Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-02-07
FREIGHT CONDITIONS
BETTxRnxNT DUE TO 5oBBER<
AND SHIPPERS ASSOCIATION.
Facts Shown by Postal Record sys-
te1n''-Need Of Trolley Line
to Annapolis.

said to be doing effective work in bringing
about better freight conditions for the ship
pers OF the District of Columbia. Mr..
Woodwork Clum. assistant secretary of the
organization. stated to Star reporter to-
day that a betterment OF conditions
amounting to at least 60 per cent is now
pointed to with pride by the members Of
the association. D.
According to Mr.. Clum, last June when
the members began the Greater Washing
ton movement. the rreignt conditions In the
capital city were, to say the least, lamen-
table, 1t being claimed at the time. that the
rates were high, the railroads arbitrary and
that time was not the essence Of any
freight contract. Later, when the organiza-
ton was fairly started these complaints
were investigated as well as the circum-
stances would permit. At that time the lack
OF specific detail In reference to the ship
ments complained of prevented anything
like a tangible report upon the subject by
those in charge.
1t was discovered that a record Of ship
nents covering a definite period of time
must be had before progress could be made.
1t was then that the postal record sys-
tenn" sending to each consignee a postal
card and asking him to fill in the blanks
with the day and hour Of receipt was In
augurated. When number of the cards
had been returned and the statements made
thereon by the buyers were compiled. it
was noted that the average time Of freight
u AecSDuTB ITOu InlS city was nVe DAYS,
| to Bowmans, Va, eight days, and to Gull
pepper three days. The efforts of the as
ISOLATION members, according to Mr.. Cium,
has worked great good and accomplished
much in the way of improvement.
Reports on Postal Cards.
In the beginning the buyers wrote on the
postals. Service very poor,'' This Is too
long for Washington freight" Can get
goods quicker from New York or st. Louis. :"
Today the remarks on the postals are:
Everything coming fine," mo complaint
at ALL" and You folks up in Washington
are doing great work.
From Cline & Son of Leesburg comes the
message. Goods shipped January % from
Washington. arrived In Leesburg. January
rs" Remarks: ut is wonderful how soon
received. No such experiences before you
began campaign" Another consignment to
Titus Smith. at Leesburg, was shipped
from Washington, January %, and arrived
at it's destination the next day. which goes
to show that the fast time made in the
shipments are not accidents, but matters Of
course.
The members of the board of directors of
structed Assistant Secretary Clum to as
certain the cause Of the good service, and
after trip to the Potomac yards and the
opposite end of the Long bridge, he came
to the conclusion that the least said about
the why's" and '-wherefores'' the better
During the course of his investigations Mr.
Clum found that where six months ago the
local freight was being sidetracked, and
the preference 1t Is stated, being given to
the freight from other cities. en- route
through Washington to southern points
the local freight is now given the prefer
ence and the foreign freight is sdetracked
Afraid to Say Too Much.
II am a little afraid to say too much
about the reason for our bettered condi-
tion." Mr.. Clum said, for fear the cities
up north will get busy and register kicks.
You know this freight problem has it's hu-
man side. and as long as we are getting
preferential treatment we are not inclined
to make fuss OF any sort The Southern
railway. FOR instance. while its equipment is
not adequate, according to its own officers
Is doing wonders for Washington shippers
tales. found freight on the tracks in the
yard that had been there a long time but
no Washington freight Is being delayed at
all. The delays are all with the other folks.
Our customers are satisfied"
It was stated that ANNAPOLIS Md is one
OF the best objective points for Washington
trade, with the patronage of the Naval
Academy and the prosperous surrounding
country. While 1t is a most desirable mar
ket for Washington merchants there Is
said to be no way to reach Annapolis by
direct freight. Goods sent there have to go
by way OF Baltimore. 1t Is also said that
freight from Baltimore gets to Annapolis
the same day 1t is shipped, while it requires
two days to get shipments from Washing
ton to Annapolis.
1t Is the opinion of officers Of the Jobbers
and Shippers Association that the only
present way of overcoming the difficulty
will be to have a trolley line which will
carry freight established between this city
and the Maryland capital. 1t was also de-
clared that the association would 'boost"
such a line If it is projected.