The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1920-01-23
HINES WARNS OF . COMING FREIGHT
 CAR SHORTAGE
Administration Takes Steps to Alleviate Incon-
 venience

Washington, Jan. 23.--Warning Of a car shortage during the next two months was issued to shippers today by Director General Hines of the Rail- road Administration, with a request for continued cooperation to make the best of the situation.
 The Director General pledges the railroad administration to ri make every effort to meet the condition and points out what he characterizes as the limitations with which it will have to deal
 General industrial activity, the set back which transportation suffered during the coal strike and the fact that the railroad administration, fac- ing an early return of the roads to private owners may not buy addition al freight cars Sare the principal ele- ments in the problem. the Director General says:
 ITO make this inadequate amount Of equipment go as far as possible" says the Director General, "the Rail- road Administration has pooled the equipment in order to equalize - the supply as far as possible and give all shippers as equal treatment as pos sible under the circumstances has made use Of the permit system in order to avoid accumulations; has appointed special terminal commit tees to speed up the movement of freight through terminals where a great deal of delay has occurred in the past; during the prevalence of difficult situations in the wheat-grow- ing territory has given preference to the loading of wheat on the ground; has placed the refrigerator car SUD- ply of the country under one agency to get the maximum utility out of all such cars available; has carried on a constant campaign to bring about heavier loading of equipment dur ing the prevelance of the greatest need for the movement of coal and at the present time has given coal preference for loading in open-top equipment; has eliminated circuitous routes as far as practicable; has transferred locomotives at different times to the portions of the country where they were needed the most; and has given special attention also through centralized agencies to take care of seasonal requirements and meet peculiar conditions which have resulted from bad weather and cer- tain drought conditions, and in every way has tried to the very utmost to make the equipment and locomotives available to the greatest possible amount of service.
 'tBy reason of these expedients of unification the railroads were enabled l in the fall of 1919 to handle an ex- | cepttonally large business under ex- l ceptionally difficult conditions The ! postponement Of buying in the sprina concentrated an extraordinary de | mand for commodities in the fall 1 For example, there was an exceptions 1 ally small output of coal in the first six months of the year and a con. 1 sequent intense demand for coal ir l the fall. Beginning with a movement of 100000 tons of coal per week 1 early in September the railroads bull
 up this movement to over 13,000,00
 tons in the week ending October 25 making an average weekly movemen i largely in excess of any pre-wa, | movement. At the very time whel
 the demands of business of all sort
 were becoming most pressing, the ne
 cessity arose for moving the whea
 crop. From July 6 to December 2G 76 per cent of th wheat crop wa 1 moved from the farms, the volurn
 moved was 5,31S,0 900 bushels-7,
 TAO bushels more than had beel
 moved during the same period o
 1918.
 ''The problem has been intensffe by the falling off in loading per ca
 from 1918, when under pressure O
 the war very heavy loading was, SC
 cured. The loading per loaded freigh
 car fell from an average of 29.2 ton
 in the first Il months of 1918 to 27
 tons for the same period of 1918 or 8 decrease of 4.s9 per cent, tlli
 representing a loss of more than 1o5, l 900 cars available for loading. Thi falling off has occurred in spite C continued efforts of the Railroad Ad
 ministration, assisted by the cooper
 ation of many shippers.
 "Neverthelss, the Railroad Admin } istration proposes to continue | } utilize to the end of Federal opera ] tion all the advantages given by un fled control, 1t wishes to give shipper