The West Virginian. [volume] (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1914-1974, 1922-06-16
FAIRM0W|I REGION REG
Ito HAVE LOWEST
RATES |NNATION
freight Traffic Manager of 3.
o. Predicts Bright
Future for City.
LL d /, LOCAL SPIRIT
Declares Fairmont Shining
Spot on Map Of Baltimore
e Ohio Railroad.

aFairmont stands out as a bright
andsshining spot on the map of the
Baltimore & Ohio well worthy of
formulation by a large number or
other points, declared O. s.
5sLewis of Baltimore, freight traffic
@rnanager of the b. & o. in his ad-
dress at the annual meeting OF the
s@Chamber Of Commerce here last
night. Mr. Lewis was the pr1n-
#cipaI8speaker at the meeting. n
"a Her paying this tribute to F'ar1-
@inont ne asserted that the Cham
ssbersof Commerce was the "embod1-
MInant of the spirit that has made
Fairmont famous" Fairmont, he
declared will soon have the lowest
@basis#of class freight rates in the
country.
Mn opening his address Mr..
Lewis ljkened the people Of Fair
montto those of Israel who re-
built Jerusalem. its temples and
ftsgWalls .tbecause they had a mind
toWork."
sEVer since I have known any
thing about Fairmont, 1 have adj
naired it. ,declared Mr.. Lewis"
civic pride, its energy, it's
wiIlingness to undertake things to
make it bigger place and a bet
Nter8pIace to live in haev made 1T
8fstand@ou as a bright and shining
the map of the Baltimore
SSsss0hio well worthy of emulation
$bySa large number of other points.
Eauds Fairmont Spirit
aItsis not hard to find the cause
for5this preeminence of Fairmont.
Tits because it's people had a mind
EtoSWork8together l know of no more
Fitting ILLUSTRATION of this text than
the story of your high level
bridges. You know that story prob
abIySbetter than l do, and you know
that it is there only because the
people had a mind to work"
Reviews Negotiations
Mr.. Lewis then reviewed the
negotiations which led up to the
Sracent freight rate agreement be-
Etweenthe B.. & o. and the Mou-
ongahela Valley Association. ex-
plaining the Disque scale, and the
group principle of rates. -
stseTheT~ industrial DEVELOPMENT Of
SWestNNirginia progressed steadily
basis of arbitraries over
pittsburgh because you had y
5Scheap8fue1 and a lot of raw mater
HfaIssc1ose at hand. But when your
gas%began to peter out, you no
#Ionger were able to compete and
Something better in the way of
Transportation costs seemed imper-
@atiye if o were to continue to
develop or to even hold you own,
andagain the people had a mind
towork. The people Of Fairmont
believed in working with their
Nneighbors, the Monongahela VAL
IeSasAssociation was formed and a
committee of which your able
@~presfdent was chairman started
negotiations with the Baltimore 6
Ohio to get the necessary read
Justment.
IN Receptive Mood
This committee found us in u
receptive mood. Somewhere
around per cent of the Balti-
smoreS&SOhio's total tonnage con-
fsfstsaofS soft coal, and we are very
anxious to change that condition.
sNotsthat we want less coal, but
want greater protion or
adiversified traffic. The reason is
SobViouS. Take a condition like hat
ssa present existing when the coal
issnot being produced by reason OF
8fhefS strike, we would be IN a BAD
SRfsy and are in a bad way for bust
ness because of an interruption to
Misrepresentation of more than half
Sths3 business we handle. We are,
Therefore very earnest in our de-
sire to have more of III eggs in
fheHother basket, and particularly
SO inSVest Virginia. for we want
gfo&keep busy sall over and not just
spots. So I say we We're found
%ta8beSin a receptive mood.
s Scale Worked Out
8SWe eventually worked out a.
Scheme rates which as I have
before said very closely approxl-
matesaPittsburgh. To the short
ShaauI#territory just over the border.
5FaAes will not be strictly on the
scale nor will they be on
she group basis for obviously 1t
would be unfair to charge the same
rate from, let US say, Stewart to
Marietta, a distance OF twenty
Anfiesas from Morgantown $50 |
NILES away. This proposition has