The Evening statesman. [volume] (Walla Walla, Wash.) 1903-1910, 1906-04-02
Northern Pacific Will Weigh lum.
Der Cars in State
WILL PROVE A SAVING TO LUMBERMEN
OTHER RAILROADS MAY FOLLOW
AND GRANT THE SAME
CONCESSION.

The matter of weighing lumber cars
at the loading point rather than the
destination, which has been in contro-
yersy between the lumbermen and the
railroads for years, and to cover which
law was passed by the 1905 session
of the legislature, which the companies
have so far refused to obey, has been
settled, says Victor H. Beckman, sec
rotary of the State Lumbermen's asso-
ciation At the regular monthly meet
ing of the association in the quarters
or the Seattle Lumbermen's club, at
the Olympus Saturday, voluntary
proposition was read from the freight
department of the Northern Pacific
railroad, accepting the proposition of
the association, which is substantially
the provision of the state law. The
association recommended to the mill
men the acceptance of the proposition,
and left to the transportation commit
committee, through J. H. Bloedel, its
chairman, is to communicate with the
company in the matter, accepting its
proposition.
According to Secretary Bechman, of
the association, acceptance of the lum-
bermen't position in the matter by the
| Northern Pacific presages a similar
concession on the part of other roads.
What 1t Means to Shippers.
This matter has been a vexed ques-
ton between the railroads and the
lumber shippers for years. Shipments
made in the winter months almost in
variably reached their destination car
rying an added weight of from 1000
to 5000 pounds of ice and snow, ac-
cumulated en- route, on which the mill
men were paying freight, in some
cases from 40 to so cents per 100
pounds. In this way the lumber men
lost several thousand dollars annually,
the new arrangement. The passage of
the law failed to bring the desired re-
form in the matter, but it is the lum-
Der mems belief, says Mr.. Beckman,
that the trouble has now been settled
through the proposition of the North
rrn Pacific.
Il When it is considered that the rail
shipments of the year 1905 were 60.S65
cars, of which the winter months fur
nished only a slight percentage I'M
der their relative proportion, the
amount of saving which may mean
through the wintry weather of the
northern tier of states, can be rough
ly estimated
Another matter taken up by the as
ISOLATION Saturday afternoon, which
the club spent most of the afternoon
in discussing, was the revision of the
grading rules for lumber, which have
been in effect since 1903. The changes
made as the result of the discussion
are not sweeping or particularly ma
terial.
Another matter on which the lum-
Der men are at issue with the rail-
roads is the weighing of the stakes
and other appliances used in keeping
the load on the cars. The state law
provides that a weight of 1000 pounds
for each car shall be deducted from
the weight on which the shipper is
charged for the carrying of his lum-
Der. The railroads, however have re-
fused to recognize the jurisdiction of
the state in the matter, claiming that
in the case of lumber shipments to the
eastern market the interstate COM
merce commission is the regulating
body, and a case is now up before the
commission.
The railroads have offered to COM
promise the matter on the basis OF an
allowance of 500 pounds per car, which
the lumber men have not as yet ac-
copied One of the large firms in Min
neapolis claims to have used 60,O00
feet of clear lumber for the stakes
last year, and in addition to this paid
freight on it to the railroad cOmnanv