The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1905-05-28
The Trucker and the Car
Famine.
(continueg from Page one.)

/ crop worth NA6 IlllIlOn ana q ndIE QOl-
! lars to the 2fowers. The freight from
! WilmingtOIkto New York is 80 cents
! per crate @and is more from points
! further sohth and to points further
north) m&Fling source of income to
| the tram portation companies from
about a kalf dozen counties of $720.-
! 100000. khe foregoing facts apply to
| the liking belt under normal con-
ditiOns knd indicate the enormous re-
source6 of this section of the State
under Favorable circumstances; like
wise Hey indicate the danger that
mighh arlse by reason of failure to OBJ
! tain kars to market the crop as has
beeHth case during the past season.
CIlkdb0urn Suffers Most from Car
Shortage.
! Hhe Chadbourn section comprises
| NE surrounding territory for about 20
miles and is a typical strawberry COM
fact the strawberry is the
chief crop upon which the trucker is
dependent Ten years ago this COM
munity was almost a barren waste,
consisting Of piney woods whose tur-
pentine and timber We're almost eX-
hausted Hon. j. A. Brown conceived
the idea of colonizing the commun-
ity, knowing that the lands were fer
tile if improved After a few years of
ducing Western emigrants to settle
here and today for miles around every
farmer is in calling distance of his
Ineighbor and under ordinary circum-
stances there can. be found no people
more prosperous, happy and content
ed But in all their experience as
truckers their courage has never been
so shaken as on the 1st day or May,
when i'm the midst of the harvest the
TpfTiPRrAfOr
could not be had for marketing the
crop upon which they had learned to
depend almost entirely. May 1st was
big Monday" that is. it was the day
when the greatest number of crates for
the season would be picked and ship
ped. The weather was ideal and the
pickers swarmed over the fields like
bees Berries were selling for $500 per
crate at the station and even after the
car shortage was reported 1900 crates
We're sold to one man for $1.85 per
crate 1877 cars had gone forward on
the Goth of April, and 200 would not
have been sufficient for the whole
berry belt" but only 20 were avail
able. On May End 161 cars We're avail
able, but still the berries accumulated
and at this place alone there were
more than rs carloads stacked with
out cars to move them. The growers
continued to pick and deliver the ber-
ries to the railroad and receive bills
of lading under instructions of their
attorneys, and likewise the attorneys
for the railroad put in their appear
ance to look after the interest of the
company on the 3rd still more cars
were needed but the number had
dropped back to So for the entire sec
ton, the most of which were used on
the w. e. w Railroad. The berries
continued to accumulate faster than
they were moved and the transporta-
! ton companies realized that they coud
not save the berry which had been
picked for several days and began TO
abandon any attempt at this and NOV
ed only the fresh berries. In less than
a week thousands of crates of rotten
berries had accumulated and 1t be-
came necessary to operate q special
train for the purpose of moving them.
These were taken a few miles form
| Chadbourn and dumped at white
| Marsh, !" and as one rides along the
! Atlantic Coast Line from Chadbourn
| to Wilmington, for two miles he views
| q continuous pile of strawberry crates
on either side of the railroad, present.
| ing a picture of waste and ruin that
| the grower never in his life even
| thought he would see, and this picture
alone represents a loss of more than
100000, which will be made good by
1
| contesting the liability But the ber-
ries dumped constitute only a small
| per cent of the actual loss, and many
| elements of damage unite to make up
| the total loss. Because of lack OF cars
! those which were obtained were un-
| loaded, rendering refrigeration bad.
| and on account of the congestion OF
| traffic trains were delayed and arrived
/ in New York at from one to three days
I7R1 tI,a 1aV. n41lf lad
/ and often did not bring more than
enough to pay freight 1t is practically
! an impossibility to calculate with any
deffniteness what the loss to this COM
munity is, but the man who is in touch
with the business life of the COM
munity can see that it is enormous and
that the amount to be paid by the
| transportation companies will not be-
! gin to cover the damage. In addition
to the car shortage there were several
| days rain in the midst of the season
which rendered the berries soft and
! injured the price on the market.
Comparative Years.
Last year was one of the most sue
| cessful in the history of the industry
and the entire crop was marketed at a
! good price, the net average bring
about $2.40 per crate. In 1904 there
were shipped from the Chadbourn sec
ton 237 900 crates, which realized
above freight and commissions APP
proximity $3.50, 900 and on account of
a shortage of crates it is estimated that
$4,000 crates were not picked. In 1905
| before the season had opened the
growers for the same section had pur-
chased 365,00 crates, all of which
We're used in packing this years crop
| though many of them never found
their way to the North. In 1904 on
April 4th bank was opened at Chad
bOurn and on April 18th the shipping
season opened, and within the next
seventy days 100000 in checks were
collected through the bank, practically
all of which represented the returns
for sales of strawberries: and from
these figures it is evident that the es-
timated value of the crop in this inn
mediate section at $550,000 for 1904 is
a minimum estimate. and il the crop
had all been marketed this year under
the same favorable conditions as for
the year 1904 the crop in the chad
bourn section" alone would nave
brought above freight and commits
sions from 100000 to $1.000,000. But
from present indications there will not
be for the present season over $25O,-
600 or $500, 900 collected in checks
Z n NfW -4 n