The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1918-03-26
New York Packer)

New York, March 25.-As was men
toned in The Packer last week, L.
9. Hutches, the celery grower of
Bradentown, Fla, came to New York
as the representative of the celery
growers interests of Manatee county
for the purpose of studying the trans
portation difficulties at this end of
the line.
Mr.. Hutches not only made a
careful and exhaustive study of the
way freight is handled on the
piers here but he succeeded in stir
ring up considerable trouble for the
Pennsylvania Railroad Company-so
much so that Commissioners Day Of
the Office of Public Markets, has
started an investigation. Not only is
the local Office of Public Markets in
terested, but the Federal Food Com
mission is getting busy and the Board
of Aldermen, of New York City, also
is in action.
There is no doubt but what celery
and lettuce dealers of Florida have
gotten a raw deal this year through
the wretched service given by the
transportation companies. The man
ner in which the Pennsylvania has
been handling stock on its piers and
the rotten service that has been af-
| forded shippers has been CALLING not
only to New York receivers, but to
everyone interested in this line of
business 1t has been pointed out in
The Packer before this, that ever
since the war started which was in
| 1914, labor has been scarce. The
other transportation companies have
always been far ahead of the Penn
| sylvania in their scales of wages. The
Pennsylvania Railroad has caused its
patrons hundreds of thousands of dol
lars in losses because of its short
Sightedness in not paying longshore-
men and dock workers wages on a
comparative scale with other roads
and other lines of business. Any
time the Pennsylvania Railroad has
increased the per hour pay of its
dock workers, it has been after a
strike and thousands Of dollars have
been lost by receivers and shippers.
When other railroads were paying
IS q 29c an hour the Pennsylvania
Railroad was fighting to pay 21a q
&c an hour, and trying to hire all
the buns it could find along West
street. Sometimes these men work
and sometimes they do not. They
line up every night for job but only
after they are broke. That is the
kind of help receivers have had to put
up with here for the last two or three
years. Mr.. Hutches started out last
week to watch things on the dock.
Monday he called upon Commission
er Day and laid the conditions before
that office Mr.. Day became interest
ed and with several other investiga-
tors they did" the docks Monday
night. Here is how Commissioner
Day describes few things he saw:
"There were two dozen cars prin-
cipally loaded with celery, caulifiow-
err and turnips on the pier" DR.. Day
said land freight handlers were UNI
loading them Men with longshore-
mems hooks would reach up, haul
down a case and it would crash to the
floor, the case bursting open and fine
fresh produce would roll out in the
passageway. Truck wheels would
trample on them. 1t was a ruthless
destruction of good food, it was APP
parent there was little care in the
handling of the stuff and large guam
titles of produce was scattered about
or made unfit or partially unfit for
the market as | looked on
"a small boy put head OF some
thing in a bag and started to walk
off with it. To show how efficient
everything was, a policeman started
after the boy who was looking for
food and no attention was paid to the
horses and wagons as they crushed
niles of produce. Apparently no at
tempt was made to recrate the pack
ages I saw broken. This destruction
Of food on a large scale has got 70
stop. I am going to get action II
can possibly get it, 1t is all wrong
to ask the farmer of the South to be
patriotic and raise more stuff and
then permit anybody to destroy II
after it arrives here in good condl-
ton"
MIR. Hutches registered his com
nIaint also with the Federal Food
| Commission.
Eve have had a hard season II
Florida. We grade the stock and i