The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1902-01-04
FREIGHT TRAFFIC PROBLEM

witnessed the greatest and most per-
picking blockade of freight at producing
points ever recorded The difficulty has
not been remedied yet, but railway man
agements think that, during this month,
there will be substantial relief for roads
and shippers. ...
At Pittsburg there has been very great
concentration of heavy freight, iron and
steel products, which, under the industrial
combinations of the past few years, have
increased enormously In the Pittsburg
district this output has increased from
40,0OO000 tons year to over 73,OOO,OOO
tons in the last six years. The same may
be said of manufacturing districts of les
ser Importance. There have not been cars
available to transport the freight.
The shortage has been felt acutely also
in the matter of the fuel supply. Some
manufacturing establishments have had
to shut down temporarily until they
could get their coke or coal. The millers
of this city have also felt the incon-
venience Of the car famine and merchants
and manufacturers throughout the coun-
~
Chicago the lack of cars has caused a fuel
famine of great inconvenience The east
ern railways have not been able to handle
the coal shipped over their line except to
| very limited extent since the close of
| lake navigation. 49,
! The business of the country seems to
have greatly outstripped the means of
oil no
panies have been struggling to supply the
! demand. All the car manufacturing es-
| Establishments are running on full time
and overtime on accommodating orders, and
some of them have orders for cars which
will keep them busy until next October.
The delay in loading at lake ports dur
I ing the autumn months and in unloading
from vessels into cars caused by con-
gestion of freight has contributed
largely to the Distress while the difficulty
| Of getting back their cars which have
been appropriated by other roads has
been a great embarrassment. The pres
| sure upon the roads has revealed the fact
that there is also an apparent deficiency
in motive power, which is indicated by
the fact that the Pennsylvania railroad
has ordered "a very large number of To-
comotives to move 10000 freight cars re-
Gently ordered. Other roads are trying to
catch up with the demand with like lib
erality. ... af. .:.--. ~. O..
Mr.. j. w. Midgley late chairman of the
Western Freight association and an ex-
perienced railroad man, in recent de-
liverance upon the car famine, advances
the idea that there are cars enough now,
! and that if improved methods of car SER
| vice are adopted and the present average
freight car service of twenty miles day
is increased to twenty-five or twen-
ty-six miles there would be no
necessity for the roads to spend
millions on new cars. He shows
that, taking the number of cars in service
in 1900, an increased performance of rs
per cent would have required 273,1o6 less
cars to move the tonnage and the sur
plus of equipment would represent $685.
900 invested in cars which are not
needed.
1t would seem that there is reason in
Mr.. Midgley's suggestion. 1t is the deten-
tion of cars at division points and termin-
ais and the-diversion of the cars Of one
road to service on distant line of an
other company which are among the lead
! ing contributory causes of a car famine.
The carrying capacity Of the railroads
/ has increased from 100 to 400 per cent,
while gross tonnage has increased only
260 per cent since 1882.
4 These figures would seem to settle the
| question and traffic managers would seem
to have duty to perform to the public
in keeping cars moving when business
presses, and 1t would seem to be neces-
sary for companies doing a large BUSH
ness to enlarge the facilities at terminals.
i If business Stacks UP in the next year or
two, it is evident from the figures cited
that a good many companies will have a
hands which they have ordered during the
extraordinary rush of 1901.
This same idea with regard to more
diligence in keeping the cars moving is
expressed in a communication published
to-day from practical business man.
. One Of the blessings which those who
take the larger view suggest as likely
} to be derived from the proposed railroad
consolidation is uniformity of rates. We
are told that this means that the small
J shipper is to have just as good a show as
the big one. What assurance is there 0,
Al that When one man is able to make al