River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1902-11-06
mount of coal that is to be had there

upon a joint rate?
A. Well in preparing Tor very large
could the miners afford to work the mines
and make the large expenditure that is
necessary to do 1T IN the most economical
and efficient manner when the market
was liable to be changed, or as 1 said be-
fore. the door was liable to be shut any
day by somebody saying, Well, we think
we will turn this current of Commences
somewhere else; we would rather have it
from some other place The field we
think, is the largest, IS the cheapest 1t
will promote the mining of coal down
there and the use of coal up here and we
can do that better than anybody else can
Mr. Harris then proceeded to explain
at some length the transportation of the
ores of precious metals along the line of
the Burlington road. He said the Burling-
ton line ran to Billings and through the
Black Hills country IN South Dakota.
where there are large mineral deposits. ali
of low grade.
Continuing, he said that the Burlington
stockholders thought u9aI through the
a large amount Of business would be of
necessity thrown to the Burlington, which
would produce a greater revenue than if
the Burlington operated alone.
He then took up the question of iron
ore and explained the large advantages of
shipments of iron ore from the deposits
on the Mesaba range, reached by the
Great Northern and Northern Pacific. By
this means the ore could be taken down
the, Mississippi valley y 20 est st. Louis r and
would enable coal to be transported at
much lower rates than would otherwise
be possible. There are large manufac-
turing interests along the line of the
Burlington, especially in Missouri and
many articles manufactured which are
adapted to the Oriental trade By means
or a connection of the Great Northern
and Northern Pacific, these manufactur-
ing plants are greatly increased and
Stimula ted. as there is means of direct
shipment to the coast. There are also
10 nti Of manufactured
ton to be shipped over the Burlington to
the coast. Ali of this, made a business
which is valuable to the public, because
the larger the amount of general freight
which could be secured, the lower would
be the freight on merchandise and Speci-
fic shipments of individuals along the
He was especially strong in his claim
that the supply of coal TO the northwest
could not have otherwise oeen made prac-
teal, as the cost of transporting coal
without the return business for the coal
cars would make rates so high as to be,
almost prohibitory, but with the inter-
make the coal supply adequate for the
northwest and within the reach of ALL
President MeTIen's Testimony.
Mr.; Mellen,, president of the Northern
Pacific testified that he had held that
position since August, 1897, and that the
position carried with it membership in
the board of directors, ana also member
ship in the executive committee: He had
nected with the Union Pacific. He was
familiar with the Burlington system and
had been for ten years he thought that
the acquisition of the burlington system
by the Northern Pacific and Great North
ern not only did not restrain trade and
commerce between the states and the
foreign nations, but that they promoted
it both in freight and passenger service.
The Northern Pacific as a company had
never taken any part IN the formation OF
the Northern Securities company, and
the Great Northern and Northern Paci-
fic were i'm equally the same position they
were in before the Northern Securities
was formed.
{. NJ. Sanders.
The last witness examined in st. Paul
was Mr.. e. N Sanders, president of the
Northwestern Fuel company. He testified
that he was a miner and distributor of
coal, and had principal charge of that
company, distributing coal in Minnesota,
North and South Dakota and Nebraska,
and some in Iowa and northwestern IL
100000 tons annually: He also stated
that he was interested in the Spring VAL
ley Coal company in northern Illinois,
and in coal mine in Indiana. All of this
is bituminous coal He said that within
short period the greater portion of the BIZ
luminous coal which he had furnished for
the northwest came from Pennsylvania
and Ohio. and that in recent years they
had difficulty in obtaining their supplies.
During the last two years it was almost
impossible to get ANYTHING IKE "a an IL, ade-
portation on the railroads from the east
have been so great that they have been
absolutely unable to furnish the motive
themselves during the short period of
navigation.
were especially pertinant:
@. Heretofore, prior to the year 1901
how has it been with Illinois coal shipped
from the mines in that state destined to
points beyond st. Paul and Minneapolis?
A. 1t has been almost impossible to
get it through on account of the fact that
the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy and
other roads who could haul it to those
points have always been unwilling and in
fact have refused to allow their equip
ment to so through to the destination. OF
the coal. which necessitated transferring
it here into the cars of the lines reach
ing north to the great injury of the
coal and great delay in transit, and with
great addition to the cost.
Mr. Grover-What makes the additional
cost?
Witness-The labor of transferring and
the delays incident to transferring.
@. State what effect that has upon the
coal itself, and whether that effect is
greater on Illinois coal than on eastern
coal.
A. 1t is damaging to all grades of BIZ
luminous COAL and especially to Illinois
coal, in that it breaks it up and produces
a large amount of screenings and waste,
to the great detriment Of the purchaser.
Q. What advantage would it be in the
transportation and distribution of coal if
the cars COulQ go QlTGcIly from the mines
in Illinois to points Of destination on the
Great Northern and Northern Pacific
reads without breaking bulk?
A. 1t would make. the Illinois fields di-
rectly available to the users of coal opt
their coal supply cheaply and promptly.
Q. Is this Illinois coal of such charac-
ter that. a consumer can put in large
stock of it?
A. 1t is coal that is not advantageously
stocked, as it contains rather more sui
phur, is more friable and disintegrates
more rapidly that higher classes of Goals.
But it has an evaporating power which is
adequate for all purposes, in comparison
with Eastern coal, is used fresh mined,
and after being shipped directly from the
mines.
@. About how far west ON the lines of
the Great Northern and Northern Pacific
do your operations extend?
A. Well, in bituminous coal to the bor-
ders of the State of Montana, the west
ern limits of the Dakotas and Nebraska.
Advantage to Customers.
Q. Assuming, Mr.. Sanders, that the
coal can come from the Illinois coal mines
up here on the Burlington road and then
go out over the Great Northern and
on the through tariff, likely to be perma-
nent what advantage would the con-
sumers of that coal at the points of
destination on these two Northern roads
have if it went the way it has been going.
breaking bulk at ST. Paul, and depending
on a joint tariff between different roads?
A. In the first place, they would have
an assured reg liar base of supply for a
splendid quality of fuel which they could
depend upon, and in my Judgment, it
would result in a reduction of the aver
age cost to the consumers of fuel in that
territory of 25 per cent.
The earliest mention of shoes is in
nj