The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-05-03
AN IMPORTANT CONCESSION.

The Southern Pacific Company has an
nounced that it will make a reduction
averaging 90 per cent on local freight
charges for fresh fruit hauled from the
place of production to points on the
main line for overland transportation.
Coming Immediately upon the heels of its
previous announcement that it would put
on ventilator cars and thus do away with
the cost of $125 carload for refrigeration,
and that in addition it would organize a
five-day service from Sacramento to Chi
cago, it constitutes the most important
piece of news that Californians have heard
since the announcement of an intention to
build the Valley railroad
This concession was made in response to
the earnest letter addressed by prominent
fruit-growers to the Southern Pacific last
February. They showed that unless the
company should make some concessions
the fruit industry of the State was fail
ure and ruin unavoidable. The signers
declared that one reason for the great
prosperity of Southern California was the
fact that the Santa Fe road gave shippers
off the main line the advantage of a
through-rate charge on local shipments to
mainline points. The Southern Pacific
declined to grant all the requests made by
these gentlemen. 1t refused to fix ten tons
as the limit for a carload of cherries; de-
clined, in the case of mixed carloads, to
charge the regular rate on each article
composing the load, and adhered to its
rule to charge the highest rate for the
whole, and refused to make an emergency
rate of rs cents on raisins for this season.
But even the concession which it has made
is sufficient to rehabilitate the fruit in
dustry of California.
The appearance of P. D. Armour in the
field with competing line of refrigerator
cars is another important element. As
was announced in the CALL of April 3 his
rates are as follows: Ninety dollars from
Sacramento to the Missouri River, $130 to
Middle Atlantic and Lower Gulf points
$140 to Boston and New Orleans, and SIZE
to the Middle States and Texas. In addi-
ton there are extra local charges of from
$40 to SIS from various production centers
in California to points on the main line.
AS in certain parts of the State-particu-
larly the San Joaquin Valley-the heat OF
summer is SO great that ventilator cars
WILL hOt tethO Vic paw Va Nd1 d
there will always be demand for the lat
ter, and hence the cost of their service is a
very important consideration. The reduc-
ton of $50 made by Armour on the charge
heretofore levied, taken with the promised
reduction of about 40 per cent in local
charges, will make very great difference
even to those shippers who are compelled
to use refrigerator cars.
In addition to all these facts is the in
telligent work which the growers have
been doing in the East in the way of en-
tending the facilities for marketing their
fruits. The old loose plan of throwing one
trainload after another into Chicago and
thus gorging the market has been COM
pletely changed, and in it's place has been
organized a system of careful distribution
throughout all the centers of consumption.
Thus the area of consumption has been
greatly increased, and it will be extended
on the same lines as the necessity arises.
Hence, so far as the fruit crop of this
season is concerned, there is a reasonable
certainty of making handsome profit out