July 10, 1917 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



37 



ton members of tbe jury in favor of the cooperage company. Judge 

 Hendricks, presiding over the court, refused to accept the verdict, ruling 

 that the act under which it was returned was unconstitutional. The 

 cooperage company then applied to the supreme court for a mandamus, 

 to require Judge Hendriclis to accept the verdict in its favor. 



In passing on the case, the supreme court said that the right to a trial 

 by a jury is a constitutional right, and when this provision was written 

 into the constitution, the convention undoubtedly had in mind the jury 

 trial as recognized by the common law ; that at common law a jurj- means 

 twelve men ; and that the legislature cannot limit this number. 



This decision of course, does not do away with the right of litigants 

 to waive a trial by jury, or to agree to accept a verdict by less than twelve 

 men. 



On July 10, the Arkansas Railroad Commission will hear the petition 

 of the railroads operating in this state, in which the carriers are asking 

 for an advance in freight rates of 15% above the schedule held to be 

 reasonable by the Interstate Commerce Commission in the case of Memphis 

 vs. C. R. I. & P. Railway Company, known as Docket No. 7304, decided on 

 February 12, 1917. but the order in which has been indefinitely postponed 

 for tbe purpose of consolidating this case, affecting .\rkansas Rates, with 

 cases affecting rates in Oklahoma and Missouri, into Docket No. 9702. 



The carriers state that the rates prescribed by the Interstate Commerce 

 Commission in the Memphis case are not high enough to meet the existing 

 conditions, though they are materially higher than the rates now in effect 

 in .\rkansas, and that they should be given an advance above the level 

 prescribed in the Memphis case of 15 per cent. In other words, the rail- 

 roads are asking that the Arkansas rates not only be raised to the level 

 of the inter-state rates as fixed in the Memphis case, but that they be 

 ■given on top of that level an additional 15 per cent. They enumerate as 

 reasons why additional revenue is needed by the carriers, the advanced 

 cost of labor by reason of the operations of the .\damson act, which raises 

 the pay and shortens the hours of the work of its employes, and the ma- 

 terial increase in tbe cost of all material, due in part at least to the state 

 of war now existing between this country and the Government of Germany. 



The lumbermen for the most part recognize the adverse effects on busi- 

 ness when the common carriers are operating at a loss, and are willing for 

 the railroads to have rates which are adequate to allow them to operate 

 at a reasonable profit, but they do not believe that there is any necessity 

 for such a great increase as is asked for by the carriers. The advance 

 asked by the carriers will probably amount to from 30 per cent to 35 

 per cent increase over the present rates as prescribed by Standard 

 Freight District Tariff No. 5, promulgated by the Arkansas Railroad Com- 

 mission. The lumbermen are as a rule rather of the opinion that the 

 state rates might properly be raised so as to be placed on a parity witli 

 the inter-state rates from points in .Arkansas to Memphis, but do not 

 believe that there is any necessity for the advance which is asked in 

 addition to this. , 



E. W. Layton and W. R. Goyne of the Layton & Goyne stave mill 

 firm, who have been operating in the vicinity of Hamburg, .\rk.. have 

 secured some timber holdings near Carthage, Miss., and are planning to 

 erect a stave mill at that point. Mr. Goyne is now in Mississippi making 

 the arrangements. 



The Whitehall Cooperage Company of White County. .\rk., last week 

 filed a certificate with the secretary of state of .Arkansas announcing 

 that it had removed its plant from Whitehall to Georgetown. 



The Loutre Shingle Company of Cargile, Ark., has filed a certificate wit'i 

 the secretary of state showing the change of the corporation's name from 

 Loutre Shingle Company to Loutre Lumber Company. 



Hardwood Tar for Flotation 



The Forest Products Laboratory at Madison, Wis., in a recent bulletin 

 instances se%'eral developments in laboratory work that are of current 

 interest. One refers to experiments by large mining and concentrating 

 companies on hardwood tar as a flotation oil. Tests showed very satis- 



factory results. One of these plants has requested a large sample of tar 

 in order that a commercial-scale test may be carried out. 



The laboratory also announces a ' series of ISO tests which have been 

 made on white ash and Sitl;a spruce for the purpose of obtaining informa- 

 tion on the effects of various methods and rates of kiln drying and steam- 

 ing and bending on mechanical properties. 



It has also been carrying on experiments with samples of mesquite 

 woods for the purpose of determining their gum contents. This wood 

 contains about twenty-three per cent of material soluble in water of which 

 about six per cent is tannin. The remainder consists of gum which Evi- 

 dently yields glucose. 



The same bulletin cites interesting tests on two pieces of maple, one of 

 which was badly discolored. In mechanical tests where slowly applied 

 loads were used, the two samples showed to he about equal in strength 

 but in resistance to shock the discolored piece was much inferior. Micro- 

 scopic eximanition show'ed the cells of the inferior piece to be partially 

 destroyeil by fungi. 



I Pertinent Information \ 



What "Full Loading" Means 



The question of loading as near capacity as possible has been agitated 

 extensively and persistently during all times of car shortage, but never 

 so thoroughly as during the present crisis in transportation. Unfor- 

 tunately the discussion appears to strike some people as being only of aca- 

 demic interest to them, and possibly definite figures and a visual picture 

 of the difference between proper loading and improper loading may bring 

 them to a realization of what can be accomplished. 



In this connection are shown pictures of two cars, which photographs 

 were taken by one of the southwestern railroads in the hardwood belt 

 without the knowledge of the shippers. One car is loaded in splendid man- 

 ner and not only to capacity, but to overcapacity. The other shows a slip- 

 shod system, combining unintelligent placing of the lumber in the car from 

 the standpoint of preserving the quality of the lumber as well as utilizing 

 shipping space. 



The first car was shipped by the W. P. Brown & Sons Lumber Company, 

 Louisville, Ky., from its Brasfield, Ark., mill. The car consists entirely of 

 gum. The capacity of the car as designated by the load was 100,000 

 pounds. A ten per cent excess over marked capacity is allowable, which 

 would have made the maximum load 110,000 pounds. These people actually 

 succeeded in loading even beyond that — the car contained 110,400 pounds. 



Now, just w'hat does that mean when it comes to conservation of trans- 

 portation facilities? Merely that with the average load of about 60,000 

 pounds, present shipping facilities can without jeopardy to life, iimb or 

 property, handle in the neighborhood of eighty per cent more freight with- 

 out one cent of additional outlay for equipment. 



There is another feature which should appeal specifically to all shippers. 

 Taking this car as an example, the revenue from this point to Chicago on 

 the one car shipment was $228. An average load of 60,000 pounds would 

 bring a revenue to the railroad of $120, which means that the road making 

 this shipment received a revenue $108 in excess of revenue for similar aver- 

 age shipment. If all shippers would exercise the same intelligent care in 

 handling out their materials the railroads' revenue would be so vastly in- 

 creased that they would never even consider the numerous and frequent re- 

 quests for freight rate advances. 



Incidentally a little talk with J. H. Townshend, secretary of the Southern 

 Hardwood Traffic Association at Memphis, revealed an interesting situation 

 in shipping circles among the hardwood mills in Arkansas. Mr. Townshend 

 said that there has been inspired a friendly competition among the various 

 hardwood shippers in that territory to see who can most consistently hold 



TWO WAYS OF LOADINC 



-ONE TRIP OF THE FULL CAR :\IKANS A S MU-TI AS TWO OF THE OTHER AND BRINGS THE CARRIER $108 

 MORE — STRONG TALK AGAINST RATE INCREASES 



