The Topeka state journal., 1905-07-27
DISCRIMINATION.
FaYoritism in Railroad Rates on
Grain and Fruits
Made Subject of Inquiry at
Kansas City.
COCKRELL PROBE
First Appearance in His Home
District in Role
Of Member Of Interstate Com
m oVsao Enm icciou
PROBE IS.

Kansas City, July 27.-Appearing for
the first time in his own home district
as a member of the interstate COM
merce commission, General Francis M.
Cockren is sitting in the United States
court here His session opened yester-
day morning and will last throughout
this morning. He heard testimony in
the matter of rate discrimination as re-
lated to grain and fruit shippers, and
last nights session. a short one, was
taken up in an effort to find ous what
grain men here were getting double re-
bates. No secret was made of the fact
that almost all of them get a rebate
of IL cents per 100 pounds on all grain
sent through an elevator, though one
witness, E. O. Mofatt. caused mild
sensation when he expressed the belief
that the Milwaukee railway was paying
an allowance to the Sinonds-
Shields Commission company which 1t
refused to allow to the witness, though
he himself is heavy shipper:
THAT is the very sort of diScrimina-
tion we are after" said Commissioner
CoekreIl. We will have the members
OF that firm on the stand" Colonel n.
p. Sinlonds is billed to be sworn at 10
o'clock this morning to tell what he
knows about that.
dozen fruit shippers representing all
the way from Houston, Texas, to Des
Moines, Iowa, told of an Armour icing
charge. Fruit must be shipped in re-
frigerator cars Some railroads own
refrigerator cars, while other lines rent
cars from the Armours, paying u cent
per mile for them. The fruit shipper
who gets a regular railroad car, so the
testimony showed, can ice it himself at
a cost of about So per ton per day.
When he is compelled to resort to an
Armour private line car the bill runs
up to SO per ton per day, and three
OF hot AG
an example, one witness told how he
shipped two cars of celery from Denver
to Kansas City within seven days of
each other, both over the Burlington.
railroad car, which he iced himself for
1915. The next shipment was caught
by the Armours and they stuck him up
for $40, land they have $4,000 of these
refrigerator cars in operation, said
Commissioner Cockreu by way of COM
ment.
Protest Against Missouri Pacific.
The session opened with J. w. and j.
H. Moran, of Lamar. appearing to pro-
test against the Missouri Pacific charg-
ing more for a short haul than for
long haul. Elijah Robinson, who ap-
peared for the Missouri Pacific, said
there had been a mistake in the billing
and that AZ cents per : 100 had been
charged instead. of the proper rate OF
% cents. Mr.. Robinson explained that
the railroad company had offered to re-
fund the difference. The fight then be-
gan upon local rates, and it terminated
for the time being by the complainants
being given ten days in which to file an
amended petition.
w. H. Grace, for the Albany (Mo0
Produce company, complained that the
Burlington railroad was discriminating
in favor of st. Joseph as against Albany
in the matter of rates on coal from Iowa
points. Ninety days was given to file
briefs.
How the Armours Do 1t.
'It is this way" said H. M. Steele, of
Springfield, Mo, an agent for the Ar
mour private car line; 'tif you will let
me use an actual instance. We put
three tons of ice in a car at Willow
Springs, which is to be loaded with
peaches at Black Rock. The ice costs US
So per ton plus $125 freight. Then there
is the shrinkage. We pay 81 for loading
strips, pieces of wood to keep the fruit
cases in place during transit. At Black
Rock we pay So to load the fruit into
the car-the shipper may earn this 50
if he Hkes-and we expend so cents Tor
nails. We put in two and one-half to
three tons of ice in the car when 1t
goes back to Willow Springs, where we
have an icing plant and at Springfield
about two tons more
The counsel figured up that this rep
resented $3.50 and afterwards learned
that the Armours charge $40 for the
service, though they get &c per mile
for the rent of the car, which the carry
! ing railway pays.
| Agent Steele repeatedly called atten-
| ton to the frequency with which the
Arrnours ice the cars, as an excuse for
/ their charging so high for the ice.
| Fruit men who followed said so little
ice was used and reicing SO often omit
ted that their associations kept men
regularly stationed at Willow Springs
and Springfield and Kansas City to see
that the Arnours lived up to their con-
tract and kept the bunkers filed. Mr..
Steele. when asked how he accounted
| for the complaints from the fruit ship
pers said:
"As a matter of fact I have never
seen real shipper who complained.
The complaints are from anarchists and
men who draft resolutions and get them
adopted by associations. The fruit men
are content
Some Icing Car Secrets.
E. j. Davidson, a commission man of
| Des Moines, said:
| I'VE are compelled to use the Armour
| cars many times. It is almost twice as
| far from Madison, Miss, to Des Moines
as it is from Neosho, Mo. From Madison
| we are charged only for the ice which
| is necessary to keep the fruit cool, and
here is an expense bill showing the
charge to be s22. From Neosho the Ar
nours charge us, according to this other
| expense bill, SOAPS. They keep a car
. ASO0 4OA AOAl AAOA1S dS d1A1SI eighty
four hours which the Mississippi trip
costs. yet charge twice as much. For a
forty-hour icing from Gentry, Ark, they
charged us $3.50.
The Kansas City Southern line al
lows US to do our own icing. Sloan
Springs is on that line. Only twenty
five miles distant is Springda1e. where
we have to use Armour cars Their re-
frigeration charges from Sloan Springs
amount to only one-fourth what Armour
compels US to pay from Springdale.
when we ship from Washington and
Oregon over the Northern Pacific the
railroad furnishes the cars and charges
us for the actual cost of the ice and
the icing. This runs per expense bills
which I will file with you, SIS per car.
When they run out of their own cars
and we have to resort to the Armour