The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1896-05-12
INDICTED FOR FALSE WEIGHING
True Bills Against Shippers for Violation
OF tho Interstate Commerce Law
ClacaK" Tribune.

ClacaE" TribuAe.
Homer A. Judd. president. and John
B. Watkins, vice president, of the Indian
Rice Milling Company. have just been
indicted by the federal grand jury at
Kansas City for violation OF the tenth
section Of the interstate commerce law,
which applies to the reporting Of false
weight by shippers.
SuDerintendent George L. Carman, OF
the Western Railway Weighing Associa-
ton and Inspection Bureau. has been
amer ofrezders of this kind for some
time past. a short time age he secured
the Indictment OF i've members of the
firm OF Buerger-R Refining & Co., OF Fond
dI Lac, Wis, for a simiiSr offense. II
is learned from reliable authority that
Mr. Carrnan is working UP cases on cwD
other 1arge shippers in Kansas City and
several zlrties in Chicago. AS soon as
the evidence in these cases Is complened
charges will ne filed With the interstate
commerce commission and prosecution
instituted against the Offending parties.
The Indian Rice Milling Company. of
Kansas City, entered into an agreement
with Superintendent Carmaa, of the
Western Railway Weighing Association.
on January /. 1895, whereby the latter
was to MAKE arrangements so as To al
low all car load shipments made by the
Indian Rice Milling Company ever roads
OF members of that association TO be
transported under cover of a spe ,ial
agreement stamp, which was to be placed
on the way bills OF the road carrying
the property. This would secure the
TRANSPORTATION of the car without being
weighed in transit.
The object of this agreement was to
prevent errors in weights and over
charges tfnlt might accrue by reason of
Weighing cars on track scales.
On the part of the Indian Rice Milling
Company vt was agreed that It would
open up hs books to the officials or
agents of the Western Railway Weigh
ing Association for check OF the actual
contents that had been furnished by the
shippers on their bills of lading
About six months after the above
agreement had been entered into L was
discovered tirs Indian Rice Milling Com
pany was Wlderbilling its shipments.
Great difficulty was experienced by the
railroad people in discovering the modus
operandi pursued by the shippers in
swindllng the railroads out of portion
of their freight charges Several times
the books of the milling company were
checked and compared with the records
and weights fuTzsihsed to the railroads
anu ht AOGhhs
Finally Superintendent Carman had
some of the cars shipped by the firm
weighed and checked in transit and this
demonstrated the fact concluslvely that
there had been underbilhng. On de-
mand for rechecking of the books and
the showing OF the evidence procured
by Mr. Carman. the discovery was made
that President Homer A. Judd had made
fictitious invoice book for the avowed
purpose of deceiving and defrauding the
railroad companies Collections for I'M
dercharges were made on a large num-
Der of cars, amounting from SIS to SOS
car.
Both the indicted parties have been
arrested, one at Fort Worth and the
other at Kansas City. and at last ac-
counts were looking for bondsmen. The
penalty for the offense, IL conviction fol-
lows, Is a fine of not more than 5000
and Imprisonment Of not more than two
years In the penitentiary, at the discre-
tlon Of the court.