The Daily Missoulian. [volume] (Missoula, Mont.) 1904-1961, 1909-06-21

n ON October 81. 1907, the compliments
had Il differentiaL under tho Spokane
group through North Dakota of from
s cents at the Pembina line, graded
upward to IA cents at Buford. Now
they have none, but claim that tAcy
are entitled to Il differentinl of i cents
at the Penbinn line. graded upward
to 7 cents at Buford. The grounds
upon which compliments insist that
they are entitled to this differential
are:
First-'rhe mills in the kallspell dis
trlct are considerably nearer to the
| North Dakota points than are the
mills In the Spokane group. Further,
that the intervening grades between
the Spokane group and the kalispeIl
district makes the haul from the
| kalispcll district to points in North
Dakota less expensive to the carrier
than the hanl from the mills in the
| spokane group to the same destina-
lions. Moreover, that the traffic from
the kalispcl district is more profitable
to the carrier by reason OF the fact
that carload of lumber from this
| district weighs heavier than one from
| lht SPOKANE group.
Second The Great Northern railway
| has always voluntarily recognized the
right of the kalispell district 10 a diff
| forential as against Spokane
/ Third-The commercial Goa liticns al =.
| tnndant upon the manufacture of luln-
her in the <alisoelI distrl q are less
than in the Spokane eronn.
An cnitome of the comrninants'
contentious would seem To pc tIlat n
dffercntial under the Spokane rate
1 should be granted to them on account
OF, first, geographical and transporta-
| ton reasons. and, second, commercial
| reasons. We viii first consider the
| commercial conditions which differen-
| tiate the Kalispel lumber from the
| Spokane lumber. The compliments do
not predicate their claim for relief on
commercial conditions, standing alone,
but assert that even granting for the
| moment that transportation reasons
might Justify the Great Northern in
| placing them In one group with Spo-
| kane, this should not be done when
| transportation conditions are at all in
| their favor and when at the same time
| the commercial conditions under which
| they operate will not permit them to
| compete in the North Dakota mar
kets with Spokane under equal rates
| The forest trees growing in the
kalspell district are the larch, usually
called "tamarack,' fir pine and
spruce, the, percentage of the different
kinds being: Larch, rs per cent; FIR,
Is per cent: pine, 6 per cent, and
spruce. 4 per cent These forest trees
are also common to the Spokane
group, but their size. quality and dis
tribution in each of these sections are
affected by the elevation. kalisrel |
is located Immediately west of the
Rocky mountains, and the general al |
titude of this district is between 1000
and $500 feet, and that of the Spo-
kane group about 1000 feet. An the |
trees which grow in the Kalispen dis |
trict are affected by this greater alti- |
tude, being more dwarfed and knotted |
than the product of the Spokane
group making the commercial value |
of the kaispell product less than the |
product of the Spokane group. Larch |
is a tree OF the higher attitudes, and |
while it crows inHlthe lower altitude |
of the Spokane group it does not pros
per to the extent that it does in the
kaispell district. ~
Larch produces only a low grade |
lumber commercially inferior to pine
lumber. When the larch of the COM
pl;linants was first introduced into the
market there appeared considerable
prejudice against it. and it took from
five to six years to place it in the
North Dakota market. But the COM
plainants finally succeeded. In 1906
the kalispell district produced and
shipped over the Graat Northern 1n3,-
576,967 feet. Lumber produced from
the larch tree which constitutes rs per
cent of the timber in the Kalispell
district, soils at from 81 to 81 less per
thousand feet than other varieties of
eoniIerous trees. 1t is also heavier
than pine and the complainants are
not only handicapped by the inferior
quality of their greatest product, but
by the greater weight. They claim
that carload of lumber weighs from
the kalspell district $4,000 pounds and
from the Spokane group $4,000 pounds
1T was admitted by the Great North
ern that 4 carload from the kaIispen
district weighed heavier than a ear
Load from the Spokane group. This is
due TO the fact that there is a greater
mixture Of larch in lumber originate
ing from Kalispell. Through North
Dakota the Great Northern established
Il dfferential in favor of Kalispcl as
against Spokane, but to points east
OF North Dakota, to and including
Minnesota transfer, the rates We're
made the same from alE@thes lumber
sections on the Great North
ern. kalispell was the nearest pro-
ducing market and North Dakota the
nearest consuming market, and If
kalispell then WAS entitled to a lower
rate into North Dakota, there is some
force in the contention that it is en-
titled to it at this time.
The extreme limit along the main line
of the Great Northern of the present
group taking the spokane rate is from
Spokane to Columbia Falls. Mont 2S3
miles. There are few mills if any,
in Spokane but many of the larger
mills are located north and south of
Spokane, and the mileage is greater
than II the shinments originated at Ia
Spokane. The Potlatch mill, for in