Evening journal., 1919-09-11
EXPRESS employees
BLAMED FOR COSTS
Damage to Food Shipments
Excessive, PhiIsdel-
phians Declare
MERCHANTS SAY THEY
REFACT0R IN INCREASE

PHILADELPHIA, Sept H-The vast
age Of food as a result Of the careless
ness OF American Railway Express en-
plOyes is not a spasmodic occurrence
but IS a chronic condition Of the phil
adelphia market. The consumer pays
for this waste and the shortage OF
foodstuIs caused by it has become
serious
The above statements were made by
every one Of a half-dozen commission
merchants selected at random and
questioned concerning the way food
stuffs arrive at their warehouses. They
say that crates of eggs are tossed on
the back ends OF trucks, stood up on
end and rolled like barrels. Instances
of 100 dozen broken eggs coming into
one warehouse in one day are the
usual thing, the merchants say. Chick
ems are packed so closely in air-tight
cars that they smOihcr Butter and
other foodstuffs are delayed 90 long
and handled so badly that large guam
lilies have TO be destroyed.
eve have had a great many cases
In which seven or eight dozen out OF
the 30 in q crate were broken said \.
J. Murdock. This happens many.
uany times. We hardly ever receive a
crate in which less than a dozen are
broken. Somebody ought TO get after
the American Railway Express and
make them use a little care in the de
livery Of eggs. We get about % or %
crales Of eggs a day, and il is no
exaggeralion, TO say that about %
dozen are broken. This has been go
ing on for some time and eggs are get
ting scarce here.
"Thc crates are stood upside down,
on end or any old way. Nobody seems
TO care about them.
somebody has 10 pay for this loss
We put in claims for s0me-of it, but
there are many cases where The sum
involved is only n few dollars Wien
these sums are added up The total is
quite considerable Somebody has TO
pay for it. If we try TO make the ship
per pay for too much Of it'he Will re-
fuse 10 ship TO us.
Just this morning we got a crate OF
eggs" said c. G.. Hcyd. 1T contained
50 dozen. Four dozen were sme3red
and six more dozen were absolutely
smashed. They were the Kind OF eggs
which cost US 20 cents wholesale. The
crate pas not damaged on the outside.
so we had 10 accept il and stand the
loss. which we later found. The
smash must have come FROM the un-
loading in front Of our warehouse. be-
cause the case was not smeared as ID
would have been if the eggs had been
broken some time.
There is a regulation that crates
must be wired II crates are wired
drivers think they will stand anything
and they roll them around like bar
.rels. II they are not wired they are a
little more considerable and handle
hem more carefully
'There is nothing unusual in getting
chickens which have been smOthered-' H.
continued Mr. Heyd "0ther things are
badly handled. very badly too. Quite
frequently drivers will stand crates OF
live chickens on top Of butter. In sew
eral cases we have had to reject the
butter.
Then the internal revenue agents
came down here to make moisture
rests. They run tubes down into the
butter. and when they got through
We find that they have used about
three pounds out Of a tub TO make
the test. Somebody has to pay for
that. The shipper won't stand for it.
and we can't pay it, so it ultimately
goes on TO the consumer
"A great many eggs are broken when
they reach u.s." said C.. c. Lever, com
mission merchant. 1T is very evident
hat this is a result OF bad handling