... I.I. ..- III.- ii.i.ii., I III iii?ii,i in .1.1.. lined the post t.... ....«., 



devolopod little of importnii.'c at tlic oni<'i-!< of tlic IiitorhtJito Coin- 



mcr. . 11. Wliilo boiiio 



of I- .•^ involved, no 



^u<|uuuco to tlio oiilitc liiadMouil industry was Uin 



A conxidereblo number of liiirdwood int4?r('sts are nn"i'<-te<l by the 

 dcoiaion in docket numl>cr 7730, in wliioh tlic rnduciili Doiird of 

 Trade iwcured a fnvorable ruling over tlio contentions of the Illinom 

 Central and other carriers. The Pnducnh comniercinl organization 

 complnined thnt tiie rate.s on legs nnd lumber to Pndiicnh, Ky., from 

 ' .\ikniiMis are iinrcn-'sonnblo iinil unjiislly (lis- 

 1 witli the rates from the same |irO(lucing ter 

 ritory to Ciuro, 111 The commission held thsit : 



1. The rates to Pnducah nre shown to be unreasonable. 

 " 2. The rates to Paducnh are shown to be unjustly disci iminntory 

 ns compared with the rates to Cairo. The defendiint^ nre required 

 to establish joint rates to Paduc-ah via either Cairo, III., or Memphis. 

 Tenn., not in excess of the rates contempornneo\isly nuiiiitnined to 

 Cairo. Findings in Paducah Board of Trade v. 1. ('. K. U. Co., 'JO 

 1. C. C, .5S.3, affirmed. 



This determination was roaohod despite the hanl fight made by 

 Charles Rixcy, .Ir., who headed the large body of c.nrriers' counsel. 



Comniii-sioncr Meyer, in iiiterpreting the commi? sion 's findings, 

 goes into the questions involved with more than the usual detail. The 

 following brief extracts contain his most important ■■onimcnt : 



Tlic principal Issue In the present nisc Is wlietlicr It Is appropriate 

 or lawful to require the defendants to establish tlirouph routes and Joint 

 rates to Paducah via Xlemphls. In a previous case we held that the Mem- 

 phis route was the natural route for the movement of tlils traffle, hut as 

 the complaint did not contain a prajer for throuf:h routes we did not 

 require their c.-itabllshmcnt. The defendants earnestl.v Insist not onl.v that 

 the Memphis route Is an unnatural one but that the commission could not 

 InwfuU.v establish through routes and Joint rates via that route. The latter 

 contention Is based on that portion of section 1." of the act to repiilate 

 commerce which provides that the commission. In establishing a through 

 route, shall not require an.v carrier, without Its consent, to embrace 

 therein Rnbstantlall.v less than the entire length of Its railroad lying 

 between the termini of the through route unless to do so would make such 

 through rout« unreasonably long as compared with another practicable 

 route. 



Three routes for hauling lumber from the points of origin to Paducah 

 were discussed by the witnesses — the Bird's Point route, the Thebes route, 

 and the Memphis route. 



tintll somewhat more than two years ago the Iron Mountain and the 

 St. Louis Southwestern bandied their trafHc from the southwest through 

 Bird's Point, Mo., from which a car ferry was operated to Cairo. An 

 "Incline" connected the tracks of the rail lines- with the cijr ferry. More 

 than two years ago this Incline was washed away, and since that time 

 these carriers have been unable, even with the assistance of government 

 engineers, to find a point on the west bank of the river in this vicinity at 

 which a similar incline can be permanently located. They therefore haul 

 the tralBc via Illmo. Mo., and Thebes, III., thence a distance of 28 miles 

 over the tracks of the Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad and the Illinois 

 Central Railroad to Cairo. The distances via the Bird's Point ronte arc 

 approximately .30 miles less than the distance via Thebes, and the defend- 

 ants insist that In determining the reasonableness or unreasonableness of 

 the Memphis route the distances via Memphis should be compared with 

 the distances via Bird's Point. There can be no question, however, of the 

 Impropriety of measuring distances over a route which has been closed 

 for more than two years, especially since there Is no prospect of its being 

 reopened in the immediate future. 



In the previous report we held that the distances to Paducah via Cairo 

 are so much greater than the distances via Memphis that "the natural 

 route from the points west of the Mississippi here Involved Is via Memphis 

 rather than via Cairo." Nothing appears in the present record to convince 

 us that that finding should be modified. 



