The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-12-11
RAILROAD FREIGHTS
WEIGHING BUREAU HAS IMPROVED
 LOCAL CONDITIONS.
Shipments Are Inspected to Save Com panies From Being vlctimised- News of Railway Men and
 Matters.


 Every week and month clinches the argument that the biggest thing that has happened to local railroads from a montary standpoint An a long time is the Weighing and Inspection Bureau.
 There are shippers and shippers, and the mission of the Weighing Bureau is to checkmate the tricks that are mean and weighs that are dark" of the black sheep. Cerain commodities be- ing more valuable than others have a much higher freight tariff on them. and to get the benefit of the lower freight rates some shippers bill the valuable stun out in a class that calls for a lower rate. This was the case before the organiztion of the Bureau, for now every car, including the con- tents. is carefully weighed and inspec- ted by the inspector on duty at the line over which 1 comes.
 George F. Stiles Is the Chief Inspec- tor in Montgomery. He looks after the Louisville and Nashville end of the freight business. Rush Ashley is in charge of the Western and Central of Georgia. E. M. Reilly is at the Atlantic Coast Line and Seaboard Air Line, D. R. Carr is at the Mobile and Ohio and w S. Parrott Is also at the Louisville and Nashville.
 J. E. Bush is district Agent in charge of the Alabama territory and his head quarters are at Birmingham. He paid a flying visit to the Montgomery Bur eau yesterday. Mir. Stiles makes out weekly reports and sends them to the main office at Birmingham.
 To show to what extent shippers will go in pursuit of the almighty dollar the following true story will serve. A year or so ago a shipment was being made f n nf to be used in the construction of a certain bridge. The tariff on the class is high. and to get the advantage of cheaper freight rate the shippers billed 1t as "scrap iron," a class on which the tariff is low. As it happened the train in which this car was being brought to Montgomery was wrecked. this particular car being dashed to tho bottom of a forty foot trest1e. The iron, of, course. was bent and twisted into 3 shapeless mass. It was in real ity "scrap iron" But to the chagin of the shippers he was unable to get damages from the railroad for any thing but a shipment of scrap iron, just what the bill of lading called for This incident reformed that shipper and the story getting abroad other shippers heard of 1t and were wary about mak- ing out weigh bills
 ffOtOinE TOT h1EneE Fr1ce0.~
 'T am up against it. said a local freight man yesterday. land there Is not planter in this country who will welcome a rise in the cotton market with more joy than will.
 Last September" he continued a planter along the line of my road sent lot of cotton to Montgomery and two Of the bales came up short. He put in his claim of course. and this morning the two missing bales which have been making an extended tour of this section of the south turned up at my freight house all right I immediately nosi-- fled the owner, but he flatly refuses to take the cotton, holding justly that when he shipped his cotton here the market price was, 9 3-4, that as the price has dropped nearly three cents a pound he cannot afford 70 lose the diff ference.
 All can do is to hold the two bales until there is rise in the market and Iscan satisfy his claim"
 Buiiding Chair Car.
 Within the next few days as pretty chair car as can be found anywhere Will be turned out of the Western Railroad shops in Montgomery It is car 401 which is undergoing the trans formation.
 As there is no Pullman car on the fast mall train, No. g, which reaches Montgomery at 3:S0 a. m. the Western people intend putting this chair car in that train, making the trip from At lanta to Montgomery as comfortable on the flier as the other trains of that road.
 The car will be furnished in a dainty shade of olive green with the most modern and luxurious reclining chairs. almost on the order of a Morris chair.
 70-foot combination postal and baggage car is also being built, being one of the longest cars ever built in this section of the country. It will be used In general service and not op a regular run.
 The Western Railroad will soon be in better fix as regard motive power than most of the roads in this section. two of the big 21-inch cylinder freight engines having been shipped from the Baldwin factory Friday. This should put them in Montpomapv hv Mon5av