The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-06-22
IS EXPLAINED BY MIR. THAYER Pennsylvania's Distri- button of Cars. COMMISSION IN WASHINGTON Gives Railroad Officials Opportunity
 to Be Heard. Vast Increase In the Business of the Carriers Has Brought Problems Which are Dimcuif of soiu-
 tion.
COMMISSION IN WASHINGTON

Washington. June 21.---when the In. terstate Commerce Commission met today 10 continue It's inquiry into the coal and oil traffic of the several raii- roads. Chairman Knapp announced that today's session primarily was to aI- low Eastern bituminous roads which have been und0r investigation. an op- portunity to make any statement or submit any testimony which they might wish
 John B. Thayer, fourth vlce-president of the Pennsylvania Road under ques- tioning by Thomas Patterson. general counsel of the Pennsylvania. explained the methods of car supply and distri- button of that road.
 The basic principle of the distribu- | tion." said MT. Thayer, "is to take tho | ratings of the mines as one factor; their commercial capacity based on the i tonnage we have taken for certain pe- | riods as another factor to arrive At the proper percentage, and then in the distribution of the cars. the individual car and the car which Is furnished for fuel for the railroad company Is count ed against that capacity. That is the method which was partially put into effect In November last In some of the regions on our road" Was that q matter Of sudden change or was it a matter of gradual progressY' inquired Mir. Patterson.
 Not Sudden Change. The witness replied that 1t was not sudden change. Tt was growth" he said, of what you might call ex-. perienee. growing largely out Of the lessons of the confusion during the strike period"
 Mir. Thayer continuing said that prior to 1901 or 1902, while the PennA sylvania had difficulties with their car supply, things had been moving along smoothly without complaint. We had many fuel operations on our line" he said and really the problem SD to that time had been one of breaks rath- CT than of cars, and 1t was not until the great growth took place both of operation and of tonnage on our car line and we came into this war period as it were when tho anthracite strike. combined with immense and sudden de- velopment of business. on our line. threw such tremendous burden on us that 1t was then we began to ex- perience the very great difficulty. the fair and proper distribution of cars"
 Asked If the individual car became factor in that problem. MT. Thayer said that 1t became q much greater fac tor in the problem because of the ina bility of the railroad to furnish cara of their own.
 In answer to a question by car cli- ents. Mir. Thayer said that prior to 1900, the growth in the Pennsylvania Rail- road coal business was natural and gradual. but beginning with that year there was an increase of 5000. 900 tons over 1899. the total being 16.41s.0e0 tons.
 Increase fin Business.
 In 1908, the tonnage grew to 2e,44s,- 900, an increase Of over 100 per cent. IT. e.. between those periods by the fiuctua- tlons in business and the decrease in 1905. caused by the depression in the iron and steel traffic and also the fact that the anthracite coal strike question was settled.
 Mir. Thayer entered into an elaborate explanation of the results of the inves- tigation by his road oe private cars.
 He said that prior to sailing for Europe In May last. President Cassatt gave orders for the discontinuance of the individual car system on the Penn sylvania Railroad and had been pro- voked because the subordinate off cials did not feel able in operating the traffic department to carry out that policy.
 He said that Vice President PuEh and himself took the responsibility of suspending the order assigning as a reason that they were more directly in touch with the burdens of that Y business.
 we felt" said MT. Thayer. that in Justice to those men who have placed their money in the individual car and. perhaps. in justice to a large portion of the consuming public. that we ought to go through the next wtnt- CT"
 He said that until that experience is gained. 1t will he difficult to force the owners of individual cars to part with them