The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1905-05-23
Past Season Worst in
History of Industry.
MAY SUE RAILROADS
Entire Cabbage Crop, Worth $50, 600
Destroyed by Rains and Bad Trans
pOriation..Pea Crop Total Loss
Marketing Other Vegetables
a Serious Problem.
a Serious Problem.
(staff Cor. News and Observer


New Bern, n. c., May 22.-This
season has been the most disastrous
to truck growers in the history of the
trucking industry of the New Bern
section. BY the combination of bad
TRANSPORTATION and humid wealth
or conditions the entire cabbage crop,
estimated to be worth $4,000, and
the pea. beet and turnip crops, diff
cult to estimate, as thousands of baS-
kets were never taken from the fields,
were totally destroyed. The railroads
have advertised a 30-hour schedule,
but the truckers claim that not one
shipment has arrived in New York on
schedule time, and the delays in tran
sit have been from "a hours to 5 days.
Two of the largest firms of growers
and shippers OF truck in this section,
f. H. and j. A. Meadows & Co., and
blackburn and Willett, place the
blame for the losses entirely upon the
railroad companies, and they say
they will enter claims against the
transportation companies. The small
er truckers will follow, if the initiative
is assumed by the bigger firms.
Mr.. e. II. Meadows said that the
transportation facilities here are worse
than they were twenty years ago.
Since last year the freight train sched-
ule has been changed, SO that the
train leaving 4>ew Bern to make con-
nection with the Atlantic Coast Line
at Goldsboro now leaves here at a.
m. instead of IL a. m. and an entire
day is thus lost, the vegetables lying
in cars all night, these being loaded
before 7 p. m. on the day before.
Last year the truckers cut and
packed the produce from daybreak
until the moment the train left and
il was delivered on the New York
market early Wednesday morning.
AS an example of the terrible losses
the growers have borne, a refrigerator
car of beets, valued at $500. shipped
to Philadelphia by the Meadows firm
was five days late, and brought the
firm in debt $15.SS. The freight
charges on the car were $121.S8.
Every day the various firms receive
notices from the Northern dealers that
the vegetables received were wholly
rotten, and could not be accepted
Last week blackburn and Willett ship
ped four refrigerator cars loaded with
cabbage to New York, and when they
arrived i'm New York several days
late, they were totally decayed. and
one of the cars contained only 125
pounds of ice, not one of them having
been iced in transit. The box ears
are said to give as satisfactory car
riage as the refrigerator cars. The
condition is represented as being eX-
tremely demoralizing to the trucking
interests and ruinous to the industry
Mr.. Willett, of blackburn and Willett
says that relief is imperative, and
although there is no organization OF
truckers here, their action toward the
railroad will be united and effective
The cabbage season will be over Sat
urday
Mr.. VIM. Dunn says that while the
railroads are largely responsible for
the bad order in which most of the
truck is being delivered on the mar
kets, there is another cause. Mr.
Dunn ships nearly all the produce
from his farm via the steamers
Eastern Despatch Line, and some OF
that, which arrived in New York on
schedule time. was in bad order. In
his opinion the unprecedented sultry
hot Weei-z>er, with rains every two or
three days, day and night, is RESPONSE
BILE for the bad conditions of the cab
bages, for as they appear in excel
lent condition when packed, yet, he
says. they are full of water and more
readily heated and damaged.
Mr.. Dunn. in speaking of the conse-
quences of the existing condition, said
THE delay by the railroad com
panies however, while it may not
have caused the total loss of the cab
bage crop to the truck farmers, is
a serious menace to the prospects of
the farmer and grower of perishable
products. Before two years ago, it
was only occasional that a train was
late in the delivery. Last season, all
most if not every train, was "a hours
or more late. This season | do not
think q train has reached destination
on time. Under the most favorable
weather conditions a delav one day