The news and herald. [volume] (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1876-1881, 1879-07-02
Reform in Freight Bills.
While efforts arc on foot to prod,

incnt, tncfC Is ono point never before
mentioned, to which we wish to call
the attention Of the Railroad Commits
sioner, as the correction may come in
the line Of his duty. 1t was formerly
the custom, when articles were ship
ped over several railroads, for the
road last transporting tic article to
State separately on its freight bill the
amount charged on the other roads,
and the amount charged by it. Now,
however, the charge is made in II
lump, and the merchant has no way
Of knowing whether the G.. G.. Il a..
II. II. is exceeding tho charter limit
or not. The present convenient prac-
ticc, we presume, is common to all
roads, as it makes detection Of imposi-
tions almost impossible. We think
that Commissioner Bonham has the
power Of requiring the roads to make
an itcmiZcd bill of charges. lfit is an
honest bill 10 one can object to giving
all the particulars; but charges in
gross arc fruitful field for fraud.
AS an evidence Of the dcsirability of
this reform, and to show how the
Charlotte Road has treated Winnsboro
in the past, we will give two or three
instances taken at random. We will
do Mr.. Solomon Haas the justice to
say that these particular grievances
were committed before he took charge
of the freight business. They occurred
before the road jumped from the
Southern Security Company's frying
pan into Mr.. Tom SCOTS fire. But
they are all of Il piece, and indeed VIC
have no guaranty that the Road is not
doing the same now that it did then.
On tic 18th of March, 1877, Mcssrs.
Beatty & Brother shipped some bacon
from Baltimore to Winnsboro direct
by the Coast Line, that is, over the
Wilmington Road Uia Columbia, and
paid GS4 cents per hundred. Learn
ing that very favorable rates were
given to Chester, they adopted the
cXpcdient of having another lot ship
ped from Baltimore on the Goth of
March, 1877, which was sent riu CO.
lumbia to Chester, and then shipped
back ilv,,, CC,,,,.<,,..er q, to Winnsboro, an
extra distance Of about sixty miles,
and at the trouble Of one moro hand
ling. Yet the charge from Baltimore
to Chester was % cents, and from
Chester to Winnsboro 20 cents, (25
cents was tho charge but it exceeded
the printed tariff and rebate of five
cents was allowcd) both together
being Is cents or. 204 cents less than
when shipped to Winnsboro direct.
And Of this, almost half the entire
charge was made for the distance be-
tween Winnsboro and Chester. Thcl,
the road refused to take any more
freight in that way; SO that on the
18th of April another lot was shipped
to Wjnnsboro direct, and the charge
was rs cents per hundred.
We wish our readers to understand
this. The road shipped bacon from
I"ttiinopc tn C:,trstct, passinS right by
Whinsljoro, and charged only rs cents.
And yet Whcu The bacon stopped at
Winnsboro, the Charge was from GSa
t" IS cents. Again, when the road
charged 20 cents from Chester to
| Winnsboro it was exceeding its char
ter. Aud vet it was not content to
do this; but actually refused to take
any moro freight at the same rate. 1t
was not satisfied with skinning Wim y
boro ut the rate of twenty cents Il hun
drcd, but made sausage meat of it at
the rate Of forty and fifty cents.
Before this, some Of the merchants
had had articles shipped to Columbia,
and thence to Winnsboro, thus saving
o handsome sum, for the through rates
to Winnsboro were even more goug-
ing than the local rates. For some
time this succeeded, but when the
Charlotte Road found it out, it sud
denly added charge Of twenty cents
a hundred to tho local rate, ostcnsibly
for the cost Of transferring the freight
from the Wilmington to the Charlotte
Road. Remember, this charge was
not added until after the road dis.
covered the game. Before that nc
extra charge had been made for trans,
ferring. This too whom the two roads
were practically one, and both used
the same track from Columbia to
Augusta.
The point we wish to impress is, il
the merchants had never shipped their
goods to Columbia or to Chester they
would never have known what tho
local rate Of the Charlotte Road was,
and could not have prosecuted it for
cxtortions. If the roads arc com
pcllcd to make all itcmizcd charge
every Infringement can be quickly
detected.
Mistaking the Man.
The Augusta Chronicle tells good
| atory Df how tho fr,r Ohio ro nt,r nj