The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1905-05-11
HEAVY LOSS ON s1lAWHRlIEs
Two Hundred Thousand 0oilars'
Worth Of Strawberries Have. Rotted
at the chsobourn Depot slnee Mon
day and Been Dumped into the Riv-


day and Been Dumped into the Riv.
er.
Chadbourn, Special TIL. straw.
berry season is In full blast here. and
the refrigerator cars have nven out.
The situation Is unique ana interest.
Ing. but depiorable. Thousands of
dollars of the finest sort OF berries are
rotting on the railroad yanis. The At
lantIc Coast Line had contracted for
something like LOO refrigerator cars
from the Armour Fruit Express Com
pany. and up To date have received
about 500. That is the state OF affairs
in a nutshell. Since Monday at noon
100000 worth OF berries have been
hauled to the edge OF town and dump
ed into the river. Eund-eds upon hun
dreds OF crates or the freshly gathered
berries are perishing every hour. This
is true In the face o. the fact that
15 or more Northern agents are on
the ground ready and eager to pay
from to Is cents quart for the
berries delivered in Few York and
other markets. The gDwers are gath
ering from $1,000 to 10000 crates a
day and turning then over to the
station agent here. The Armour con-
Germ will be held responsible for the
loss and up to date something like
$3.50, 900 in claims have been filed.
What is true of Chdbourn Is also
true OF the towns of Ward, Clarendon,
Mount Tabor, Homewood and Rose
land, on the Conway branch. The Ar.
mour icing station is located here. but
the cars go to those smaller stations
and bring the berries te Chadbourn to
be re-iced. The congestion has affect
ed the entire berry section of the
State and the loss will be great Many
OF the pickers came here from a dis
tance and made contracts with the
growers for the berry season, and will
not give up good thing. This is the
greatest strawberry section in the
country. The fruit is Of fine quality
and large in size. The Coast Line Is
losing about $4,000 a day in freights
by being unable 10 get refrigerator
cars The situation is serious and
grows more so dav by day. No cars
are promised before the middle of
next week, and by this time the loss
VIII have eached nearly a million dol
lars
" "hhiihStoli, OpcCd1.-A q
considerable portion of the crop has
spoiled on the hands of the railway
company. and much of the fruit has
been delivered on the Northern mar
kets in bad condition in consequence
of the refrigerator car famine in the
strawberry belt it is believed that we
soon will witness at least a partial
relief of the congestion, and that from
now on there will be little further, if
any, damage. One hundred and three
cars passed through South Rocky
Mount Saturday, and at least 125 are
thought to have gone forward from the
various points in the belt. The grow
ers are advised by the associations
attorney, J. 0. Carr. Esq, of this city,
to continue to gather the berries and
tender them to the railway company
for shipment Just as if the cars we're
OH the sidetrack ready to move them.
and to report any refusal Of bills of
lsding. Attorneys and special agents
OF the Armour refrigerator line are
throughout the belt adjusting all
claims Of growers as speedily as possi-
BILE.