The weekly examiner., 1901-08-03

tent. The results were quite unceF- tain, however, and the outlook dis couraging until about 1887, when Mr. F. A. Thomas, of Chicago, entered the field with MT. Earle and revolutionized the business of fresh-fruit transpor- tation. His plan was to provide a thorough service from shipping point to destination in special cars under one management, reicing the cars in transit as found necessary. It was, in short, the esta blishment of a pri- vate car line for fruit transportation, to be operated on plan similar to that under which sleeping cars had long been run in the passenger service. He commenced operations with few cars in western Tennessee in the spring of 1887, operating first on strawberries destined for the Chicago markets. Owing to the distrust of shippers in regard to the effect or ice upon the fruit he was compelled to buy fruit with which to fill them for shipment. A few tests demonstrated the practi- cability of the system, however, and the new service rapidly became popu- lar.
 Fruit forwarded in carload lots by
 
 could be distributed to other points in small lots by express and reach des- tinations as remote as Minneapolis in sound condition, while ears properly iced and filled with fruit were found to hold their contents in good condi- tion for several days, thus protecting against damage due to ordinaTy de- lays in transit. Tn the spring of 1888 MT. Thomas shipped strawberries from Florida successfully in refrig- orator cars.
 In 1887 also some of the cars were taken to California and after much persuasion shippers were induced to try them. All California decduous fresh fruits prior to that time had gone forward in ventilated cars with out ice, and solid fruit trains had for several years been run on express train schedules from Sacramento to Chicago. The belief was general that fruit shipped in iced cars would be injured in flavor and in keeping quail ity after removal from the cars, but this proved not to be the case. In the latter part of June, 1888, carload of ripe apricots and cherries was suc- cessfully shipped from Suisun, Cal, to New York without reicing. The ex- pcrience of the season of 1888 demon s+rated beyond all question the useful. ness and practica bility of the refrig- orator car when properly handled.
 Development after that was rapid From total of 60 cars in service in 1888 the company which MT. Thomas organized increased it's facilities, un- til by 1891 it had in use over 500 cars. These travelled over various railroads as needed, being used for Florida fruit in winter and Louisiana and Mfssis- sippi stra awberries in spring, gradually working northward as the ripening sea son progressed, with long trips out to the Pacific coast in July, August and ] September.- Their usffu4staa+r did not cease with the approach of Winter, for. they protected their contents against a considerable degree of cold, and when heated could be safely used in severe cold weather.
 The large paintings, stimulated by the refrigerator car service, soon made possible the loading of cars at single shipping points or at a few points along a line of road, so that small growers now have the same advantage as large shippers except in the matter of carload rates.
 In recent years the business of oper- ating refrigerator cars has been taken up by many lines, so that there are now proba bly, 50 or more different pri- vate car lines in service of various kinds, in addition to similar cars oper- ated by many of the railroads that ho fruit is in many sections loaded from the packing house, where it is protect ed from the heat of the sun, directly into the cold refrigerator car, from which it is not removed until it re aches it's destination, 1000, 2,0O0 or 5000 miles away. From the important fruit sections these cars are moved in solid trains to the principal markets. Ca pacious icing stations established at intervals along the main routes of travel permit reicing of the cars with the utmost dispatch.
 Official statistics of the number of refrigerator cars in service are lack ing, owing to the failure of some of the car lines to report the number of cars owned and operated by them. A care full estimate by the manager of the Railway Equipment Register in March, 1901, indicates that there were at that time about 6o,OOo refrigerator cars in service in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
 No basis exists for estimating the total volume of produce handled by these cars, but it is very large. Lead irsg shippers estimate that 95 Der cent. of the California deciduous fresh fruits are now handled in them, and the proportion from other sections is steadily growing. Small-fruit and orchard areas ia the more remote re- gions adapted to fruit culture are steadily growing under the influence of this service, and producers are en- abled to profitably diversity their pro-