Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-11-26
Or. Cecil French Tells About
Express Company Charges.
GIVES FACTS TO THE |. C. C.
Disguised That Snakes and Chame-
Icons Are Classed Together.
TELLS OF ovERCHARGEs
Informs Commissioner Lane Of Wide
Divergence in Cost Of Shipping
by Freigth.

DR.. Cecil French OF this city, who is
the Karl Hagenbeck Of the National
Capital, was the star witness before
Franklin X. Lane Of the interstate
commerce commission in New York
Friday in the Investigation into the
rates. rules and practices of the coun-
| try's express companies.
Dr.. French Atold Commissioner Lane
| all the latter wanted to know about the
| shipping of animals. There isn't an ami
NAL, from a rcebird to an ostrich, that
Dr.. French hasn't shipped at one line or
carried on clearing house for strange
beasts he has come up hard against the
| express companies.
| g. Snakes and Chameleons.
| Among the things DR.. French ships are
snakes-long. thin ones, as we'll as short,
| fat ones. Now, he himself likes snakes
we'll enough, and does not sympathize
with the popular prejudice against that
animal manifested in the express COM
panies' triple charge on reptiles. He is
willing, however. to bow befol popular
| feeling in this matter. What he does OBJ
| ject to Is the lack Of discrimination shown
| by the companies.
They put a chameleon in the same
! class as a rattlesnake,' said DR.. French,
disguised with the companies, lack of
tact. Think of that! They charge three
times the ordinary rates on an innocent
chame con that somebody wants to wear
| on her neck, just because he happens to
be put down on the official classification
as a reptile
There is not much doing in the snake
business just now, according to Dr..
French. This is the off-season for snakes
After an early Thanksgiving dinner. they
have taken to the woods. Next spring
they will come out again, and then Dr.
French will be after them, for he has an
| order to send an assortment Of particu-
| larry poisonous ones to the London Zoo
Express VS.. Freight Rates.
Last year DR.. French had occasion to
send two prime young beavers to Karl
| Hagenbeck's; In Hamburg, Germany. The
American Express Company took a look
at the beavers, and said they would like
a forty-dollar deposit to cover transpor-
tation. Dr. French told the company that
his beavers, though they moved in the
very best aquatic circles, were accus-
| toned to travel .steerase, and not first
class.
voyage himself. He went down to mar
ket and bought some ripe carrots, and a
| few loaves of broadcast 81. 10. He inter-
viewed the steward who looked after the
interests OF animals on the boat. and won
a fortnight's devotion to the beavers for
$3.50. Then there was SO for the ocean
| freight He also put in a small birch
log for the beavers to chew on when
| they felt homesick or otherwise.
| So the beavers arrived safely in Ham
burg and lived happily ever after. ineir
"Trip cost DIR. French exactly $13.6O-and
he brought the receipted bills to the in
terstate commerce commission to prove
| it, together with the letter from the
| ocxinO FIR
tforty-doilar deposit When he came to
| tell, this story to Commissioner Lane,
Ehowever, he found that he had made a
] slight mistake. 1t wasn't beavers. but
/ LET 1t go at beavers" he said after
ward. TITS all the same except for the
| carrots. / ship beavers all the time un-
der the same conditions. and so ! got
| pened to be a Rocky mountain goat"
Complains Of overcharges.
DR.. French told Commissioner Lane
| that on Is to 80 per cent of consignments
coming to him the companies made an
overcliarge. There was a pair of field
| mice or something of that order on which
the express company cole ted $3.50, when
| the correct charge was 50 cents. For an
! other shipment they collected $6O.S8, in
| stead Of S30.43-just twice the right
amount.
:'Po be sure, in these cases they event
ually refunded the balance. but often not
| for many weeks" he said. IF man
only has a little capital the companies
could soon drive him out OF business by
| this practice
An American eagle also came into the
evidence. The national bird in this case
aa shipped by p Dbcb e ssa t. ss
States Express Company had sent bill
| for $25, Now, DIR. French imports birds
| of a similar bulk-ca. ercailzies, to be
| exact-at $1.25 bird. That is the freight
| amount would have to be paid for board
| and attendance-say 81 altogether. Which
| accounts, according to DR.. French, for
| the express companies fondness for ship
| ping national birds.
All ruminants imported into the coun-
try have to go to quarantine at Athena,
| N J. In 1905 DR.. French brought over a
number Of ruminants for the Zoo in
| car is $40 but In this case the United
States Express Company charged him for
| a car both ways to Hoboken and added
! incidentals in the way Of valet service to
| particular form of four-stomached goat
was. to the tune OF $126. Dr.. French paid
There's something funny about snakes
| hearing. II get orders from women for
| snakes OF one sort and another all the
| time-they seem to like them. But when
| II comes to mice-well, needn't explain.
| No, no men ever order snakes unless they
| have TOGO business or something. They
| hate them. But "a man doesn't mind
mouse. Maybe It's got something to do
with the Garden OF Eden"
Commissioner Lane announced that be-
fore the aext hearing was held a series
| OF questions would be submitted to the
express companies. These would bear on
| the relations between freight and express
rates.
MOONSHINERS' FOE DIES.