The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-05-10

1
in bulk, the cars being supplied by the
| Santa Fe Bulk Fruit Express Company
and operated by the Santa Fe Fruit and
| Refrigerator line. The interior of the car
presents to the view tiers of frult-trays.
| Each end of the car up to the doorway is
| filed with these trays and fastened securely
| in the center of the car with bulkhead.
In the trays fruit packages are placed.
The trays are made of Stats so as to give
proper ventilation. They are II inches
wide, 6 inches deep and as long as the car
| is wide. They rest at the ends on tracks
inches apart, giving 2% inches space De-
tween the tops of the packages in one tray
and the bottom of the tray above. The trays
are folded fiat and compact, leaving the
car available for load of merchandise on
the return trip.
The company is inclined to believe that
the problem of safe and economical trans
portation of deciduouS fruit for long dis
tances has been solved. The packages are
durable and light. There is ample space
for the air to circulate. The expense of
| making and hauling heavy boxes IS saved.
According to the present style of boxing,
the lower tier of boxes must be heavy to
sustain the weight By the package sys-
tenn the pressure of weight is sustained by
the car and bulkhead. Each tray will
carry, for example, eighteen cherry pack
ages, each package containing eight pounds
ment of 162 trays, it will contain, when
loaded to its full capacity, 2916 packages,
or actually p, 1913 pounds of cherries. The
package empty, including cover, weighs
half a pound. In a car of cherries
shipped East the shipper will pay freight
on only 145S pounds OF packing material.
AS matter of comparison it is noted that
in the old style of shipping cherries an av--
erage carload consists of 1000 boxes of
cherries, each box containing ten pounds,
or total of 10000 pounds of fruit in a car.
The boxes weigh two pounds each, or 1000
pounds to the car.
The shipper by the new method has 1923
pounds more OF fruit to sell in the East
and saves the freight on 1852 pounds of
packing material. The cost of supplying
1000 boxes of the old style-a cars COM
plement-is 800. The packages necessary
for car of the new style cost $43 70. Here
is saving of SAT Is added to the gain of
having 1923 pounds more of fruit to SELL
The company claims the same advantage
in packages for shipping pears, peaches
and apricots.
r. So we'll was the Santa Fe management
pleased by experiments in shipping oranges
in such packages that it has resolved to
extend the operations to shipping cherries,
peaches, pears and apricots. The pack
ages are light, it is true, but they have all
the strength required in the handling at
ardists of California who are always on the
alert for new inventions speak highly of
the car. The Santa Fe has given an order
for sixty more cars, believing that Cali
fornia shippers are ready to abandon old
and expensive methods. There is a charge
to the shipper of $50 for the use of one of
these cars to Chicago.
1t is a question whether the Southern
Pacific will haul these cars from points on
their line to the Santa Fe connecting point
At the freight department the impression
exists that the cars will not be accepted. A
point is made that California fruit should
not 60 to the Eastern market in any other
than a compactly boxed manner. Again,
the manufacture of fruit boxes is regarded
as an important industry in this State,
which gives employment to many men and
provides deal of transportation in lum-
Der.
The Southern Pacific is manifesting a
disposition to make concessions in regard
to local charges from points off the main
line to the common point of shipment.
This concession is granted by creating adj
ditional points of common shipment, from
which through rate is given to Chicago.
The magnitude of the fruit industry in
California can be comprehended when one
reflects that 5000 carloads of green fruit
were shipped from California to Eastern
markets during the year 1894. OF this
quantity Chicago and New York took $500
cars 1t is estimated that 10000 tons of
green fruits were SO marketed. In the
same year about 1000 carloads Of green
fruit in cars were shipped. To market the
output of raisins and dried fruit 10000
cars were required in 1894.
In shipping deciduous fruit the cost of
refrigeration is a large item. For exam
pie, ice at Sacramento costs SIS ton, and
when it is packed in the car the figure of
expense is not less than So 30 per ton. The
supply must be renewed at least four
times between Sacramento and Chicago,
but the cost of ice grows less as the cars
travel East. The great advantage of re-
frigerators comes at the point of distrlbu-
ton. For instance, car consigned from
Sacramento to Denver arrives at the latter
point at time when the market is over
stocked. The agent can make this fact
known and have the car replenished with
ice and erected to Kansas City, Omaha or
St. Louis as the condition of the market
may invite.
The Southern Pacific, and the Santa Fe
for that matter, may take the ground that
they have nothing to do with the cost or
methods of refrigeration, but the fruit
growers of California may be pleased to
know that the Interstate Commerce Com
mission takes q different view of the Ques-
ton. In the case of the Truck Farmers
Association of Charleston and vicinity VS..
the railroads (many companies being
enumerated), it was held by decision filed
April 6, 1895: when carriers undertake the
transportation of perishable traffic, ice and
the facilities for its transportation in con-
nection with that traffic are incidental to
the service of transportation and the
charge therefor is a charge in connection
with such service within the meaning of
section of the act to regulate commerce
in respect to the reasonableness of which
the carrier is subject to that provision of
the statute