The weekly intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1891-1901, 1899-09-23
LEXINGTON INTELLIoENcER.
RHilroaa Board Hears ,. C Ac6Pvs
Demand for a Side TrSck.

AAAAAN-A
Demand for a side Track.
Ksnas Ctr un& SsieuhsrH
Probably never before In is long
experiences has The coal eOnbioe ne
esived such a staggering b,OS ~ Il got
Yesterday aftsrnOoa al the Baltimore
hotel. RICH, on the PORT OF the jaw
ihsi : Il the coal combines may be
considered 10 have iaWs@. c. Nc
grew landed ike thousand Of BRICK
And the state railroad cOnmissiOners
and forty witnesses san Il done. Some
idea Of the crushing force Of the In
pact may be gathered from the fact
tba, II completely leaned Colonel ''B'l
Phelps, who vas the combines per
sonAi representative. For foil five
minutes be Was speeches.. And then
be begged for time.
The fight against the big Four
coal lrus, is on IN good eArnes, nov
Il Is in charge OF 5 man who koous
how to fight. J. C. Me6rev, the
millionaire miner Of Lexington, No,
Is the man. And the miners' union
and organized labor generally IS back
ing him. McGreW has the second
largest mining plant in the lexington
district. 1t Is nearly a large As the
immense plant Of the Western Coal
Mining company-Whieh is really the
Missouri Pacific railroad and \ Of
the famous big -Four thai seeks to
control the entire coal trade hereSboui.
N'GREw PROVES TO BIZ A FI0HTER.
Again and again the coal combine
has made Oyertures 10 Me6reS, but he
has refused to cooperate with it. And
nov the combine has set out TO fight
the organized miners and siarve them
out Of their union; McGrew has Offend
ed yet more deeply. He was one Of
the first to sign the miners scale
and unioniEe his plant. This, in the
combines eyes, vas au objectionable
sin. MeGrew has undertaken 10 es-
tablish an agency for the sale Of his
coal in Kansas City. The combine has
determined be shan't do it. Every
obstruction that corporate ingenuity
can devise has been thrown in his
way. But McGrew is a fighter. And
so far he is on top.
Last season, when McGrew first
established his agency 10 Kansas City,
be found no end Of difficulty in getting
his coal delivered. He has 10 ship over
the Missouri Pacific, and somehow the
railroad never could find sidetraeks on
which to land bis cars until there had
been vexatiOus delays. Then, when
the track was finally found, il wa
invariably in the most unhandy plac'
possible-where the mud wa deePesi
and the street grades heaviest.
Protests were useless. The railroad
men expressed heartfelt, sympathy, bu
declared that they couldn't possibly d.
betier-'busiuess was so heavy VIII.
didn't Mr.. McGrew get a side track o
his ownP
While Mr.. McGrew realized, as dr
everyone else that knew anything o
the coal situation, that the Missour
Pacific, one Of the "Big Four" WI
simply dong all it could TO either ireez
him out or force him into submission
this side track suggestion struck him as
; good one. He at once looked aroun
for a location. lie finally hit upo
! the southwest corner Of First street an
Grand avenue. And he bought n ha
block Of ground there. Then |
> secured plans for q side track from II
Missouri Pacific and got the city couI
cll to authorize its construction.
7 HE APPEALS TO STATE BOARD.
AL At this point, when everything W.
"a all ready for the grading and trat
laying, the railroad suddenly bake
lis local officials announced that a sil
=, track to Mr.. MeGrew's property wou
! not be feasible and wouldn't be bui
v Why not? Because. As a matter
n fact, McGrew had offended again
n signing the union miners scale. Wi
organized labor proposing to boyc'
..scab" coal, the combine does d
n. propose to allow any union mined &c
10 to come in that 1t can possibly Ike
h, out.
McGrew insisted on his track. I
Missouri Pacific persisted in its refu
en- to build it. Then McGrew appealed
ed the board OF railroad commissions
o. The case came up for hearing al
!" Baltimore yesterday.
The proceedings opened at $3.50
OF m. McGrew was represented by att
nd neys Rochelle and Walsh, Of this CT
a and Alex. Graves, of Lexington. I
his Missouri Pacific had out Elijah r
ag inson, Of Kansas City, and Colo
nd "Bin" Phelps, Of the legislative lob
ast There was a good sized attendance
Ire witnesses and spectators.
ere First came the McGrew side Of
'ed case. Mr.. McGrew himself Quill
Sc the situation about as II has been
De above. He submitted that he ship
hat over 5000 cars a year over the \
sour Pacific, and was surely entitled
any consideration that was shown
OF its customers. He did not think
nd company had many heavier shipp
Iirt Then he cited a number Of coal dea
'as that had been furnished private
10 tracks in Kansas CIty-nearly TO
last n practically agents Of the c.
he blne, though Of that he said moth
~ directly. He declared that the
bis Grew mines had shipped $50 car
Ike coal into Kansas City last season,
", would have made 1t twice or Il
on' times that had ii been possible
guarantee reasonably prompt deliy,
He had been told that his shipm,
had been delayed because side trs
49,