Paducah Is situated on the south hank of tlie Ohio river 42 miles east 

 of Cairo. Its population Is about 2.5,000. There are a number of manu- 

 facturers of lumber and wood articles at Padurnb who compote with 

 manufacturers located at Cairo. Cairo, whose population Is approximately 

 17,000, is located at the extreme southern end of Illinois, nt the confluence 

 of the Mississippi river and the Ohio river. Both Paducah and Cairo 

 obtain a part of their lumber from west of the Mississippi river. Most 

 of the traffic from the Inmber-produclng territory west of the river to 

 Paducah is handled through Cairo, and the Paducah rates arc made by 



illou on <'Blro, the rni. 'r. i. i .ir.. t,> i-,i.i.i. ,iii being cents per 



100 pound*. The wot iilile kh thnt nt Irnut 



two carriers pnrtlclpnte In ti < i I^iulnlan* points 



to Pnducnh. 



The pvldenre nhundnntly cnnfiruio our prerloni finding thnt the prenent 

 rntex In Pnducnh nre unju«tly dUirlmlnnlory nnd give nn undue prefer- 

 ence to Cairo In niille of Pnducnh'a favorable iorntion, nnd In (pile of 

 the fnct that the allnlnnres to Pnducnh vin MeniphU art. not grenti'r than 

 the dlitnnri.M to Cairo, the rnlo» to Cairo have bei.n much lower tbnn the 

 ratie* to Pnducnh. nnd thr lumber Induntry nt the hitter point haii not 

 develope<l nenrly an rnpldly an at Cnlr". \l Ien»t two C(>ni|iniili.« hnre 

 recently moveil their iilnnts from Paducah to Cairo because of the more 

 favornble niteii to the hitter point. 



We adhere to our foriniT llmllng thnt the defendants unduly dUcrlml. 

 natc ngaluNt Pnducnh to the undue preference and advantage of Cilro by 

 the malntennnre of their prcxent rates on logs and lumt>er from the 

 producing points here Involvi-d. 



Quite contrary to oxpc<'tation the Indiana Veneer uiid Lumber 

 ConipiOny, Indianapolis, failed to establish its claims in n case 

 brought against the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern and the 

 other curriers reaching into the hordwood belt of Arkansas. The 

 commission found that tlio rate of 20 cents per 100 poundSi for the 

 transportation of logs in carloads from ITaynes, Ark., to Inilianapolis, 

 Ind., and rate of :;3 cents per 100 ]iounds from McGehce, Ark., to' 

 Indianapolis, were not sliown to have boon unrcisonnble. 



As a result the complaint of the Indiana comp.ony was dismissed. 



At the sume time the commiftion denied authority to continue rates 

 on logs in carloads frem Snow Lake. Ark., to St. Louis, Mo., which 

 are lower than those concurrently applicable on like traffic from 

 Haj-ncs, Ark., and other intermediate points; and from Arkan^^us 

 City, Ark., to St. Louis, Mo., and East St. Louis and Thebes, III., 

 which are lower than those concurrently applicable on like traffic from 

 .McGehee. Ark., and other intTmediatc points. 



Other opinions handed down during the past two weeks with their 

 respective docket numbers follow: 



No. (1.527. Elm City Lumber Conipnny, New Bern, \. C, versus the 

 .•Vtlantic Coast Line Railroad. The commission held thnt reparation 

 should be awarded on account of nn unreasonable rate charged for 

 the transportation of a carload of lumber from Spring Hope, N. C, 

 to Yardlcy, Pa. 



No. 72CiH. II. (;. Ilossafous, Dayton, O., versus the Pittsburgh, 

 Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis. The commission held that the rote 

 charged for the transportation of two cnrlo.ods of logs from Cam- 

 bridge City, Ind.. to P.ayton, Ohio, is unreasonable. IJep.aration was 

 awarded. 



No. 7545. M. H. Bekkedal, Westby, Wis., versus the Chicago, St. 

 Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha. The commission held that the rate of 

 17% cents per 100 pounds for the movement of lumber in carloads, 

 interstate, from Couderay, Wis., to Boscobcl and other points in Wis- 

 consin, is unrea-sonable. Reasonable rates for the future were estab- 

 lished and reparation was awarded. 



No. 75.51. Bradley Timber !ind Railway Supply Company, Duluth, 

 Minn., versus the Canadian Xortlicrn. The commission held that the 

 rate of 27 cents per 100 pounds for the transportation of a carload 

 of lumber from Beaudettc, Minn., to Vincennes, Ind.. is unreasonable. 

 The complaint was dismissed. 



No. 7S24. Standard Lumber Company, Birmingham, Ala., versus 

 the Atlanta & West Point. The commission held that demurrage in 

 the sum of .$8 on .a carload of lumber shipped from Noma, Fla., to 

 West Point, Ga., not found to have been collected unlawfully. The 

 complaint was dismissed. 



Oral ai'gument in the important case of the Wisconsin-Arkansas 

 Lumber Company versus the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern 

 will be held in Washington, March 10. The case of the Whiteville 

 Lumber Company versus the .\tlantic Coast Line will be argued 

 March 7. 



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