Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1891-04-23
pEAcH RATES FROM WYOMING.
what Rates of Fare Shall BE Charged
for Car Loads to Boston.


for Car Loads to Boston.
The full text of the report of the de-
cision of the interstate commerce COM
mission in the case of the Boston Fruit
and Produce Exchange VS.. the New
York u New England Railroad Com
pany, the New York, New Haven d
Hartford Railroad Company, the Penn.
sylvania Railroad Company, the Central
Railroad Company Of New Jersey and
the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company,
involving freight rates on peaches from
Wyoming, in this State, to Boston, has
just been issued. On the direct point at
issue it says;
Considering the fact that the distance
from Wyoming to Boston and return is
T49 miles, and the other facts which go
to make mp the difference in the circum
stances surrounding each kind of traffic,
there is not so great relative difference
between the rates to Boston and the
western cities named as at first would
seem.
Upon all the facts which have been
made to appear as to this special service,
some of which are as follows The in
crease of expense over ordinary traffic;
the great value of the product trans
ported; the increased cost of the cars;
the increased expense attendant upon
the collection and making up Of the
trains at the different stations; the disar-
rangement of the other business conse-
quent upon the quickened transit; the
expense of ferriage at Jersey City; the
expense arising from the use of crowded
and costly terminals; the double mileage
arising from the fact that the cars are
necessarily returned empty; the return
and distribution of the baskets free; the
fact that the crop is a variable one and
of short duration-it is considered that
the carriers are entitled to greater COM
pensation than they are for other species
of traffic where some or all of these
qualifying conditions are not present.
The foregoing facts show that the rate
per basket, or per crate, or per hundred
pounds, or per ton, would vary accord
ing to the amount loaded in, as well as
the capacity of, the car, the rate being
the same for large car as for a small
one, on the roads east of Harlem river.
| One thousand baskets, if carried in one
kind of car, would cost the same for
transportation over those roads as if but
six hundred were carried. On the
Pennsylvania railroad, there was another
method Of arriving at the rate, which
varied according to the length of the
car, as above shown.
Under these diverse arrangements for
this traffic, which was intended to be
continuous as to shipment, it is impos-
sible to say just what the cost per crate,
or any other unit of shipment of
peaches, has been, on the average, be-
cause it did not appear just how many
crates or tons of the fruit were carried
in car, except in a very few instances.
Plainly, the peach trade is Of an i'm
portance and character to require as
much certainty as is practicable, as well
for the freight charges as to the time of
delivery to the consignees.
Transportation arrangements, for the
best interests of both shippers and car
riers, should be simple, uniform and
definite.
The existing practice of having cars
of differing capacity for this traffic seems
to be good one, but we think there
should be definite price for car of q
given capacity for the whole distance
unless loaded beyond the named capac-
ity, and then for the excess a proper in
crease. 1t appeared that in the prosecu-
ton of this business, the companies have
apparently Withdrawn from their regu-
lar service, and fitted up for its accom-
mediation cars of nine, 10 and 10 tons
capacity, with the tendency during re-
cent years to substitute those of the
largest tonnage and accordingly TO pre-
scribe minimum rate on each kind of
cars.
There seem to be good reasons, in the
case of this special Boston traffic, for
making the price per ton less in the
larger cars than in the smaller, among
| which may be mentioned a saving in
switching and other terminal expenses,
| in relative amount of dead weight to
| tonnage carried, in ferriage, which is the
same for the larger as the smaller cars.
Where economy results to carriers
thereby, they can, as they often do,
charge a less amount per ton, when cars
of larger capacity are used.
If a graduated rate should be pre-
scribed of $14 per ton for traffic in cars
of 10 tons capacity, of SIG in cars of IL
tons and SIS in cars of nine tons, this
would make carload rate for the 15ton
cars of 1910, or 354 cents per ton per
mile, for the 12-ton cars of $192, OF 400
cents per ton per mile, and for the cars
of nine tons, of $162, or 448 cents per
ton per mile; an average of 4.01 cents
per ton per mile.
In making the above computations
per ton per mile, the cost of ferriage of
/ $40 per car is first deducted from the
whole rate, and the computation is based
| on movement in one direction only.
The rate on first-class merchandise
from Wyoming to Boston is As cents per
| Hral fNrO 1tc ton, 10
and the difference between that sum and
the average above found, of 1862 cents
per ton per mile, represents the amount
Of extra compensation allowed to the
carriers for the performance of this
peculiar special service as compared
with first-class merchandise in ordinary
| trains
We think that, taking Wyoming as a
shipping point, illustrative of the sub
| iect, from which to fix maximum rea-
sonable rate to govern the traffic of all
the defendants, on their business, in
car load lots, to Boston and Boston
points, the carriers engaged in this
transportation should adjust their tariffs
and charges so that the maximum
charge, as to peaches carried in car load
lots, should be at the rate of $14 net
ton, in cars of 15 tons capacity, and at
the rate Of $16 net ton, in cars of 10
tons capacity, and at the rate of $1S a
net ton, in cars of nine tons capacity,
and, as to other stations, a greater or
less rate, according to their respective
distances from Boston, based upon the
above maximum charges between
Wyoming and that city, this charge to
include the cost of ferriage between
Jersey City and the Harlem river; and