Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1914-06-18
Road Used To Control Timber
Price.

porations to force timber owners of
four Missouri counties to sell to it
their timber at practically its own
price is indicated in an opinion handed
down today by Commissioner William
E. Woerner of the Public Service
Commission of Missouri.
By dividing 80 miles of railroad, all
owned by the American company,
through subsidiaries, into four parts,
the rails of which connect, but which
are controlled by corporations OF
different names, the company has for
years successfully prevented timber
owners from reaching outside markets
with their timber. The commission
holds that the entire railroad shall be
opened to public use.
The Sligo Furnace Co., a subsidiary
of the American company, requires
large amounts of timber, and has
purchased it from the land along its
railroad. The owners of this timber
we're denied the right to ship over
the American compsny's railroad,
and if they did not sell to the Sligo
Furnace Co., they could not sell at
all. The timber owners appealed to
the commission for relief.
The scheme, as explained in the
opinion, is:
The Frisco Railroad has spur five
and one half miles long from it's
tracks to Sligo in Dent County. The
Sligo Furnace Co. owned land about
Sligo from which it got it's timber.
Having exhausted the timber supply
within reach, it became necessary to
extend a railroad into the forests.
1t organized the Sligo & Eastern as
common carrier, this being nee
essary because it must cross public
highways. However, it did not start
the Sligo & Eastern from the end of
the rails of the Frisco spur. Between
the two it interposed 1000 feet of rails
on it's own property, which, it has
contended, were private. This road
runs 12 miles to billiard, Crawford
County.
After exhausting the timber along
the Sligo & Eastern, the company
desired to extend it's rails farther.
1t acquired control of a strip of land
II miles long. AS it did not have to
cross public highways this II miles
of railroad was constructed as a
private logging road of the furnace
company.
The timber along this route being
exhausted the company organized the
Iron County Central Railroad, ex-
tending six miles into Iron County.
This section of line was organized as
a common carrier because it crossed
public highways.
The effect of this scheme is that
the Sligo & Eastern operates trains
for the furnace company over the
entire length of road, but refuses to
haul freight for any person or COM
pany except the furnace company.
1t contends it has the right to refuse
to permit freight to be hauled over
its II miles of private track between
the Sligo & Eastern and Iron County
Central, and over the 1000 feet of
private track between the Sligo &
Eastern and the Frisco spur.
Thus no person or company along
the length of this road has an outlet.
That section of Missouri has few rail-
roads, and this line would be the only
outlet for district about 15 miles
wide and extending for 80 miles in
Dent, Crawford, Iron, Washington and
Reynolds counties.
The community of interests be-
tween the various corporations is
shown by the fact that they have one
Office, that of the American Car &
Foundry Co., in the Syndicate Trust
Building, and by the officers. Q. F.
Rodgers, who is president of the
Sligo Eastern, also is president Of the
Sligo Furnace Co. j. nj. Buick, vice
president of the American Co., is
secretary of the Sligo & Eastern and
the Sligo Furnace 90. s. s. Delano
is treasurer of three companies.
Commissioner Woerner found that
the Sligo Furnace 90. furnished the
funds for the Sligo & Eastern and the
Iron County Central. Edward F.
Goltra was president of the furnace
company and the Sligo & Eastern
when that road was built, but later the
American Oar and Foundry 90
obtained the Sligo Furnace 90. anC
with 1t the various railroad companies
| In his opinion Commissioner
lWoerner said:
4 "The stockholders, officers ant
directors Of ! the three companies
ostensibly are not quite identical, Oh
the books there are some in eacl
company who are not in the othel
two. But we think there is no doub
4 that this apparent diversity il
ostensible only, and was artificially
created for the purposes Of sim
lulated independence, and to avoid Al