The Wichita daily eagle., 1897-11-18


eraI Solicitor A. A. Hurd of the Santa
Fe Railway-Mr. Brooks Says That He
Did Not See MIR. Hurd and That He
Was in Topeka On Another Case-Mr
Bentley Not In the City
Below viii be found a dispatch sent
put from Topeka alleging the imminence
Of a war between the wholesale men of
Wichita and the Santa Fe AS Mr.. C. H.
Brooks figures prominently in the story,
he was seen. Mr.. F. w. Bentley was out
Of the city and could not be found.
When shown the dispatch, Mr.. Brooks
said:
''Oh this story is absurd. Mr.. Bent
ley and myself were in Topeka ABOUT
another case which is 10 come up before
Judge Foster. / never saw Mr.. Hurd
during my stay in Topeka Most of this
dispatch is pure fiction although part Of
ii is true. l refer to the replevin suit
brought by me for Mr.. Aylesbury in the
district court 10 recover car load Of
beans which were recently shipped TO
Mr.. AyleSbury from A1chison. The rail-
road commissioners did, in 1892, inaugur-
ate 25-cent rate on the hundred from
the Missouri river 10 Wichita, but it was
never enforced nor has ii ever been aboi-
ished. The railroads. believe, charge SO
cents We rendered the cash for the car
load Of beans a. the 25-cent rate, which
the agent here refused TO accept. The
case was then taken 10 the district court.
/ think it will be amicably settled and
that the railroad viii not undertake TO
fight the case. In my opinion they Will
concede the rate"
The dispatch from Topeka is as fol-
lows:
Wichita is getting ready to start an
other revolution against the railroads.
Fred Bentley, the local attorney for the
Santa Fe at that place, was here today.
and so was c. II. Brooks, attorney fer
the Aylesbury Wholesale grocery house.
Both of them called upon General Solic-
tor A. A Hurd of the Santa Fe, and it
Is said that Mr. Brooks put his clenched
fist under the nose of the well-known rail
road attorney and asserted his purpose
to bring the company to its knees beg
ging for mercy before ne would let up
on il.
I'm 1892 tremendous war broke out
between Wichita and the Santa Fe,
which resulted in rate Of % cents be-
Ing made by the state board Of railroad
commissioners on canned goods and
other articles in the grocery line between
the Missouri river and Wichita. 1t was
a Republican board and as matter of
course, the rate was not enforced. The
company, however, cOnciliated few
wholesale men in Wichita by rebates,
and the whole matter was dropped and
forgotten. Since then, or rather until a
few weeks ago. there was peace between
the Missouri river roads and the whole
sale grocers Of Wichita. About that
time the St Louis and San Francisco
Railway company put in a 35-cent rate
on New Orleans sugar to Wichita,
against the Santa Fe rate of So cents on
California sugar. The merchants, of
course, patronized the Frisco, and broke
AWAY from the Santa Fe. The Santa
Fe in return called off the rebates. About
Ibis time the AyiesbuIy company order
ed a car load OF beans a Atchison and
when they arrived at Wichita the Santa
Fe company charged freight rate of So
cents per hundred pounds. The Ayles-
bury company refused to pay it, and the
Santa Fe replied mo 50 cents. no beans
The Aylesoury company dug around a
little until tF1ey found that the 25-cent
rate made by the state board of railroad
commissioners in 1892, although never
enforced. Was never rescinded, and, TAX
ing advantage of that, they went TO the
agent of the railroad company at Wich-
ita, showed him the order rendered him /
the freight on the car load of beans at
the rate Of 25 cents per hundred pounds,
in the cold, legal cash of HE republic and
demanded the beans. He refused, and
the Aylesoury company Immediately re-
plevined the goods. The railroad COM
pany gave re-delivery bond. and the
beans are still in its possession.
The Wichita lawyers were here in an
effort to have the matter adjusted with
as little trouble as possible. Mr.. Hurd
was not in a mood 10 arbitrate. and Mr..
Brooks went back to the Windy Wonder
at noon today with blood in his eye
During the discussion of this matter
II was learned that ne Canadian Pacific
road fixes the Kansas City rate on Cali
tornia sugar. That certainly sounds
strange. but ii is a fact. The Canadian |
Pacific is long way from Kansas City, |
but the Santa Fe officials here admit this |
statement. II would look as though the |
American roads, coming practically di- |
rect from San Francisco eastward to the |
Missouri river, could fix the Kansas City |
rate instead Of the Canadian Pacific. |
which takes sugar off northbound boats |
from Frisco on the west coast Of the Brit /
Eh possessions. tilen carries il 1000 miles |
eastward and finally disposes Of il 20 |
boats plying upon the lakes. whose |
agents in turn distribute Il 10 the north
ern and eastern roads running into Kan
sas City. The American direct roads |
have the nerve 10 say that they cannot !
carry sugar between san Francisco and !
Kansas Ci,y as cheaply as the Canadian
Pacific road can. Notwithstanding the
fact that TIA; road has TO divide with
several steamboat companies and the
American railroads that finally bring the
sugar TO Kansas City. OF course they
meet the rate OF the Canadian Pacific |
but they claim they are doing it at
loss"