The San Francisco call., 1899-04-28

= AN FRANCISCO'S jobbers have an
other battle on their hands. 1t is to
be the old war of transcontinental
traffic and a fight to prevent the big
wholesalers of the East encroaching upon
the territory of the merchants of the
West
Arrayed against the local dealers are
apparently the Great Northern and
Northern Pacific railroads, the Simmons
Hardware Company of St Louis and the
Hibbard-S Spencer Bartlett Company OF
Chicago, the two biggest hardware job
bers of the Middle East and sticking out
all over the situation can be seen the old
time feud waged for so long against this
city by the smaller jobberS of Seattle
and Tacoma. A combination of greed and
malice that the San Francisco merchan-
dizers are Just now getting into their
hghting harness to run joust or so with.
The whole situation hinges upon the
transcontinental rate on less than car
load lots of freight Up to year ago
the San Francisco retailer could bring a
keg of nails or a crate of shelf hardware
into this city from the East for only
about 10 cents more on the hundred
pounds than the big jobber could bring in
carload lots of the same article. The big
firms of the East took advantage of this
condition, threw their travelling men into
this territory and by reason of their
larger volume of business were enabled
to offer inducements that won a great
portion of the retail trade from the home
dealers.
San Francisco was in a serious predica-
ment. The rate as 1t existed then en-
abled the Fasteners at all times to COM
pete with the local merchant on prac-
tically equal footing and at no more eX-
pense in business operation. AS a result
of it the two firms mentioned builded up
m f~4sf hg .,fNd
tured that of intermediate points.
Driven to desperation, the local mer-
chants last March sent delegation of
sound business men to Monterey to ap-
pear before the Transcontinental Traffic
Bureau, then meeting at that point, to
appeal for a higher rate on less than car
freight that would cut the Eastern houses
off from the retail and small job
bing trade in this State and also
give San Francisco an equal share
Those who represented the home deal
ers at the conference were Frank S.
Brown, w r. Wheeler of the Hardware
and Metal Association, Charles II. Tay
and c. RulofsOn. The two big Eastern
hardware firms had got wind of the
Western action against them and also
had representatives on the spot well pre-
pared TO fight any proposition 10 cut them
out of the Western sphere of profit.
There were three days of much palaVer
and the San Franciscans came home con-
Traffic Bureau adjourned to Milwaukee
and during the latter part of May met
again and. with all of che transcontinen-
tai lines represented and parties to any
agreement it might come to, so raised the
rate as to give the Western business men
practically everything they had asked for
The bureau divided transcontinental
freight up into five classes and on less
than carload lots raised the rate on class
l from 81 40 to 81; on class from 81 Is to
81 60; on class 3 from 81 to 81 90 on class
fpF.rN 70 nd or p1s fYa,
81 90 to 81 60, a schedule that effectually
shut out the Eastern firms.
Then local merchantdom settled down
to the humdrum prosperity of the time Of
peace and railroad men shook hands with
themselves that rates never before had
been in such good condition. The new
schedule was good thing for the South
ern Pacific and another for the Santa Fe;
and, in fact. for all the southern and Og-
den lines. They got he long haul on all
freight west from the Eastern market to