The Columbus journal., 1888-10-03

HANDLING OF FREIGHT.
COME POINTS WHICH ARE OF IN
: TEREsT TO THE PEOPLE.
aev AsroAa.Aiss Il Hasdlsa b IL Rap
v~sads-Thsir Hsehsds a R.isi.e Rssss
and Sstsliag Claims Described Z . Brief
sssdi,g . '.Tt.csr."
The manner Of making up through
rates. that Il. rates between points neces-
stating transportation over two or moro
roads. IS now comparatively simple. Prior
to the passage OF the interstate commerce
act. certain agreed rates prevailed 1t all
junction Or common points prevailed
until some one road felt inclined to cutl
and points local to ono road were fixed 1t
- high rates O. were considered necessary
by the road reaching them. Nov. how
tho majority. Of the roads have
thrown their local territory open by tax
ing common points as basing points. and
making the rates to intermediate local
territory the same as those in effect at the
next farthest basing. point. In other
words. dividing the road into groups. each
group taking certain fixed rates. The
through rates are divided between the
roads forming the line. on . mileage basis
that Is. each road receives . percentage
Of the through rate q great a. the dis
tance traversed over its rails bears to the
entire distance from point Of shipment to
destination. .
The numerous cases # delays and loss
Of property In transit ale In . largo meas
ure duo to careless or improper marking
Of merchandise by the consignor. II al
packages were. properly and plainly
marked these annoying occurrences would
be reduced to . minimum. As it IL. how
ever. the systematic methods OF handling
freight in practice BY al roads render It
almost impossible for anything to b car
ried to . wrong destination. although
some errors in routing occur which, In
the case Of perishable freight. ere equiva.,
lent to actual loss.
When . shipment fails to arrive ON
time . tracer" Il sent after It. These
'~'tracers" are In the shape Of Q request
upon forwarding agent to follow mp
the shipment by means Of his way bill,
car number. train number. date and seals,
all Of which are kept In his station rec
ords. Tie ''tracer' Is sent along tho line
traversed by the shipment. and each agent
In turn notes thereon date Of arrival and
whether transferred into an
other car. and seal record. and forwards
to next junction point. In this manner
freight Is always ultimately discovered.
though sometimes It takes considerable
time. In urgent cases this Is done BY
telegraph.
The great bone Of contention between
and railroads Is the time con-
sumed In adjusting claims. When .
claim Is paid the q of correspondence
that has accumulated Is usually detached
from the claimants original papers. and
he cannot. therefore. understand ewhy 1t
could not have been paid sooner. Claims
are Y purposely delayed. and II
but knew the amount Of labor
involved, even in the simplest cases. com.
on. this score would be less fro
Quent. Tho larger business houses arc
gifted with more patience in this respect
than the country merchants. II IL also
true. as claimed by these smaller dealers.
that the large shipper has his claim put
through" in much less time. There are
reasons for this; the constant
shipper. in presenting q claim, accompa-
it with oil necessary documents. and
gives q clear and concise statement of the
case. whereas the country merchant writes
q rambling sort of letter. threatening to
give all his shipments to the A., b. and
c. road, and to do various other terrible
things In the event Of non-psyment Of his
claim. and studiously avoids giving par
ticulars. thus. in some eases. forcing the
railroad to make out q ~ against itself.
A mistake the country merchant fro-
quently makes Is to send his claim to tho
shippers. asking them to push it through
for him. This course Of procedure always
causes delay. A claim presented by tho
owner of tho property-if bill of lading
or receipt, and paid freight bill, together
with q letter Of explanation. is submitted
to the delivering road-wm be handled
with dispatch. be the claimant . largo or
small shipper.
As q general rule overcharge claims are
the most quickly disposed Of. II occa,
by IN error Of one road in . line
such road usually stands the amount, and
II the claim be based on . rate In force
by . competing route all roads interested
willingly reduce to that figure upon pre-
Of proof.
The loss and damage claims are moro
difficult to handle. In the investigation
Of these matters, particularly damage
each road attempts to disprove
any liability, and endeavors to shift tho
upon another. and it b this
between the roads which
causes the delays complained Of most
The method Of Investigating
Of this nature II simple enough.
The shipment II traced through from
point Of shipment, and the road ON whose
line shipment checks damaged or short
pays the damage. It often happens,
that the loss or damage cannot
be located, It Is then that correspond
euce accumulates, and the claimants hair
turns gray while waiting for his voucher.
In cases where 1t Is utterly impossible to
locate the damage or loss It Is the custom
for al roads participating in the haul to
join in payment Of the damages. Several
roads have recently adopted the plan Of
Just claims q soon rs presented.
to their connections to ''chip in"
aftefward.-Chicago Journal
The 4occsssful Mans AstAoda.
Tho clever person Is always practical.
adaptable, always and unehang-
clever. He never misses his chance.
Like Coleridgeis raven. who picked up
the acorn and buried It straight" and
came back. and dwslt there when ''the
ACORN was grown to Q tall oak tree" tho
clever man lets No opportunity escape.
Men who do not see the acorn or do not