Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1906-05-21
MINIMUM WEIGHTS viii R|IIDT THFR0AD
The new SCALE FOR LUMBER
PRODUCTS IS IMPOSSIBLE.
The Regulation of minimum Car
Weights as Proposed by the Rail.
roads is prepOster0us. Many
Sizes of Cars, and Shipper Never
knOwS What Size He will Get.

Collectively and individually the man
ufacturers OF lumber and shingles in the
Pacific northwest are entering their pro.
tests against the new scale Of minimum
weights. They do not object to the sys.
TEN OF graduating the minimum weights
in accordance with the varying size OF
the car, but they are opposed to the
ruling that compels them to load to with.
in fifteen per cent. of the cubical capacity
OF the car; partly because in III ca-es il,
makes loading more difficult and more
expensive, and pa, tly because they claim
that in many cases it is a physical i'm.
possibility to yet the minimum weight
required into the car. This latter is par
ticulary true OF shingles. Owing to the
manner in which shingles are packed-a
method that has always been used, and
in which a change would constitute a
revolution Of the industry-t is impossi-
BILE to load to S5 per cent. Of the cubical
capacity of car.
1t is more nearly possible to fill given
car with lumber to within fifteen per
cent. OF it's cubical capacity, and that
every car shall be so loaded presumes
that each carload order shall fit the car
that is available. If the shipper could
p ace his requstion for car OF IA certain
and definite size with his local agent,
and be assured that the railroad could
and would furnish the desired car, there
would be little difficulty. If cars were
all OF the same size it could be arranged
that orders for carloads Of lumber must
measure up to the required amount Of
lumber to make up the minimum weight.
But where there is a variation in cubical
capacity from fifteen hundred to three
= Ia.
shipper can tell in advance what will be
the size of the car that is furnished him,
it is plainly evident that orders must be
taken on the basis that the car can be
filled with certain stock that can be lef,
out in case the capacity of the car will
not admit Of it's being loaded, or some
one must paw the difference between the
freight on the actual amount of lumber
ordered and the minimum capacity oi
the car. A carload of shingles usually
means a car full Of shingles. but an order
for lumber which is given by sizes and
dimensions does not usually admit OF
adjustment to suit the capacity OF cars
that varies over wide range. At times
when there is plentiful supply of cars
at hand, the shipper can find car to fit
the order he is to fill, but in times like
the present, when he is lucky to get on a
car at all, he cannot exercise this choice
On the other hand, it is just this cry
for cars that has influenced the railroads
in their decision to demand loading more
nearly to cubical capacity. There has
been an insistent and continual cry from
the western manufacturers for more cars.
Railway officials have been begged, ca.
joled and threatened. They claim that
to satisfy the wants Of the manufacturers
a very large per cent OF the rolling stock
required must be hauled west empty,
and that if they are obliged ,e haul it
empty one way, they at least have the
right to require that it shall be loaded to
capacity on the return. If the average
carload has been seventy.five instead OF
eighty-tiv per cent. of the cubical cara
more traffic might have been handed
had the carload average been the latter
figure.
The complaint of the shingle men
seems reasonable. The manner of pack
ing shingles makes it impossible to load
them without leaving considerable
amount of untitled space i'll the car, and
it is a question if the railroads can com.
pei an impossible minimum. Atvarious
times since shingles were made and
packed i'll the present manner, different
styles of packing have been proposed
and tried, but there has always been a
return to the old method as the most
practical, economical and satisfactory.
For this reason it would appear that
modification of the shingle minimum
would be no more than Justice, and be.
cause the railroads are not in a position
to furnish the cars to more nearly fit the
requirements of shippers, it would seem
fair that the lumber minimum be placed
at a lower percentage OF the cubica Ca
pacity. mississippi Valley Lumberman.