The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1905-12-31
NO RELIEF IN SIGHT.
Mountains of Corn Piled Along
Tracks Waiting Shipment.
Gossip and Matters Of Interest
in Railroad Circles.


tributary points in the south and west
are facing a shortage of freight cars
now which is greater than it has beeh
at any other time during the fall and
early winter and this means that the
situation is about as bad as it possibly
could be-
Shippers of grain and general mer-
chandise as well are crying for cars
and the best that the railroads can 40
for them is to tell them they viii have
to wait their turn 1t may be some
consolation to the shippers in these
parts to know that the situation IS con-
siderably worse on the lines running
through the northwest.
Although the roads have been adding
to their equipment as fast as the car
shops have been able to turn out cars
che demand for cars now is so great
that the traffic officials of the roads are
really at a loss to know which way to
turn to get cars to supply the demand
and the supply of cars is not small by
any means Ite is larger than at any
other time in the history of the west
e1n roads but il is simply not large
enough to meet the unprecedented de-
mands that are being made now 1t IS
large enough, however, to keep the op-
Grating officials of the roads up nghIs
figuring on how to handle the enormous
number of freight trains, Whlch are
constantly being made up to go back
and forth along the lines If all the lines
running through the west were douDle
tracked it would be no easy task TO
handle the volume of freight when Is
now in transit.
cars now is the fact that after the 7"SC
of the year grain rates are to be re-
stored 10 the basis they were at peIofe
the grain rate war of last summer. An
T.. Al, tr7c n
restored were made by the railroads
some six weeks ago and since that Tune
there has been a food of orders IN TOT
cars for the movement of the bumper
wheat and corn croDs. All orders Tor
cars hich are in befc~~ these 1ncreas-
ed rates go into effect mean that the
shipper placing the orders will have ad-
vantage of the old rates and for TINS
reason the demand for cars IS so great
now that none of the Kansas lines are
able to meet more thar half Of them.
A good 1OItiCn of the wheat crop mas
been moved already, but there IS Sun
plenty of il in the elevators throughout
the state awaiting cars, and on the otn-
err hand there is lots Of wheat in stor-
age which is being held for higher
prices and which the railroads have not
been asked to move
with the corn crop it is different;
Everyone who has corn to sell ana
nearly 200 million bushels have been
raised i'm Kansas this year, is anxious
to get it moved TO Missouri river points
anyhow, while the export grain rate war
is on irCm those points. But the roads
are una BILE to supply more than a tnlru
of the cars which have been ordered
for the shipment of corn. As result
all along the lines in the corn belt IN
the state are heaps of corn waiting TO
he Skinned. AS some points temper
ary cribs have been built to store this
corn but in the great majority OF
places it has been merely piled up on
the ground and some of these piles
Ger tain as many as 10000 bushels. This
corn has been hauled to shipping points
with the idea that it was to be loaded
into cars which had been ordered but
in most instances the corn got there
before the cars and is still waiting for
them. Severe storms might damage
seriously this corn. which is exposed alb
solutely to the elements, and the men
who own it are keeping the wires hot
with messages to the railroads asking
that their orders for cars be filled
Nothing would please the railroad
officials more than to furnish a car for
every order that has been put in but
they have not the cars and that is all
there is to it. They cannot rent cars
from eastern lines for those lines are
as bad off as the western ones I'VE
would steal a few cars if we could"
said one railroad man, in discussing
the situation. but it is pretty hard to
steal even one freight ear nowadays
They seem to be more precious than
their weight in gold
In addition to the movement of the
grain crops. freight traffic men say that
they have never before been called on
to handle such an amount of general
merchandise as they are now. Then
gain there is a rush of coal from all
the mines in. this part of the country
Because of the unusually warm fall the
coal operators have been a little dila-
tory in shipping their coal to distrib-
uting points but they realize now that
the real winter can only possibly be
but q few days off and they are trying
to make up for lest time in shipping
not be met more than about three
quarters of the way by the railroads,
and if severe weather should visit Kan
sas within the next week or so there
are any number of places which would
experience a coal famine for the supply
on hand now is only large enough for
current needs.
So with grain men. coal men and mer-
chants of all kinds demanding cars,
which are not available the railroad
men have plenty Of worries to balance
their joys when they look over their
tally sheets and see that the gross earn
1ngs are exceeding those of any other
time i'm the history Of their respective
lines. Sometimes they take a minute
off and indulge in a dream Of what the
gross earnings might be if they had
cars to handle the traffic which is be-
ing offered them.
There is just a trif1e Of relief in sight.
Practically all of the cotton crop in
the south has been moved and the box
cars which have been in use for this
purpose are being rushed to Kansas
and neighboring states for the hand
ling of grain. But these cotton cars
VIII really be only a drop in the bucket.
I'm talking OF the car shortage a prom
.lnent traffic man said yesterday: 1T
Is true that it is worse now on all of
the roads than it has been at any other
time this year and there is no present
relief in sight. We can simply use the
cars we have as often as possible for
IL is Impossible to get more cars now,
except the few which are being deliver