The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1914-01-14
BAGGAGE
~. RATES TOO HIGH
Complete Situation Covered
in Hearing Before the Rail
Commission at Fargo.

Fargo. y. D., Jan. 14.-Commercial
travellers in North Dakota are COM
PEELED to pay from 100 to 200 per cent
higher rate oil excess baggage than
are those of Missouri, though they
ravel on the same road, according to
hearing before the state railway COM
mission here yesterday afternoon. The
hearing was held in the Commercial
club rooms and all the members OF
the commission were present, togeth-
Ell with Secretary Walter +. Gushing.
Above Published Rate.
1t is the contention of the CONNER
though the claim is being made by
the railroads that the rate for excess
baggage is sixteen and two-thirds per
cent Of the first class passenger fare,
1t actually run as high as 100 per
cent OF the fare in many cases. They
claim that the fare published by the
roads Is never given the travellers I'M
tween stops. Since The average dis
lance between the stops of a trave'er
with a line Of trunks is twenty miles
he has to pay what is in fact an arbi-
trary rate.
Professcl High Rate.
But it is the claim by the travellers
that the professed rate is too high
and that in Missouri for instance, it is
much less and that the low rates OBJ
enstein, special representative of the
supreme council of the U. c.. I. was
the principal witness before the COM
mission yesterday. His testimony was
along II lines given above and he
had many cases to prove his state
ments.
An Eamplc.
In talking over the matter al the
Waldorf yesterday, he ave an illus
traticn of the workings of the present
rate on excess baggage in this state
and compared it with those of the
state of Missouri. He said: IF a
travelling salesman goes from Fargo
to Casselton. a distance OF twenty
miles. with 1000 pounds OF excess
baggage he would pay a minimum
charge Of 10 cents pcr hundred
pounds, or $3.50. In the state Of Mis-
souri,. on the same road, the Milwau-
kee, the travelling man going the same
distance and with the same amount of
excess baggage. would nav to nay
only 3 cents per hundred pounds, or
so cents. In other words. the North
Dakota railroads in this instance is
charging the travelling man 200 per
cent more for the identical pounds OF
excess baggage carried and distance
travelled"
Could Save Expense.
At the hearing yesterday Mr.. Fleck-
enstein showed the commission. that
If this state had a tariff identical with
that of the stae of Missouri it would
mean a saving in expense account for
the travellers of this stale all the way
from $50 to $500 per e He is Of
the opinion that it would mean a
great deal to the city of Fargo with
its more than 500 commercial travel
ers. The commission has taken the
matter under Amusement and will
render a decision later. :
Many at Hearing.
Representing the railroads were A.
a.: l1ossow.. commercial counsel for
the 500 railroad lines; H. NJ. Lewis.
assistant general passenger agent for
the 500 lines; j. C. Poor, assistant
general passenger agent for the Nor
them Pacic railroad; e. H. Wilde,
passenger agent for the
Great Northern railroad; L L. LaRue,
travelling passenger agent for the
Great Northern railroad: E. E.. Done
gan, travelling passenger agent for
the Chicago & Northwestern railroad;
James 1. Rohan, local agent for the
Northern railroad.
Representing the United CONNER
stein. W. D. Powell and ]. F. Sittig,
all of Fargo.
Others attending the hearing were
y. o. Gibbs. traffic secretary of the
Fargo Commercial club, and J. r.
Bremner. traffic secretary of the
Grand Forks Commercial club.
Buy It.
Because its a studebaker. Dakota
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