The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1920-02-09
new FREIGHT CAR
ORDER TO CLOSE
MILLS IS CLA AIM
Drastic Rail Restrictions on
Loading Out" Products.
Ruling Aimed to Alleviate West
ern Kansas Conditions.
PRICE SLUMP IS FORECAST
No Market Unless Room Avail
able at Terminals.
Unemployment in Topeka Is
Predicted by Page.
PRICE SLUMP IS FORECAST
No Market Unless Room Avail
able at Terminals.
Unemployment in Topeka Is
Predicted by Page.

Closing all Topeka mills in the next
twentyfour hours and the consequent
throwing out of employment of sew
strictive freight car order of the
United States railroad administration,
issued Sunday, is Withdrawn or made
more elastic. was predicted today by
David Page of the Page Milling COM
pany.
The order restricts the use of freight
cars to grain, sugar. print paper and
railroad merchandise. This applies
only to carload shipments. In other
words, under the Interpretation of the
order, no car can be used solely for
sugar. print paper and railroad mer-
chandise. The order will remain oper-
ative until February Is.
Page stated that this order stopped
the shipping of all grain products from
the elevators and unless corrected
would result in the piling up of flour
and other products at the elevators,
thus making it impossible to receive
grain. The elevators and grain ware
houses, Page stated, would be filled
and there would be no space for more
grain.
To Appeal to Washington.
With the threatened shutdown of
the milling industries of the city inn
pending, a meeting of Topeka millers
was held today. At this meeting it
was decided to appeal to the railroad
administration and congressional rep
resentatives for modification of the
order With elevators filled with moth
ing but the finished products drop
in the price of grain was predicted by
Page wher cars loaded with wheat
begin to "pile up" at marketless ter
minals.
Topeka millers admitted the neces-
sity of drastic action to remedy the
acute shortage of box cars in the state
for shipping purposes. But under
their Interpretation of the order such
action will do irreparable harm
Conditions more serious in other
cities of the state were reported today
to Judge Clyde NJ. Reed of the court
of industrial relations, to whom Kan
sas millers have appealed for relief
. from the car shortage. One letter
from the Bowersock mills at Lawrence,
one of the largest mills in the state,
informed Judge Reed that the mills
mad been closed there for three weeks
from lack of box cars.
Cement Interests Nervous
A telegram from cement interests at
| Humboldt and lola stated that the
new order would ruin the cement
business for the time it remained in
effect. Judge Reed asserted that the
complaint from the cement people re-
suited from a misunderstanding as for
several weeks they had been permitted
| to use only those cars unfit for the
! shipment of grain.
! Judge Reed spent the entire morn
ing consulting over the telephone with
railroad men. He reported the Law
renee incident and threatened shut
downs thruout the state. He was in
formed that the Katy had received
several hundred cars in the last two
days from the south which would be
used in handling the congested grain
in the state.
A little relief was promised to Judge
Reed from the Santa Fe railroad il
cars received from the east which are
being rushed into Kansas. Meantime
millers in Topeka and at other points
are waiting for a modification of the
order or new Interpretation on it.