The morning call., 1895-02-14

he very seldom uses the road, and as a shipper
| a very careful examination of our records
shows that he neither forwarded nor received
one single pound of freight during the year
1894.
Naturally, therefore, his communication is
nol in the form of complaint, and he so
states, as he writes, ''It is my opinion" The
| opinion as given is an emphatic expression
against the company, stated in very broad and
general terms.
| In support of his denunciation he attacks
| four expense bills as a comparative argument.
| These represent shipments consigned to other
parties in Cloverdale, in which he personally
had no interest whatever.
Three of these shipments are from the East,
| and his remarks in presenting the expense bills
are as follows:
az inelose you freight bills, ge ntlemen, which
| fully establish my position. Just think of it.
| S37 on carload lot from Chicago, ILL.,. to San
| Francisco, and from this point to Cloverdale, q
| distance of only eighty-four miles, $34.
| The expense bills referred to prove the abso-
| lutte incorrectness of his statement, as the
amount shown is much greater than $37.
| Owing to the peculiar conditions governing
overland traffic, the charges on this class of
! freight from the East TO San Francisco or Sac
| ramento are phenomenally low. His applica-
| ton that the revenues OF the expense bills,
which is about three mills per ton per mile for
| the long haul on these overland shipments,
! should be used as the basis for making rates on
| our short roads would be impracticable. The
cost of this company for the last fiscal year in
transporting freight was 29.100 cents per
| mile. Yours, respectfully,
R.X RYAN, General Freight Agent.
Chairman La Rue was authorized to in
vestigate this matter and make a report
thereon.
After some discussion regarding the
| Jurisdiction of the board over steamship
lines it was agreed to ask an opinion of the
Attorney General upon the subject.
| The matter of electing an official stenog-
rapher again came up, but as candidates
Kavaugh, Potter and Lombard each re-
ceived one vote, no decision was reached
and action was deferred until the next
meeting.
J.F. Kelly, ex-secretary of the board and
recently elected its bailiff again came to
| the front yesterday when he was appointed
assistant secretary The board has hereto
| fore managed to discharge its onerous
duties with one secretary, but the board
evidently thought that the services of Mr..
Kelly would be valuable in the new posi-
| ton. Commissioner Clark made the mo-
ton which led to this action, and it was
stipulated that Mr.. Kelly should be paid
no additional salary for performing his
new duties.
G.. L. Lansing, secretary and controller
of the Southern Pacific Company, sent in a
communication bearing upon the letter of
the board relating to the earnings of steam
boat lines, in which he stated that separate
reports had not been filed regarding the
steamers operated by that company be-
cause they were considered a part of the
| entire system and the earnings thereof are
included in the reports of the operation of
the system. This made it impossible to
segregate these earnings from those of the
railroad lines.