Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-10-16
FREIGHT CAR FAMINE:
Railroad officials Confess They Can
not Handle the Crops.
FARMERS ARE NOW HOLDING BACK
There Will Be Big Blockade at the Sea-
board in a Few Weeks.
VIOLATIONS OF THE INTERSTATE LAW


The alarm which has been expressed
through dispatches from the West on ac-
count of inadequate transportation faclll-
ties for the immense crops just harvested,
proves upon investigation to be justified.
According to the representatives. OF the
Western and through lines in this city
there is at present, to use railroad phrase,
"car famine"
This car famine has been caused by phe-
nomenal activity in all classes of shipments,
which the railroad men are unable to &C.
count for. The shipments of iron, iron ore,
coal, coke, glass and all kinds of manufac-
tured goods and merchandise have increased
so rapidly within the past few days that it
is almost impossible to supply sufficient
cars to transport the freight now offered.
AT present little or no wheat is being
shipped, though ten days ago 1t
was moving rapidly. The first shipments
are accounted for as the small sales made by
the farmers to pay interest, mortgages, taxes
and pressing debts The remainder of the
crop is being held, in accordance with the
compact formed by the farmers, for higher
prices.
A. CAR FAMINE IS INEVITABLE.
At the Office of Charles L. Cole, General
Freight Agent for the Pennsylvania lines
west of Pittsburg, little light was thrown
on the subject.
''In Ohio and Indiana" said one of the
transportation officials, ''it is fact that the
millers are compelled to buy their wheat in
Chicago, because the farmers in those States
have been able to hold their crops.
This has required great many cars, which
up to date We have been able to supply.
The export wheat which is being shipped,
and much of that used in New York and the
East. is now transported by way of the
lakes from Chicago. When the corn crop
comes in and lake navigation closes we will
find the car famine q much more serious
matter than at present. At present we are
getting along just comfortably, but we have
no cars to supply the demand of Western
and Northwestern roads as we usually do.
We have many demands for equipments
from Minneapolis and other Northwestern
cities which we are unable to furnish. This
has been the condition for about two weeks,
and we can only guess what the
condition will be when the lakes
close and corn begins to move.
Our west-bound business is remarkably
good, and the traffic from other directions
has been proportionately increased. We
have many good manufacturing towns along
the line, and their shipments have been un-
usually large. Such places as Salem, Alli-
ance, Canton, Massillon, Wooster, Mans
field, ETC., are shipping and receiving much
more than their usual amount of freight.
The approach of bad weather seems to have
greatly increased the shipments of paving
brick and building materials.
RAILROADS CAN'T CARRY THE FREIGHT.
'The old corn is all gone, and when the
new crop comes in to market early in No
vember there will be no combination that
can hold it. With the enormous crops in
the West and the present prospects for
foreign demand the railroads will certainly
be taxed to provide equipments as they
never have been before. The pressure
west of Chicago at present is greater than
it is in the East and they are worse crippled
for transportation equipments than
we are. The glass business seems
to have taken an unusual squirt,
and it requires a peculiar class of
cars. The equipment for this class of freight
on all roads is very limited. Quite num-
Der of roads running into Grand Rapids and
other manufacturing towns in the North
west use these cars for the shipment of fur
niture, and the lines running into Colum-
bus and Cincinnati use them for shipping
buggies, carriages and wagons"
''Do you think fhe farmers will succeed
in obtaining better prices by holding their
wheat?" was asked.
'No: these attempts to corner the crops
of the country always fail. Some of the
farmers, of course, can hold on to their crops
indefinitely, but they are few. 9th
ere are compelled to sell at once
to pay mortgages Then others will
see the situation differently and will
commence selling. This will cause a panic
and they will all break for the market.
When wheat and corn commence coming we
will clog them up at the seaboard in short
order, even with the cars at our command,
and will have to stop, as will also the
Western roads, until New York can send it
abroad.
NO CHANCE TO CORNER CORN.
"The corn crop it is impossible to corral;
it is too big to attempt to corner it. The
men who have attempted to corner wheat,
too, have all come to grief-Keene, Old
Hutch, White and all of them, and the
farmers will have the same experience.
The supply and demand will ALWAYS reru-
late the price in the end, though it may be
slightly modified temporarily by specula-
tion."
"What is the rate on wheat from Chi
cago to New York at present"
''The rate as fixed by the Central Traffic
Association is % cents per 100 pounds but
a rebate of 8 cents is paid, which reduces it
to % cents. This, of course, is square
violation of law. Copies of every manifest
on through business are examined, and under
this system they are found to be alright, but
the rebate is paid in cold cash and there is
no way of tracing it. 1 have often said that
the Interstate commerce act was passed for
the benefit of the job printers but will con-
fess that if half as much talent was en-
ployed in its enforcement as there is in its
evasion it would be beneficial to both the
roads and the shippers"
Inquiry at the passenger offices elected
the fact that the lines were taxed to their
utmost capacity in this department also for
equipments. The recent increase is esti-
mated at so per cent on the Pennsylvania
lines, and many new coaches have been
added and many more have been ordered.