The Savannah morning news., 1904-10-02
COTTON MEN To
HOLD MEETING
AND DISCUSS SITUATION.
WANT SOMETHING DONE TO RE-
LIEVE PORT CONGESTION.

Railroad OmciaIs and Other Persons
Interested in transportation and
Handling of Cotton May Be Invit-
ed to Attend-Transporta Com
mittee of Cotton Exchange May
Make Its Responsiveness On Sep
tember Shipments Believed to BE
Comparatively Light.
The members of the Cotton Exchange
will assemble tomorrow afternoon at
4:3O O'Clock. to consider the condition
of the cotton business at this port, and
discuss measures for the relief of the
present congested state of affairs.
The meeting has been called as the
result of a petition to the officers and
directors of the Cotton Exchange,
which was prepared and circulated
yesterday. 1t was generally signed for
there is not a member of the trade in
the city who has not been materially
Inconvenience by the present condi-
tion of affairs, and who is not, there
fore. more than anxious that something
be done for the mitigation of the trou-
BILE.
1t is quite probable that at this
meeting the officers of the railroads,
the congresses, and of all other COM
panies and corporations interested in
the handling of cotton, will be present,
by invitation, where they are not mem
bers of the exchange, for it is the de-
sire of the trade to put their position
clearly before those who have the pow
er to remedy matters, and to insist that
something be done toward this end.
1t is likely, too, that the TranSpOrta-
ton Committee of the exchange will
submit it's report, one that it has had
under advisement for several days.
This would have been submitted before,
1t is understood, but for the fact that
all the members of the committee were
too busy attending to the month ends
rush of shipping to formulate report.
Little Improvement shown.
The present condition of the cotton
business at the port is little, if any,
better than it has been for the last ten
days. True the rush of September
shipments is over and, luckily, the
failure to fill contracts will prove much
smaller than it was at first feartd. The
estimated shortage will be between A.
900 and 5000 bales, instead of two or
three times that amount, which was at
continues to pour in in record breaking
quantities and it is feared that unless
the present tangle is Strengthened out
very shortly the condition of things
that marked the close of September
will obtain in this month, as well.
This. it is thought, will be the more
probable as the October shipments are
likely to be quite as large as those of
September, while the receipts are likely
70 he Ia rora1. than those that
marked the month just ended.
Losses Not known Yet.
Just what the losses will be through
the failure of the transportation COM
panies and the congresses to deliver
all the cotton demanded of them in
time for the ships sailing Friday to
take aboard is not yet known, even to
the shippers themselves, nor will the
information reach them for day or
two.
AS stated, however, it is believed
that none of the ships sailing the las:
day of the month carried its full ca
pacity, and it is reported that at least
one of the vessels was forced to turn
down 1900 bales, partly because in the
hurried loading there was no time to
screw the cotton in and thereby utilize
its full capacity. and also because of
the fact that there was no time to get
it all aboard.
Suits for Damages.
AS the result of the congestion, and
the troubles and losses that have re-
suited from it, a number of suits are
likely to be filed against the railroads
by some of the cotton men.
One exporter stated during the day
that he had consulted his lawyer, and
been assured that he had good grounds
for suit, and it is known that others
have considered like measures of re-
dress.
That an acute condition of affairs
still obtains is shown by the fact that
yesterday one of the congresses re-
fused to guarantee delivery of cotton