The Pleasantville press. (Pleasantville, N.J.) 1912-1929, 1919-01-04
A STRING OF FREIGHT CARS
$50 MILES LONG

Just think of a single gigantic train
Of freight @ars, ext snding from Port
land. Me-. through Boston, along the
Shore me to New York, across He'll
Gate bridge and through the PennsyI-
vania tunnels, south past Philadelphia
and across the great bridge Of Susque-
hanna. and on through Baltimore to
Washington single train Of freight
cars, with every foot of track space
occupied.
Or think of the train as extending
from Chicago east, on any of the main
trunk lines, and extending as far as
Buffalo and the Falls, or east of Pitts
burgh past the famous Horseshoe
curve, to Johnstown, Pa. When you
think of this you will have some faint
idea of what wartime car saving
means, when expressed in terms of re-
suits accomplished by a single indus
try.
Before the great war America was
prodigal of her freight space as of
everything else. She used freight
cars lavishly. and in some places, on
some lines, carload units became as
small as twelve or fifteen tons. With
this small unit of ~carloading, dealers
storages all over the country were
built TO accommodate a minimum car
load. So it h%appeneds that there was
much waste year after year, because
the freight loading units were on the
basis of track capacity and engine pow
er of 1870, instead of 1918.
The fertilizer industry in endeavor-
ing to cooperate with the government,
last year undertook to ship only in full
carloads, or as nearly full carloads as
the conditions of the trade permitted.
This entailed a tremendous amount of
work, as does anything which goes
against long established custom and
practice. The manufacturers had to
"sell' the idea to their statesmen; the
| statesmen had to pass it on to their
dealers and agents; and the dealer
and agents had to convince their GUS
tomers-the fertilizer consumers the
country over-that it was necessary
for them to cooperate in the move
ment.
Customers had to order early, SO
that dealers could make up orders for
a full carload, with the understanding
that some of the customers would haul
directly from the car, and thus help
relieve congestion in the dealers stor-
age. Dealers had to receive cars as
soon as they could be sent from the
factory, instead of waiting, as they
sometimes have done in the past, until
just before planting season. Manufac-
turers had to support this in all ways
possible, but mainly by giving prefer
ence to those dealers who actually did
order early and in full carloads.
The results of this industrial coop
Grafton have been wonderful. The
previous year the average carload of
fertilizer had been about 20 tons-only
half of the car occupied. Last year
this average was raised to over 30
tons per acre, with the net result that
the equivalent of more than $1,000 a
trips were saved. This number Of
car trips was set free for other uses,
for transportation of munitions of war,
for the carrying of wheat and other
foods from the great granary of the
middle West to the seaboard states,
for the transport of coal to the FROST
bound cities of the North.
What was done in the fertilizer in
dustry last year must be done again
this year. Other industries must also
follow the same plan. Lime, feed.
fertilizers, all sorts of materials must
be shipped in full carloads. The way
to accomplish this is for consumers to
foresee their needs; and foreseeing
their needs to place their orders early
so that there will be time enough for
full carloads to be made up. Immedi-
ate shipment, as early as possible,
must also be the rule-so that neither
the manufacturers storage. nor the
dealers storage may become over
taxed.