The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1933-10-03
Hopeful Prophecy

nOpeluI FfOpneCy
Despite the time honored saw that
a prophet Is not without honor save
in his own country. the people who
have followed it, forecasts win put
faith In the prediction Of the north
west regional advisory board that
there will b . 81 per cent increase
In freight car loadings during the
fourth quarter OF 1888.
Tho forecast u based upon infor-
nation gathered from shippers and
transmitted to the railroads to guide
them in preparing for traffic needs.
It has never been substantially In
error IN the decade or 30 that the
board has been In existence. All Will
hope that this record Win not be
married now.
For this increase IN freight traffic
will mean many things TO this area.
First Of all, 1t will mean that dollars
which have been hiding in tin cans
and old socks will 60 back to work.
They will have to move more freely
If more goods are to change hands.
and every freight shipment means
that something has been bought and
sold and Is On the way to delivery.
It will do much to swell railroad
payrolls, sadly curtailed in recent
years. The only railroad men who
have had steady jobs In recent years
arc those with 20 many years Of serv-
ice behind them that they are ap-
preaching the Methuselah class.
Right now, men With Is many - is
years Of service get only . few days
Of work now and then. due to the
reduced demand for railroad work
ers.
Just Is encouraging u the fact
that the forecast for the near north
west Is Of q piece with the outlook
In the rest Of the nation, which an
ticipates an increase Of 630,51l car
loads Of freight during the last three
months Of 1888 IS compared with q
similar period In 1882. This Is gain
Of 147 per cent.
Chief beneficiary Of improved bust
ness, according to the forecast, Il the
Great Lakes district, which expects
. boost Of 36.5 per cent. Next comes
our own area which comprises the
Dakotas. Montana. Minnesota. and
parts OF Wisconsin and Michigan.
Next in line comes the Allegheny dis
trict With sos per cent boom.
The Ohio Valley expects q 15.e per
cent gain, to take fourth place and
the smallest increase in any Of the
Is districts Is that for the southwest,
which expects to gain seven-tenths Of
one per cent.
Twenty-nine commodities. compris-
Ing 30 per cent Of the total freight
shipped. are included in the surveys
on which the figures are based. All
but six will move in greater quantities
during the last quarter Of 1883 than
was the case year ago.
Those expected to show gains are !:
Flour. meal and other mill products:
hay, straw and alfalfa, cotton, citrus
fruits, potatoes. poultry and dairy
products. coal and coke, ore and con-
centrates, gravel, sand and stone.
salt, lumber and forest products, pet
roleum and petroleum pro ducts,
sugar, syrup and molasses, iron and
steel, machinery and boilers, brick
and clay products, lime and plaster.
agricultural implements and vehicles
other than automobiles, automobiles,
trucks and parts, fertilizers Of al
kinds. paper, paperboard and pre-
pared roofing, chemicals and ex-
plostves, and canned goods. which In
cludes Ill canned food products.
The six commodities for which
reductions arc estimated are: al grain,
cotton seed and products except oil.
fresh fruits other than citrus fruits,
fresh vegetables other than potatoes,
livestock, and cement.
OF the commodities for which In
creases are estimated. those showing
the largest increases are:
Ores and concentrates, 307S pei
cent: iron and steel. 50A per cent:
automobiles, trucks and parts, 4o.s
per cent: lumber and forest products
40 per cent: machinery and boilers
24.7 per cent; cotton, AT per cent;
bg3ek and clay products, AS per cent:
snd coal and coke. ls.l Per cent.
Change In People's Thought
Greatest Change Of All
Doek Of ~ tte concrete develop
lnenfs Of tho new program # Wash-
1nStOn there exists : profound change
u the outlook o. the American PEG
u1e-A clnanne which. ii the lone run