You are charging without know.
ing anything about the law?"
A. ~ presume we have a right to do
it.n
(Report ofthe Committee p. 70.)
The Co. being relieved by special law
from the rates prescribed by the act of
1910, for distances under five miles
"presume that they have right" to
charge anything they please and so ar
range their rates that they exceed the
limits of charges and assume somewhat
the shape of petty larceny.
The Co. alleged that the limitation
of four and sixteen. .hundredths cents
per ton per mile is confined to freight
carried in cars of others, thus leaving
them at liberty to charge what they
choose when carrying in their own cars.
But your Committee are of opinion that
this charge cannot be justified under
the terms of the law. (Report of Com.
mittee p. l0.)
Mr.. Holmes may be honest in his
convictions that there is "no road in the
State which affords better accommoda.
tions for passenger travel or for freight
business" than the l.. & b. but he
speaks from his own experience which
is obviously very limited. Whenever
he desires to furnish the COLUMBIAN
with facts it would be we'll for him to
assure himself that they are such be.
fore putting them in print, but our
advice to him, meant in the most kindly
way, is TO attend strictly to his official
duties and not burden himself with the
defense of such a greedy, selfish, and
unaccommodating monopoly as the
Lackawauna q Bloomsbury r. r.. Com.
pany.
NOTICE! We purpose laying the
cornerstone of the Methodist Protestant
Church, near George Dodson's School
House in Benton township Columbia
county Pa. on the 22d of June at 3 O'Clock