February 25, 191S 



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^:^ Traffic Branch Shows Progress 



Some excellent reports were made by the officers of the Southern 

 Hardwood Traffic Association, at the annual meeting of the Louis- 

 vUle Branch, held at the Seelbaeh hotel, on Tuesday, February 19. 

 These reports showed excellent work done during the year, when a 

 traffic department was very essential, and it was decided that in 

 recognition of the fine work done by B. E. May, manager of the 

 traffic branch, his salary as manager would be increased by the 

 sum of $500 per annum. Mr. May is also secretary of the Louis- 

 ville Hardwood Club. Mr. May was reelected as manager, and T. 

 M. Brown of the "W. P. Brown & Sons Lumber Company, Louisville, 

 as chairman for another year. 



The following directors will serve: T. M. Brown, W. A. McLean, 

 C. E. Platter, A. E. Xorman, Jr., "W. E. Willett, W. A. Watts, E. L. 

 Davis, H. J. Gates, D. E. Kline, John Churchill and Daniel Wertz. 

 The latter is a new member of the board, while Mr. Churchill suc- 

 ceeds the late Smith Milton. 



In his report Chairman Brown spoke of the progress made dur- 

 ing the past year due to the excellent work of Mr. May and through 

 the cooperation of members. He warmly complimented Mr. May 

 and recommended increasing his salary. He urged that in the 

 future members attend the regular monthly meetings of the board 

 as there are a great many problems coming up constantly that have 

 to be faced. 



Mr. May in his report said that the past year was the worst in 

 the matter of transportation the trade had ever faced. He said 

 that the association has been of considerable service in securing 

 cars, quoting rates and routes, locating routes not embargoed and 

 tracing and reconsigning and endeavoring to speed up car move- 

 ments. He referred to the work handled through the main office of 

 the Southern Hardwood Traffic Association on the proposed fifteen 

 per cent advance in freight rates. He said that at the rehearing 

 secured by the transportation companies the evidence submitted 

 originally at the first -hearing before the commission was resub- 

 mitted, and that the commission is now considering the merits of 

 the case and will doubtless hand down a decision shortly. 



Mr. May said the association has every reason to believe that no 

 advance will be allowed. 



He also told of the work done on the reclassification case refer- 

 ring to the fact that Examiner Esch in his tentative report rec- 

 ommended the adoption in voto of the views of the Traffic Associa- 

 tion. 



The report then went on to tell of more favorable rates secured 

 through the efforts of the Louisville branch of the association cov- 

 ering shipments on a number of very important routes. Among 

 these cases was one involving increase in minimum weights on lum- 

 ber and veneers from 30,000 pounds to 36,000 pounds. The board 

 filed protest together with evidence to show it is practically im- 

 possible to load this amount of stock in an ordinary thirty-six foot 

 box car. The question of proposed increase in minimum weights 

 in this particular case has been postponed. 



Referring to demurrage charges the report states: 

 The director general, after assuming control of the railroads, issued an 

 order requiring all lines to flle, effective on January 21, certain increased 

 demurrage charges. Our organization was instrumental in having new 

 demurrage charges puldished and in fact, all the tariffs issued to become 

 effective January 21, were rejected by the Interstate Commerce Commis- 

 sion ; consequently, there was no change in the demurrage rules up to 

 February 10 when the $3, $6, and SIO rate went into effect. A number 

 of our members have been experiencing trouble in settling demurrage 

 charges on various cars, and we have in numerous instances, had them 

 waived. No demurrage should be paid at all until a car is actually 

 placed on your sidings for unloading. When cars are bunched in the 

 yards by the railroads and you are, as a result of such action, unable to 

 take care of same, no demurrage at all should be paid, on cars held out 

 on account of same. 



Mr. May advised members to energetically insist upon the rail- 

 roads following government orders to pool freight equipment. Be- 



—34— 



ferring to arbitrary misinterpretation of government instructions 

 regarding reconsigning, Mr. May said that the roads have arbi- 

 trarily considered that the order, recently issued by the regional 

 director which prohibited acceptance of lumber destined to hold or 

 reconsigning points, meant that no freight could be reconsigned. 

 He said this was not the intention of the directors' orders, that 

 instances to the contrary should be reported so that they may be 

 properly handled. 



Eegarding future prospects Mr. May said: 



Since the establishment of government control, there has been quite some 

 confusion and very little lumber shipments handled, due in my mind, 

 entirely to the inefficiency of carriers themselves and lack of knowledge 

 and presence of red tape on the part of government officials having direct 

 supervision of these matters. 



The theory has been advanced not only by the shipping public but by 

 the different brotherhoods that the railroad operators are endeavoring to 

 make the government operation of railroads a miserable failure. This no 

 doubt is true for as recited in other parts of this report, the railroads 

 have taken every advantage of loopholes in government regulations and 

 have purposely misconstrued orders of the director general. -Am glad to 

 state, however, that the director general's office is beginning to assume 

 some proportions and is being divided into various divisions. 



The report then went on to instance several cases where roads 

 have shown an arbitrary disposition to misconstrue or misapply 

 government orders. 



He then went on to outline the favorable effect the increased 

 use of southern ports will have on lumber movements, and stated 

 also that the pooling of equipment is a decided advantage. 



The report closed with a resume of membership and the prospects 

 for headway, and a brief account of the claims filed, paid, with- 

 drawn and pending as filed with the bureau. 



The Most Elastic American Wood 



In combined strength and stiffness or elasticity the mangrove tree 

 which fringes the Florida reefs and much of the southern shore oi 

 the mainland of that state, surpasses all other American woods, bo 

 far as shown by tests. Its strength is approximately the same as 

 that of shellbark hickory, but it rates twenty per cent above hickory 

 in elasticity, and it is believed that in the latter property it measures 

 higher than any other wood of this country. 



Nature wisely provided the mangrove with the properties most 

 essential to its existence in the peculiar situations where it prefers 

 to grow. It fringes the land and the trees usually stand in water 

 from a few inches to several feet deep. The growth assumes the 

 form of a long ribbon of green separating land from water. No one 

 can tell where one individual tree begins and another ends, so in- 

 tricately are the branches and trunks interlaced and matted together. 

 Roots drop from overhead branches and fasten in the mud at the 

 bottom of the shallow water, and a single tree may consist of a score 

 of stems or trunks. 



If the mangrove were weak and brittle like cottonwood, chestnut, 

 pine, or even if it were no stronger and stiffer than oak, the waves 

 during storms would break every tree and limb and crush them into 

 splinters. 



The wood sinks like iron. Even when absolutely dry it weighs 72 

 pounds to the cubic foot (ash weighs, about 40). It plunges to the 

 bottom and there it lies and soon is buried in the mud and sediment 

 that collects about it. It is, therefore, a landbuilder, not only by 

 protecting the shores while it is alive but also by helping to raise 

 the muddy bottoms above water level by a contribution of dead trunks. 



The reefs and shore lines of southern Florida are rapidly encroach- 

 ing on the sea and the mangrove thickets are active agents in hasten- 

 ing the change. Hundreds of square miles lying between the main- 

 land and reefs where the Midocean Railroad runs to Key West, will 

 rise above water and become swamp land in a few centuries and man- 

 grove clumps, fringes and thickets will contribute a great deal to 

 bring about the change. 



