Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1913-10-22

uce, Boston's market day is now tho
same as New York's, and Portland,
Me-, is but one market day later than
Philadelphia Today a carload of
strawberries can make the journey be-
tween Norfolk and Boston in just
thirty six hours and q half.
Perishable freight is the bane Of the
railroad mans existence. He some
times loses more sleep over it than
ne does over passengers. It involves
problems not met with in most kinds
OF freight. It must be delivered in the
quickest time possible, and in this
connection the railroad, like the ship
pers and the commission men, must
always reckon on the market day. The
loss OF one market day on perishable
freight like strawberries often means
the loss OF the entire shipment. The
failure OF a railroads freight schedule
to insure delivery Of this kind of
freight for a certain market day may
mean the loss to that railroad Of this
entire business; to the commission men
and marketmen 1t means 20 much less
business to get returns from. On the
other hand, the ability Of the time
table experts and the traffic men to
knock OF half an hour even on the run
ming time Of freight train may mean
to the road thousands Of dollars Of new
business and for the commission men
may open up a brand new line Of
trade. For years men have worked
over these freight train schedules try
ing to lop of precious minutes of time
In the yards, in the stops en- route and
In the delivery. Always their aim has
been in the case of New England to
get table Injuries, such as early
strawb berries, melons and peaches, into
Boston by the second market day.
There is no more perishable produce
than strawberries, and next to them
comes fish. The New England rail-
roads must bring the first into New
England and carry the second out. In
the case of berries it is absolutely es-
sential that they be consumed within
seventy-two hours from the time they
are picked for them to command
| price that viii make the business
worth while. When one considers that
these early berries are picked in Vir-
| ginia and points farther south the
| problem confronting the New England
railroads in getting them on the New
| Englander's table within this limit of
seventy-two hours is thus seen to be a
big one. II carload Of strawberries
consigned to New England produce
merchant misses market day at the
South Boston yard it means usually a
depreciation Of at least cents on
every box; on melons it means prob
ably cent apiece. That may not
seem much, but in the aggregate it is
enough frequently to wipe out the
profit on an entire shipment.
In order 10 make a market day with
this kind Of freight, the railroad must
get it into Boston, say, between the
hours Of 4. N and q. m. The
market day begins promptly at 6 q. m.
That is the hour when the big bell
rings cut In the periahable freight
yard and there begins 4 scene Of &C
dvity among the marketmen. When
this bell rings the cars must be ready
TO open 50 that their contents can be
Inspected and sampled and the fruit
Or vegetables sold right rs they stand
Ia the car. Ten minutes after this
bell rings the contents Of the train
may be on the way to the market
This hour Of 4. m, then, is the
goal upon which the eye Of the operat-
ing man and the taflc man in the
railroad organization is fixed. It is
the hour they must make, not one
day, but every day, or lose the bust
ness. Down in Virginia, through Mary
land and Delaware a freight train
loaded with the luscious early berries
of southern plantations, the first to
feel the vitalizing effect Of the spring
sunshine, may be rushing through the
night toward this goal with the speed
Of a passenger train. The engineer
has this goal in mind, the gardiner
along the route have It TN mind, and
up In the railroad Offices the operat
ing men have it In mind too. Like the
man with the ball in the football game
these men are all working to put thu
train with its produce over the goa
line before the big bell In the Boston
yard rings out as 4 signal for the
market men that another market DAY
has begun.
New England has not always enjoy
ed the privilege Of having Strawberries
In February or even melons in May
It was not many years ago that thu
average householder had to rely chiefly
on his local fruits and vegetables HI
waited until July for bis strawberries
His melons and peaches he got later
Ve4etab lea ont Of saason vora roro
This was when New England, by tn,
then means Of transportation, wa
many market days away from tn
south. These were the days of inten
s1ve railroads, a. Mr.. Brandeis woul,