The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1877-05-15
GtreQntelli9enrer.
extraordinary Advance In Local
Freight Rates ON the baltimore
MOhiO Road.

Freight lIntes ON the baltimore
&OhiO Road.
We learned yesterday that the Balti.
more & Ohio road has recently made a
change Of classification in itsights that
will produce nm advance in transporta-
ton on certain leading articles Of the
heavy grocery trade Of as much IA lao per
c,n.as compared with the rates recently
in vogue. For the last three years or
more the road has carried bacon, lard,
sugar, coffee, beans and similar merChan.
disc, at what were called special rates.
The frcightion them to Grafton and all
points beyond, both on the main line and
the Parketsburg branch, was 25 cents per
hundred. Now it has been, all Of sud.
den and mosts stsunaccountubly, extraOrdi.
narily advanced, We saw yesterday a
bill Of charges made out at 80 cents per
hundred to point few miles beyond
Cumberland, to which point the same
freight for three years past has always
gone. at 25 cents.
One Of our leading merchants was re.
Gently in Baltimore and while there call.
ed at the office Of the company to see If
some redress Of sgreviance could not be
obtained but unfortunately while he found
no one who could give him any salts
factory explanation oithe advance, Meth.
erIcould he find any one who could hold
out any hope Of redress. The theory is
thalMr. Garrett finding himselI unable 10
keep up the revenues OF his road by
means Of paying through rates, has fallen
back on his'old time reserve, the local
business, and ordered his general freight
agent to reset the coulter Us deep as
possible on that. Accordingly, the old
rates OF lS6I--war rates we may call
them--have been reins.aied, and the
grocery trade is in stale Of commotion
and indignation in consequence, looking
upon itself asa victim TO an oppressive,
il not Obstructive, railroad policy.
1t tseens very unfortunate indeed that
the Baltimore & Ohio company SHOULD
periodically stir up a feeling Of this sort
among those who do a local business on
the line, Some three years ago the Rail.
ieay Age took the company severely to
task for its short sighted policy in this
respect. Herel Is an extract from that
article as it appeared in our columns at
the time:
"Wbat has the management OF the com.
pany done to develop the resources Of the
country through which it pnssesP Had
they encouraged large manufacturing and
other interests on their lines, these would
have produced permanent local traffic.
During the past year IN exhibit was
made in this journal OF the heavy charges
that were imposed on the local traffic Of
the Baltimore & Ohio railroad, az though
the effort was TO exact the last dollar in
lieu OF lower charges TO encourage
traffic. The shareholders will look in
vain for the development Of local busi-
ness which different, wiser, and broader
policy would have given. A line which
commands such extensive deposits Of iron
ore and coal should have produced the
results that are found on most Of the 9th.
er important railroads in this country
some Of which are not favored with re-
sources equal to the Baltimore & Ohio
Railroad Company.
There is, unfortunately, too much truth
in this araignmeut of the policy that
always has obtained in the management
of the Baltimore & Ohio road. II il
would do any good We could relate an
incident that happened long ago whereby
The company, after being remonstrNted
sth, lost forever a.revenue That they
we're receiving from one OF the iron millt
Of this city. This freight the company
sought to regain, after having driven il
into other channels, but sought in vain
Itneyer came back to them. And doubt
les the cuse is only one Of many similar
eases that have occurred,
The Proverbs Of Solomon tell us tha
"lhere is that scattereth and yet increas-
eth; and there ia that with.holdeth more
than ia meet but it tendeth to poverty
This provcrb applies with much force tt
the policy that has obtained on the B. &
o. road in respect to local business. .Tht
local rates on the road were Shown by
ihc article in the Railr0ny World, that We
have referred to, to be from one hundred
TO two hundred per cent higher than OF
the New York Central, and the following
figures were addnced by way OF oOmpari-
son. AZ these figures must naturally be
matter Of fresh interest to our readers
Just a! this time we reproduce them from
our files as iollows:
BALTIMORE I ONO RAILROAD rATEs-1o BALI