The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1899-07-29
GULF RATE WAR.
Mr.. Ripley VIII Not Try to Straight
en- 1t Out.

NIT. RIPLEY VIII Not Try to Straight
en- 1t Out.
st. Louis Globe Democrat.
The ending of the gulf freight rate war
now Is regarded as dependent upon what
| President Ripley of the Santa Fe can ac-
complish individually for the committee
OF presidents of Western roads, which has
had one unsatisfactory conference with
Receiver Fordyce Of the Kansas City,
Pittsburg and Gulf, and the representatives
of gulf port lines. The Western officials
who were here last week returned to their
| headquarters, leaving to Mr. Ripley the
task assigned him of conducting further
negotiations. This probably will be done
! by correspondence. Mr.. Ripley returned
to Chicago tonight
The outlook is anything but encouraging,
although hope is still entertained that
pressure can be brought to bear In GER
tain directions which will so weaken the
position of the Kansas City, Pittsburg and
Gulf that it will be without the connections
essential to q continuance of its methods.
Whether this is merely surmise or based
upon substantial reasons will not be
known until some further progress has
been made in the plan that Mr.. Ripley and
his associates have been pursuing The
proposition to arbitrate the matter was
not regarded with favor
The situation in the gulf rate war Is
threa tened with complications which had
not been foreseen when the committee or
Western presidents was appointed. The
New York Commercial will say tomorrow:
Gulf rate complications may make 1t
necessary for prompt and decisive action
by some of the powerful Southern lines.
| ST. Louis business men have been suffering
from the competition Of the Kansas City,
Pittsburg and Gulf in connection with the
Mallory line, owing to the fact that all
rail lines from New York, as well as those
out of Chicago, have deemed 1t both i'm
polite and ruinous to meet that compete
ton without exhausting every possible
| means to secure a settlement. The ST.
Louis people sent delegation to New
York a week ago. The visitors presented
their case to certain traffic officials, and
dwelt upon the injustice to which they
were subjected by reason Of the low rates
from the seaboard to Missouri river points
They urged that the direct lines ought to
afford them relief by proportionate re-
duction of their rates, and intimated that
unless this was done an outside outlet
would be found that would do so; In fact
there was one already in sight.
This intimation, and what has since been
published in the Globe Democrat, explains
the rumors in circulation about the time OF
the visit of the delegation. that the Mo-
bile and Ohio proposed to route freight
from New York to st. Louis via Mobile
Recently there has been organized In New
York the Mercantile Traffic association, OF
which Alexander Hollender Is president
and Frank N Richardson is vice president.
Mr.. Hollender is Of the firm of Hollender
G Co., import agents of the Baltimore and
Ohio. and Mr.. Richardson was at one time
contracting agent OF the West Shore Fast
Freight Line The association has offices
at No. is Broadway, and has engaged the
services of r. S. Robertson, formerly agent
In New York OF the Traders Dispatch. II
Is the general understanding that the pur-
poses of the association are TO SOLICIT
freight for st. Louis for steamship line
TO Mobile, where the shipments are to ne
delivered to the Mobile and Ohio to he
Transported to st. Louis. Mr.. Richardson,
when seen today, was somewhat evasive
In his replies TO questions, and finally IN
sisted that the association was designed
simply to look after the business OF the
Western men who have no representatives
in New York. II Is understood that
proposition was made to the Mallory line
and declined because the parties could not
guarantee an amount OF freight large
enough to make 1t worth while for steam.
erS 10 call at nioDhe' AiSS'N
of the Mobile and Ohio seems, however,
to have every confidence In the project
II don't think" said an interested OIL
cIal today. "that we need give ourselves
much concern about this line. There Is
now no direct steamship line to Mobile.
In order to handle st. Louis business
through that port 1t will be necessary 10
charter steamers, and, in addition to guar
anteeing 1900 tons southbound. 1t VIII nave ave
to be further guaranteed that mere WI.
be a return load. I question whether any
such guarantee can be given, especially
for regular weekly sailing. understand
that President Russell of the Mobile ana
Ohio is in conference at Louisville To-Day
with the traffic officers Of the Louisville
and Nashville and the Southern: ana II
may be they will be able to convince MN
of the wisdom of stopping the nego'a-
tons"