The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1910-10-06
General Conditions on All Lines
Good This Last Week.
No BIockades and More Equip
ment Than Ever Before.
PASSENGER
GOOD.
Officials Report Most Travelling
in Traffic History.
Other Items of General Inter
est in Traffic World.

Chicago, Oct. Cuisines with
Western railroads is large in volume
and exceeds last years. Traffic Of
ficiaIs believe that even at the max
imum of the fall rush of business there
will be no 5lockades nor general scar
city of cars and motive power, as has
frequently happened in previous years,
as the railroads have more equipment
than ever before, and are in shape to
move materially larger tonnage than
is at hand at present or in immediate
on the Western or Southwestern rail-
roads and traffic is fairly balanced
between east and westbound.
Miscellaneous tonnage movement is
very satisfactory, and exceeds last
years. Coal tonnage, which has been
is increasing, and is almost up to the
normal, so that there is a slight scare
ity of coal cars, but there is no scare
ity of coal for the Central West, as the
Illinois mines are in operation.
One of the best features in the
traffic situation is the excellent show
ing made by the passenger business,
which exceeds any previous years. not
withstanding the fact that it is always
heavy in September. Officials of the
passenger departments say that bust
ness is very satisfactory, and that the
people are becoming educated to
travel more as the result of Judicious
advertising. which pays well.
The corn crop has matured suffi-
GENTLY to assure the largest ever
raised. Eighty-five to 80 per cent of
it is already in condition where an
ordinary frost will do no injury. There
was some frost in western Iowa. Ne
braska, and western Kansas, and in the
southern parts of the two Northwest
ern States, but it did not materially
injure the crop, and any hard frost
that may come within the next week
will only injure the quality and not
the quantity of the crop.
Grain traffic last week, while good,
was not as large as it should be, con-
sidering the size of the crops. The
fact that the marketing IN August was
abnormal caused a reduction in the
movement in the past four weeks as
compared with the normal. Receipts
of all grains at Chicago last week
were 5,065,OO0 bushels, a decrease of
$4,000 bushels, or 2.9 per cent, from
the previous week, and of 23S,OOO
bushels, or 40 per cent, from last year,
and were $4,000 bushels, or 14.3 per
cent below tie average for the past
five years. Wheat receipts increased
5000 bushels, corn decreased 248.OOO
bushels, and oats increased $4,000
bushels. A feature of the movement
last year was the increase OF lT:o0O
bushels wheat, and increases OF 415,-
900 bushels corn, and 1900 buShelS
oats, as compared with the past week.
With a decrease in the wheat move
ment in the past month there has been
a decided shifting of positions in the
grain carrying roads. And the Illinois
Central, which held the lead for weeks,
dropped to fifth place, while the
Northwestern, which was down toward
the middle of the list at that time,
is now at the top. as the bulk of the
grain movement is made up of corn
and oats which comes from northerly
and Western sections. The North
western handled 17.3 per cent last
week, the ST. Paul 1877 per cent, the
Burlington 1874, the Rock Island did
we'll with IA, the Illinois Central 11.3,
the Alton 81, the wabash 5, Eastern
Illinois 4, and the other roads 3 per
cent each