The independent. [volume] (Elizabeth City, N.C.) 1908-1936, 1920-06-18
100 CARS OF POTATOES
SHIPPED IN ONE DAY
Northeastern North Carolina Growers Cleaning
Up MilIions-Rail Road Men Working
Day and Night

The biggest days Shipment OF
Irish potatoes in the entire his
tory of this section moved from
the Norfolk Southern freight
station here Thursday, a total of
more than 100 carloads, repre-
senting 10000 to 25,OOO,barrels of
potatoes worth at present mar
ket quotations more than quar-
ter Of a million dollars. The
weeks shipments of potatoes will
aggregate 400 carloads, or 8O,-
600 barrels, by the sale of which
Northeastern North Carolina will
be richer by nearly a million dol
lars. Then, too, it must be re-
membered that only a fraction Of
of the potato crop Of this section
passes thru Elizabeth City, sf1ni-
lar heavy shipments going out
from EdentonI Columbia, Bel
haven and Washington, while
every siding along the Norfolk
Southern in Northeastern Caro-
lima is serving to swell the un-
precedented movement of pota-
toes to Northern and Western
markets.
The Norfolk Southern freight sta
ton at Elizabeth City presents now a
scene of hectic daily hustle, with pota-
toes by thousands of barrels coming in
on boats, motor trucks, and farm wa
gons. "A force of IS men and boys is
working Gay and night to keep up with
the unprecedented influx of potatoes,
and loading into box cars is going on
from the Norfolk Southern docks, freight
depot and every available siding. Many
of the men are working 16 to 20 hours
a day. while the Office force of the Nor
folk Southern is frequently on the job
until three or four o'clock in the morn
ing. The peak of the local crop Will
be reached this week, and shipments will
gradually decline until the season comes
to a virtual close about July 1st. Be
fore the present week, shipments from
! Pasquotank county were light, due to
unfavorable weather cond ditions which
caused the crop to be later than usual,
but this week every farmer in this coun-
I ty seems to be determined to place his
potatoes upon the market. From go to
/ 65 carloads a day is the present aver
age, while from June 1st to 10Th a to-
tai of 431 carloads were billed from
Elizabeth City over the Norfolk Sou
thern.
Following the refusal of the dock work
ers of the Norfolk Southern to work on
Memorial Day, the railroad officials dis
| charged the whole crew, which then
numbered 80 men. Negroes brought
| from Norfolk supplied a new force, which
remained On duty until last Monday,
when they were sent back to Norfolk,
and the old force re-employed almost
without exception. Practically every
| body on duty at the local freight sta
| ton is now working day and night, and
the scene of ceaseless hustle presented
there is one not readily to be forgotten.
! Potato buyers here from the, cities of
the North are unanimous in their con-
demnation q the poor grading of the To-
cal crop. They declare that, except for
the abnormal demand; potatoes from this
| section would bring far lower prices
alone. They state that the farmers of
this section are making a great mis-
take in permitting such a condition to
continue, and that sooner or later they
will be heavy losers by it. Meanwhile
with potatoes bringing as high as S14
per barrel wholesale in the big Northern
and Western distributing centers, pota-
to raisers seem little, inclined to lose
sleep over possible future losses due to
poor grading.