The St. Johns herald., 1891-04-09
St. Johne, Thureday, Apr I 3
WE are credibly informed that a

cattle buyer who was on his way to
 Apache county to purchase any
 number of two and three-year-olds,
 for feeding purposes, stopped in
 Albuquerque for the purpose of en-
 deaYoring to make terms for ship
 ment over the Atlantic and Pacific
 Railroad, but could get no reduc-
 tion in rates, aud went elsewhere to find what he wanted. Itappear5 to
 the HERALD that the above named
 Company is not only damaging it's
 own trade by not allowing the same
 rates which other railroad compa- nies transport cattle for, but is work ing great hardship on the cattle
 owners of northern Arizona. Ex-
 cessive freight charges.over the At
 lantic and Pacific prevented a good
 many sales of cattle in this section last year, and compelled those who did sell or ship to drive 150 or 200
 miles to some point on the Atchi-
 son, Topeka and Santa Fe, when
 they would have shipped from Hol-
 brook or Winslow, could they have
 obtained rates which they could af- ford to pay. The price at which
 cattle have been, and are now sell ing, will not permit the payment of the charges for transportation de- manded by the Atlantic and Paci- fic Railroad. After the freight charges and other expenses incl cident to such shipments and the commission and stock yard charges are paid, there is nothing left for the producer. The railroad com panies and commission men get it all, and the man who has worked hard and undergone all kinds of exposure for two or three years, branding and looking after his cat tie, doesn't even get "thank you," for his labor, trouble and exposure. We think, and have thought, that the railroad company was working against it's own interests in keeping up its rate for the shipment of live stock to such a figure that it vir- tually places an embargo on tke stock raisers of northern Arizona. l A great many cattle would be sold 1 and shipped from this section every year, if a reasonable charge could ! be had for transportation. The railroad would increase its business materially and our stock men would | be vastly benefited by reduction of charges. We respectfully sug- gest to the traffic manager of the 1 Atlantic and Pacific that he take this matter under serious and care full consideration, not only for the good of the road, but for the bene- fit and relief of those engaged in the principal industry of northern Arizona. And unless some prompt and effective steps are taken by the railroad company for their relief, the HERALD suggests that the stock raisers of Mohaye, Yavapai, Coco nino and Apache get together and establish trail to some point in western Colorado or Wyoming and make annually drives. Once such a trail was established and the point designated, northwestern buyers would be on hand to meet every herd on its arrival, and would will ingly pay an advance of enough per head to cover all expenses incurred in the drive. Such trail could be established at a very small outlay as the country to be traversed is we'll watered by nature and the feed on the route would ordinarily be abundant. This would make our cattlemen independent of the rail road, and we have no hesitancy in saying would induce the railroad company to make decided reduc- tions in their rate of transportation.