The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1873-03-13

ion of the amounts received for the transporta-
ton of passengers and freight. and have there
fore refused to become party 10 H. me Ma,ne
Central Railroad managers have insisted upon
this contract being taken by the Boston q
| Maine. and because it has not Deen SO taken
| have endeayored to drive the Boston q Maine
| TO tho accentance of its TERMS and because the
| Roston &, Maine have not yet been driven to it,
| tbe Maine Central Railroad are to-day trying to
| drive fine people from patronizing the Boston g.
| Maine Railroad. The Maine Central Railroad
| saws to a shipper who lives in the State of
| Maine, you shall not ship your potatoes via Bos-
| ton g. Maine Railroad. If the shipper insists,
| he is informed that the Maine Central will haul
| his potatoes to Portland, but will compel them
to be transferred at that point, and will charge
him more for hauling than the same road
would charge if it were allowed to deliver the
same potatoes to the Eastern r. R. at the same
point Are transportation comp to be allowed to
make such determinations Pare not the shippers
OF freight the parties who should control it, not
wlthstanding the custody thereof has been given
10 transportation company. Are the people
to be Whipped into line by overgrown railroad
monopolies, who buy up and control legisla-
lures?
The fare from Bangor to Boston is six dol
lars, and the distance on Maine Central Rail
railroad is 135 miles; the distance on Boston u
Maine Railroad is 112 miles and the Boston &
Maine are invited to take $1.50 for its proportion,
leaving Maine Central $500 for its proporuon.
Augusta is 175 miles from Boston. 6S OF wnlch
are on Maine Central Railroad and III on Dos to
ton and Maine, the fare is $4 OF whicn t the
Boston and Maine are offered y! 90, WINE tne
Maine Central takes $50. Lewiston WIS., Is 90
miles below Portland, and the rare from Lewis,
ton To Boston is 49, 40, of this the Boston and
Maine are invited to take ST. for hauling liz
miles and the Maine Central quietly pockets
81 80 for hauling the passengers 80 miles; more
than five cents per, mile. SKowhegan IS l00
miles from Portland, and the fare from Boston
to Skowhegan is 575,-the Boston and Maine
are invited to take, and the Eastern Railroad
do take, of this amount, $l.50, while the Maine
Central moderately receives So. 25 for drawing
the same passengers IL miles less than either
of these roads.
A ton of frst-class freight is drawn from
Boston to Westbrook, town miles below
Portland and the consgnee is charged Sc ;of this
amount the Boston s. Maine are invited to take
and the Eastern R. r. do take ST. 80 for drawing
IL miles, while the Maine Central receives
81 20 for drawing the same miles. A car of
hay is drawn from Riverside to Boston, a dis
lance of 1872 miles, and 81 per ton is charged; of
this the Boston & Maine are invited to take So
for drawing 112 miles, and the Maine Central
take S. for drawing the same 80 miles A ton
of second class freight is drawn from Bangor
to Boston, distance of 247 miles, and IS. 70is
charged for the same; of this the Boston and
Maine are invited to take So for hauling 112
miles, while the Maine Central take $6.7O for
hauling the same 1876 miles A car load of po-
tatoes is drawn from Skowhegan to Boston
distance of 212 miles, and $50 is charged there
for; $40 of which are paid to Maine Central
Railroad for hauling 100 miles, while 500 are
paid to Boston and Maine for hauling 112 miles
Is it any wonder that potatoes command high
prices, when railroad is permitted to chage
$40 for hauling car load one hundred miles?
The circulars issued by the acting Superin-
tendent of the Maine Central Railroad, stating
that the Boston & Maine Railroad had given
notice that they would not receive freight on
through bills isvery far from the truth, and
shows kind of sharp practice too low for any
business man to engage in. That Superintend-
ent knows that he, in a telegram to Mr., Fur
Der, after the Boston & Maine had opened its
road to Portland, and had drawn freight for
three days to that point, said that he "would
not consent to the abandonment of the econona-
zeal and Convenient mode of transporting freight
via South Berwick Junction" He also knows
that Mr.. Furber had notified him before the is
suing Of the circular to shippers, that he should
be pleased to allow Maine Central road to way
bill freight through, provided the Maine Cen
trail would deliver the freight to the Boston &
Maine at Portland. The Boston & Maine road
iswilling and anxious to bring out of the State
of Maine all of its produce at very much less
rate per ton per mile than it has ever been
transported over the Maine Central Railroad
but it chooses to give the benefit of the dis
count to the shipper rather than to allow the
Maine Central to make a profit on the Boston
& Maine proportion of the transportation. Are
the people of Lewiston, Freeport, Brunswick,
Gardiner, Augusta, Skowhegan, Belfast and
DduSOr pledSeu 10 KNOW tndb tney are paying
more than three times as much per mile for
their transportation between their several
towns and Portland, as is paid between Portland
and Boston for the transportation of the same
passengers and merchandise Let the Maine
Central Railroad put its rates where shippers
can afford to use the line, and the Boston &
Maine will put its rates as low as the Maine
Central, and then allow the Central respect
able amount for terminal charges but let the
shippers and the people have the benefit of the
cheap transportation, and not take it from one
road and give it to another. The Boston &
Maine has ever been honestly managed in the
interests of the people and has prospered, and
to-day has real estate enough to pay every dol
lar of its debt, while some of its neighbors,
who have ever been trying to depreciate Its
with a debt Of millions. will give you from
time to time chapter on Maine Central Rail
road rates, on both passengers and freight, for
know it will be interesting to the parties who
are compelled to pay them.
SHIPpER's FRJEND