This second-hand box gave up when it was 

 called upon to carry heavy rolls of cotton warp 



BEFORE the war, the loss and damage 

 to merchandise on a single Eastern 

 railroad cost more than a million 

 dollars a year! 

 This year it will 

 reach two million 

 dollars — a year in 

 which the Nation 

 is supposed to act 

 as a unit in the 

 prevention of 

 waste. What is 

 the reason? Sim- 

 ply foolish econ- 

 omy. Shippers 

 are using cheap 

 packing materials 

 and weak or 

 second-hand con- 

 tainers. 



Wasting Two Millions 



Loss awaits the shipper who packs 

 goods neither wisely nor well 



Such a waste, says the Pennsylvania 

 Railroad, is indefensible. The only way 

 to avoid it is to pack goods properly in 

 strong containers and to mark them 

 plainly, all old marks having been 

 previously removed. Co-operation is also 

 asked of receiving clerks, agents, foremen, 

 car inspectors, loaders, truckers and car 

 packers, that the waste may be eliminated 

 '^ at once. ^ 



Axes have been discovered shipped in 

 paper boxes, potatoes and onions in 

 flimsy crates, dangerous solutions in 

 leaky barrels and food stuffs in 

 second-hand containers of paper. In 

 one instance, a shipment weighing 

 nearly fifteen 



Is it a wonder the heavy bolts of cloth broke 

 through this insecure, flimsy packing box? 



hundred pounds 

 was packed in a 

 second-hand box 

 made of one-half 

 inch lumber. It 

 fell to pieces en 

 route. Other in- 

 stances of careless 

 packing are shown 

 in the photo- 

 graphs. 



Obviously cheap 

 containers lose a 

 shipper more than 

 he saves. Worse 

 than the mere 



Iron castings bulge out of thin 

 gunny-sacks at a wayside station 



Pack axes in paper boxes 

 and this is what happens 



230 



