The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1910-02-03
Small Shippers in Salt Lake
Receive Illuminating and
Valuable Information.
SURPRISE EXPRESSED THAT
COMMISSION Is INTERESTED
To Collect Just Account a Let
ter to Washington Is Often
All That Is Needed.

ment Of The Tribune Yesterday created
something of sensation among railroad
claim agents and shippers in Salt Lake,
81 never knew before that there
was any recourse any help for The
| shipper. except the courts when the
railroad deliberately delayed and lodged
Just claims for damaged freight and
overcharges. said one shipper Wednes-
day If the road overcharged me SO
thought | was practically helpless. be-
| cause 1t would not pay me TO go to law
over such small amount of money, and
L KNOW from experience that IT is no
use 1o pntter around for months trying
to get them to settle. If ! am under
charged / find il out mighty soon and
nave to pay up. but on oyercharges ii
is vastly different.
''That i as an individual could ap-
peal by personal letter to the interstate
commerce commission i did not know.
| thought | had to 20 through lot of
forms. even worse than going into court.
That the interstate commerce commits
SION is for the individual as we'll rs for
large concerns never occurred TO me.
heretofore i would Just as soon
nave written a personal letter TO
The supreme court as TO the interstate
commerce commission. did not even
Nho" lhe 'uureSS Oh Ihe COMMISSION.
| supposed ii was always on the move.
and never thought of writing to them
at Washington, d. c.
Must Be Some Action.
81 have some old claims that have
given up as hopeless. but ] am going
TO dig them out and write to the com
mission about them. have gone near
Z he railroad all | am going to. What s
the usc!' They only give me Jolly
and tell me how hard they arc working
to help me out, bur after weeks and
months of delay there is nothing doing
in the way Of cash. And ] notice that
claim unless it is in answer 10 one of
mine.
For the road TO write 10 me that
the claim is Just and to call and get
my money. or TO enclose check for the
amount. without me dunning 1T week
after week is something / never heard
of from some of the railroads.
"All roads are not alike in this, /
have found out, Some really try to
eases, but even the best of them delay
some claims indefinitely because of some
legal twist or other. Other roads dodge
all claims. 1t is their policy, never pay
anything unless they have to-
Sc AS for me, hereafter / am going to
present my claim and the road must do
one of two things, and do it promptly,
right on the minute, or | will lay the
whole thing before the interstate com
mcrcc commission by registered mail,
with certified copies of all the papers
IN the case. These two things arc either
TO pay me promptly, within thirty days.
as the commission says in The Tribune
today, or else convince me that my claim
is unjust But whichever is done it must
he I1nn ,,Nfl IL. / k,,.
OF this delay, the whipsawng hack and
forth with nothing settled Just TO wear
me out.
Satisfaction within thirty days or
the interstate commerce commission for
me. And ] am gong to see that others
do the same We know where VIC stand
now and can get justice without LAWYER
getting ten times more than the claim
is worth. Good for the interstate com
mercc commission and The Tribune for
making the fact known! The railroads
would have liked 10 keep that in
formation dark. but it is welcome news
TO the shippers! f"
Write-Write Immediately.
"There Will be a good many claims
that have been hanging fire for months.
and several hundred that some of the
roads thought had died ot old age. that
will be adjusted now IN a hurry, or
else there will be whole lot of regis
tered letters going from Salt Lake to
the interstate commerce commission in
Washington, ID. c.. said another ship
per. 81 am going to write one myself
and that within a week, unless ] hear
from the railroad itself
81 have written 10 the railroad com.
pany for the last time. II has got to
write 10 me now, and chase me, mean
while I will do business with the inter-
S-tI -
railroad 5 head. Unless I hear from the
railroad this week the railroad will hear
from me through the commission, just
wait and see. y
Several shippers stopped The railroad |
editor of The Tribune on the street |
Yesterday TO ask for particulars concern
ing long delayed claims and about how to |
write 10 the interstate commerce com
mission. The fact that the commission
is for the people, the smallest shipper
as we'll rs the largest. and that no law
yer IS needed for an informal hearing |
yesterday seemed TO be surprising news
TO the majority of shippers in Salt
Lake.
The claims department of several
railroads apparently did not relish max
ing Srch dangerous information pub
lie, as one railroad man expressed it,
Now, there is no use of telling the |
public such a thing as that said ono |
of them. 1t will only cause lot of |
trouble and SO have all we can do as
it is, We are Investigating claims right !
along, and paving them when we arc |
convinced that they are legal
Claim Agents Disagree
This thing Of getting tho interstate |
commerce commission after us is all |
wrong. The commission intcrfcrcs with
the railroads too much rs il is. and VIC
don I want every shipper with a claim
against us running to the commission
with IL.
because some Of tho railroads may
not do exactly the right thing all the
time in the way of adjusting claims
within reasonable time, and often it
take weeks To find out who is to blame
that is no reason why The Tribune
should publish that report. If the pub
lie wants that information. let them
get it from the proper place-from The
commission S official rcports-not from
The Tribune.
Ono railroad claim agent was secretly
glad that The Tribune had published
H.. ,.t I, ,