The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1909-07-30
CUT RATE ON
LUMBER
RAILROADS MAKE REDUC-
TIONS FROM MONTANA
POINTS EAST.
Tariff For Coast Shipments Re-
mains Unchanged, and Millmen
Say They Will Lose Trade in
Middle West-Bureau Lines to
Meet Milwaukee Competition.

Seattle, July 24-The. Post-Intelil-
gencer says:
Sweeping reductions in the rates on
forest products from points in Montana
to the consuming markets in North and
South Dakota, Western Minnesota and
other Middle Western states, with no
corresponding reductions from Coast
shipping points, are contained in the
new transcontinental freight bureau
lumber and shingle tariff, which will
become effective August Is. Copies
have reached Seattle.
The new tariff also shows that the
northern roads, the Great Northern and
Northern Pacific, have made sharp re-
auctions in rates to points in the Mid
die West to which the Chicago, Mil
waukee & St. Paul cut the transconti-
mental freight bureau rates on lumber
and shingles. The northern roads iden-
titled with the bureau met the Milwau-
kee competition to a few points, and
where the Milwaukee rates are not met
entirely, the old rates have been mate
rally reduced.
Lumbermen who have already learned
that the rates to the great Middle West
consuming markets from points in
Montana have been reduced, while
Coast rates have been unchanged, de-
clared that the new schedules will be
disastrous to Coast mills, and are like
ly to result in the loss of more trade
than did the ports of the big transcon-
tinental lines to advance the rates from
Coast points two years ago, which,
after much litigation, the lumbemen
we're able to head off in a large mea-
sure.
Reductions on Burlington
The new transcontinental lumber and
single tariff has been approved by the
interstate commerce commission and
the new rates will become effective
August Is. Copies Of tho new sched-
ule, while received by many lumber
men, have not generally been looked
into. A. F. Specht, secretary of the
lumbermen's joint rate committee,
however, examined the new schedules
carefully and compared the new with
the old rates.
The old rate on fir lumber, pine and
larch to Moorhead, Minnesota, East
Grand Forks, and points east in West
ern Minnesota, was 40 cents per hun
dred from all white pine, fir, larch and
cedar shipping sections, which included
Washington, Idaho and Montana
The new tariff establishes a rate
from the Coast to Moorhead, of Al
cents, and full advantage of the inter-
state commerce commission sliding
rule is taken in the first 50 miles east
of Moorhead, or at Parkdale, where
the maximum As cent rate, authorized
by the commission in the original lum-
Der rate case, is charged.
The rates. after August Is, from
Montana points, now having the same
rates as the Coast, will be "a cents to
Moorhead and 80 cents to Parkdale.
The new tariff, according to mill
men, gives Montana shippers an addi-
tional advantage over fir lumber man.
ufacturers on the Coast, in that it class
ifies Western white pine with fir and
hemlock in the rate groupings, while
white pine in weight approximates &C.
dar lumber, which takes ordinarily
much higher rate than fir lumber.
Becomes Effective August Is
The new tariff also shows reduction
in the lumber rates on the Burlington
system from points in Montana to
points in South Dakota and North Da-
kota and Nebraska, and reduction of
and 6 cents on shingles from Mon
tana points to Omaha. The old rate
from Coast and Montana points was 60
cents on shingles The new rate will
remain 60 cents from the Coast and be
81 and So cents from Montana points.