Omaha daily bee., 1899-09-13
QUINCY LINES DRAW OUT
Refuse to Abide by Continued Reductions Of
Difsrential Rates,
BURLINGTON CONTINUES TO SCALE TARIFF
n House Products GO to South
eastern Territory at
tngIy Low Rates and the
End H. Not Yet in Sight.

The Omaha Kansas City q Eastern and
the Omaha g. St Louis lines, which had,
up until yesterday, stood with the Missouri
Pacific in abiding by the reductions made
by the Burlington on rates for packing
house products TO southeastern points
gave notice yesterday that they were
hencetorth to be counted out OF the tight.
G.. NJ. Entrikin, assistant general freight
agent OF these roads, said in reply TO an
inquiry:
yes, the Quincy lines have quit the
fight. Our connections, along with our
selves, have been drawn into the fight for
the protection OF our shippers and contin-
ued In Il as long as there was any money
In the business. Now, however, we have
no point to make and can see no advantage
to be derived by our longer remaining
active participants in the contest The
rates have been lowered already to the
point where there is no money in handling
the business, and We do not care to carry
freight at an actual loss"
The Quincy lines sbided by the first three
reductions made by the Burlington in its
effort to maintain it's position by the estab-
lishment of a 3-cent differential over Kansas
City, but when the fourth reduction became
operative today and rumD ' were waited
through the air of anotht like reduction
to be made on the 18th inst, Assistant Cen
eral Freight Agent Entrikin decided that
the time had come to call a halt.
The d%ifferential war is assuming just ex-
actly the turn which was predicted when 1t
was precipitated. Rates from Omaha on
packing house products have already been
lowered IL cents by the fourth reduction OF
cents which became operative on the Bur-
lington and Missouri Pacific roads today, and
the only prospect of an abatement in the
reductions rests in the near approach to the
point where the rates can be lowered no
further. The Burlington Is putting up q
stiff fight and proposes to win out IL per-
sistency will avail anything. The fourth
reduction, which became operative today on
the Burlington, came as a result of the third
reduction by the Memphis road in the rate
from Kansas City to the southeast This
leaves the differential 3 cents as between
Omaha and Kansas City, but In anticipation
OF a fourth reduction by the Memphis the
Burlington Is now issuing It's tariff sheets
for a fifth reduction of 3 cents, to become
effective on the 18th. When this shall have
become operative the rate from Omaha win
have been reduced 10 cents in less than that
number of days and the original baslng
rate to the Ohio river lowered from % cents
to s cents. Even to tho uninitiated 1t isvery
easy to see that there can possibly be no
revenue in hauling freight at such a ruin
ously low rate, especially when the freight
men ''depose and say that the original
rate was one which did not produce any
great revenue.
This differential war is very similar to
contests which arise frequently wherein
principle is the only issue at stake, and the
extent to which the war has already pro-
ceeded indicates that railroads fight for
principle with the same degree Of persis-
tency as the individual. While the present
war is largely one Of principle the matter
of supremacy cuts no little figure. The
Burlington insists that the differential be-
tween Omaha and Kansas City shall be but
3 cents, while the Memphis road asserts
that It must be Just double that amount, as
formerly. The line which issues from the
fight with victory perched upon Its banner
will have the element Of supremacy to tickle
It's vanity in a measure sufficient in all
probability to overbalance the financial loss
resultant from the war. Which line will
enjoy this distinction is yet questionable.
and no one dares to assert an opinion with
any degree Of substantiation in the mat
tor