The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1913-05-21
Santa Fe Adopts New Car
Shortage Remedy.
Asks State to Increase Their
Minimum Weights.
SHIPPERS ARE WORRYING
Fear That This Fall Will Be q
Duplicate.
Impossible to Supply Suffi-
cient Equipment.

One of the most important investi-
cations so far conducted by the Kan
sas public utilities commission has to
do with some of the causes leading up
to car shortages during the periods OF
maximum loading. AS indicating how
vitally important this subject is. the
Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Rail-
way company has made application to
the Kansas public utilities commits
sion, the corporation commission of
Oklahoma and the commissions of sew
eral other states where the present
laws make impossible an advance OF
rates of weights without the consent
of the commissions for permission TO
increase the minimum weights as pre-
Scribed by. the rules of the comm1s-
sions or the statutes of the states, to
make available more equipment dur
ing periods of acute car shortages.
AS a result of the Santa .F'e's appH-
cation, the Kansas commission has
started it's machinery by sending its
attorney, John Marshall, to Chicago,
Washington and various other places
for the purpose of assembling infor-
nation which will enable the com
mission to intelligently consider tins
most important question.
An impression has gone out that the
Santa Fe's application has to do with
increasing the minimum weights on
grain products only. This is not cor
rect, as the Santa Fe has filed with
the commission an amended appl1ca-
ton asking that the scope of the IN
vestigation be broadened to include
any commodity which, under present
minimum weights, might be so loaded
as to take but one-third or one-half OF
the capacity of the car.
Letters From Shippers.
Letters have been received from a
great many shippers. One of the larg-
est handlers of an important commod-
ity in Kansas writes: Il am writing
to you anticipating the same trouble
the coming fall season that we had
last fall, when for many months our
mills were practically shut down.
During that busy season when 1t was
almost impossible to get car we had
no trouble whatever to induce our Gus
toners to let us send them a maximum
load, thereby making one car perform
the service formerly requiring two
or three cars
Another very large shipper has writ
ten; 'I am writing you to see If some
kind of an arrangement could not be
made by which larger minimum
could be arranged for regarding ship
ments as turned out by our factories
Still another large shipper writes:
''It is certain that the inconvenience
and financial loss occasioned by the
1912 car shortage is remembered. 1t
is practically certain that there will
be a marked shortage of cars this
year; hence, it is opportune to assist
the railroads by ordering in capacity
carloads only. During the year 1912,
this company saved 2,136 cars out of
the countrys car supply by increasing
the average load per car. This means
that if the average carload in 1917
had been the same as in 1911, 2,136
more cars would have been required
to contain the commodity we shipped
in 1912. We accomplished this with
the cooperation of our customers. A
should be started to force
the railroads to load their equipment
up to as nearly as possible its ca
pacity."
Commission May Cooperate.
The commission does not care to
give out the names of the writer's of
these communications, as they will be
offered as evidence at the hearing. 1t |
is to be expected that the state COM |
missions will cooperate with the ship |
pers and the railroads in the direc- |
ton of prevailing upon the interstate |
commerce commission, in case there |
are any objections, to permit the same |
loading on interstate business as OBJ
tainS on intraState business.
1t has been said that the railroads !
should be forced to supply equipment |
sufficient to take care of the peak of |
the loading. H. U. Nudge, president |
of the Rock Island Lines, in speech |
at Hutchinson before the Farmers |
touched upon this phase of |
the question, saying that it would re-
quire at the hands of the railroads |
west of the Mississippi river and east
of the Rocky mountains, an expen-
diture of over s40,OOO,00O to have Sc
cured box car equipment sufficient to
have taken care of the maximum
loading offered during any one pc /
riod of the car shortage of 1912, and |
as the equipment on hand with the |
was more than sufficient to
move the business offered during nine |
months of the year, it was manifest
Iy apparent that the expenditure of |
s 40, 100000 for increased box car
equipment would be idle invest
ment and tax upon carriers, and the
public as well, for at least nine
months of the year.
1t is expected that the movement |
by the Kansas and Okla
homa commissions will result in a
better underste nding of the general !
situation, and enable the railroads and |
shippers to solve the Vexatious car |
shortage problem before the time for
the car shortage arrives.