The Louisiana populist., 1897-01-22
PRIVATE FREIGHT CARS.
All LarE3 Shippers Over Railroads Have
Them NOWADAYS,

| Every ldTSe Snlpper III these days
oiust have his own private freight cars,
and the wonderful growth Of the spe.
cial car idea can be demonstrated anv
day by watching through freight
train. 1t Is dollars to cents there will
De anywhere from one to q dozen spe.
clal cars In the string, and the Dur.
poses they serve are as varied as their
ownership. Tie dressed meat refrir.
| orators are now so We'll known as to ex.
cite no interest, unless it be in the
vague conjuecture as to how many mil.
lions of dollars are tied up therein, for
the number of these travelling Ice boxes
is legion.
Directly the OppOsites of the refrig.
orators are the heater cars, cleverly
contrived to keep the contents at q
fixed degree Of temperature throughout
me trip, and therefore invaluable for
shipping fruit in cold weather. The
heating is done by oil stoves. There
are quite a number Of special fruit car
companies which own cars especially
equipped for the carriage of fruit and
produce in bulk, and these cars are di.
vided into many classes, such as
orange cars, cabbage cars, melon cars
and SO on almost indefinitely.
There is a pickle line. Il coffee line,
n,lmberless beer lines and strangest Of
all, chicken or poultry line, these lat
ter cars being filled with permanent
coops and feeding and watering facili-
ties, intended for the safe handling Of
fowls Of all kinds There are furni.
ture cars, buggy cars. chair stock cars,
ice cars, plate glass cars, crockery
cars, and indeed cars for almost every
known commodity manufactured in
sufficient quantities to make it worth
while for the producers to build their
own conveyances.
AS to live stock cars, there are all
kinds, from the palace or stable cars
down to the plain everyday Slated
affairs, and, unlike most of the other
special vehicles, the stock cars can be
owned by any shipper willing to pay
the owner nominal sum for the rent
of the car, over and above the usual
freight charge imposed by the rail-
roads. the advantage gained being the
much better accommodations afforded
by these special cars than given in the
regular equipment Of the railways.
The owners Of these private cars get
no direct benefit from their use. The
contents must pay just the same
freight charges as if carried in rail-
road companies ears, but the one
great advantage lies in the fact that a
supply of cars ready to load can always
be derended upon, for the special cars
when empty are promptly sent home or
to their point of origin, and are not
used in any other trade without the
owners permission. The railroads al
low owners trifling sum for mileage
which serves to keep the cars in re-
pair, but hardly yields any great rev.
enue to them.
OF course, many of these private
cars are built because Of the special
trade in which they are used, and
which would not pay railroad COM
pany to tie up money in furnishing the
equipment necessary. AS builders must
conform to the rules of the master car
builders, theerivate cars are as safe to
run as those, owned by the railroad
companies, and indeed many are su-
perior to the average cars in general
use.-Philadelphia Press.