The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1902-11-02
THROWS BLAME
ON The WESTERN
Short Line Officials Explain the
Stock Shipping Trouble.
NEW MEN FOR SHORT LINE
UNION PACIFIC WILL NOT HAN
DIE PERIsHABLE FREIGHT.

= I'LL details of the trouble between
the Rio Grande and the Oregon
Short Line over the wool and live
stock shipments are coming to the sur
face. Yesterdays article in this de-
partment of The Herald appears to
have oecasioned much comment, but
the Short Line claims there is another
side to the story which tends TO show
that if preference has been shown in
favor of other lines the Rio Grande is
to blame for it. The story furnished
by the Rio Grande officials is 10 the
effect that the Short Line has made
a studied effort to prevent the Western
from getting some of the livestock
business coming out of Short Line ter
ritory. A Short Line official said yes
terday:
THAT statement is misleading. The
trouble is not the outgrowth of any
difficulty existing between the Gould
anG the Hartman systems. 1t is q
purely local affair, for which the Rio
Grande is entirely 20 blame. They
wanted to control the operation of our
cars and we put our foot down on it
good and hard. The Rio Grande people
had the best opportunity in the world
this summer but they failed to grasp
it, When the c2r shortage was at its
height the Rio Grande offered to let
us take some cars providing we would
return them loaded over their system.
This we agreed to do. They could
have had the benefit of the rates over
their lines between Salt Lake and Den
yer.
When they got ready to turn over
the rolling stock they wanted US IT,
send them to Rio Grande customers
who had been waiting for cars This
Nxyc rnfr 70 Va off To falx
the cars and use them in taking care
of the shippers in turn. That is, we
wanted to serve those shippers first
who were first on the list. but we were
willing and promised to return the load
over their lines instead of sending the
cars over the Union Pacific The Union
Pacific is part of our system, and il
is natural that we would turn most of
the business over that line. They do
the same thing for the Missouri Pa
ciflc, which is a Gould line. but never
theless the Rio Grande has had a
share of our business in return for
other favors.
With the strike on the Union Pacific
and the natural congestion which ex-
listed, no limitations would have been
placed on the amount of business that
would have been turned over to the
Western We did not propose to load
our own cars and turn them over, and
neither did we propose to make our
customers wait and take care of just
the Rio Grande people We wanted
every one to be served in turn. This
was the only fair way to do. They
did not favor this plan and instead of
lending US the cars they took care of
the local rush on their own lines. Now
that the rush is over they are willing
to let us have all the cars we want
1T is, however, too late now. We are
getting all the cars we need from the
Union Pacific. and naturally we pro-
pose to give our own lines the bust
ness. 1t seems to me the proper way
to do would have been to make their
local trade wait. They had this any
way. There couldn't any other line
get the local business away from them
Then what they got from us would
have been extra / don't see that we
are at fault or that II is anything that
can be charged to the rivalry that ex-
lists between Hartman and the
Goulds."