The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-03-26

| the same towns, went the katy" one
| better. by reducing it's "both way trip
! to s15
| The fight between the two roads rag
| ed for about a week, when finally the
| Katy" fell to $40. Then the Santa
| Fe dropped to 81; the katy Sc: San
ia Fe, SO, and ultimately both lines
attached dining cars to their trans
carried and fed passengers for moth
ing, and did such an enormous bust
ness that both lost thousands of dol
lars within the short space of month.
The cut rates were then Withdrawn.
aud the original figure of $50 was re-
stored.
A short time later one. of the steam
ship lines running from Galveston to
New Orleans announced rate OF 80
during the summer season. The oppo-
sition line carried passengers for moth
ing. fed them during the entire length
of the trip both ways and allowed each
tourist to spend a week in a New Or
leans hotel at its expense.
During a national meeting of the
knights of Pythas in New York sew
eral years ago rate of $40 for the
round trip was made from any point
in the country. One of the roads-suf
fering, of course, for want of business
accused competing line of taking
large parties at smaller figures. A
fight resulted. and ere it had come to
an end the bothway rate to New York
had fallen to &c. The agents of the
warning roads in that city bought back
all the return portions of these tickets
they could secure at $40 each. A great
deal of travel was bound West at the
time. and the traffic of the roads would
have been ruined otherwise.
Minor wars continued from day to
day until the representatives of num-
Der Of the roads met in Chicago and
formed what is known as the South
| western Traffic association. Through
this organization they hoped to fix min
imum rates from time to time, and
thus avoid the fights by which they
only would be the losers. The first
meeting caused one of the biggest rate
wars ever known. One of the dele
gates declared that an offensive reso-
luton was aimed al his interests, and
as a result his road announced re-
duction of rates in every direction the
following day. The war, of course
spread, and before it had come to an
end it had cost many hundreds of thou
sands of dollars.
Perhaps the most humorous rate war
-happended in Louisiana about five years
ago. 1t ended seriously. however. The
negroes We're giving an emancipation
picnic near Shreveport. A rate of only
50 for the round trip was announced
from all stations in Louisiana, Mis-
! sissippi, Alabama and Texas. Event
uaily one of the competing roads low
cred its rate to 81 Another war re-
suited, and the wholesale cutting be-
! gan. Each and every road agreed to
| carry each and every man, woman
and child in the territory mentioned
| absolutely free of charge, and the
| emancipators were fairly revealing in
| their great luck when one road came
! forth with the offer that watermelons
| would be supplied the passengers who
| cOndescended to take advantage of its
| hospitality and ride absolutely free.
! Consequently all the emancipators
wanted to ride on this road. About goo
| left New Orleans on one train and were
| diving heavily into the melons until
| when about % miles from New orleans
| there was a wreck. and several of the
emancipators were killed. The reduced
rates We're Withdrawn next day. and
| the survivors of the emancipation pic-
mic sued the road for damages They
each secured a Judgment for $500 and
there hasn't been a rate war in Louis
lana since.