Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-12-23
THE RAILWAYS REPLY
To Protests of the Glass Shippers on
the New Classification.
FINE WARE BILLED AS BOTTLES.
Charges That Undue Advantage Was Taken
of the Low Rates.
ALL NOW PLACED on THE SAME LEVEL

ent story to tell about the change in the
classification of green bottles, as a result of
which higher rate is charged. The problem
comes up every few years, and the lines
usually adopt the same tactics to bring
shippers TO time The railroad men claim
thev had 10 advance the bottle rate in self
defense, as the glassmakers were shipping
the finest cut-glass, chimney founts for
lamps and other articles under the head of
green bottles.
A Joint agent has been located in Pitts
burg for several wears to examine
freights and correct the false
weights and under classifcations.
While the railroad agents express sympa-
thy for the honest glass shipper, and the
bottle men in particular, they insist that
putting glassware in general in the same
classification removes all incentive for
cheating. This decision is rough on the
green bottle men, and the old classification
of third class in less than carloads will
probably be restored after awhile. The
roads discovered that the glass shippers
were making no Determinations in their
wares, and the most costly glass was marked
as bottles to take the third class rate.
The Trouble With the Shippers.
A freight agent, in discussing the subject
Yesterday. said: Everybody knows there
is a difference in price between a
cut-glass bottle and common green
one. What is paid for the first
will buy case of the second. Green bottles
are heavy and cheap, and for this reason
they took low rate. Shippers were not
content, however, and il made no difference
how fine the glass was, some of the manu-
facturers marked their shipments in the
lowest glass classification.
''It is a ticklish subject to handle, and
the railroads don't like to Jump on their
patrons when they do not carry out all the
requirements. 1t is a case where the honest
must suffer with the dishonest. The bottle
men have good grounds to raise objections,
but the railroads must protect themselves.
Under the present management glass ship
pers will have no object in trying to cheat
the railroads. They couldn't do it if they
would.
Dynamite as Iron Bolts.
''The freight inspecting bureau since its
establishment by the trunk lines has done
good work in Pittsburg. Shippers like it,
for they know that rivals ingenuity and
elastic conscience will not secure low rate
L
a Cleveland firm used to ship dynamite as
iron bolts. If a wreck had occurred, or the
stuff had been handled careleSslv, no one
knows what the result might have been. 1t
is a great trick for some shippers to furnish
false weights, while others never hesitate
to use the lowest classification. Recently
we adopted the plan of weighing shipments
on our own scales. We found that some
manufacturers were strictly honest, and
their representations were always correct
''Others furnished underweights. The
majority of them we discovered had de-
Quoted the weight of the packages In
some instances the coverings were heavy,
but that didn't make any difference to them
as long as they could saddle the extra bur-
den on the railroad. As long as shippers
will not act honestly, they can't blame
agents for being suspicious or adopting Sc
we're measures at times. As for the charge
that the local bottle men are Disseminated
against in favor of the makers in Ohio, Illi-
nois and West Virginia, this is not true and
the manufacturers here know it. The bottle
rates in the Central Traffic Association ter
ritorv were advanced in the same ratio, and
no place escaped or has better rate than it
had before-in proportion
A Formal Protest Filed.
The Pittsburg Committee of Freight
day. The protest of the green bottle men
against the higher classification was filed
and referred to the Glass Committee of the
Central Traffic Association. Under the
present traffic agreements the local roads
have no authority to do anything, and the
question has been put into the hands of men
who are not interested in the least in Pitts
burg.
The same complaint was made by the pig
iron men last week without avail Pitts
burg has always paid more than its share of
freight rates in proportion to New York
and Chicago. The grain rates to
the seaboard are very low in
comparison to what local manufacturers
have to pay on shipments for long or short
distances. The coke rates from the region
to Pittsburg and the Mahoning and
Shenango valleys are too high, but the re-
quest Tor a reduction last winter was re-
fused. The pig iron men have received no
encouragement from Chicago, but they
want to know soon what the railroads in
tend to do about their demand for 50-cent
rate from the valleys.
The agents were in session the greater
part of the day changing the green bottle
rates to correspond to the new basis. The
balance of the work was of a routine
character