The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-06-08
DEMAND JOINT
LUMBER RATE
Merrill to Appear Before Com
mission on Behalf of
Dealers.
MEANS MUCH TO SALT LAKE
WILL LET in PRODUCT OF WASH
INGToN MILLS.
MEANS MUCH TO SALT LAKE

\ 4 \ 4 \ = y
WHAT is PROPOSED. =
= To force the establishment of =
= through routing for lumber from y
= Tacoma, Wash, district via >
: Portland to Salt Lake and inter =
= mediate points over the Hill and y
= Hartman lines. =
= To force the two roads TO put in y
: joint rate on lumber from Ia =
y coma to Salt Lake. =
= PROBABLE RESULT.
: Will lower present lumber =
: prices in this section. =
y Will open another lumber mar. y
, ket to local wholesale and retail =
= Iumbermen.
PRESENT OATION.
Twenty-Five thousand cars of y
= lumber lying on tracks between =
\ Tacoma and Portland, for lack of y
cars on Hill line. y
Four hundred saw mills idle in '
= vicinity of Tacoma because they =
have no outlet for their product. =
The buying center of lumber y
for local dealers restricted to ,
Portland and vicinity. y
, Prices here on lumber almost y
prohibitiVe and the supply short y
= at any price, y
++%+
Within the next eighteen months the
prices of lumber in Salt Lake and the
intermountain country may be lowered,
| instead of raised.
With unexpected sVddenness the lum-
Der manufacturers of eastern Washing
ton have opened a war on the Hartman
Hill railroads of the northwest that
promises to be one of the most bitterly
/ fought affairs of its kind in the history
| Of the west, and which is of the utmost
/ Importance to Salt Lake and the cOun-
| try surrounding it.
/ The manufacturing Iumberrnen Of
I eastern Washington have petitioned the
/ interstate commerce commission to
! compel Hill and Hartman to establish
| u system OF through routing for lum-
Der shipments from Tacoma and vicin-
| ity via Portland to Salt Lake and the
/ intermountain country, and to compel
the two railroad magnates to put into
/ immediate effect joint rate on lumber
| from the Tacoma district to Salt Lake
by way of Portland.
Merrill Goes to Washington.
In response to a hurried summons
and request, George Merrill of Salt
| Lake. president of the Western Retail
Lumberren's association, left this city
| yesterday for Washington. d. C, to ap-
pear before the interstate commerce
! commission on June II TO testify as to
the conditions of the lumber situation
in Salt Lake and the intermountain
country and to advance the position of
the western retail lumber men on the
demands made by the manufacturing
lumbeTmen of eastern Washington for
through routing and joint rate from
Tacoma TO Salt Lake.
The hearing that is to be held juno
II is the crisis of a situation that has
been developing for three wears in
eastern Washington and Oregon.
Tacoma, Wash, is located due north
of Portland, Ore. The former city is
on the Northern Pacific. belonging to
James ]. Hill, running from Portland
north to Tacoma and connecting at the
latter place with the Northern Pacific
running east through ld9hOs Montana.
the DakOtas and Minnesota. AT Port
land the Northern Pacific connects with
the Oregon Short Line. belonging to +.
II. Hartman. and running from Port
land to Salt Lake. So heavy has bust
ness been on the Northern Pacific and
all the Hill lines the past year that the
r lines running east and south from Ia
coma have been totally unable TO move
the lumber shipments of the eastern
Washington mills for months. Twice
i'm the past six months embargoes have
been placed OF lumber shipments from
this district on the Hill lines, and the
movement of lumber from eastern
Washington over the Northern Pacific
in any direction has been Of the small
est extent.
Today, Tacoma lumbermen declare
there are $1,000 cars of lumber lying
idle on the Northern Pacific road be
; tween Tacoma and Portland because OF
Continued on Page 3.