Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1913-08-28

railroad mans existence. He some
times loses more sleep over It than
he does over passengers. 1t involves
problems not met with in most kinds
of freight. II 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
fixture of railroads freight schedule
to insure delivery OF this kind Of
freight for "A certain market day may
mean tho loss 10 that railroad of this
entire business, to the commission men
and mnrketmen 1t means So much less
business to get returns from. On the
other hand. the ability OF the time
table experts md the traffic men to
knock off half an hour even on the run
ming time Of freight train may mean
to :he road thousands of dollars OF new
business and for the commission men
may open up brand new line of
trade. For years men have worked
over these freight train schedules try
ing to lop off precious minutes CT time
In the Yards. in the stOns 90 rou'. and
In the delivery Always their aim has
been in the case Of New England to
get table Injuries, such AS early
strawberries, melons and peaches, into
Boston ty the second market day.
There is no more perishable p,oduce
than straw crreS, 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 cane of berries !. is absolutely es-
sentia that they he consumed within
seventy-two hours from the TINE they
nre picked for them 70 command
price that will 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
EnClander's table within this limit Of
seventy-two hours is thus seen to be a
big one. If carload Of Strawberries
consigned to New England produce
merchant misses a market day at the
South Boston yard it means usually n
depreciation of at least cents on
every box; on melons II means prob
ably a cent apiece. That may not
seem much, but in the aggregate il is
enough frequently to wipe out the
profit on an entire shipment.
In order to make n market day with
this kind of freight. the railroad must
get it into Boston, say. between the
hours of a. III. and a. N, The
market day begins promptly al a. m.
That is the hour when the big bell
rings out in the perishahle freight
yard and there begins n scene of ac-
tivity among the marketmen. When
this bell rings the cars must he ready
to open so that their contents can be
inspected and sampled and the fruit
or vegetables sold right as they stand
in the car. Ten minutes after this
bell rings the contents of the train
may be on the way to the market.
This hour Of 6 a. m, then. is the
goal upon which the eye of the operat
ing man and the traffic man in the
railroad organization is fixed. 1t 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 vitalizng 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 yardmen
along the route have it in mind, and
mp in the railroad offices the operat-
ing men have II in mind too Like the
man with the ball in the football game,
these men are all working to put the
train with its produce over the goal
line before the big bell in the Boston
yard rings out as 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.
~ was il't HldHE years ago Ind1 Inp
average householder had TO rely chiefly
on his local fruits and vegetables He
waited until July for his strawberries.
His melons and peaches he got later.
Vegetables out of season were rare
This was when New England. bv the
then means of transportation. was
many market days away from the
south, These were tho days of inten.
sive railroads. as NJ. Brandcis would
probably call them. short railroads
connecting with one another. but op.
Grated separately and involving many
transfer points. When freight has Ia
20 over several railroads operated on
the intensive principle it is bound "a
suffer delays. Between Boston md
| New York there were the New Haven
the old Stonington road and the Bos.