The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-10-06
COMMISSION REOPENS CASE Problem of Marking
 Meal and Flour. BIRMINGHAM SHIPPERS KICK Railroads Will Fight Case to Its
 litter Ind. They Are Mistaken Tn Their Belief That 1t is Better for All Parties
 to Mark sacks-Birmins- hmm Alone. 

Railroad Commissioners of Alabama
 and railroad traffic officials began anew
 the tussel over specific marking or
 sacks of meal and -four Monday
 morning. It was the regular month
 ly meeting of that body, It was the
 reopening of the old question aoout
 which there has been perhaps more
 briefly. is to ge: suspension e Q. .ne
 general rule of the railroads forcing
 shippers to mark individual sacks or
 meal and flour with the names of the
 consignees and the points of destina-
 tion. This request has always been
 severely combattej by the carriers.
 By the prominent. array of the trat-
 fic officials and counsel, 1t can De
 judged that the fight Is to continue
 bitterly to the end. Indeed, one of the
 lawyers made the side remark Monday
 that the demands of the wholesalers or Birmingham are clearly beyond req son. were turned down by the Commis-
 sion after a most exhaustive series or hearings and that if that body re- verses itself the matter would DO carried to the courts for final adjus-
 tication.
 The principal cause for reopenfng the case was stated by Chairman Henderson when the Commission con vened and by MT. Wilkerson when ne took tile stand as the first witness: tCn6lIulan SdAA NAA8t AS Ns-~~ received request for the rehearing accompanied by an explanation that new testimony had been adduced since the last hearing. testimony based up- on the operation of the rule Of the railroads as authorized by the Com- mission.
 MT. Wilkerson afterwards, on the | stand, told what was this new evil dence. He produced figures secured from tests, calculated to show that by the marking system there was heavy loss in the efficiency of drays haul ing the flour and meal from the mill to the depot, due to the extra time consumed in stenciling the sacks with the names of the consignee and point of destination. There was also loss or
 time, he said, in unloading the drays
 continued controversy than any other matter of merely routine character All members of the Commission
 were present when 1t was announced that the case would be reopened. They are Chairman Charles Henderson and
 Associate Commissioners w. D. Nes- bitt and John A. Lusk. The announcement was a distinct disappointment to the large number Of railroad officials and lawyers who dotted the rooms of the Commission. The petitioners for the reopening of | the case were the same who started the controversy several months ago, being the Birmingham Wholesale Gro- cers' Association. Their chief witness was E. Wilkerson who is a prominent shippers of flour in Birmingham. The proposition Of the flour and | meal shippers of Birmingham, stated at the freight depot and in the un- loading of cars at the destinations. He read letter from a Bessemer custom CT tending to confirm the later por- tion of his statement.
 Cost Less Than Thought It was admitted, however. by the witness that the cost Of marking the
 sacks in lieu of the mill brand was somewhat less expense than was esti-
 mated during the first hearing. He
 claimed that this was more than on. set by the unexpected expense Of drayage per one hundred sacks ship ped. demonstrated, he claimed, by the operation of the marking rule in ac- ] cordance with tests.
 On cross examination the railroads
 practically made known their con- tentions in the matter. Mir. Wilkerson
 was forced to admit that identinca-
 tion of the meal and flour sacks in
 the event of misshpment would be
 easier and save less time by the mark
 ing rule than by mill brand. Tn fact,
 as there are several brands of -four
 on the market in Alabama, 1t was
 clear that the HnaThlnB was the only
 reliable means of Identification of
 stray shipments.
 There was lengthy discussion,
 rather than a line of testimony. on the
 comparative merits of the marking
 rule and the mill brand system. The
 railroads contend that the expense to
 the shippers is inconsiderable as com
 pared to the increase claims arising
 under the suspension of the regular
 marking rule. The Birmingham peo-
 pie. 1t was said. enjoyed a unique po-
 sition in the matter. They were the oHi
 ly shippers of meal and flour in the
 State who were fighting the marking
 rule. It was shown In the previous
 hearings that the shippers of Mobile,
 Montgomery and Selma and other cen ters did not protest against the mark
 ing. Tn fact, they inclined 10 the rule for the sake of more efficiency in de- livery and more correctness in getting the flour to the consignee.
 Chairman Henderson. when the { Commission convened, said that they had made some investigation of the | problem of marking since their decis-
 ion of two months ago. They had | found thereby that if there was to be