New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1906-03-24
SHIPPERS AS BRIGANDS..
HELD UP. SAY RAILROADS.
Undertaking. and Misrepresentation
= Fright 4Ueged To Be Common.

The interstate Commerce Commission began
sasrfne in the Federal Building yesterday
.-o-rine for the investigation Of the reported
ssraiTline and misrepresentation OF freight by
-.i,-s-s I'm New York and Eastern points. who,
q alleged have heeu Systematically victim
,-s-r the railroads for years by misstating the
-Le-sc-er ~ shipments 70 secure lower tariff
-stes The commission. in giving notice of the
s,s-irr said that the reports which were the
s.sis NJ the investigation indicated fraud on
e. norr NJ shippers which amounts TO forced
.-,,s-ss from the public tariff rates"
Farrell attorney for the commission.
..,-5v.-e5 the inquiry. Robert J. Stevenson. a
-s7s-sl inspector Of the Trunk Line Association,
ia there we're forty-nine inspectors in New
vo-k who inspected both local and through
t-sirhr He gave data Of corrections in CLASH
s,srion n shipments that had been made after
examination Joy the inspectors He said he had
orlv prepared data for goods shipped out Of
vev York.
IN reply 70 Commissioner Prouty, Mr.. Steven
en- said that on March Is there were about one
..,nserd corrections I'm undertaking of ship
-,s--s 7r,- ~ New York These were corrections
.,.b ir weight and classification. mostly the lat
.s- He said that generally the inspectors were
che N examine only small percentage Of the
.,.sl number of shipments. The first correc-
-,sr thar he noted was difference of 2lO
,r,rds ana thu second was a case where a con
st.-ent was billed as millinery when. in fact. II
rs artificial flowers
V- stevenson said the. only reason for the
-sses-rfption of properly was 10 secure lower
tsrr rate He said this firna-D. Spiro-was
fs-7iTiar s,tE the classification but persisted in
b1ine artificial flowers other than what they
vere. in The case of firms which were known
H.. Fala ccf@f
sron. he said. more careful and frequent eK-
ariraHans were made than i'm cases where it
was known that shippers properly classified
s5fpnerts some firms he said. misdirected
shipments almost daily.
Nr stevenson gave an instance where one
firm billed a shipment Of human hair as
horse hair. In one month he said, the tnspec-
tos had found $1,000 false classifcauons He
described how some shippers would pretend TO
MAKE honest descriptions of shipments, and now
they would Try TO fool inspectors by packing
more valuable shipments on the bottom. sides or
middle Of packages containing lower class
f-eer- and thereby avoid scrutiny Some four
hundred shippers make false classihcations every
DAY he said.
Ar Tie. request Of Inc commission, Mr.. Steven
son enumerated the following firms as some OF
The most persistent offenders: Stransky & Co,
FULTON and cliff streets, importers Of enamel
iron ware. which sometimes made as many as
eighteen nisdescriptions in one day; Schrenk
= r.. looking glass manufacturers, Of Hobo
Be- md X Goddard & Co He gave the
ra--s n Butler Brothers. the Broadway jobbers'
ss -a,siere-- offenders The Charles Broadway
Ro-,es Urn, he said. also frequently misde-
sr-+,ed Another firm whose false descriptions
r-.ra moi always easy 10 detect, Mr. Stevenson
sad were Mas q Walsren importing chem
SIS Drugs were described as salt and tertiizer
and o,her under classiicauons. and in one ship
-,srr z hrst class chemical was billed as ginger
ale All these firms were named as old and per-
sste1t offenders. He had a list Of nineteen
firms which he placed in that category.
Chairman Knapp said that for the present ne
ro-l~-ieeir~7 was concerned only in getting the
+scrs before H. He said the offending hrms
Coul6 either be indicted for larceny or else en-
,7ired under the El1ins law against continuing
C-o--f--5irg his enumeration Of offending firms.
Mr Stevenson mentioned Murallo CO. Baer
Brothers 1Torimura Brothers, the Henis FRUIT
Press Company. Of Brooklyn, ana the NaIlhaIId'i
p-sss C-r~rauv He explained THAI the ad-
vartzges Of reduction in classification ana con-
se1ueut lower rate went TO the conslgnee VINO
paid the freight al the point Of destination.
Where the freight is prepaid the shipper gets
M stevenson read a report showing that the
inspectors had made 1896 corrections on
.broueh ehfurneuts and 14.O60 local ship
rer-s from me New-York territory in January.
The increased revenue secured was approx
imatc-v $4,000 on reclassihcation Of shipments
and s. HfH 1u INCREASED weight
T. answer 20 questions, Nj Stevenson said
thar the railroads mad no jurisdiction over the
inspection bureau. He said that there was no
collusiar 10 enable certain shippers to get
frei-rt through at reduced rates Some years
ago i- was estimated, he said. that hYe per
cent Of the freight was falsely described.
When asked what measures should be taken
70 stg-, these practices NJ. Stevenson said that
there was a Law that prohibits Them, and It's
enforcement was the only thing necessary The
hearing win be continued this morning at 10
n.